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Weak Negative Association (weak + negative_association)
Selected AbstractsLife course weight gain and C-reactive protein levels in young adults: Findings from a Brazilian birth cohort,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Aydin Nazmi Rapid weight gain in childhood is associated with increased risk of chronic diseases in adults. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a mediator of atherosclerosis and chronically elevated levels predict cardiovascular outcomes. The effects of life course weight gain on CRP levels are not clear. The 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study (n = 5,914) has prospectively collected weight and health data at several follow-ups since birth. The most recent was in 2004,05, when 77.4% of the cohort was traced and CRP levels were measured in 89% of those interviewed (n = 3827). Geometric mean (SE) C-reactive protein levels were 0.89 mg/l (0.03) and 1.66 mg/l (0.04) in men and women, respectively. In analyses adjusted for confounding variables, weight gain in infancy showed a weak negative association among males, but from the second year onwards, weight gain was positively associated with CRP levels. In females, weight gain was associated with higher CRP at every period tested. The strongest associations were observed in the most recent (18,23 years) period; CRP ratios (95% CI) per z score increase in weight gain were 1.78 (1.57,2.00) and 1.52 (1.30,1.78) for men and women, respectively. Males who were stunted at 2 years and centrally obese at 23 years had the highest CRP levels (P = 0.002 for interaction). In summary, rapid weight gain throughout life predicted higher CRP levels. Public health efforts need to tackle chronic under-nutrition in infancy, together with rapid weight gain in later childhood and adolescence, especially in countries undergoing the nutritional transition. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The health of children in sole-parent families in New Zealand: results of a population-based cross-sectional surveyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2010Martin Tobias Abstract Objective: To investigate whether children in sole-parent families in New Zealand bear excess risks of poor mental and physical health relative to children in two parent families. Data sources and statistical methods: The data source was the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey, a nationally representative household survey that sampled 502 children (5-14 years) of sole mothers and 1,281 children of partnered mothers. Results: Children of sole mothers were 1.26 (0.94 , 2.69) times as likely as children of partnered mothers to return a low PhS score. Adjusting for maternal health and family socio-economic disadvantage eliminated this weak association (which in any case was of borderline statistical significance). Children of sole mothers were more than twice as likely as children of partnered mothers to return a low PsS score, adjusting for demographic variables only. Conclusions: There is only a weak negative association (if any) between sole-parenting and child physical health, but a stronger association with child mental health , consistent with most of the New Zealand and international literature. The association with child mental health is largely (but possibly not completely) ,explained' by the poorer mental health of sole-parents and the poorer socio-economic circumstances of single-parent families (on average). Implications: These findings support policies aiming to improve access of sole-parents and their children to community mental health services, and (more especially) policies aiming to ameliorate the disadvantaged economic circumstances of single parent families. [source] Apolipoprotein E genotype and risk for development of cataract and age-related macular degenerationACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 4 2008Øygunn A. Utheim Abstract. Purpose:, To study whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes are associated with risk for developing cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods:, A sample of 88 healthy adults (50,75 years) genotyped for polymorphisms of APOE underwent an eye examination which included visual acuity (VA) testing, slit-lamp cataract evaluation, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fundus photography, the last of which was analysed and graded for macular pathology at the Reading Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Two-by-two cross tables were analysed using the Fisher,Boschloo unconditional full multinomial test. Two-sample t -tests were used for comparing means of scale variables. Results:, Thirty-two participants were diagnosed with cataract or had undergone cataract surgery in one or both eyes, and 56 participants demonstrated no signs of cataract. We found that APOE4 carriers were less likely to have cataract than non-APOE4 carriers (p = 0.039). No correlation between APOE genotypes and morphologic changes in the macular region was revealed. However, APOE3 carriers disclosed significantly higher average macular thickness in both eyes than non-APOE3 carriers (p = 0.012), and APOE3 carriers also had significantly better VA than non-APOE3 carriers (p = 0.041). Conclusions:, We found no association between AMD and APOE polymorphism in a population of 96 individuals aged 50,75 years. A weak negative association between APOE4 and cataract was uncovered in the same population. Apolipoprotein E3 may be a protective factor against the loss of nerve fibres in the macular region. [source] Cortisol levels and measures of body composition in middle-aged and older menCLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 1 2007Thomas G. Travison Summary Introduction, Similarities in the symptomatic expressions of excess adiposity and hypercortisolaemic conditions suggest that elevated glucocorticoid exposure may influence the pathogenesis of obesity. Circulating cortisol levels are not typically elevated in obese subjects, but data from large prospective samples are rare. We undertook an analysis to determine both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between body composition and serum cortisol concentrations in a randomly chosen group of 999 community-dwelling men, aged 40,79 years. Methods, Data were obtained from the two follow-up waves of the Massachusetts Male Ageing Study (T2: 1995,97; T3: 2002,04). Partial correlation and multivariate regression analyses were used to estimate cross-sectional (T2) and longitudinal associations between serum cortisol concentrations and a range of measures of subjects' body composition, including weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip girth ratio (WHR), and percentage body fat (measured by bioelectrical impedance at T3); similar analyses were conducted to assess the association between change (T2 to T3) in serum cortisol and simultaneous change in body composition parameters. Results, We observed weak negative associations between cortisol concentrations and all body composition parameters, with the exception of percentage body fat. Longitudinal results demonstrated similar relationships but associations were of lesser magnitude. T2 cortisol concentrations were not associated with change in body composition over time, whereas T2 body size was positively associated with longitudinal changes in cortisol concentrations, providing limited evidence that weight change drives changes in cortisol concentrations, rather than vice versa. Results were unchanged when age and other covariate effects were controlled. Conclusions, Circulating cortisol concentrations are somewhat lower in obese than in nonobese community-dwelling men. There is some evidence that excess adiposity presages increases in cortisol concentrations, rather than the reverse. However, this observation should be greeted with caution, as age-related weight loss , and not gain , was associated with simultaneous increases in serum cortisol concentrations. [source] | ||||||||||