Early influences on cardiovascular and renal development

The hypothesis that a developmental component plays a role in subsequent disease initially arose from epidemiological studies relating birth size to both risk factors for cardiovascular disease and actual cardiovascular disease prevalence in later life. The findings that small size at birth is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease have led to concerns about the effect size and the causality of the associations. However, recent studies have overcome most methodological flaws and suggested small effect sizes for these associations for the individual, but an potential important effect size on a population level. Various mechanisms underlying these associations have been hypothesized, including fetal undernutrition, genetic susceptibility and postnatal accelerated growth. The specific adverse exposures in fetal and early postnatal life leading to cardiovascular disease in adult life are not yet fully understood. Current studies suggest that both environmental and genetic factors in various periods of life may underlie the complex associations of fetal growth retardation and low birth weight with cardiovascular disease in later life. To estimate the population effect size and to identify the underlying mechanisms, well-designed epidemiological studies are needed. This review is focused on specific adverse fetal exposures, cardiovascular adaptations and perspectives for new studies. Copyrigh

Alcohol intake and risk of colorectal cancer: results from the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have suggested that excessive alcohol intake increases colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. However, findings regarding tumour subsites and sex differences have been inconsistent. METHODS: We investigated the prospective associations between alcohol intake on overall and site- and sex-specific CRC risk. Analyses were conducted on 579 CRC cases and 1996 matched controls nested within the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium using standardised data obtained from food diaries as a main nutritional method and repeated using data from food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). RESULTS: Compared with individuals in the lightest category of drinkers (>0-or=45 g per day. No clear associations were observed between site-specific CRC risk and alcohol intake in either sex. Analyses using FFQ showed similar results. CONCLUSION: We found no significantly increased risk of CRC up to 30 g per day of alcohol intake within the UK Dietary Cohort Consortium

Influence of periodontal disease on risk of dementia: a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in European Journal of Epidemiology on 12/06/2020, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-020-00648-x The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Periodontal disease (PD) is common and increases cardiovascular diseases. However, it is unclear whether PD is associated with increased risk of dementia. We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the influence of PD on dementia. We projected the number of dementia cases to be saved by reducing PD prevalence in the world. We searched cohort and case–control studies reporting the association of PD with all dementia (or any specific type of dementia) through PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, CINHAL, and CNKI until 7th November 2018. Five cohorts and seven case–control studies were identified for review. We pooled eligible data to calculate relative risk (RR) of dementia in relation to PD and computed the number of dementia cases saved through reducing PD prevalence. Of 12 studies, six were undertaken in Asia, four in Europe and two in America. Eleven studies showed a positive association between PD and the risk of dementia, of which 10 were significant, and one reported a non-significant inverse association. Overall their quality was good. Pooled RR of dementia in relation to PD from all high quality studies was 1.38 (95%CI 1.01–1.90); in the five cohorts was 1.18 (1.06–1.31) and in the two case–control studies 2.25 (1.48–3.42). A 50% reduction in the current prevalence of 20% of PD in the population could save 850,000 (630,000–1,420,000) patients with dementia in the world. PD could increase the risk of incident dementia. Preventing and treating PD could contribute to controlling the global epidemic of dementia.Professor Ruoling Chen and Dr Jie Tang thank an EU Grant from Horizon 2020 MSCA – DEMAIRPO #799247. Dr Kaarin Anstey is funded by NHMRC Fellowship #1102694. Dr Wu is the recipient of BBSRC [BB/P004695/1] and NIA [1R01AG049321-01A1] Grant for aging research. Dr Yuyou Yao, Associate Professor of Anhui Medical University, China is a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton to support this study and has made valuable comments on the manuscript.Published versio