Scientific Interest(s):
Since 1974 Dr. James Enstrom has conducted research on the epidemiology of cancer, particularly examining the health practices and cancer risk in several well-defined populations within California and the United States. His significant findings relevant to cancer include: identification of unusually low-risk populations, like health-conscious Mormons; measurement of an inverse relationship between dietary intake of vitamin C and mortality; assessment of the population impact of smoking cessation based on long-term natural experiments; determination of the long-term relationship of active and passive smoking to mortality; and interpretation of cancer survival rates and lung cancer mortality trends. He is currently investigating lifestyle and environmental factors in several large cohorts, including California Mormons, California Cancer Prevention Study, Alameda County Study and national samples available from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Selected Cancer-Related Publications:
Enstrom JE, Breslow L. Lifestyle and reduced mortality among active California Mormons, 1980-2004. Prev Med. 2008 Feb;46(2):133-136.
Enstrom JE. Defending legitimate epidemiologic research: combating Lysenko pseudoscience. Epidemiol Perspect Innov. 2007 Oct 10;4:11.
Enstrom JE, Kabat GC. Environmental tobacco smoke and tobacco related mortality in a prospective study of Californians, 1960-98. BMJ. 2003; 326(7398): 1057.
Enstrom JE, Heath CW. Smoking cessation and mortality trends among 118,000 Californians, 1960-1997. Epidemiology 1999; 10(5): 500-512.
Enstrom JE, Kanim LE, Klein MA. Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population. Epidemiology 1992; 3(3): 194-202.