Accelerated epigenetic aging worsens survival and mediates environmental stressors in fibrotic interstitial lung disease.

Background: The role of epigenetic aging in the environmental pathogenesis and prognosis of fibrotic interstitial lung disease (fILD) is unclear. We evaluated whether ambient particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM) and neighbourhood disadvantage exposures are associated with accelerated epigenetic aging, and whether epigenetic age is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with fILD.

Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2-5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts.

Background: More than 80% of the Canadian population lives in urban settings. Urban areas usually bring exposure to poorer air quality, less access to green spaces, and higher building density. These environmental factors may endanger child development.

Exposure to air pollutants and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis measured by magnetic resonance imaging: A cross-sectional analysis.

Objectives: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with higher risk of cardiovascular mortality. Less is known about the association of air pollution with initial development of cardiovascular disease. Herein, the association between low-level exposure to air pollutants and subclinical carotid atherosclerosis in adults without known clinical cardiovascular disease was investigated.

Advancing Population Health Through Open Environmental Data Platforms.

Data stand as the foundation for studying, evaluating, and addressing the multifaceted challenges within environmental health research. This chapter highlights the contributions of the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) in generating and democratizing access to environmental exposure data across Canada. Through a consortium-driven approach, CANUE standardizes a variety of datasets - including air quality, greenness, neighborhood characteristics, and weather and climatic factors - into a centralized, analysis-ready, postal code-indexed database.

Air pollution, lung function and mortality: survival and mediation analyses in UK Biobank.

Background: Air pollution is associated with lower lung function, and both are associated with premature mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Evidence remains scarce on the potential mediating effect of impaired lung function on the association between air pollution and mortality or CVD.

Methods: We used data from UK Biobank (n∼200 000 individuals) with 8-year follow-up to mortality and incident CVD.

Cannabis smoking is associated with advanced epigenetic age.

https://bit.ly/3x7s2CU

An ecological analysis of walkability and housing affordability in Canada: Moderation by city size and neighbourhood property type composition.

The neighbourhood built environment can support the physical activity of adults regardless of their individual-level socioeconomic status. However, physical activity supportive (walkable) neighbourhoods may not be accessible to those with lower incomes if homes in walkable neighbourhoods are too expensive. The objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the associations between neighbourhood walkability and home values in Canadian cities, and 2) to test whether these associations differ by city size and residential property type composition within neighbourhoods.

Short-term air pollution exposure and exacerbation events in mild to moderate COPD: a case-crossover study within the CanCOLD cohort.

Background: Infections are considered as leading causes of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Non-infectious risk factors such as short-term air pollution exposure may play a clinically important role. We sought to estimate the relationship between short-term air pollutant exposure and exacerbations in Canadian adults living with mild to moderate COPD.

Air pollution and COPD: GOLD 2023 committee report.

Exposure to air pollution is a major contributor to the pathogenesis of COPD worldwide. Indeed, most recent estimates suggest that 50% of the total attributable risk of COPD may be related to air pollution. In response, the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Scientific Committee performed a comprehensive review on this topic, qualitatively synthesised the evidence to date and proffered recommendations to mitigate the risk.

GlobeCorr: interactive globe-based visualization for correlation datasets.

Motivation: Increasingly complex omics datasets are being generated, along with associated diverse categories of metadata (environmental, clinical, etc.). Looking at the correlation between these variables can be critical to identify potential confounding factors and novel relationships.

Physical Activity and Symptom Burden in COPD: The Canadian Obstructive Lung Disease Study.

Background: The relationship between symptom burden and physical activity (PA) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains poorly understood with limited data on undiagnosed individuals and those with mild to moderate disease.

Objective: The primary objective was to evaluate the relationship between symptom burden and moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) in individuals from a random population-based sampling mirroring the population at large.

Methods: Baseline participants of the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (n=1558) were selected for this cross-sectional sub-study.

Predicting walking-to-work using street-level imagery and deep learning in seven Canadian cities.

New 'big data' streams such as street-level imagery are offering unprecedented possibilities for developing health-relevant data on the urban environment. Urban environmental features derived from street-level imagery have been used to assess pedestrian-friendly neighbourhood design and to predict active commuting, but few such studies have been conducted in Canada. Using 1.

Neighborhood greenness, but not walkability, is associated with self-rated measures of health in older adults: An analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether older Canadians residing in neighborhoods characterized by denser greenness or higher walkability have better self-reported health outcomes at 3-year follow-up. Data on self-reported chronic diseases (composite score of 10 conditions) and self-rated measures of health (general health, mental health, and healthy aging) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) were used as outcomes. The CLSA database was linked with the Canadian Active Living Environments (Can-ALE), a measure of walkability, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a measure of greenness.

Mapping Inequalities in the Physical, Built and Social Environment in Population-Based Studies of Brain Health.

This mini-tutorial describes how combining aggregate-level data about the physical, built and social environment can facilitate our understanding of factors shaping the human brain and, in turn, brain health. It provides entry-level information about methods and approaches one can use to uncover how inequalities in the local environment lead to health inequalities in general, and those in brain health in particular. This background knowledge should be helpful to those who are interested in using neuroimaging to investigate how environmental factors shape inter-individual variations in the human brain.

Ambient Air Pollution and Dysanapsis: Associations with Lung Function and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease Study.

Outdoor air pollution is a potential risk factor for lower lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Little is known about how airway abnormalities and lung growth might modify this relationship. To evaluate the associations of ambient air pollution exposure with lung function and COPD and examine possible interactions with dysanapsis.

Leisure sedentary time and physical activity are higher in neighbourhoods with denser greenness and better built environments: an analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Associations of environmental variables with physical activity and sedentary time using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, and the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (Canadian Active Living Environments (Can-ALE) dataset, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI, greenness) dataset) were assessed. The main outcome variables were physical activity and sedentary time as measured by a modified version of the Physical Activity for Elderly Scale. The sample consisted of adults aged 45 and older ( = 36 580, mean age 62.

Centralizing environmental datasets to support (inter)national chronic disease research: Values, challenges, and recommendations.

Unlabelled: Whereas environmental data are increasingly available, it is often not clear how or if datasets are available for health research. Exposure metrics are typically developed for specific research initiatives using disparate exposure assessment methods and no mechanisms are put in place for centralizing, archiving, or distributing environmental datasets. In parallel, potentially vast amounts of environmental data are emerging due to new technologies such as high resolution imagery and machine learning.

Ambient air pollution exposure and chronic bronchitis in the Lifelines cohort.

Background: Few large studies have assessed the relationship of long-term ambient air pollution exposure with the prevalence and incidence of symptoms of chronic bronchitis and cough.

Methods: We leveraged Lifelines cohort data on 132 595 (baseline) and 65 009 (second assessment) participants linked to ambient air pollution estimates. Logistic regression models adjusted for sex, age, educational attainment, body mass index, smoking status, pack-years smoking and environmental tobacco smoke at home were used to assess associations of air pollution with prevalence and incidence of chronic bronchitis (winter cough and sputum almost daily for ≥3 months/year), chronic cough (winter cough almost daily for ≥3 months/year) and prevalence of cough and sputum symptoms, irrespective of duration.

Green spaces, subjective health and depressed affect in middle-aged and older adults: a cross-country comparison of four European cohorts.

Background: Studies on associations between urban green space and mental health have yielded mixed results. This study examines associations of green space exposures with subjective health and depressed affect of middle-aged and older adults in four European cohorts.

Methods: Data came from four Western-European and Central-European ageing cohorts harmonised as part of the Mindmap project, comprising 16 189 adults with an average age of 50-71 years.

Overview of retrospective data harmonisation in the MINDMAP project: process and results.

Background: The MINDMAP project implemented a multinational data infrastructure to investigate the direct and interactive effects of urban environments and individual determinants of mental well-being and cognitive function in ageing populations. Using a rigorous process involving multiple teams of experts, longitudinal data from six cohort studies were harmonised to serve MINDMAP objectives. This article documents the retrospective data harmonisation process achieved based on the Maelstrom Research approach and provides a descriptive analysis of the harmonised data generated.