Functional Landscape of Common Variants Associated with Susceptibility to Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
AbstractPurpose of the ReviewTo date, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified 39 genomic loci associated with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer at genome-wide significance level (p ≤ 5 × 10−8) and 13 additional loci using less strict thresholds. Follow-up functional dissection of these loci to uncover the underlining mechanisms driving cancer susceptibility has been challenging.Recent FindingsIn a manner similar to how post-linkage studies led the characterization of then poorly understood cellular pathways, functional analysis of GWAS loci is revealing new mechanisms of ovarian cancer.SummaryH...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - January 13, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Osteoarthritis and Aging: Young Adults with Osteoarthritis
AbstractPurpose of ReviewDespite perceptions that osteoarthritis only affects older adults, many people develop osteoarthritis before 65 years of age and live decades with pain and disability. It is critical to understand why some adults develop osteoarthritis early in life and the consequences of aging with osteoarthritis.Recent FindingsOver half of people diagnosed with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis are under 65 years of age. Key risk factors are joint injury, certain occupations (e.g., tactical athletes), obesity, and aberrant hip shape. Young adults with osteoarthritis report significant mental health concerns an...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - January 12, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Frailty and Unintended Risks of Medications
AbstractPurpose of ReviewIn this narrative review, we focus on aspects of the complicated relationship between frailty and medications that we feel would be of particular interest to researchers and health care practitioners.Recent FindingsFrailty and polypharmacy ( ≥5 medications) are inter-related with evidence of a bidirectional potentially casual relationship. Medication review and withdrawal of potentially inappropriate medications is frequently advised for the management of frailty. Changes in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs with frai lty are felt to parallel those seen with aging though possibly...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - January 10, 2020 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
The Role of Socioeconomic Interventions in Reducing Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences: a Systematic Review
AbstractPurpose of ReviewAdverse childhood experiences (ACE) are associated with key risk factors for adult morbidity and mortality. Most interventions to date target proximal risk factors and do not account for the structural determinants shaping the risk of childhood adversity. This review summarizes recent findings regarding the impact of socioeconomic interventions on ACE.Recent FindingsThirty-five percent of reviewed socioeconomic interventions reported reductions in exposure to ACE. Effect sizes were modest for family financial problems, adverse parenting, household mental illness, child maltreatment and neglect; mod...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - November 7, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Social Experience and the Developing Brain: Opportunities for Social Epidemiologists in the Era of Population-Based Neuroimaging
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThere are an increasing number of studies using neuroimaging to understand associations between social conditions, including socioeconomic status, and the development of brain structure and function. From a population health perspective, this review summarizes the challenges of this work and highlights opportunities for collaboration with social epidemiologists as neuroimaging studies become more population-based.Recent FindingsWhile suggestive of broad associations with brain regions involved in cognitive and emotional processing, much of the work linking socioeconomic status to child brain struct...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - November 2, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Neighborhoods to Nucleotides —Advances and Gaps for an Obesity Disparities Systems Epidemiology Model
AbstractPurpose of ReviewDisparities in prevalence of obesity in the USA continue to increase. Here, we review progress and highlight gaps in understanding disparities in obesity with a focus on the Hispanic/Latino population from a systems epidemiology framework. We review seven domains: environment, behavior, biomarkers, nutrition, microbiome, geno mics, and epigenomics/transcriptomics. We focus on recent advances that integrate at least two or more of these domains, and then provide a real-world example of data collection efforts that encompass these domains.Recent FindingsResearch into discrimination-related DNA m...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - October 29, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Using Genomic Profiling for Understanding and Improving Response to Smoking Cessation Treatment
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThis review focuses on the implementation of genomic discoveries associated with smoking behaviors and smoking-related illnesses to improve prevention efforts and smoking cessation.Recent FindingsLarge-scale studies have discovered genomic variation that contributes to smoking heaviness and smoking cessation. Variation in theα5 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit (CHRNA5) and the primary nicotine metabolizing gene (CYP2A6) strongly contribute to smoking behaviors, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The analytic and clinical validity of these genes is clearly established, ...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - October 16, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Social Epidemiology of Sleep: Extant Evidence and Future Directions
AbstractPurpose of ReviewHow well people sleep and what social factors determine their sleep are two key questions that have generated great interests in public health and epidemiology recently. The goal of this review is to assess the evidence of how multi-level of social constructs relates to unhealthy sleep in recent studies.Recent FindingsStudies document a wide range of social correlates of sleep at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. A growing number of population-based studies incorporate objective measures. Overall, disadvantaged statuses and poor social environment predict unhealthy slee...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - October 5, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Green Environments and Allergic Diseases in Children: a Scoping Review
AbstractPurpose of ReviewUrbanization and urbanization-related detrimental exposures are commonly indicated as responsible determinants for the dramatic increase in allergy and asthma, and one of the main urbanization factors that have been recently associated with the development of allergic sensitization is the reduced access to natural and biodiverse spaces. The present review aimed to compile and discuss the recent findings from studies focused on neighbourhood greenspace effect on asthma and allergic disease development in children.Recent FindingsGreen areas neighbouring children residences play a role on the prevalen...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - September 13, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Socio-Economic Position Under the Microscope: Getting ‘Under the Skin’ and into the Cells
AbstractPurpose of the ReviewRecent developments in the field of genetics and epigenetics are advancing our understanding of how socio-economic adversity throughout the life course gets embodied at a more fundamental level to accelerate the ageing process. This review summarises current research in relation to two candidate mechanisms: DNA methylation and telomere attrition that have been touted to provide biological intermediaries between socio-economic position and health.Recent FindingsAlthough many studies have documented cross-sectional associations between measures of socio-economic position and these ‘hallmarks of...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - September 12, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Space and Place in Alcohol Research
AbstractPurpose of ReviewTo summarize the recent literature on social and physical environments and their links to alcohol use and identify empirical research strategies that will lead to a better understanding of alcohol use in contexts.Recent FindingsRecent research has continued to describe the importance of neighborhood and regional contexts on alcohol use, while a smaller emerging scientific literature assesses the impacts of contexts on drinking.SummaryThe dynamic, longitudinal, and multiscale processes by which social and physical structures affect social interactions and substance use have not yet been uncovered or...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - September 12, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Legionella Epidemiologic and Environmental Risks
AbstractPurpose of ReviewLegionella bacteria cause Legionnaires ’ disease (LD), a severe and potentially fatal pneumonia. Legionellosis has been increasing in the USA and in Europe. We reviewed the literature to describe host factors predisposing to LD, environmental factors facilitatingLegionella proliferation, and transmission modes leading to legionellosis cases and outbreaks.FindingsMen, smokers, and persons 50 years and older, or with chronic pulmonary or immunocompromising conditions, are at risk for LD. Stagnated water and warm water temperature promoteLegionella growth. Most legionellosis cases result from expo...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - August 5, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Machine Learning for Feature Selection and Cluster Analysis in Drug Utilisation Research
We describe current unsupervised learning methods for phenotyping and discovery and illustrate their application for detecting features and sub-groups related to drug use within a population.Recent FindingsPatient representation or phenotyping and discovery is one of the main branches of health data analysis. Phenotyping concerns identifying features that are representative of the population from raw patient data. Discovery involves analysing these features, for example, to identify patterns in the population such as sub-groups and to predict outcomes. Most studies use unsupervised learning methods for phenotyping as they ...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - July 26, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Association of Cardiovascular Health and Cognition
The objective of this review is to summarize the evidence linking overall cardiovascular health (CVH) profile and modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVDRF) with cognition.Recent FindingsWe conducted online searches for all relevant literature describing the relationship between CVDRF, overall CVH profile, and dementia. Studies have shown a positive association with the presence of clinical or subclinical CVD and accelerated cognitive decline. Individual CVH factors such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking, physical activity, and diet are independently associated with cognition. The association is, however, less...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - July 26, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
Risk Factors Associated with Community-Acquired Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli : a Systematic Review
AbstractPurpose of ReviewThis review aims to characterize the current body of knowledge regarding risk factors for community-acquired urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) caused by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESBL) uropathogenicEscherichia coli (UPEC). Our purpose is to identify major knowledge gaps, suggest potential areas for improved public health intervention, and propose future research directions.Recent FindingsThis review contains two parts. Part one reviews 15 studies that included 2,930 ESBL-producing UPEC infections in 10 countries. Of the 103 risk factors for these infections examined, only two of eigh...
Source: Current Epidemiology Reports - July 23, 2019 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research
