Beyond-brand effect of television food advertisements on food choice in children: The effects of weight status

Copyright © The Authors 2007.Objective - To investigate the effect of television food advertising on children’s food intake, specifically whether childhood obesity is related to a greater susceptibility to food promotion. Design - The study was a within-subject, counterbalanced design. The children were tested on two occasions separated by two weeks. One condition involved the children viewing food advertisements followed by a cartoon, in the other condition the children viewed non-food adverts followed by the same cartoon. Following the cartoon, their food intake and choice was assessed in a standard paradigm. Setting - The study was conducted in Liverpool, UK. Subjects - Fifty-nine children (32 male, 27 female) aged 9–11 years were recruited from a UK school to participate in the study. Thirty-three children were normal-weight (NW), 15 overweight (OW) and 11 obese (OB). Results - Exposure to food adverts produced substantial and significant increases in energy intake in all children (P < 0·001). The increase in intake was largest in the obese children (P = 0·04). All children increased their consumption of high-fat and/or sweet energy-dense snacks in response to the adverts (P < 0·001). In the food advert condition, total intake and the intake of these specific snack items correlated with the children’s modified age- and gender-specific body mass index score. Conclusions - These data suggest that obese and overweight children are indeed more responsive to food promotion, which specifically stimulates the intake of energy-dense snacks.University of Liverpoo

The Impact of Music on Stress Biomarkers:Protocol of a Substudy of the Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly Care (MIDDEL)

Recently, a large cluster-randomized controlled trial was designed-Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in ELderly care (MIDDEL)-to assess the effectiveness of music interventions on depression in care home residents with dementia (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03496675). To understand the pathophysiological mechanisms, we observed the effect of repeated music interventions on stress in this population since chronic stress was associated with depression and an increased risk for dementia. An exploratory study was designed to assess: (1) changes in hair cortisol concentrations as an indicator of longer-term stress; (2) whether baseline stress is a predictor of therapy outcome; (3) pre- and post-treatment effects on salivary α-amylase and cortisol response as an indicator of immediate stress in 180-200 care home residents with dementia and depressive symptoms who partake in the MIDDEL trial. Insights into mediatory effects of stress to explain the effect of music interventions will be gained. Hair cortisol concentrations were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months along with the Perceived Stress Scale. Salivary α-amylase and cortisol concentrations were assessed at 1, 3, and 6 months. Saliva was collected just before a session and 15 and 60 min after a session, along with a stress Visual Analogue Scale.</p

Adequacy of glycemic, lipid, and blood pressure management for patients with diabetes in a managed care setting

WSTĘP. Przeprowadzono retrospektywną obserwację grupy osób korzystających z wielospecjalistycznego systemu opieki zdrowotnej (MCO, managed care organization) i uzyskujących zadowalającą kontrolę glikemii, odpowiednie stężenia lipidów i wartości ciśnienia tętniczego. MATERIAŁ I METODY. Na podstawie Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set 2000 z bazy danych MCO wybrano grupę leczonych chorych na cukrzycę w wieku 18 lat i starszych (n = 7114), którym w ciągu 2 lat przed interwencją wypisano receptę lub wykonano badania laboratoryjne. Analizowano charakterystykę demograficzną oraz odsetek pacjentów, u których określano stężenia HbA1c, lipidów i mierzono ciśnienie tętnicze oraz którzy spełniali kryteria dobrego wyrównania cukrzycy zgodne z zaleceniami Amerykańskiego Towarzystwa Diabetologicznego (ADA, American Diabetes Association) w całej grupie, a także w grupach pacjentów leczonych i nieleczonych. WYNIKI. Odsetek osób, u których określono stężenia HbA1c, cholesterolu i zmierzono ciśnienie tętnicze wynosił odpowiednio 77, 54 i 95%. Odsetek pacjentów uzyskujących cele terapii wynosił 37% dla HbA1c, 23% dla cholesterolu frakcji LDL i 41% dla ciśnienia skurczowego. Wśród wszystkich pacjentów u 72% celem leczenia była poprawa kontroli glikemii, 64% leczono z powodu nadciśnienia tętniczego, a jedynie 28% z powodu zaburzeń lipidowych. Wśród leczonych pacjentów mniej niż 1/3 uzyskiwała docelowe wartości HbA1c (29%) i cholesterolu frakcji LDL (32%), natomiast u 40% kontrola skurczowego ciśnienia tętniczego była zadowalająca. WNIOSKI. Stwierdzono, że mimo częstego wykonywania badań diagnostycznych w kierunku zaburzeń lipidowych, stężenia HbA1c i nadciśnienia tętniczego, niewielki odsetek pacjentów osiągał założone cele terapii. Aby uzyskać poprawę opieki nad chorymi na cukrzycę, konieczne jest wdrożenie bardziej intensywnego postępowania.INTRODUCTION. We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the adequacy of glycemic, lipid, and blood pressure (BP) management for diabetic patients in a managed care organization (MCO). MATERIAL AND METHODS. Patients aged &#8805; 18 years with diabetes (n = 7,114) were retrospectively identified over a 2-year period from the MCO&#8217;s administrative database based on the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set 2000 selection criteria using pharmacy, laboratory, and encounter data. Analyses examined demographics and percentages of patients tested and meeting American Diabetes Association goals for HbA1c, lipids, and BP, both overall and for those receiving medication treatment versus no treatment. RESULTS. Testing rates for A1C, LDL cholesterol, and BP were 77, 54, and 95%, respectively. The percentage of patients tested who were at goal were 37% for A1C, 23% for LDL cholesterol, and 41% for systolic BP. Of the patients in our sample, 72% were treated for glycemic control, 64% were treated for BP control, and only 28% were treated for lipid control. Of the patients who received medication treatment, less than one-third were at goal for A1C (29%) and LDL cholesterol (32%), whereas 40% were at goal for systolic BP. CONCLUSIONS. We found that although a large percentage of diabetic patients were tested for A1C, LDL cholesterol, and systolic BP, a much smaller percentage had reached their respective goals. More aggressive glycemic, lipid, and BP management appears to be needed to improve care for these patients

GABRB1 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Associated with Altered Brain Responses (but not Performance) during Measures of Impulsivity and Reward Sensitivity in Human Adolescents.

Variations in genes encoding several GABAA receptors have been associated with human drug and alcohol abuse. Among these, a number of human studies have suggested an association between GABRB1, the gene encoding GABAA receptor β1 subunits, with Alcohol dependence (AD), both on its own and comorbid with other substance dependence and psychiatric illnesses. In the present study, we hypothesized that the GABRB1 genetically-associated increased risk for developing alcoholism may be associated with impaired behavioral control and altered sensitivity to reward, as a consequence of altered brain function. Exploiting the IMAGEN database (Schumann et al., 2010), we explored in a human adolescent population whether possession of the minor (T) variant of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2044081 is associated with performance of tasks measuring aspects of impulsivity, and reward sensitivity that are implicated in drug and alcohol abuse. Allelic variation did not associate with altered performance in either a stop-signal task (SST), measuring one aspect of impulsivity, or a monetary incentive delay (MID) task assessing reward anticipation. However, increased functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response in the right hemisphere inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left hemisphere caudate/insula and left hemisphere inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) during MID performance was higher in the minor (T) allelic group. In contrast, during SST performance, the BOLD response found in the right hemisphere supramarginal gyrus, right hemisphere lingual and left hemisphere inferior parietal gyrus indicated reduced responses in the minor genotype. We suggest that β1-containing GABAA receptors may play a role in excitability of brain regions important in controlling reward-related behavior, which may contribute to susceptibility to addictive behavior

Circulating vitamin D concentrations and risk of breast and prostate cancer: a Mendelian randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Observational studies have suggested an association between circulating vitamin D concentrations [25(OH)D] and risk of breast and prostate cancer, which was not supported by a recent Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis comprising 15 748 breast and 22 898 prostate-cancer cases. Demonstrating causality has proven challenging and one common limitation of MR studies is insufficient power. METHODS: We aimed to determine whether circulating concentrations of vitamin D are causally associated with the risk of breast and prostate cancer, by using summary-level data from the largest ever genome-wide association studies conducted on vitamin D (N = 73 699), breast cancer (Ncase = 122 977) and prostate cancer (Ncase = 79 148). We constructed a stronger instrument using six common genetic variants (compared with the previous four variants) and applied several two-sample MR methods. RESULTS: We found no evidence to support a causal association between 25(OH)D and risk of breast cancer [OR per 25 nmol/L increase, 1.02 (95% confidence interval: 0.97-1.08), P = 0.47], oestrogen receptor (ER)+ [1.00 (0.94-1.07), P = 0.99] or ER- [1.02 (0.90-1.16), P = 0.75] subsets, prostate cancer [1.00 (0.93-1.07), P = 0.99] or the advanced subtype [1.02 (0.90-1.16), P = 0.72] using the inverse-variance-weighted method. Sensitivity analyses did not reveal any sign of directional pleiotropy. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its almost five-fold augmented sample size and substantially improved statistical power, our MR analysis does not support a causal effect of circulating 25(OH)D concentrations on breast- or prostate-cancer risk. However, we can still not exclude a modest or non-linear effect of vitamin D. Future studies may be designed to understand the effect of vitamin D in subpopulations with a profound deficiency

Post‐diagnosis physical activity and sedentary behaviour and colorectal cancer prognosis: A Global Cancer Update Programme ( CUP Global) systematic literature review and meta‐analysis

Low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour have been clearly linked with colorectal cancer development, yet data on their potential role in colorectal cancer survival is limited. Better characterisation of these relationships is needed for the development of post‐diagnosis physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidance for colorectal cancer survivors. We searched PubMed and Embase through 28 February 2022 for studies assessing post‐diagnosis physical activity, and/or sedentary behaviour in relation to all‐cause and cause‐specific mortality and recurrence after colorectal cancer diagnosis. Total and recreational physical activity were assessed overall and by frequency, duration, intensity, and volume using categorical, linear, and non‐linear dose–response random‐effects meta‐analyses. The Global Cancer Update Programme (CUP Global) independent Expert Committee on Cancer Survivorship and Expert Panel interpreted and graded the likelihood of causality. We identified 16 observational studies on 82,220 non‐overlapping patients from six countries. Physical activity was consistently inversely associated with colorectal cancer morbidity and mortality outcomes, with 13%–60% estimated reductions in risk. Sedentary behaviour was positively associated with all‐cause mortality. The evidence had methodological limitations including potential confounding, selection bias and reverse causation, coupled with a limited number of studies for most associations. The CUP Global Expert panel concluded limited‐suggestive evidence for recreational physical activity with all‐cause mortality and cancer recurrence. Total physical activity and its specific domains and dimensions, and sedentary behaviour were all graded as limited‐no conclusion for all outcomes. Future research should focus on randomised trials, while observational studies should obtain objective and repeated physical activity measures and better adjustment for confounders

Circulating vitamin D concentration and risk of seven cancers: Mendelian randomisation study

Objective To determine if circulating concentrations of vitamin D are causally associated with risk of cancer.Design Mendelian randomisation study.Setting Large genetic epidemiology networks (the Genetic Associations and Mechanisms in Oncology (GAME-ON), the Genetic and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO), and the Prostate Cancer Association Group to Investigate Cancer Associated Alterations in the Genome (PRACTICAL) consortiums, and the MR-Base platform).Participants 70 563 cases of cancer (22 898 prostate cancer, 15 748 breast cancer, 12 537 lung cancer, 11 488 colorectal cancer, 4369 ovarian cancer, 1896 pancreatic cancer, and 1627 neuroblastoma) and 84 418 controls.Exposures Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2282679, rs10741657, rs12785878 and rs6013897) associated with vitamin D were used to define a multi-polymorphism score for circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations.Main outcomes measures The primary outcomes were the risk of incident colorectal, breast, prostate, ovarian, lung, and pancreatic cancer and neuroblastoma, which was evaluated with an inverse variance weighted average of the associations with specific polymorphisms and a likelihood based approach. Secondary outcomes based on cancer subtypes by sex, anatomic location, stage, and histology were also examined.Results There was little evidence that the multi-polymorphism score of 25(OH)D was associated with risk of any of the seven cancers or their subtypes. Specifically, the odds ratios per 25 nmol/L increase in genetically determined 25(OH)D concentrations were 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.76 to 1.10) for colorectal cancer, 1.05 (0.89 to 1.24) for breast cancer, 0.89 (0.77 to 1.02) for prostate cancer, and 1.03 (0.87 to 1.23) for lung cancer. The results were consistent with the two different analytical approaches, and the study was powered to detect relative effect sizes of moderate magnitude (for example, 1.20-1.50 per 25 nmol/L decrease in 25(OH)D for most primary cancer outcomes. The Mendelian randomisation assumptions did not seem to be violated.Conclusions There is little evidence for a linear causal association between circulating vitamin D concentration and risk of various types of cancer, though the existence of causal clinically relevant effects of low magnitude cannot be ruled out. These results, in combination with previous literature, provide evidence that population-wide screening for vitamin D deficiency and subsequent widespread vitamin D supplementation should not currently be recommended as a strategy for primary cancer prevention

Drinking Motives, Personality Traits, Life Stressors - Identifying Pathways to Harmful Alcohol Use in Adolescence Using a Panel Network Approach

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Models of alcohol use risk suggest that drinking motives represent the most proximal risk factors on which more distal factors converge. However, little is known about how distinct risk factors influence each other and alcohol use on different temporal scales (within a given moment vs. over time). We aimed to estimate the dynamic associations of distal (personality and life stressors) and proximal (drinking motives) risk factors, and their relationship to alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood using a novel graphical vector autoregressive (GVAR) panel network approach.DESIGN, SETTING, AND CASES: We estimated panel networks on data from the IMAGEN study, a longitudinal European cohort study following adolescents across three waves (ages 16, 19, 22). Our sample consisted of 1829 adolescents (51% females) who reported alcohol use on at least one assessment wave.MEASUREMENTS: Risk factors included personality traits (NEO-FFI: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; SURPS: impulsivity and sensation seeking), stressful life events (LEQ: sum scores of stressful life events), and drinking motives (DMQ: social, enhancement, conformity, coping anxiety, coping depression). We assessed alcohol use (AUDIT: quantity and frequency) and alcohol-related problems (AUDIT: related problems).FINDINGS: Within a given moment, social (partial correlation (pcor) =0.17) and enhancement motives (pcor=0.15) co-occurred most strongly with drinking quantity and frequency, while coping depression motives (pcor=0.13), openness (pcor=0.05), and impulsivity (pcor=0.09) were related to alcohol-related problems. The temporal network showed no predictive associations between distal risk factors and drinking motives. Social motives (beta=0.21), previous alcohol use (beta=0.11), and openness (beta=0.10) predicted alcohol-related problems over time (all p&lt;0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Heavy and frequent alcohol use, along with social drinking motives, appear to be key targets for preventing the development of alcohol-related problems throughout late adolescence. We found no evidence for personality traits and life stressors predisposing towards distinct drinking motives over time.</p

The interaction of child abuse and rs1360780 of the FKBP5 gene is associated with amygdala resting-state functional connectivity in young adults

Extensive research has demonstrated that rs1360780, a common single nucleotide polymorphism within the FKBP5 gene, interacts with early-life stress in predicting psychopathology. Previous results suggest that carriers of the TT genotype of rs1360780 who were exposed to child abuse show differences in structure and functional activation of emotion-processing brain areas belonging to the salience network. Extending these findings on intermediate phenotypes of psychopathology, we examined if the interaction between rs1360780 and child abuse predicts resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the amygdala and other areas of the salience network. We analyzed data of young European adults from the general population (N = 774; mean age = 18.76 years) who took part in the IMAGEN study. In the absence of main effects of genotype and abuse, a significant interaction effect was observed for rsFC between the right centromedial amygdala and right posterior insula (p < .025, FWE-corrected), which was driven by stronger rsFC in TT allele carriers with a history of abuse. Our results suggest that the TT genotype of rs1360780 may render individuals with a history of abuse more vulnerable to functional changes in communication between brain areas processing emotions and bodily sensations, which could underlie or increase the risk for psychopathology

Drinking motives, personality traits and life stressors-identifying pathways to harmful alcohol use in adolescence using a panel network approach

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Models of alcohol use risk suggest that drinking motives represent the most proximal risk factors on which more distal factors converge. However, little is known about how distinct risk factors influence each other and alcohol use on different temporal scales (within a given moment versus over time). We aimed to estimate the dynamic associations of distal (personality and life stressors) and proximal (drinking motives) risk factors, and their relationship to alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood using a novel graphical vector autoregressive (GVAR) panel network approach.DESIGN, SETTING AND CASES: We estimated panel networks on data from the IMAGEN study, a longitudinal European cohort study following adolescents across three waves (aged 16, 19 and 22 years). Our sample consisted of 1829 adolescents (51% females) who reported alcohol use on at least one assessment wave.MEASUREMENTS: Risk factors included personality traits (NEO-FFI: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness; SURPS: impulsivity and sensation-seeking), stressful life events (LEQ: sum scores of stressful life events), and drinking motives [drinking motives questionnaire (DMQ): social, enhancement, conformity, coping anxiety and coping depression]. We assessed alcohol use [alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT): quantity and frequency] and alcohol-related problems (AUDIT: related problems).FINDINGS: Within a given moment, social [partial correlation (pcor) = 0.17] and enhancement motives (pcor = 0.15) co-occurred most strongly with drinking quantity and frequency, while coping depression motives (pcor = 0.13), openness (pcor = 0.05) and impulsivity (pcor = 0.09) were related to alcohol-related problems. The temporal network showed no predictive associations between distal risk factors and drinking motives. Social motives (beta = 0.21), previous alcohol use (beta = 0.11) and openness (beta = 0.10) predicted alcohol-related problems over time (all P  &lt; 0.01).CONCLUSIONS: Heavy and frequent alcohol use, along with social drinking motives, appear to be key targets for preventing the development of alcohol-related problems throughout late adolescence. We found no evidence for personality traits and life stressors predisposingtowards distinct drinking motives over time.</div