Background
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) represents the most common inflammatory neurological disease causing disability in early adulthood. Childhood and adolescence factors might be of relevance in the ...development of MS. We aimed to investigate the association between various factors (e.g., prematurity, breastfeeding, daycare attendance, weight history) and MS risk.
Methods
Data from the baseline assessment of the German National Cohort (NAKO) were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between childhood and adolescence factors and risk of MS. Analyses stratified by sex were conducted.
Results
Among a total of 204,273 participants, 858 reported an MS diagnosis. Male sex was associated with a decreased MS risk (HR 0.48; 95% CI 0.41–0.56), while overweight (HR 2.03; 95% CI 1.41–2.94) and obesity (HR 1.89; 95% CI 1.02–3.48) at 18 years of age compared to normal weight were associated with increased MS risk. Having been breastfed for ≤ 4 months was associated with a decreased MS risk in men (HR 0.59; 95% CI 0.40–0.86) compared to no breastfeeding. No association with MS risk was observed for the remaining factors.
Conclusions
Apart from overweight and obesity at the age of 18 years, we did not observe considerable associations with MS risk. The proportion of cases that can be explained by childhood and adolescence factors examined in this study was low. Further investigations of the association between the onset of overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence and its interaction with physical activity and MS risk seem worthwhile.
Epidemiology of IGF-1 and Cancer Nimptsch, Katharina; Giovannucci, Edward
Insulin-like Growth Factors and Cancer,
08/2011
Book Chapter
The incidence rates of cancer have been increasing steadily during the last 20 years in industrially developed parts of the world, notably Western Europe and North America (IARC 2008). The wide ...variation in cancer rates across the world as well as the observed increase in cancer risk among migrants moving from low-risk to high-risk countries convincingly suggest that environmental factors associated with a Western lifestyle may be major determinants of cancer risk. Western lifestyle is characterized by a diet high in total and saturated fat, refined sugars, and animal protein accompanied by physical inactivity. These lifestyle factors and overweight, which is most commonly related to Western diet and lifestyle, have been associated with insulin resistance and postprandial hyperinsulinemia, and many of them have been positively associated with different types of cancer in epidemiological studies. Both insulin and IGF-1 can enhance tumor development by stimulating cell proliferation and by inhibiting apoptosis. It has been hypothesized that variations in the insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathways could account for the nutritional and lifestyle risk factors and the high cancer incidence in Western countries.
Association between dietary factors and plasma fetuin-A concentrations in the general population Nimptsch, Katharina; Jürgen JankeauthorMolecular Epidemiology Research Group, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany; Tobias PischonauthorMolecular Epidemiology Research Group, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), 13125 Berlin, Germany ...
2015
Journal Article
Matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) is an indispensable tool in modern lipid research since it is fast, sensitive, tolerates sample impurities and provides ...spectra without major analyte fragmentation.
We will discuss some methodological aspects, the related ion-forming processes and the MALDI MS characteristics of the different lipid classes (with the focus on glycerophospholipids) and the progress, which was achieved during the last ten years. Particular attention will be given to quantitative aspects of MALDI MS since this is widely considered as the most serious drawback of the method. Although the detailed role of the matrix is not yet completely understood, it will be explicitly shown that the careful choice of the matrix is crucial (besides the careful evaluation of the positive and negative ion mass spectra) in order to be able to detect all lipid classes of interest.
Two developments will be highlighted: spatially resolved Imaging MS is nowadays well established and the distribution of lipids in tissues merits increasing interest because lipids are readily detectable and represent ubiquitous compounds. It will also be shown that a combination of MALDI MS with thin-layer chromatography (TLC) enables a fast spatially resolved screening of an entire TLC plate which makes the method competitive with LC/MS.
The 11% of people with private health insurance (PHI) in Germany have so far been underrepresented in health services research. The scientific use of PHI data is rare. The aim of this research was to ...examine the scientific usability of PHI data and to highlight challenges and lessons learned in the process of data preparation and analysis using a linked dataset (n=3,109) of survey and claims data of one PHI company. Challenges were identified in the terminology of the PHI insurance, in the processing and validity of the data, and regarding insured persons without submitted billing receipts. With thorough preparation of the data and presentation of the limitations, PHI data can be used for health services research.