Publication: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Matthew Pearce, Tessa Strain, Katrien Wijndaele, Stephen J. Sharp, Alexander Mok & Søren Brage

27 July 2021

Summary

Current physical activity guidelines do not distinguish between activity accumulated in different behavioural domains but some studies suggest that occupational physical activity (OPA) may not confer health benefits and could even be detrimental. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between OPA and mortality outcomes.

Publication: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Ghadeer S. Aljuraiban, Rachel Gibson, Leenah Al-Freeh, Sara Al-Musharaf, Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert, Linda M. Oude Griep, Queenie Chan,

1 September 2021

Summary

Saudi Arabian diets are transitioning to more Western dietary patterns that have been associated with higher levels of inflammation. Emerging evidence suggests plant-based diets are related to lower levels of inflammation; however, the definition of plant-based diets varies.

Researchers aimed to identify the extent to which an overall Plant-Based Diet Index (PDI), Healthy-PDI (hPDI), and Unhealthy-PDI (uPDI) vs Energy-Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index correlate with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level.

Although all indexes had a small or moderate correlation with hs-CRP, only E-DII score was positively associated with hs-CRP level. Future research can examine PDI-based interventions for lowering inflammation.

Publication: Nature Medicine

Na Cai, Aurora Gomez-Duran, Ekaterina Yonova-Doing, Kousik Kundu, Annette I. Burgess, Zoe J. Golder, Claudia Calabrese, Marc J. Bonder, Marta Camacho, Rachael A. Lawson, Lixin Li, Caroline H. Williams-Gray, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, David J. Roberts, Nick A. Watkins, Willem H. Ouwehand, Adam S. Butterworth, Isobel D. Stewart, Maik Pietzner, Nick J. Wareham, Claudia Langenberg, John Danesh, Klaudia Walter, Peter M.Rothwell, Joanna M. M. Howson, Oliver Stegle, Patrick F. Chinnery & Nicole Soranzo

23 August 2021

Summary

Researchers have identified associations between mtDNA variants and an amino acid, N-formylmethionine (fMet), and effects of fMet on the risk of developing a range of common, late-onset illnesses. Read the full story.

Publication: Journal of Neurotrauma

Jeanette Tas, Erta Beqiri, Ruud C. van Kaam, Marek Czosnyka, Joseph Donnelly, Roel H. Haeren, Iwan C.C. van der Horst, Peter J. Hutchinson, Sander M.J. van Kuijk, Analisa L. Liberti, David K. Menon, Cornelia W.E. Hoedemaekers, Bart Depreitere, Peter Smielewski, Geert Meyfroidt, Ari Ercole, and Marcel J.H. Aries

16 August 2021

Summary

It is increasingly recognised that patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) may benefit from individualised clinical management. Cerebral autoregulation (CA) may allow for maintaining cerebral blood flow for adequate energetic requirements in response to changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), by means of vasoconstriction (the narrowing (constriction) of blood vessels by small muscles in their walls) and vasodilation (widening of blood vessels).

Publication: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Chen S, Jones PB, Underwood BR, Fernández-Egea E, Qin P, Lewis JR, Cardinal RN

11 August 2021

Summary

Researchers studied patients over 65 known to CPFT mental health services during the early COVID-19 pandemic, and historical control groups (people known to have acquired COVID-19 itself did not take part). During lockdown, people with dementia or severe mental illness had a higher risk of death without confirmed COVID-19.

Publication: Metabolites

Nancy McBride, Paul Yousefi, Ulla Sovio, Kurt Taylor, Yassaman Vafai, Tiffany Yang, Bo Hou, Matthew Suderman, Caroline Relton,  Gordon C. S. Smith, Deborah A. Lawlor

10 August 2021

Summary

Many women who experience gestational diabetes (GDM), gestational hypertension (GHT), pre-eclampsia (PE), have a spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) or have an offspring born small/large for gestational age (SGA/LGA) do not meet the criteria for high-risk pregnancies based upon certain maternal risk factors. The aim of this study was to assess the predictive ability of an untargeted platform of over 700 metabolites to predict the above pregnancy-related disorders in two cohorts.

Publication: Nature Medicine

Charlotte K. Boughton, Afroditi Tripyla, Sara Hartnell, Aideen Daly, David Herzig, Malgorzata E. Wilinska, Cecilia Czerlau, Andrew Fry, Lia Bally & Roman Hovorka 

04 August 2021

Summary

An artificial pancreas could soon help people living with type 2 diabetes and who also require kidney dialysis. Tests led by the University of Cambridge and Inselspital, University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland show that the device can help patients safely and effectively manage their blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of low blood sugar levels. Read the full press release.

Publication: International Journal of Epidemiology

Peige Song, Ananya Gupta, Ian Y Goon, Mehedi Hasan, Sara Mahmood, Rajendra Pradeepa, Samreen Siddiqui, Gary S Frost, Dian Kusuma, Marisa Miraldo, Franco Sassi, Nick J Wareham, Sajjad Ahmed, Ranjit M. Anjana, Soren Brage, Nita G Forouhi, Sujeet Jha, Anuradhani Kasturiratne, Prasad Katulanda, Khadija I Khawaja, Marie Loh, Malay K Mridha, Ananda R Wickremasinghe, Jaspal S Kooner, John C Chambers,

09 July 2021

Summary

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are leading and closely interlinked global health challenges. The burdens of T2DM and CVD are especially high in South Asia, one of the most populous and the most densely populated regions of the world. Identification of the primary risk factors for T2DM and CVD is central to the development of effective approaches for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases such as T2DM and CVD. To address this important need, we have established a unique cross-sectional population-based study focused on the South Asian population: the South Asia Biobank (SAB).

Publication: European Journal of Nutrition

Tuck Seng Cheng, Stephen J. Sharp, Soren Brage, Pauline M. Emmett, Nita G. Forouhi & Ken K. Ong

7 July 2021

Summary

Early puberty is associated with adverse health outcomes. To identify potential modifiable factors for puberty timing, we examined the associations of prepubertal childhood macronutrient intakes with puberty timing in boys and girls. The findings suggest habitual total energy intakes in children, and protein intakes in girls, as potential modifiable determinants of puberty timing.

Publication: Neurobiology of Aging

David JWhiteside, P. Simon Jones, Boyd C P Ghosh, Ian Coyle-Gilchrist, Alexander Gerhard, Michele T. Hu, Johannes C Klein, P. Nigel Leigh, Alastair Church, David J Burn, Huw R Morris, James B Rowe, TimothyRittman

16 July 2021

Summary

This study investigated patterns of brain activity at rest in the neurodegenerative disease progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

The study found that participants with PSP spend more time than individuals without the disease in certain brain states, meaning their brain activity was less flexible and less efficient than normal. The time spent in these brain states was more apparent in participants who were more severely affected.

The changes in the brain’s activity did not only involve regions of the brain that are most affected by PSP, meaning that effect of the tau protein pathology of PSP has consequences across the whole brain, even where it may appear normal on a scan or have no tau pathology.

Publication: Journal of Nutrition

Philip T James, Zakari Ali, Andrew E Armitage, Ana Bonell, Carla Cerami, Hal Drakesmith, Modou Jobe, Kerry S Jones, Zara Liew, Sophie E Moore, Fernanda Morales-Berstein, Helen M Nabwera, Behzad Nadjm, Sant-Rayn Pasricha, Pauline Scheelbeek, Matt J Silver, Megan R Teh, Andrew M Prentice

1 July 2021

Summary

Many nutrients have powerful immunomodulatory actions with the potential to alter susceptibility to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, progression to symptoms, likelihood of severe disease, and survival. The aim was to review the latest evidence on how malnutrition across all its forms (under- and overnutrition and micronutrient status) may influence both susceptibility to, and progression of, COVID-19.

Publication: Pediatric Obesity

Laurentya Olga, Inge A. L. P. van Beijsterveldt, Ieuan A. Hughes, David B. Dunger, Ken K. Ong, Anita C. S. Hokken-Koelega, Emanuella De Lucia Rolfe

10 June 2021

Summary

Anthropometry-based equations (included weight, height, body mass index etc.) are commonly used to estimate infant body composition. However, existing equations were designed for newborns or adolescents. We aimed to (a) derive new prediction equations in infancy against air-displacement plethysmography (ADP-PEA Pod) as the criterion, (b) validate the newly developed equations in an independent infant cohort and (c) compare them with published equations (Slaughter-1988, Aris-2013, Catalano-1995).