Effect of Occupational Exposure to Radar Radiation on Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Microwave radiation is one of the most growing environmental workplace factors that exposes too many workers in the various workplaces. Regard to concerns about cancer incidence in these workers and lack of systematic or meta-analytic studies about this object, so, we conducted a meta-analysis to acquire an understanding of the association between cancer risk and occupational exposure to radar radiation. Methods: A systematic search was carried out on case-control, cohort and clinical control trial studies that published in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google scholar databases that accomplished from March 2017 to March 2018 and updated on 30 September, 2018 in English and Persian articles without time limit in publication date. Keywords were selected based on PICO principle and collected from MeSH database. After removal of duplicated studied, taking into inclusion and exclusion criteria, the process of screening was carried out and data were extracted after preparation of the full text of included articles. Article collection was completed by manually searching for a reference list of eligible studies. For quality assessment of included studies, Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used. Results: a total of 533 studies was found in the first step of literature search, only 6 were included with 53,008 sample size according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Estimated pooled random effects size analysis showed no significant increasing effect of occupational exposure to radar radiation on mortality rate (MR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.78, 0.83) and relative risk (RR=0.87, 95%CI: 0.75, 0.99, P <0.0001) of cancer with a significant heterogeneity between the selected studies. Conclusions: In conclusion, the results of this meta-analysis study have shown no significant increase in overall mortality ratio and cancer risk ratio from occupational exposure to the radar frequency of workers. But, these results are not conclusive. As regards to some limitation such as fewer numbers of included studies, lack of data about exposure characterizations and demographic characterizations in this meta-analysis, this result is not certain and conclusive. It is recommended to conduct future studies

Effects of niacin on apolipoprotein A1 and B levels : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Niacin has been investigated for its potential impact on lipid metabolism and cardiovascular health. This meta-analysis aims to systematically evaluate the effects of niacin interventions on apo A1 and apo B levels, key regulators of lipoprotein metabolism and markers of cardiovascular risk. A comprehensive search of the literature was performed on five databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane library, from inception up to 15 July 2023. This search identified 1452 publications, from which twelve randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria. The intervention dosages ranged from 500 to 3000 mg/d, and the study durations spanned from 6 to 102·8 weeks. The niacin intervention demonstrated a significant reduction in apo B levels (weighted mean differences (WMD): −24·37 mg/dl, P = 0·01). Subgroup analyses indicated that intervention duration played a role, with trials of ≤ 16 weeks showing a greater reduction in apo B. Regarding apo A1, niacin significantly increased its levels (WMD: 8·23 mg/dl, P 1500 mg/d (P < 0·001), and extended-release niacin was more effective compared with other forms (P < 0·001). According to the Begg’s regression test, no publication bias was observed in this systematic review and meta-analysis. This meta-analysis highlights niacin’s potential role in improving lipid profiles and cardiovascular health. Further well-designed clinical trials are needed to elucidate and confirm optimal dosages and durations of niacin interventions for influencing apo A1 and B