Fatima Haggar

In this article, the incidence, mortality, and survival rates for colorectal cancer are reviewed, with attention paid to regional variations and changes over time. A concise overview of known risk factors associated with colorectal cancer is provided, including familial and hereditary factors, as well as environmental lifestyle-related risk factors such as physical inactivity, obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

The objective of this study was to investigate residential exposure to alcohol outlets in relation to alcohol consumption and mental health morbidity (anxiety, stress, and depression). This was a cross-sectional study of 6,837 adults obtained from a population representative sample for the period 2006-2009 in Perth, Western Australia. The number of alcohol outlets was ascertained for a 1600 m service area surrounding the residential address. Zero-inflated negative binomial and logistic regression were used to assess associations with total alcohol consumption, harmful alcohol consumption (7-10 drinks containing 10 g of alcohol for men, 5-6 drinks for women) and medically diagnosed and hospital contacts (for anxiety, stress, and depression), respectively. The rate ratio for the number of days of harmful consumption of alcohol per month and the number of standard drinks of alcohol consumed per drinking day was 1.06 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.11) and 1.01 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.03) for each additional liquor store within a 1600 m service area, respectively. The odds ratio of hospital contact for anxiety, stress, or depression was 1.56 (95% CI: 0.98, 2.49) for those with a liquor store within the service area compared to those without. We observed strong evidence for a small association between residential exposure to liquor stores and harmful consumption of alcohol, and some support for a moderate-sized effect on hospital contacts for anxiety, stress, and depression.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate obstetric and perinatal outcomes among female survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancers and their offspring. METHODS: Using multivariate analysis of statewide linked data, outcomes of all first completed pregnancies (n = 1894) in female survivors of AYA cancer diagnosed in Western Australia during the period 1982-2007 were compared with those among females with no cancer history. Comparison pregnancies were matched by maternal age-group, parity and year of delivery. RESULTS: Compared with the non-cancer group, female survivors of AYA cancer had an increased risk of threatened abortion (adjusted relative risk 2.09, 95% confidence interval 1.51-2.74), gestational diabetes (2.65, 2.08-3.57), pre-eclampsia (1.32, 1.04-1.87), post-partum hemorrhage (2.83, 1.92-4.67), cesarean delivery (2.62, 2.22-3.04), and maternal postpartum hospitalization>5 days (3.01, 1.72-5.58), but no excess risk of threatened preterm delivery, antepartum hemorrhage, premature rupture of membranes, failure of labor to progress or retained placenta. Their offspring had an increased risk of premature birth (<37 weeks: 1.68, 1.21-2.08), low birth weight (<2500 g: 1.51, 1.23-2.12), fetal growth restriction (3.27, 2.45-4.56), and neonatal distress indicated by low Apgar score (<7) at 1 minute (2.83, 2.28-3.56), need for resuscitation (1.66, 1.27-2.19) or special care nursery admission (1.44, 1.13-1.78). Congenital abnormalities and perinatal deaths (intrauterine or ≤7 days of birth) were not increased among offspring of survivors. CONCLUSION: Female survivors of AYA cancer have moderate excess risks of adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes arising from subsequent pregnancies that may require additional surveillance or intervention.

BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is a common complication of pregnancy and is a major cause of fetal-maternal mortality and morbidity. Despite a number of plausible mechanisms by which air pollutants might contribute to this process, few studies have investigated the association between pre-eclampsia and traffic emissions, a major contributor to air pollution in urban areas. OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the association between traffic-related air pollution and risk of pre-eclampsia in a maternal population in the urban centre of Perth, Western Australia. METHOD: The authors estimated maternal residential exposure to a marker for traffic-related air pollution (nitrogen dioxide, NO(2)) during pregnancy for 23 452 births using temporally adjusted land-use regression. Logistic regression was used to investigate associations with pre-eclampsia. RESULTS: Each IQR increase in levels of traffic-related air pollution in whole pregnancy and third trimester was associated with a 12% (1%-25%) and 30% (7%-58%) increased risk of pre-eclampsia, respectively. The largest effect sizes were observed for women aged younger than 20 years or 40 years or older, aboriginal women and women with pre-existing and gestational diabetes, for whom an IQR increase in traffic-related air pollution in whole pregnancy was associated with a 34% (5%-72%), 35% (0%-82%) and 53% (7%-219%) increase in risk of pre-eclampsia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated exposure to traffic-related air pollution in pregnancy was associated with increased risk of pre-eclampsia. Effect sizes were highest for elevated exposures in third trimester and among younger and older women, aboriginal women and women with diabetes.