A supportive family environment in childhood enhances the level and heritability of sense of coherence in early adulthood

Peer reviewe

Drinking and mortality : long-term follow-up of drinking-discordant twin pairs

AimsTo determine if associations of alcohol consumption with all-cause mortality replicate in discordant monozygotic twin comparisons that control for familial and genetic confounds. DesignA 30-year prospective follow-up. SettingPopulation-based older Finnish twin cohort. ParticipantsSame-sex twins, aged 24-60years at the end of 1981, without overt comorbidities, completed questionnaires in 1975 and 1981 with response rates of 89 and 84%. A total of 15607 twins were available for mortality follow-up from the date of returned 1981 questionnaires to 31December 2011; 14787 twins with complete information were analysed. MeasurementsSelf-reported monthly alcohol consumption, heavy drinking occasions (HDO) and alcohol-induced blackouts. Adjustments for age, gender, marital and smoking status, physical activity, obesity, education and social class. FindingsAmong twins as individuals, high levels of monthly alcohol consumption (259g/month) associated with earlier mortality [hazard ratio (HR)=1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.47-1.81]. That association was replicated in comparisons of all informatively drinking-discordant twin pairs (HR=1.91, 95% CI=1.49-2.45) and within discordant monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (HR=2.24, 95% CI=1.31-3.85), with comparable effect size. Smaller samples of MZ twins discordant for HDO and blackouts limited power; a significant association with mortality was found for multiple blackouts (HR=2.82, 95% CI=1.30-6.08), but not for HDO. ConclusionsThe associations of high levels of monthly alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced blackouts with increased all-cause mortality among Finnish twins cannot be explained by familial or genetic confounds; the explanation appears to be causal.Peer reviewe

Muscle dissatisfaction in young adult men

Peer reviewe

Genetic and environmental factors affecting self-esteem from age 14 to 17: A longitudinal study of Finnish twins

BACKGROUND: We analysed genetic and environmental influences on self-esteem and its stability across adolescence. METHODS: Finnish twins born in 1983–1987 were assessed by questionnaire at ages 14y (N= 4132 twin individuals) and 17y (N=3841 twin individuals). Self esteem was measured using the Rosenberg global self-esteem scale and analyzed using quantitative genetic methods for twin data in the Mx statistical package. RESULTS: The heritability of self-esteem was 0.62 (95% CI 0.56–0.68) in 14-y-old boys and 0.40 (95% CI 0.26–0.54) in 14-y-old girls, while the corresponding estimates at age 17y were 0.48 (95% CI 0.39–0.56) and 0.29 (95% CI 0.11–0.45). Rosenberg self-esteem scores at age 14 y and 17 y were modestly correlated (r=0.44 in boys, r=0.46 in girls). In boys, the correlation was mainly (82%) due to genetic factors, with residual co-variation due to unique environment. In girls, genetic (31%) and common environmental (61%) factors largely explained the correlation. CONCLUSIONS: In adolescence, self-esteem seems to be differently regulated in boys versus girls. A key challenge for future research is to identify environmental influences contributing to self-esteem during adolescence and how these factors interact with genetic influences

Alcohol consumption at age 18-25 and number of children at a 33-year follow-up : Individual and within-pair analyses of Finnish twins

Background Do drinking patterns in late adolescence/early adulthood predict lifetime childlessness and number of children? Research on this question has been only tangentially relevant and the results inconsistent. The designs used to date have been compromised by genetic and environmental confounds that are poorly controlled; covariate effects of smoking and education that are often ignored; males being understudied; population-based sampling rare, and long-term prospective studies with genetically informative designs yet to be reported. Method In a 33-year follow-up, we linked the drinking patterns of >3500 Finnish twin pairs, assessed at ages 18-25, to registry data on their eventual number of children. Analyses distinguished associations of early drinking patterns with lifetime childlessness from those predictive of family size. Within-twin pair analyses used fixed-effects regression models to account for shared familial confounds and genetic liabilities. Childlessness was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards models and family size with Poisson regression. Analyses within-pairs and of twins as individuals were run before and after adjustment for smoking and education, and for oral contraceptive (OC) use in individual-level analyses of female twins. Results Baseline abstinence and heavier drinking both significantly predicted lifetime childlessness in individual-level analyses. Few abstinent women used OCs, but they were nonetheless more often eventually childless; adjusting for smoking and education did not affect this finding. Excluding childless twins, Poisson models of family size showed heavier drinking at 18-25 to be predictive of fewer children in both men and women. Those associations were replicated in within-pair analyses of dizygotic twins, each level of heavier drinking being associated with smaller families. Among monozygotic twins, associations of drinking with completed family size yielded effects of similar magnitude, reaching significance at the highest levels of consumption, ruling out familial confounds. Conclusions Compared to moderate levels of drinking, both abstinence and heavier drinking in late adolescence/early adulthood predicted a greater likelihood of lifetime childlessness and eventual number of children. Familial confounds do not fully explain these associations.Peer reviewe

Alcohol consumption at age 18-25 and number of children at a 33-year follow-up : Individual and within-pair analyses of Finnish twins

Background Do drinking patterns in late adolescence/early adulthood predict lifetime childlessness and number of children? Research on this question has been only tangentially relevant and the results inconsistent. The designs used to date have been compromised by genetic and environmental confounds that are poorly controlled; covariate effects of smoking and education that are often ignored; males being understudied; population-based sampling rare, and long-term prospective studies with genetically informative designs yet to be reported. Method In a 33-year follow-up, we linked the drinking patterns of >3500 Finnish twin pairs, assessed at ages 18-25, to registry data on their eventual number of children. Analyses distinguished associations of early drinking patterns with lifetime childlessness from those predictive of family size. Within-twin pair analyses used fixed-effects regression models to account for shared familial confounds and genetic liabilities. Childlessness was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards models and family size with Poisson regression. Analyses within-pairs and of twins as individuals were run before and after adjustment for smoking and education, and for oral contraceptive (OC) use in individual-level analyses of female twins. Results Baseline abstinence and heavier drinking both significantly predicted lifetime childlessness in individual-level analyses. Few abstinent women used OCs, but they were nonetheless more often eventually childless; adjusting for smoking and education did not affect this finding. Excluding childless twins, Poisson models of family size showed heavier drinking at 18-25 to be predictive of fewer children in both men and women. Those associations were replicated in within-pair analyses of dizygotic twins, each level of heavier drinking being associated with smaller families. Among monozygotic twins, associations of drinking with completed family size yielded effects of similar magnitude, reaching significance at the highest levels of consumption, ruling out familial confounds. Conclusions Compared to moderate levels of drinking, both abstinence and heavier drinking in late adolescence/early adulthood predicted a greater likelihood of lifetime childlessness and eventual number of children. Familial confounds do not fully explain these associations.Peer reviewe

Branched-Chain Amino Acid Levels Are Related with Surrogates of Disturbed Lipid Metabolism among Older Men

Peer reviewe

Characteristics and Outcomes of Thrombolysis-Treated Stroke Patients With and Without Saccular Intracranial Aneurysms

Peer reviewe

Yksikin alkoholiannos päivässä lisää kuolemanvaaraa

Non peer reviewe