International journal of epidemiology
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A meta-analysis, involving the secondary analysis of original data from 11 case-control studies of Alzheimer's disease, is presented for occupational exposures to solvents and lead. Three studies had data on occupational exposure to solvents. Among cases, 21.3% were reported to have been exposed; among controls, this figure was comparable (20.9%). ⋯ This resulted in a pooled matched relative risk of 0.71 (95% CI: 0.36-1.41). The meta-analysis was particularly useful in validating negative results from individual studies and in increasing the statistical power for the analysis of lead exposure, where stratum-specific cell sizes were frequently smaller than five in individual studies. However, since exposure in the various studies was ascertained in a rather broad manner, prospective studies are recommended which focus on high-risk occupational populations and which determine the incidence of Alzheimer's disease in these and comparable unexposed populations.
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Data from case-control studies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) were pooled to examine the possible roles of history of depression, anti-depressant treatment and adverse life events as risk factors. History of depression was found to be associated with AD, although the effect was confined to late onset cases. ⋯ However, data were only available from two studies, limiting the power of the analysis. Also, no association was found with the three major life events considered in the pooled analysis: death of spouse, death of a child and divorce.
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The EURODEM re-analyses of 11 case-control studies of Alzheimer's disease imply that familial aggregation of dementia, Down's syndrome, and parkinsonism occurs more frequently in Alzheimer's disease than in matched controls. Prior history of head trauma, hypothyroidism, and depression also occurs in higher frequency among patients with Alzheimer's disease. Exposure to a series of other medical conditions and environmental toxins was not significant. The association between Alzheimer's disease and maternal age remains unclear.
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In a community-based study we investigated the relationships between maternal stress, maternal social supports, family functioning and proneness to acute respiratory illness (AR1) in childhood. 'Prone' and 'not prone' children were identified from the responses to a mail questionnaire sent to the addresses of a randomly selected group of Adelaide children who had been born in 1983. 'Prone' children (n = 255) were defined by a respiratory score (based on frequency and severity of reported symptoms in the preceding 12 months) in the top quintile of the distribution, while 'not prone' children (n = 227) were defined by a score in the bottom 20% of the range. Further information was obtained from a questionnaire administered at a home visit. Maternal stress levels were determined from a combination of major life events, minor life events and psychological distress. ⋯ Family dysfunction was associated with respiratory proneness in bivariate analyses but not after adjustment for the effects of other psychosocial factors in multivariate analyses. Lack of maternal social support was not associated with having a child who was prone to respiratory illness. These findings raise a number of questions about the nature and direction of the relationship between parental psychological status and child health.