A case-control study of Hodgkin's disease in Israel

Jewish residents of Israel in 1960-72 with Hodgkin's disease (HD) were compared with controls drawn from the general population. The controls were individually matched by sex, age, origin, and date of immigration. The comparison showed a significant association between HD and parental consanguinity and pointed to the possible etiologic role of recessive inheritance. Females with HD tended to have a lower parity than did their controls. Associations between HD and a high educational level and the presence of a flush toilet in the childhood home were significant and gave limited support to the hypothesis that a high standard of living in childhood increases the risk of subsequent HD. Tonsillectomy and a history of work with wood or trees were significantly associated with mixed cellularity but not with other histologic subtypes. Differences between patients with HD and controls with respect to cigarette smoking, exposure to animals, marital status, previous blood transfusions or jaundice, contact with asbestos, residual or occupational mobility, or other characteristics were not significant.