scholarly journals Triple-negative breast cancers are increased in black women regardless of age or body mass index

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley A Stead ◽  
Timothy L Lash ◽  
Jerome E Sobieraj ◽  
Dorcas D Chi ◽  
Jennifer L Westrup ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Rynal Devanathan ◽  
Viveka Devanathan ◽  
Tonya M. Esterhuizen

Background: Excess weight contributes to the development and progression of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Distorted body image amongst urban Black women and the perception that thinness is linked with HIV, may however be compounding the problem, particularly in areas with a high HIV burden.Objectives: This study aimed to compare the perception of body image in urban Black women with and without T2DM.Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted on 328 Black women systematically sampled into two groups (with and without T2DM). Body mass index (BMI) (weight [kg]/height[m2]) was determined and the adapted Stunkard Body Image Silhouettes for Black women was used to determine perceived body image (PBI).Results: Seventy-two per cent had T2DM and in this group 89% were obese, with a mean BMI of 39.5 kg/m2 (s.d. ± 8.5). In the non-diabetes group (NDG) 44% were obese, with a mean BMIof 31.3 kg/m2 (s.d. ± 9.0) Black women underestimated their body image across all weight categories (p < 0.05). Both groups (99% of the study group) also perceived thinness as being associated with HIV.Conclusions: This study identified an incongruence between PBI and actual BMI amongst urban Black women. This, combined with their belief that thinness is associated with HIV, places those with T2DM at risk of secondary complications arising from diabetes mellitus, and those without diabetes mellitus at a higher risk of developing T2DM. A discrepancy between PBI and BMI may therefore serve as a risk marker to alert clinicians to use a more ethno-cultural specific approach in engaging with urban Black women regarding weight loss strategies in the future.


2010 ◽  
Vol 108 (6) ◽  
pp. 1613-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamer Abbas ◽  
Lidia S. Szczepaniak ◽  
Meryem Tuncel ◽  
Jonathan M. McGavock ◽  
Beverley Huet ◽  
...  

Obesity is thought to lead to sympathetic overactivity as a compensatory adjustment to weight gain. However, most of the experimental support for the hypothesis has been derived from white cohorts. Our previous study in blacks indicated that sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) is closely correlated with body mass index only in women, whereas, in black men, SNA is elevated and dissociated from adiposity (Abate et al., Hypertension 38: 379–383, 2001). To further determine whether total and regional adiposity are determinants of SNA in blacks, we performed a prospective weight loss study in 12 normotensive obese black men and 9 obese black women. SNA, body mass index, and abdominal fat mass were measured before and 16 wk after hypocaloric diet. The major new findings are that, in obese black men, the dietary-induced weight loss of 11.3 ± 0.8 kg resulted in reduction in plasma leptin, insulin, and visceral abdominal fat but had no effect on SNA (from baseline of 26 ± 4 to 28 ± 3 bursts/min, P = not significant). In contrast, in black women, weight loss of 8.0 ± 0.9 kg caused similar reductions in plasma leptin, insulin, and visceral abdominal fat and led to a reduction in SNA by 40% (from baseline of 22 ± 2 to 13 ± 3 bursts/min, P < 0.05). In conclusion, these new data from this prospective study provide strong support for a major adiposity-independent sympathetic activity in black men and adiposity-related sympathetic activity in black women.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Li ◽  
Marcelline Harris ◽  
Dennis Tsilimingras ◽  
Sophia Liu ◽  
Ying Sheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) is an anthropometric index associated with visceral adiposity. It remains unclear whether SAD and its socio-economic correlates differ in women and men, which limits the epidemiological and clinical applications of the SAD measurement. The aims of this study are to examine the sex differences in SAD and its socio-economic correlates.Methods A complex stratified multistage clustered sampling design was used to select 6,975 men and 7,079 women aged 18 years or more from the National Health Nutrition and Examination Survey 2011-2016, representative of the US civilian non-institutionalized population. SAD was measured in accordance to the standard protocols using a two-arm abdominal caliper. The sex differences in SAD and its socio-economic correlates were evaluated by performing weighted independent t tests and weighted multiple regression. Results SAD was lower in women than in men in the entire sample, as well as in all the subgroups characterized by age, race, birth place, household income, and body mass index except for non-Hispanic blacks and those with household income < $20,000. Adjusted for other characteristics, age, birth place, household income, and body mass index were associated with SAD in both women and men. Black women were associated with higher SAD then white women (p<.0001), and Hispanic and Asian men were associated with lower SAD than white men (both p<.01). Women born in other countries were more likely to have lower SAD than women born in the US (p<.0001), and so were men (p=.0118). Both women and men with a household income of <$75,000 had higher SAD than those with an income of over $75,000. The associations of age, race, and household income with SAD differed in women and men.Conclusion SAD is lower in women than in men, in the general population as well as in the most socio-economic subgroups. While socio-economic correlates of SAD are similar in women and men, the associations of age, race, and household income with SAD vary across sex.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Li ◽  
Marcelline Harris ◽  
Dennis Tsilimingras ◽  
Sophia Liu ◽  
Ying Sheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) is an anthropometric index associated with visceral adiposity. It remains unclear whether SAD and its socio-economic correlates differ in women and men, which limits the epidemiological and clinical applications of the SAD measurement. The aims of this study are to examine the sex differences in SAD and its socio-economic correlates.Methods A complex stratified multistage clustered sampling design was used to select 6,975 men and 7,079 women aged 18 years or more from the National Health Nutrition and Examination Survey 2011-2016, representative of the US civilian non-institutionalized population. SAD was measured in accordance to the standard protocols using a two-arm abdominal caliper. The sex differences in SAD and its socio-economic correlates were evaluated by performing weighted independent t tests and weighted multiple regression. Results SAD was lower in women than in men in the entire sample, as well as in all subgroups characterized by age, race, body mass index, birth place, and household income except for non-Hispanic blacks and those with household income < $20,000. Adjusted for other characteristics, SAD increased with age and body mass index for both women and men (p<.0001). Compared to white women, Asian women were associated with lower SAD (p=.018), and black women with higher SAD (p<.0001). Compared to white men, Hispanic and Asian men were associated with lower SAD (both p<.0001). Women born in other countries were more likely to have lower SAD than women born in the US (p<.0001), and so were men (p=.0118). Both women and men with a household income of <$75,000 had higher SAD than those with an income of over $75,000.Conclusion SAD is lower in women than in men, in the general population as well as in the most socio-economic subgroups. Socio-economic correlates of SAD were similar in women and men.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhoufeng Ye ◽  
Gillian Dite ◽  
John Hopper

Abstract Background Our previous work on body mass index (BMI) and breast cancer risk found that the association depended on menopausal status but not on familial risk (Hopper, JL., et al, 2018). We now consider whether weight is a more informative risk factor for breast cancer than BMI. Methods We used data from the Prospective Family Study Cohort, a consortium of international prospective cohorts that are enriched for familial risk of breast cancer and include 16,035 unaffected women from 6701 families. Participants were followed for up to 20 years (mean 10.5 years) and there were 896 incident breast cancers with a mean age at diagnosis of 55.7 years. Cox regression was used to model risk associations as a function of age, menopausal status and underlying familial risk. We calculated robust confidence intervals by clustering by family. Model comparisons were made using the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Results In repeating the best-fitting model from our original analyses, but using weight instead of BMI, we found that the log likelihood for the model using weight was 1.92 units greater than for the model using BMI (difference in BIC = 3.84). Therefore, the data are almost 50 times more likely under the model using weight. Conclusions The study found positive evidence that weight gives more information on risk than does BMI. Key messages Analysing breast cancer risk in terms of weight, rather than only BMI, might give greater insight and results that are easier to convey to the public.


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