The New England journal of medicine
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We studied 10 vegetarian and 10 nonvegetarian premenopausal women on four occasions approximately four months apart. During each study period, the participants kept three-day dietary records, and estrogens were measured in plasma, urinary, and fecal samples. Vegetarians consumed less total fat than omnivores did (30 per cent of total calories, as compared with 40 per cent) and more dietary fiber (28 g per day, as compared with 12 g). ⋯ Urinary excretion of estriol was lower in vegetarians (P less than 0.05), and their plasma levels of estrone and estradiol were negatively correlated with fecal excretion of estrogen (P = 0.005). Among the vegetarians the beta-glucuronidase activity of fecal bacteria was significantly reduced (P = 0.05). We conclude that vegetarian women have an increased fecal output, which leads to increased fecal excretion of estrogen and a decreased plasma concentration of estrogen.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Behavioral treatment for the anticipatory nausea and vomiting induced by cancer chemotherapy.
The nausea and vomiting experienced by one in four cancer patients in anticipation of chemotherapy is probably a learned response to treatment. To determine whether behavioral approaches for altering learned responses might be useful treatments for these symptoms, we compared the effects of "systematic desensitization" (a behavioral treatment in which relaxation is learned as a response to situations in which patients have had anticipatory nausea and vomiting) with those of counseling and of no treatment. ⋯ Desensitized patients also reported significantly less severe anticipatory nausea (P less than 0.01) and vomiting (P less than 0.05) and a shorter duration of anticipatory nausea (P less than 0.01). We conclude that systematic desensitization appears to have an antiemetic effect in cancer patients who receive chemotherapy, and may be useful in the management of these problems.
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Letter Historical Article
An aspect of medical publication: 1846 and 1982.