International journal of epidemiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Genetically predicted testosterone and cardiovascular risk factors in men: a Mendelian randomization analysis in the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.
Observationally lower testosterone is associated with an unhealthier cardiovascular (CVD) risk profile, but this association is open to confounding and reverse causality. The authors examined the association of testosterone with well-established cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)cholesterol and fasting glucose) and the Framingham score using a Mendelian randomization analysis with a separate-sample instrumental variable estimator. ⋯ Our findings did not corroborate observed protective effects of testosterone on cardiovascular risk factors or risk of ischaemic heart disease among men, but raises the possibility that higher testosterone may be associated with an unhealthier lipid profile.
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This study uses data from the World Health Organization's Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) to examine patterns of hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control for people aged 50 years and over in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation and South Africa. ⋯ The high rates of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries are striking. Levels of treatment and control are inadequate despite half those sampled being aware of their condition. Since cardiovascular disease is by far the largest cause of years of life lost in these settings, these findings emphasize the need for new approaches towards control of this major risk factor.
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Paracetamol is used extensively during pregnancy, but studies regarding the potential neurodevelopmental sequelae of foetal paracetamol exposure are lacking. Method Between 1999 and 2008 all pregnant Norwegian women were eligible for recruitment into the prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The mothers were asked to report on their use of paracetamol at gestational weeks 17 and 30 and at 6 months postpartum. We used data on 48 631 children whose mothers returned the 3-year follow-up questionnaire by May 2011. Within this sample were 2919 same-sex sibling pairs who were used to adjust for familial and genetic factors. We modelled psychomotor development (communication, fine and gross motor development), externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems, and temperament (emotionality, activity, sociability and shyness) based on prenatal paracetamol exposure using generalized linear regression, adjusting for a number of factors, including febrile illness, infections and co-medication use during pregnancy. ⋯ Children exposed to long-term use of paracetamol during pregnancy had substantially adverse developmental outcomes at 3 years of age.
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Exhaled carbon monoxide (COex) level is positively associated with tobacco smoking and exposure to smoke from biomass/coal burning. Relatively little is known about its determinants in China despite the population having a high prevalence of smoking and use of biomass/coal. ⋯ In adult Chinese, COex can be used as a biomarker for assessing current smoking and overall exposure to indoor household air pollution in combination with questionnaires.