Associations of Sleep Duration and Screen Time with Incidence of Overweight in European Children: The IDEFICS/I.Family Cohort

Introduction: Over the past decades, children have been increasingly using screen devices, while at the same time their sleep duration has decreased. Both behaviors have been associated with excess weight, and it is possible they act as mutually reinforcing behaviors for weight gain. The aim of the study was to explore independent, prospective associations of screen time and sleep duration with incident overweight in a sample of European children. Methods: Data from 4, 285 children of the IDEFICS/I.Family cohort who were followed up from 2009/2010 to 2013/2014 were analyzed. Hours per day of screen time and of sleep duration were reported by parents at baseline. Logistic regression analyses were carried out in separate and mutually adjusted models controlled for sex, age, European country region, parental level of education, and baseline BMI z-scores. Results: Among normal weight children at baseline (N = 3, 734), separate models suggest that every hour increase in screen time and every hour decrease in sleep duration were associated with higher odds of the child becoming overweight or obese at follow-up (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.02-1.32 and OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.05-1.43, respectively). In the mutually adjusted model, both associations were attenuated slightly (screen time OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 0.99-1.28; sleep duration OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.03-1.40), being consistently somewhat stronger for sleep duration. Discussion/Conclusion: Both screen time and sleep duration increased the incidence of overweight or obesity by 13-20%. Interventions that include an emphasis on adequate sleep and minimal screen time are needed to establish their causal role in the prevention of overweight and obesity among European children. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele

Polymorphism: an evaluation of the potential risk to the quality of drug products from the Farmácia Popular Rede Própria

Polymorphism in solids is a common phenomenon in drugs, which can lead to compromised quality due to changes in their physicochemical properties, particularly solubility, and, therefore, reduce bioavailability. Herein, a bibliographic survey was performed based on key issues and studies related to polymorphism in active pharmaceutical ingredient (APIs) present in medications from the Farmácia Popular Rede Própria. Polymorphism must be controlled to prevent possible ineffective therapy and/or improper dosage. Few mandatory tests for the identification and control of polymorphism in medications are currently available, which can result in serious public health concerns