Publications by authors named "Fernanda Morales-Berstein"

Article Synopsis
  • - Children born via cesarean delivery have a greater risk of various health issues compared to those born vaginally, but the exact reasons are still not fully understood.
  • - A meta-analysis involving over 12,000 participants found six specific DNA methylation markers in newborns linked to cesarean delivery, but these markers did not persist into childhood.
  • - The study indicates that cesarean delivery affects certain blood cell proportions at birth, but further research is necessary to understand its long-term impacts on child health.
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Unlabelled: Recent epidemiological studies have suggested a positive association between ultra-processed food consumption and breast cancer risk, although some studies also reported no association. Furthermore, the evidence regarding the associations between intake of food with lower degrees of processing and breast cancer risk is limited. Thus, we investigated the associations between dietary intake by degree of food processing and breast cancer risk, overall and by breast cancer subtypes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

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Worldwide trends to delay childbearing have increased parental ages at birth. Older parental age may harm offspring health, but mechanisms remain unclear. Alterations in offspring DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns could play a role as aging has been associated with methylation changes in gametes of older individuals.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore how body fat affects the link between ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer (HNC) and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.
  • Analyzing data from over 450,000 participants over an average of 14 years showed that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods increased the risk of both cancers, with specific metrics (body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio) accounting for a small percentage of this risk.
  • The findings suggest a need for more research to understand the potential mechanisms behind the association between ultra-processed food intake and cancer risk, as the role
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The rising prevalence of childhood obesity has been postulated as an explanation for the increasing rate of individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D). In this study, we use Mendelian randomization (MR) to provide evidence that childhood body size has an effect on T1D risk (OR = 2.05 per change in body size category, 95% CI = 1.

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Background: Epigenetic clocks have been associated with cancer risk in several observational studies. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether they play a causal role in cancer risk or if they act as a non-causal biomarker.

Methods: We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to examine the genetically predicted effects of epigenetic age acceleration as measured by HannumAge (nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)), Horvath Intrinsic Age (24 SNPs), PhenoAge (11 SNPs), and GrimAge (4 SNPs) on multiple cancers (i.

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Background: 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.

Objective: 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.

Methods: We synthesized information on 13 nutrition-related components and their potential interactions with COVID-19: overweight, obesity, and diabetes; protein-energy malnutrition; anemia; vitamins A, C, D, and E; PUFAs; iron; selenium; zinc; antioxidants; and nutritional support.

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Agricultural intensification is a well-known driver of biodiversity loss. Crop diversity and its changes over space and time drive land use intensity and impact biodiversity of agricultural landscapes, while meeting the growing demand for human food and nutrition resources. Loss of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes reduces primary productivity and soil health and erodes a range of other ecosystem services.

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