No effects of GSM-modulated 900 MHz electromagnetic fields on survival rate and spontaneous development of lymphoma in female AKR/J mice

BACKGROUND: Several reports indicated that non-thermal electromagnetic radiation such as from mobile phones and base stations may promote cancer. Therefore, it was investigated experimentally, whether 900 MHz electromagnetic field exposure influences lymphoma development in a mouse strain that is genetically predisposed to this disease. The AKR/J mice genome carries the AK-virus, which leads within one year to spontaneous development of thymic lymphoblastic lymphoma. METHODS: 320 unrestrained female mice were sham-exposed or exposed (each n = 160 animals) to GSM like 900 MHz electromagnetic fields for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, at an average whole body specific absorption rate (SAR) value of 0.4 W/kg. Animals were visually checked daily and were weighed and palpated weekly. Starting with an age of 6 months, blood samples were taken monthly from the tail. Animals with signs of disease or with an age of about 46 weeks were sacrificed and a gross necropsy was performed. RESULTS: Electromagnetic field exposure had a significant effect on body weight gain, with higher values in exposed than in sham-exposed animals. However, survival rate and lymphoma incidence did not differ between exposed and sham-exposed mice. CONCLUSION: These data do not support the hypothesis that exposure to 900 MHz electromagnetic fields is a significant risk factor for developing lymphoma in a genetically predisposed species, even at a relatively high exposure level

Multiple Sources of Contamination in Samples from Patients Reported to Have XMRV Infection

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related retrovirus (XMRV) was reported to be associated with prostate cancer by Urisman, et al. in 2006 and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) by Lombardi, et al. in 2009. To investigate this association, we independently evaluated plasma samples from 4 patients with CFS reported by Lombardi, et al. to have XMRV infection and from 5 healthy controls reported to be XMRV uninfected. We also analyzed viral sequences obtained from supernatants of cell cultures found to contain XMRV after coculture with 9 clinical samples from 8 patients. A qPCR assay capable of distinguishing XMRV from endogenous MLVs showed that the viral sequences detected in the CFS patient plasma behaved like endogenous MLVs and not XMRV. Single-genome sequences (N = 89) from CFS patient plasma were indistinguishable from endogenous MLVs found in the mouse genome that are distinct from XMRV. By contrast, XMRV sequences were detected by qPCR in 2 of the 5 plasma samples from healthy controls (sequencing of the qPCR product confirmed XMRV not MLV). Single-genome sequences (N = 234) from the 9 culture supernatants reportedly positive for XMRV were indistinguishable from XMRV sequences obtained from 22Rv1 and XMRV-contaminated 293T cell-lines. These results indicate that MLV DNA detected in the plasma samples from CFS patients evaluated in this study was from contaminating mouse genomic DNA and that XMRV detected in plasma samples from healthy controls and in cultures of patient samples was due to cross-contamination with XMRV (virus or nucleic acid)

Previous Lung Diseases and Lung Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In order to review the epidemiologic evidence concerning previous lung diseases as risk factors for lung cancer, a meta-analysis and systematic review was conducted.Relevant studies were identified through MEDLINE searches. Using random effects models, summary effects of specific previous conditions were evaluated separately and combined. Stratified analyses were conducted based on smoking status, gender, control sources and continent.A previous history of COPD, chronic bronchitis or emphysema conferred relative risks (RR) of 2.22 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.66, 2.97) (from 16 studies), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.25, 1.84) (from 23 studies) and 2.04 (95% CI: 1.72, 2.41) (from 20 studies), respectively, and for all these diseases combined 1.80 (95% CI: 1.60, 2.11) (from 39 studies). The RR of lung cancer for subjects with a previous history of pneumonia was 1.43 (95% CI: 1.22-1.68) (from 22 studies) and for subjects with a previous history of tuberculosis was 1.76 (95% CI=1.49, 2.08), (from 30 studies). Effects were attenuated when restricting analysis to never smokers only for COPD/emphysema/chronic bronchitis (RR=1.22, 0.97-1.53), however remained significant for pneumonia 1.36 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.69) (from 8 studies) and tuberculosis 1.90 (95% CI: 1.45, 2.50) (from 11 studies).Previous lung diseases are associated with an increased risk of lung cancer with the evidence among never smokers supporting a direct relationship between previous lung diseases and lung cancer

The Rotterdam Study: 2010 objectives and design update

The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study ongoing since 1990 in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The study targets cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric and respiratory diseases. As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in close to a 1,000 research articles and reports (see www.epib.nl/rotterdamstudy). This article gives the rationale of the study and its design. It also presents a summary of the major findings and an update of the objectives and methods

A systematic review of maternal antidepressant use in pregnancy and short- and long-term offspring's outcomes

The relative safety of antidepressants during pregnancy has received substantial attention, but most syntheses fail to account for mental illness effects. We aimed to evaluate the literature comparing low birth weight (LBW) and neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioural outcomes for children whose mothers took antidepressants in pregnancy compared to those whose mothers had common mental disorders, or symptoms, but who did not take antidepressants during pregnancy. A systematic review was conducted searching PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase in January 2015. A modified version of the Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to assess study quality. Eleven cohort studies were included: four reporting a LBW outcome (all with higher risk of bias) and seven reporting a neurodevelopmental outcome (five with higher risk of bias). We found only limited evidence of gestational age-adjusted LBW in exposed children in two studies which had a higher risk of bias and did not control for depressive symptom severity. Only five (7.5%) neurodevelopmental outcomes and one (12.5%) neurobehavioural outcome showed evidence of a statistically significant effect, three out of four were from studies with a higher risk of bias. There is little robust evidence indicating a detrimental effect of antidepressant use during pregnancy on LBW and neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioural outcomes. More rigorous study designs are needed

The Rotterdam Study: 2012 objectives and design update

The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study ongoing since 1990 in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The study targets cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric, dermatological, oncological, and respiratory diseases. As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in over a 1,000 research articles and reports (see www.erasmus-epidemiology.nl/rotterdamstudy). This article gives the rationale of the study and its design. It also presents a summary of the major findings and an update of the objectives and methods

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

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI 2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesity. Funding UK Medical Research Council, UK Research and Innovation (Research England), UK Research and Innovation (Innovate UK), and European Union