Tag: Epidemiology
Obesity and inflammation: A recipe for depression in women
A team led by Dr Julie Pasco, Professor of Epidemiology at Deakin University and Barwon Health, Australia, analysed data from the longitudinal Geelong Osteoporosis Study over 16 years. The researchers discovered that metabolically unhealthy obesity, defined by low-grade inflammation in combination with obesity, puts women at higher risk of developing depression. These novel findings highlight inflammation as both a key […]
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Leaving a legacy of ill health: The trans-generational effects of smoking
The University of Bristol is a respected authority in research at the intersection of epigenetics and epidemiology. Founded by Jean Golding, Emeritus Professor of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, also known as Children of the 90s) is one of the world’s most comprehensive ongoing data sets spanning generations. Findings from this multi-generational […]
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Epidemiology of Sjogren syndrome in Africa: A scoping review
Methodology We report the review in accordance with O’Malley and Arksey methods. We searched for studies reporting on the epidemiology of Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) in Africa that were published prior to 17 May 2020, both in electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and African Journals Online) and manually. Studies which focused on Sjogren’s syndrome symptoms, reports based on fewer than 10 participants, […]
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Understanding and responding to climate change: our favourite climate research from 2021
Climate change solutions must reach across education, agriculture, energy production, politics and policymaking, manufacturing, travel, transport – almost every aspect of life. The six articles highlighted below demonstrate the breadth of research being undertaken by scientists globally as they work to understand the complex impacts of climate change, design new technologies and processes for a greener future, assess the financial […]
Statistics in the era of COVID-19: Measuring lockdowns with doubling time
The key to understanding SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) transmission is understanding the exponential growth of viral transmissions. The problem is that the concept of exponential growth is challenging for many to understand and interpret, including policymakers who need to make quick and informed decisions. Dr Biljana Stangeland, Executive Director/Chief Scientific Officer at Alv B, Norway, has been using doubling time – the […]
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The unwanted tenant: Parasitic nematodes in Aboriginal communities
Strongyloides stercoralis and HTLV-I are endemic pathogens that impact millions of people worldwide, particularly those in socioeconomically deprived communities. Dr Catherine Gordon and her team, led by NHMRC Leadership Fellow Professor Don McManus at QIMR Berghofer in Brisbane, Australia, summarise the current data on S. stercoralis and HTLV-I infections in Tropical Australia, and advocate for the inclusion of Strongyloides […]
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Geovisualization for insights into infectious disease risk
Environmental, social, and economic factors influence infectious disease transmission and resulting risk. Using exploratory data analysis techniques can help uncover previously unknown relationships between these factors, contributing to improved public health efforts. Drs Abhishek Kala, Samuel Atkinson, and Chetan Tiwari from the University of North Texas, USA, use geovisualization to identify the spatial context and factors that are strongly associated […]
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How treatment epidemiology can shape future healthcare research
Dr Aisling Caffrey is an Associate Professor of Health Outcomes at the College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island. For over a decade, Dr Caffrey has been studying the treatment of diseases in real-world clinical practice, an area Dr Caffrey has termed ‘treatment epidemiology’. Dr Caffrey’s expertise is in comparative effectiveness and safety research, where she studies the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions, […]
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Integrating molecular epidemiology and microbiome science
How cancer patients respond to therapy
Understanding the variation in responses to cancer therapeutics would create better treatment for many patients and provide an important basis for further research into new or personalised treatments. It is understood there is a connection between patient response to treatment and their microbiome. However, there is currently a lack of consensus on the microbial signatures present in responsive versus unresponsive […]