| Disease | THE STUDY INCLUDED ALL WHITE RESIDENTS OF VERMONT AND NEW HAMPSHIRE WHO DIED DURING 1975-79 FROM BLADDER CANCER. TWO RANDOMLY SELECTED CONTROLS PER CASE, MARCHED ON STATE, GENDER, RACE, AGE(+/2 YEARS) AND YEAR OF DEATH, WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED
FROM ALL OTHER RESIDENT DEATHS (EXCLUDING SUICIDES). A QUESTIONNAIRE SOUGHT INFORMATION ON DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, LIFETIME OCCUPATIONAL AND RESIDENTIAL HISTORIES, HISTORY INCLUDING BLADDER INFECTION, AND CONSUMPTION OF SELECTED DIETARY
ITEMS INCLUDING BRACKEN FERN (FIDDLEHEAD GREENS). INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH THE NEXT OF KIN OF 325 CASES AND 673 CONTROLS. ODDS RATIOS (OR) WERE CALCULATED USING BOTH CONDITIONAL AND UNCONDITIONAL LOGISTIC REGRESSION. AS BOTH METHODS
YIELDED SIMILAR RESULTS, THE UNCONDITIONAL RESULTS WERE PRESENTED. A TOTAL OF 24 CASES (7.4%) AND 71 CONTROLS (10.6%) WERE REPORTED TO HAVE EVER EATEN BRACKEN FERN (OR=0.6, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI)=0.4, 1.0). REGULAR CONSUMPTION OF BRACKEN
FERN WAS REPORTED FOR 15 CASES (4.6%) AND 38 CONTROLS (5.6%), OR=0.8 (CI=0.4, 1.4). OUR NEGATIVE FINDINGS ARE CONSISTENT WITH A CANADIAN POPULATION-BASED CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF 480 MALE AND 152 FEMALE CASE-CONTROL PAIRS THAT SHOWED NO EXCESS
BLADDER CANCER RISK ASSOCIATED WITH CONSUMPTION OF FIDDLEHEAD GREENS. |