Association of vitamin D status with arterial blood pressure and hypertension risk : a mendelian randomisation study

Peer reviewe

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

In the name of truth : sacrifical ideals and American science, 1870-1930

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-208).by Rebecca M. Herzig.Ph.D

The interpretation of "culture": Diverging perspectives on medical provision in rural Montana

Seeking to address evident disparities in health care delivery to minority populations, researchers have developed a framework generally referred to as "cultural competency." This framework suggests that increasing providers' knowledge about culturally specific beliefs and behaviors will both assist providers in caring for particular, traditionally underserved groups and enhance the quality of health care delivery for all patients. Meanwhile, a number of critics have challenged the presuppositions of the "culture" concept underlying cultural competency, arguing that such well-intended efforts may merely exacerbate received stereotypes. Despite such criticism, the influence of cultural competency, along with the related categories of cultural sensitivity, cultural humility, cultural proficiency, and cultural awareness, continues to grow in medical schools, governmental agencies, and health care organizations, particularly in the United States. To better assess the varying theoretical and policy claims of proponents and opponents of the cultural competency framework, we undertook a modest qualitative, interview-based investigation. We explored how "culture" is being presented and enacted by Mexican agricultural workers and US health care providers in one rural Montana clinic. While the Mexican agricultural workers in the study emphasized structural dimensions of labor migration as the most relevant factors in shaping patient-provider interactions, the US health care providers tended to focus on the "cultural characteristics" peculiar to their patients. The discrepancy in these assessments serves to extend and complement existing criticism of cultural competency. While our study was limited to one locale with a limited number of participants, its findings highlight the paucity of empirical research in this area and suggest the need to examine the efficacy of cultural competency in settings outside conventional "needs assessment" or "outcome studies" models.US-Mexico relations Cultural competency Patient-provider interactions Culture Labor migration Health care providers

DNA methylation links prenatal smoking exposure to later life health outcomes in offspring

Abstract Background: Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with adverse offspring health outcomes across their life course. We hypothesize that DNA methylation is a potential mediator of this relationship. Methods: We examined the association of prenatal maternal smoking with offspring blood DNA methylation in 2821 individuals (age 16 to 48 years) from five prospective birth cohort studies and perform Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses to assess whether methylation markers have causal effects on disease outcomes in the offspring. Results: We identify 69 differentially methylated CpGs in 36 genomic regions (P value &lt; 1 × 10⁻⁷) associated with exposure to maternal smoking in adolescents and adults. Mendelian randomization analyses provided evidence for a causal role of four maternal smoking-related CpG sites on an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease or schizophrenia. Further mediation analyses showed some evidence of cg25189904 in GNG12 gene mediating the effect of exposure to maternal smoking on schizophrenia-related outcomes. Conclusions: DNA methylation may represent a biological mechanism through which maternal smoking is associated with increased risk of psychiatric morbidity in the exposed offspring