Promoting Physical Activity in People With Parkinson's Disease Through a Smartphone App: A Pilot Study.

Background And Purpose: Physical activity has beneficial symptomatic effects for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but increasing-and sustaining-a physically active lifestyle remains challenging. We investigated the feasibility (ability to increase step counts) and usability of a behavioral intervention using a motivational smartphone application to remotely increase physical activity in PD.

Methods: We performed a 4-week, double-blind pilot trial.

Consumption of Olive Oil and Diet Quality and Risk of Dementia-Related Death.

Importance: Age-standardized dementia mortality rates are on the rise. Whether long-term consumption of olive oil and diet quality are associated with dementia-related death is unknown.

Objective: To examine the association of olive oil intake with the subsequent risk of dementia-related death and assess the joint association with diet quality and substitution for other fats.

Multigenerational association between smoking and autism spectrum disorder: findings from a nationwide prospective cohort study.

Animal studies have shown that exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy can induce neurobehavioral anomalies in multiple subsequent generations. However, little work has examined such effects in humans. We examined the risk of grandchild autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in association with grandmother's smoking during pregnancy, using data from 53 562 mothers and grandmothers and 120 267 grandchildren in Nurses' Health Study II.

Plasma metabolites of a healthy lifestyle in relation to mortality and longevity: Four prospective US cohort studies.

Background: A healthy lifestyle is associated with a lower premature mortality risk and with longer life expectancy. However, the metabolic pathways of a healthy lifestyle and how they relate to mortality and longevity are unclear. We aimed to identify and replicate a healthy lifestyle metabolomic signature and examine how it is related to total and cause-specific mortality risk and longevity.

Flavonoid intake and risk of Parkinson's disease.

Background: Flavonoids have been proposed to reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, results from epidemiological studies have been inconclusive.

Objective: To prospectively examine the association between the intake of flavonoids and their subclasses and the risk of PD and how pesticides may confound or modify that association.

Hair color, family history of melanoma, and the risk of Parkinson's disease: An analysis update.

Background: A shared biological component between melanoma and Parkinson's disease (PD) has been suggested. Yet, epidemiological evidence is scarce.

Objective: To examine the association of hair color and family history of melanoma, two strong predictors of melanoma risk, with the occurrence of PD.

Smoking and multiple sclerosis risk in black people: A nested case-control study.

Background: Smoking is a well-established risk factor for MS; however, it is not known whether its effect on disease risk varies by race/ethnicity.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study among US military personnel who have serum samples stored at the Department of Defense Serum Repository. We measured serum cotinine levels, a marker of tobacco smoke exposure, in 157 Black and 23 White individuals who developed MS during follow-up.

Probable Parasomnias and Mortality: A Prospective Study in US Men.

Objective: To examine the association between parasomnias, including rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and sleep walking (SW), and mortality risk in a large-scale population-based cohort.

Methods: This prospective cohort study was based on 25,695 participants from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, a population-based cohort of male health professionals in the United States. Probable SW (pSW) and probable RBD (pRBD) were measured by questions adapted from the Mayo Sleep Questionnaire in 2012.

Association Between Bowel Movement Pattern and Cognitive Function: Prospective Cohort Study and a Metagenomic Analysis of the Gut Microbiome.

Background And Objectives: Little is known regarding the association between intestinal motility patterns and cognitive function in individuals who are baseline cognitively healthy. The gut microbiome may contribute to the association. We examined the association between bowel movement (BM) pattern and cognitive function and explored the role of the gut microbiome in explaining this association.

The STEPWISE study: study protocol for a smartphone-based exercise solution for people with Parkinson's Disease (randomized controlled trial).

Background: Exercise has various health benefits for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, implementing exercise into daily life and long-term adherence remain challenging. To increase a sustainable engagement with physical activity of people with PD, interventions that are motivating, accessible, and scalable are needed.

Integrating genetics and metabolomics from multi-ethnic and multi-fluid data reveals putative mechanisms for age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in older adults. Investigating shared genetic components between metabolites and AMD can enhance our understanding of its pathogenesis. We conduct metabolite genome-wide association studies (mGWASs) using multi-ethnic genetic and metabolomic data from up to 28,000 participants.

Association of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Clinical Progression in Patients With ALS: Post Hoc Analysis of the EMPOWER Trial.

Background And Objectives: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects and could be beneficial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Higher dietary intake and plasma levels of PUFAs, in particular alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), have been associated with a lower risk of ALS in large epidemiologic cohort studies, but data on disease progression in patients with ALS are sparse. We examined whether plasma levels of ALA and other PUFAs contributed to predicting survival time and functional decline in patients with ALS.

Metagenomics of the Gut Microbiome in Parkinson's Disease: Prodromal Changes.

Objective: Prior studies on the gut microbiome in Parkinson's disease (PD) have yielded conflicting results, and few studies have focused on prodromal (premotor) PD or used shotgun metagenomic profiling to assess microbial functional potential. We conducted a nested case-control study within 2 large epidemiological cohorts to examine the role of the gut microbiome in PD.

Methods: We profiled the fecal metagenomes of 420 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study with recent onset PD (N = 75), with features of prodromal PD (N = 101), controls with constipation (N = 113), and healthy controls (N = 131) to identify microbial taxonomic and functional features associated with PD and features suggestive of prodromal PD.

Association of the Mediterranean Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diet With the Risk of Dementia.

Importance: Dementia threatens the well-being of older adults, making efforts toward prevention of great importance.

Objective: To evaluate the association of the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet with the risk of dementia in 3 prospective studies and a meta-analysis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cohort analyses included the Whitehall II study (WII), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort (FOS), and the meta-analysis included 11 cohort studies.

Long-Term Intake of Folate, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12 and the Incidence of Parkinson's Disease in a Sample of U.S. Women and Men.

Background: Folate and vitamins B6 and B12 have been proposed as protective against the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Two prior longitudinal studies were inconclusive.

Objective: The aim was to examine the association of long-term intake of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 with the incidence of PD.

Epstein-Barr virus as a leading cause of multiple sclerosis: mechanisms and implications.

Epidemiological studies have provided compelling evidence that multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rare complication of infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a herpesvirus that infects more than 90% of the global population. This link was long suspected because the risk of MS increases markedly after infectious mononucleosis (symptomatic primary EBV infection) and with high titres of antibodies to specific EBV antigens. However, it was not until 2022 that a longitudinal study demonstrated that MS risk is minimal in individuals who are not infected with EBV and that it increases over 30-fold following EBV infection.

Association of Diet and Physical Activity With All-Cause Mortality Among Adults With Parkinson Disease.

Importance: Greater diet quality and physical activity level are associated with a lower risk of developing Parkinson disease (PD). However, information regarding the association between lifestyle behaviors and survival after PD diagnosis remains limited.

Objective: To examine the association of prediagnosis and postdiagnosis overall diet quality and physical activity with all-cause mortality among individuals with PD.