Health status and quality of life before critical illness: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study.

Background: Previous findings support the claim intensive care unit (ICU) patients have a higher rate of comorbidities and reduction of health- and functional status compared with the normal population.

Aim: In this prospective observational study, our aim was to determine those health-related factors at the age of 31 years which were associated with a later critical illness among previously un-hospitalized individuals by exploring data obtained from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966).

Methods: NFBC1966 is a Finnish birth cohort, which includes 12,058 live births with expected dates of delivery during 1966.

Chronotype and metabolic syndrome in midlife: findings from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.

Evening chronotype is known to be associated with various chronic diseases and cardiovascular risk factors. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that together raise the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious health problems. Only a few studies have been published on the association between chronotype and metabolic syndrome in unselected population data, with conflicting results.

Women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus present an accumulation of cardiovascular risk factors at age 46-A birth cohort study.

Introduction: The incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is globally increasing, and it has been associated with later type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, long-term population-based studies investigating common CVD risk factors years after pregnancy are lacking. To evaluate the future mortality and morbidity in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, we conducted a thorough investigation of midlife risk factors in women with and without previous GDM.

Autoantibodies predict type 1 diabetes after gestational diabetes - a 23-year cohort study.

Objective: To study the predictive value of autoantibodies for type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 (T2DM) diabetes morbidity after gestational diabetes (GDM) in a 23-year follow-up study.

Design: Prospective population-based cohort study.

Methods: We studied 391 women with GDM, and 391 age- and parity-matched controls, who delivered in 1984-1994.

Blood DNA methylation profiling identifies cathepsin Z dysregulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterised by pulmonary vascular remodelling causing premature death from right heart failure. Established DNA variants influence PAH risk, but susceptibility from epigenetic changes is unknown. We addressed this through epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), testing 865,848 CpG sites for association with PAH in 429 individuals with PAH and 1226 controls.

Cross-sectional analysis of depressive symptom profiles and serum C-reactive protein levels: data from the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort.

Purpose: Individuals with depression exhibit significantly higher levels of systemic inflammation than those without depression, particularly among those with atypical depression. However, this association has been less convincing at the population level among individuals without a formal depression diagnosis but with suggestive symptoms. Our aim was to clarify this association.

Sleep disturbances in women with early-onset menopausal transition: a population-based study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate sleep disturbances in 46-yr-old women and their association with early-onset menopausal transition.

Methods: The women of this cross-sectional birth cohort study were divided into climacteric (n = 359) and preclimacteric (n = 2,302) groups by their menopausal status, defined by follicle-stimulating hormone levels and menstrual history. Sleep disturbances were evaluated with Athens Insomnia Scale 5.

Former long-term use of combined hormonal contraception and glucose metabolism disorders in perimenopausal women: A prospective, population-based cohort study.

Introduction: Current use of combined hormonal contraceptives worsens glucose tolerance and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus at late fertile age, but the impact of their former use on the risk of glucose metabolism disorders is still controversial.

Material And Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal birth cohort study with long-term follow-up consisting of 5889 women. The cohort population has been followed at birth, and at ages of 1, 14, 31 and 46.

Low and high serum IgG associates with respiratory infections in a young and working age population.

Background: We investigated health consequences and genetic properties associated with serum IgG concentration in a young and working age general population.

Methods: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966, n = 12,231) health data have been collected from birth to 52 years of age. Relationships between life-long health events, medications, chronic conditions, lifestyle, and serum IgG concentration measured at age 46 years (n = 5430) were analysed.

Association of accelerometer-measured physical activity, back static muscular endurance and abdominal obesity with radicular pain and non-specific low back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide and often associated with lifestyle factors. However, studies further examining the role of these lifestyle factors in non-specific low back pain in comparison with radicular pain are sparse. The aim of this cross sectional study was to investigate how diverse lifestyle factors are associated with LBP.

Recurrent prescription of sleep medication among primary care patients with type 2 diabetes: an observational study of real-world registry data.

Background: Little knowledge exists on the prevalence of recurrent sleep medication prescriptions among primary care patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Our aims were to examine the prevalence of recurrent sleep medication prescriptions and to elucidate the most often prescribed sleep medications in a Finnish primary care T2D population.

Methods: The study examined 4,508 T2D patients who consulted a primary health care center between 2011 and 2019 in Rovaniemi, Finland.

The interplay between inflammatory cytokines and cardiometabolic disease: bi-directional mendelian randomisation study.

Objective: To leverage large scale genetic association data to investigate the interplay between circulating cytokines and cardiometabolic traits, and thus identifying potential therapeutic targets.

Design: Bi-directional Mendelian randomisation study.

Setting: Genome-wide association studies from three Finnish cohorts (Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, Young Finns Study, or FINRISK study), and genetic association summary statistics pooled from observational studies for expression quantitative trait loci and cardiometabolic traits.

Depression mediates the relationship between alexithymia and obesity in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966).

Background: The fact that a complex relationship exists between alexithymia and body mass index (BMI) is well established, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we explore the relationship between alexithymia and depressive symptoms in relation to adiposity measures, including the direct and indirect effect of alexithymia and depressive symptoms on obesity over a 15-year time-period, in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966).

Methods: The study included individuals from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) who had available data for adiposity measures (body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio), alexithymia (measured by the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale: TAS-20), depressive symptoms (measured by the 13-item depression subscale of Hopkins Symptom Checklist: HSCL-13) at age of 31 years (n = 4773) and 46 years (n = 4431).

Insulin resistance and lipid levels in the middle-aged offspring of parents with severe mental illness.

Background: Type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemias co-occur frequently with severe mental illnesses (SMI). However, less is known about serum insulin and lipid levels and prevalence of Insulin Resistance (IR) in offspring with familial risk for SMI.

Method: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 consists of 12,068 mothers, 11,068 fathers, and 12,231 children from the two northernmost provinces in Finland.

Inflammatory Diseases, Inflammatory Biomarkers, and Alzheimer Disease: An Observational Analysis and Mendelian Randomization.

Background And Objectives: Whether chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases causally affect the risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) is controversial. We characterized the relationship between inflammatory diseases and risk of AD and explored the role of circulating inflammatory biomarkers in the relationships between inflammatory diseases and AD.

Methods: We performed observational analyses for chronic autoimmune inflammatory diseases and risk of AD using data from 2,047,513 participants identified in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

Elevated One-Hour Post-Load Glucose Is Independently Associated with Albuminuria: A Cross-Sectional Population Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the associations between albuminuria and fasting (FPG), 1 h post-load (1 h PG) and 2 h post-load plasma glucose (2 h PG) in an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A total of 496 people free of known diabetes (mean age 72 years) participated in the examinations including the OGTT with plasma glucose measurements at 0, 1, and 2 h and levels of HbA1c. Albuminuria was determined by the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio and was defined as ≥3.

52-year follow-up of a birth cohort reveals a high pneumonia incidence among young men.

Background: Knowledge of pneumonia incidence and risk factors in adults is mainly based on clinical studies of selected patient data and registers with ageing populations. Prospective population-based investigations, such as birth cohort studies, are needed to understand pneumonia incidence and risk factors among young and working-age populations.

Methods: Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC) 1966 data (n=6750) were analysed for pneumonia incidence and risk factors.

A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study.

There is a wide variation in the development and course of erectile dysfunction (ED) in men, which confirms the need for prospective studies. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis among the general male population at the baseline ( = 359) and in a follow-up survey ( = 218) 12 years later. The prospective 12-year study included 189 men.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its prognosis associates with shorter leucocyte telomeres in a 21-year follow-up study.

Leucocyte telomere length (LTL) has been associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but the evidence is imperfect. Furthermore, liver fibrosis has been shown to correlate with mortality and recent studies have also found associations with LTL and fibrosis suggesting that LTL may have additional prognostic value in liver diseases. Our objective was to study the association of LTL and NAFLD and evaluate the association of LTL in prognosis of NAFLD subjects.