Host and environmental predictors of exhaled breath temperature in the elderly

BACKGROUND: Exhaled breath temperature has been suggested as a new method to detect and monitor pathological processes in the respiratory system. The putative mechanism of this approach is based upon changes in the blood flow. So far potential factors that influence breath temperature have not been studied in the general population. METHODS: The exhaled breath temperature was measured in 151 healthy non-smoking elderly (aged: 60–80 years) at room temperature with the X-halo device with an accuracy of 0.03°C. We related exhaled breath temperature by use of regression models with potential predictors including: host factors (sex, age) and environmental factors (BMI, physical activity, and traffic indicators). RESULTS: Exhaled breath temperature was lower in women than in men and was inversely associated with age, physical activity. BMI and daily average ambient temperature were positively associated with exhaled breath temperature. Independent of the aforementioned covariates, exhaled breath temperature was significantly associated with several traffic indicators. Residential proximity to major road was inversely associated with exhaled breath temperature: doubling the distance to the nearest major intense road was observed a decrease of 0.17°C (95% CI: -0.33 to -0.01; p = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled breath temperature has been suggested as a noninvasive method for the evaluation of airway inflammation. We provide evidence that several factors known to be involved in proinflammatory conditions including BMI, physical activity and residential proximity to traffic affect exhaled breath temperature. In addition, we identified potential confounders that should be taken into account in clinical and epidemiological studies on exhaled breath temperature including sex, age, and ambient temperature

Unhealthy European health policy

De Vos, Pol - ORCID 0000-0002-1672-6469 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1672-6469Item not available in this repository.The European Union claims that the defense of its welfare state is one of today's most important challenges. This article analyzes whether the European governments and the European Union really pursue a policy that strengthens their health and social security systems, or one that is in itself a threat to health and social security. After a summary of the origin and evolution of the European health systems, the authors pinpoint underlying reasons for reform and demonstrate how, since the 1990s, the European Union has built a strict financial and political straitjacket, forcing these systems to carry out privatization and cutbacks. Reform measures can be divided into three interdependent categories: (1) the increasing influence of governments on health care organization, to enable restructuring; (2) measures aimed at reducing public expenses, including higher financial contributions by patients and restrictions on the range of services provided; and (3) measures that establish competition and hidden or open privatization of services and insurance systems. Through these mechanisms public expenses are reduced while private health care expenses (and private profits) rise freely. Ongoing European health care reforms thus struggle with the contradictions between responding to growing collective needs and securing or increasing private profits.https://doi.org/10.2190/PURT-1LY9-F0BG-RRUD34pubpub

The Intego database: background, methods and basic results of a Flemish general practice-based continuous morbidity registration project

BACKGROUND: Intego is the only operational computerized morbidity registration network in Belgium based on general practice data. Intego collects data from over 90 general practitioners. All the information is routinely collected in the electronic health record during daily practice. METHODS: In this article we describe the design and methods used within the Intego network together with some of its basic results. The collected data, the quality control procedures, the ethical-legal aspects and the statistical procedures are discussed. RESULTS: Intego contains longitudinal information on 285 357 different patients, corresponding to over 2.3% of the Flemish population representative in terms of age and sex. More than 3 million diagnoses, 12 million drug prescriptions and 29 million laboratory tests have been recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Intego enables us to present and compare data on health parameters, incidence and prevalence rates, laboratory results, and prescribed drugs for all relevant subgroups on a routine basis and is unique in Belgium.status: publishe

Molecular responses in the telomere-mitochondrial axis of ageing in the elderly: a candidate gene approach

Experimental evidence shows that telomere shortening induces mitochondrial damage but so far studies in humans are scarce. Here, we investigated the association between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content in elderly and explored possible intermediate mechanisms by determining the gene expression profile of candidate genes in the telomere-mitochondrial axis of ageing. Among 166 non-smoking elderly, LTL, leukocyte mtDNA content and expression of candidate genes: sirtuin1 (SIRT1), tumor protein p53 (TP53), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor -coactivator1 (PGC-1), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor -coactivator1 (PGC-1), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) and nuclear factor, erythroid 2 like 2 (NRF2), using a quantitave real time polymerase chain assay (qPCR). Statistical mediation analysis was used to study intermediate mechanisms of the telomere-mitochondrial axis of ageing. LTL correlated with leukocyte mtDNA content in our studied elderly (r = 0.23, p = 0.0047). SIRT1 gene expression correlated positively with LTL (r = 0.26, p = 0.0094) and leukocyte mtDNA content (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001). The other studied candidates showed significant correlations in the telomere-mitochondrial interactome but not independent from SIRT1. SIRT1 gene expression was estimated to mediate 40% of the positive association between LTL and leukocyte mtDNA content. The key finding of our study was that SIRT1 expression plays a pivotal role in the telomeremitochondrial interactome.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Molecular responses in the telomere-mitochondrial axis of ageing in the elderly: A candidate gene approach journaltitle: Mechanisms of Ageing and Development articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2015.02.003 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Biomolecular markers within the core axis of aging and particulate air pollution exposure in the elderly: a cross-sectional study

Background: Telomere length and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content are markers of aging and aging-related diseases. There is inconclusive evidence concerning the mechanistic effects of airborne particulate matter (PM) exposure on biomolecular markers of ageing Objective: The present study examines the association between short- and long-term PM exposure with telomere length and mtDNA content in elderly and investigates to what extend this association is mediated by expression of genes playing a role in the telomere-mitochondrial axis of aging. Methods: Among 166 non-smoking elderly, we used qPCR to measure telomere length and mtDNA content in leukocytes, and RNA from whole blood to measure expression of SIRT1, TP53, PPARGC1A, PPARGC1B, NRF1 and NFE2L. Associations between PM exposure and markers of aging were estimated using multivariable linear regression models adjusted for gender, age, BMI, socio-economic status, statin use, past smoking status, white blood cell count and percentage of neutrophils. Mediation analysis was performed to explore the role of age-related markers between the association of PM exposure and outcome. Annual PM2.5 exposure was calculated for each participant’s home address using a high resolution spatial-temporal interpolation model. Results: Annual PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 15 to 23 μg/m3. A 5 μg/m3 increment in annual PM2.5 concentration was associated with a relative decrease of 16.8% (95% CI: -26.0%, -7.4%, p=0.0005) in telomere length and a relative decrease of 25.7% (95% CI: -35.2%, -16.2%, p<0.0001)in mtDNA content. Assuming causality, results of the mediation analysis indicated that SIRT1 mediated 19.5% and 22.5% of the estimated effect of PM2.5 exposure on telomere length and mtDNA content, respectively. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the estimated effects of PM2.5 exposure on the telomeremitochondrial axis of aging may play an important role in chronic health effects of PM2.5.status: publishe

Host and environmental predictors of exhaled breath temperature in the elderly

Exhaled breath temperature has been suggested as a new method to detect and monitor pathological processes in the respiratory system. The putative mechanism of this approach is based upon changes in the blood flow. So far potential factors that influence breath temperature have not been studied in the general population.status: publishe