Cardiac function associated with previous, current and repeated depression and anxiety symptoms in a healthy population: the HUNT study.

Objective: Symptoms of anxiety and depression often co-exist with cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet little is known about the association with left ventricular (LV) subclinical dysfunction. We aimed to study the cross-sectional associations of previous, current and repeated depression or anxiety symptoms, with sensitive indices of LV systolic and diastolic function, based on tissue Doppler (TD) and speckle tracking (ST) imaging methods. Methods: A random selection of 1296 individuals free from known CVD, hypertension and diabetes were examined with echocardiography at baseline of the third Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, (HUNT3, 2006–2008). The primary outcomes were LV diastolic function (e′) and LV systolic function (longitudinal global strain). The primary exposures were self-report on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Associations between outcomes and baseline exposures were available for 1034 (80%), and with previous and repeated exposures for 700 participants who also participated in HUNT2 (1995–1997). Results: Previous and repeated depression symptoms, but not current depression, were linearly associated with a reduction in e′. The average sum of two repeated HADS-D scores 10 years apart had the strongest effect on e′ (−8.3%; 95% CI −13.9% to −2.7%) per 5 units. We observed a sex difference between depression symptoms and longitudinal global strain (p for interaction 0.019), where women had a marginal negative effect. Anxiety symptoms, neither previous, current nor repeated were associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Conclusions: In a healthy sample, confirmed free of CVD, past and repeated depression symptoms were associated with subclinical LV dysfunction. Thus, depression symptoms might represent a modifiable risk factor for future CVD.This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Blood pressure trajectories over 35 years and dementia risk: A retrospective study: The HUNT study

High blood pressure is a well-established risk factor of dementia. However, the timing of the risk remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to compare trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) over a 35-year follow-up period in the Health Survey in Trøndelag (HUNT) from study wave 1 to 4 in people with and without a dementia diagnosis at wave 4 (HUNT4). This is a retrospective cohort study of participants aged ≥ 70 years in HUNT4, where 9,720 participants were assessed for dementia. In the HUNT study all residents aged ≥ 20 years have been invited to four surveys: HUNT1 1984–86, HUNT2 1995–97, HUNT3 2006–08 and HUNT4 2017–19. The study sample was aged 70–102 years (mean 77.6, SD 6.0) at HUNT4, 54% were women and 15.5% had dementia, 8.8% had Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 1.6% had vascular dementia (VaD) and 5.1% had other types of dementia. Compared to those without dementia at HUNT4, those with dementia at HUNT4 had higher SBP at HUNT1 and HUNT2, but lower SBP at HUNT4. These differences at HUNT1 and 2 were especially pronounced among women. Results did not differ across birth cohorts. For dementia subtypes at HUNT4, the VaD group had a higher SBP than the AD group at HUNT2 and 3. Age trajectories in SBP showed that the dementia group experienced a steady increase in SBP until 65 years of age and a decrease from 70 to 90 years. SBP in the no- dementia group increased until 80 years before it leveled off from 80 to 90 years. The present study confirms findings of higher midlife SBP and lower late-life SBP in people with dementia. This pattern may have several explanations and it highlights the need for close monitoring of BP treatment in older adults, with frequent reappraisal of treatment needs

Blood pressure trajectories over 35 years and dementia risk: A retrospective study: The HUNT study

High blood pressure is a well-established risk factor of dementia. However, the timing of the risk remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to compare trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) over a 35-year follow-up period in the Health Survey in Trøndelag (HUNT) from study wave 1 to 4 in people with and without a dementia diagnosis at wave 4 (HUNT4). This is a retrospective cohort study of participants aged ≥ 70 years in HUNT4, where 9,720 participants were assessed for dementia. In the HUNT study all residents aged ≥ 20 years have been invited to four surveys: HUNT1 1984–86, HUNT2 1995–97, HUNT3 2006–08 and HUNT4 2017–19. The study sample was aged 70–102 years (mean 77.6, SD 6.0) at HUNT4, 54% were women and 15.5% had dementia, 8.8% had Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 1.6% had vascular dementia (VaD) and 5.1% had other types of dementia. Compared to those without dementia at HUNT4, those with dementia at HUNT4 had higher SBP at HUNT1 and HUNT2, but lower SBP at HUNT4. These differences at HUNT1 and 2 were especially pronounced among women. Results did not differ across birth cohorts. For dementia subtypes at HUNT4, the VaD group had a higher SBP than the AD group at HUNT2 and 3. Age trajectories in SBP showed that the dementia group experienced a steady increase in SBP until 65 years of age and a decrease from 70 to 90 years. SBP in the no- dementia group increased until 80 years before it leveled off from 80 to 90 years. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. The present study confirms findings of higher midlife SBP and lower late-life SBP in people with dementia. This pattern may have several explanations and it highlights the need for close monitoring of BP treatment in older adults, with frequent reappraisal of treatment needs.publishedVersio

Vitamin D3 supplementation does not enhance the effects of resistance training in older adults

Background: Lifestyle therapy with resistance training is a potent measure to counteract age-related loss in muscle strength and mass. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to respond in the expected manner. This phenomenon is particularly common among older adults and those with chronic diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD) and may involve endocrine variables such as vitamin D. At present, the effects of vitamin D supplementation on responses to resistance training remain largely unexplored. Methods: Ninety-five male and female participants (healthy, n = 71; COPD, n = 24; age 68 ± 5 years) were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin D3 or placebo supplementation for 28 weeks in a double-blinded manner (latitude 61°N, September-May). Seventy-eight participants completed the RCT, which was initiated by 12 weeks of supplementation-only (two weeks with 10 000 IU/day, followed by 2000 IU/day), followed by 13 weeks of combined supplementation (2000 IU/day) and supervised whole-body resistance training (twice weekly), interspersed with testing and measurements. Outcome measures included multiple assessments of muscle strength (nvariables = 7), endurance performance (n = 6), and muscle mass (n = 3, legs, primary), as well as muscle quality (legs), muscle biology (m. vastus lateralis; muscle fibre characteristics, transcriptome), and health-related variables (e.g. visceral fat mass and blood lipid profile). For main outcome domains such as muscle strength and muscle mass, weighted combined factors were calculated from the range of singular assessments. Results: Overall, 13 weeks of resistance training increased muscle strength (13% ± 8%), muscle mass (9% ± 8%), and endurance performance (one-legged, 23% ± 15%; whole-body, 8% ± 7%), assessed as weighted combined factors, and were associated with changes in health variables (e.g. visceral fat, -6% ± 21%; [LDL]serum , -4% ± 14%) and muscle tissue characteristics such as fibre type proportions (e.g. IIX, -3% points), myonuclei per fibre (30% ± 65%), total RNA/rRNA abundances (15%/6-19%), and transcriptome profiles (e.g. 312 differentially expressed genes). Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect training-associated changes for any of the main outcome domains, despite robust increases in [25(OH)D]serum (∆49% vs. placebo). No conditional effects were observed for COPD vs. healthy or pre-RCT [25(OH)D]serum . In secondary analyses, vitamin D3 affected expression of gene sets involved in vascular functions in muscle tissue and strength gains in participants with high fat mass, which advocates further study. Conclusions: Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect muscular responses to resistance training in older adults with or without COPD. Keywords: Cholecalciferol; Muscle plasticity; Strength training. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Disorders.publishedVersio

Using a chain of models to predict health and environmental impacts in Norway from a hypothetical nuclear accident at the Sellafield site

Embargo until 23 January 2022When a nuclear accident occurs, decision makers in the affected country/countries would need to act promptly to protect people, the environment and societal interests from harmful impacts of radioactive fallout. The decisions are usually based on a combination of model prognoses, measurements, and expert judgements within in an emergency decision support system (DSS). Large scale nuclear accidents would need predictive models for the atmospheric, terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, for the connections between these in terms of radionuclide fluxes, and for the various exposure pathways to both humans and biota. Our study showed that eight different models and DSS modules could be linked to assess the total human and environmental consequences in Norway from a hypothetical nuclear accident, here chosen to be the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. Activity concentrations and dose rates from 137Cs for both humans and the environment via various exposure routes were successfully modelled. The study showed that a release of 1% of the total inventory of 137Cs in the Highly Active Liquor Tanks at Sellafield Ltd is predicted to severely impact humans and the environment in Norway if strong winds are blowing towards the country at the time of an accidental atmospheric release. Furthermore, since the models did not have built-in uncertainty ranges when this Sellafield study was performed, investigations were conducted to identify the key factors contributing to uncertainty in various models and prioritise the ones to focus on in future research.acceptedVersio

Does seismic have an effect on zooplankton? - Field study at Ekofisk with RV Kristine Bonnevie

Toktnr: 2022611Does seismic have an effect on zooplankton? - Field study at Ekofisk with RV Kristine BonneviepublishedVersio

Elections and Ethnic Civil War

Existing research on how democratization may influence the risk of civil war tends to consider only changes in the overall level of democracy and rarely examines explicitly the postulated mechanisms relating democratization to incentives for violence. The authors argue that typically highlighted key mechanisms imply that elections should be especially likely to affect ethnic groups’ inclination to resort to violence. Distinguishing between types of conflict and the order of competitive elections, the authors find that ethnic civil wars are more likely to erupt after competitive elections, especially after first and second elections following periods of no polling. When disaggregating to the level of individual ethnic groups and conflicts over territory or government, the authors find some support for the notion that ethno-nationalist mobilization and sore-loser effects provoke postelectoral violence. More specifically, although large groups in general are more likely to engage in governmental conflicts, they are especially likely to do so after noncompetitive elections. Competitive elections, however, strongly reduce the risk of conflict. </jats:p