Plos One
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Self-rated health (SRH) predicts chronic disease morbidity including cardiovascular disease (CVD). In a population-based cohort, we examined the association between SRH and incident CVD and whether this association was independent of socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural participant characteristics. ⋯ SRH is a strong predictor of incident fatal and non-fatal CVD events in this healthy, middle-aged population. Some of the association is explained by lifestyle behaviours, but SRH remains a strong predictor after adjustment for socio-demographic, clinical and behavioural risk factors and after a decade of follow-up. This easily accessible patient-centred measure of health status may be a useful indicator of individual and population health for those working in primary care and public health.
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Post-concussion syndrome has been related to axonal damage in patients with mild traumatic brain injury, but little is known about the consequences of injury on brain networks. In the present study, our aim was to characterize changes in functional brain networks following mild traumatic brain injury in patients with post-concussion syndrome using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. We investigated 17 injured patients with persistent post-concussion syndrome (under the DSM-IV criteria) at 6 months post-injury compared with 38 mild traumatic brain injury patients with no post-concussion syndrome and 34 healthy controls. ⋯ Mild traumatic brain injury patients with post-concussion syndrome had greater alterations than patients without post-concussion syndrome. In patients with post-concussion syndrome, changes specifically affected temporal and thalamic regions predominantly at the subacute stage and frontal regions at the late phase. Our results suggest that the post-concussion syndrome is associated with specific abnormalities in functional brain network that may contribute to explain deficits typically observed in PCS patients.
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A healthy dietary pattern defined by international recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been shown to reduce overall mortality risk. It is unknown whether this healthy dietary pattern is associated with overall cancer incidence. ⋯ Greater adherence to the WHO's Healthy Diet Indicator, a dietary pattern for prevention of chronic diseases, was not associated with reduced overall, smoking-related or alcohol-related cancer risk in men or women.
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Little is known about the incidence and risk of seizures after stroke in young adults. Especially in the young seizures might dramatically influence prognosis and quality of life. We therefore investigated the long-term incidence and risk of post-stroke epilepsy in young adults with a transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic stroke (IS) or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). ⋯ Post-stroke epilepsy is much more common than previously thought. Especially patients with an ICH and a high NIHSS are at high risk. This calls upon the question whether a subgroup could be identified which benefits from the use of prophylactic antiepileptic medication. Future studies should be executed to investigate risk factors and the effect of post-stroke epilepsy on quality of life.
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Discrepancy between preferred and actual place of death is common in cancer patients. While previous research has elucidated the factors associated with congruence between patients' preferred and actual place of death, it is not known how the perspective of the family influences the place of death. This study examined whether family preference for place of death mediates the relationship between patient preference and actual place of death. ⋯ This study is, to our knowledge, the first to unveil the role of the family in the relationship between patient preference and place of death in Japan. In order to honor patients' wishes to die at home, supporting caregivers in the family may be an essential component of terminal care.