Social Vulnerability Is Associated with Risk of COVID-19 Related Mortality in U.S. Counties with Confirmed Cases.

Objectives: To determine the association between the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) with the risk of COVID-19-related mortality.

Methods: We merged by county CDC's SVI and the New York Times data on coronavirus cases. We estimated the association between the SVI and risk of death from COVID-19 per 100,000 people in counties with confirmed cases (n=2,755 U.

Population-attributable fraction of risk factors for severe maternal morbidity.

Background: Severe maternal morbidity is an important proxy for maternal mortality. Population attributable fraction is the proportion of a disease that is attributable to a given risk factor and can be used to estimate the reduction in the disease that would be anticipated if a risk factor was reduced or eliminated.

Objective: We sought to determine the population-attributable fraction (PAF) of potentially modifiable risk factors for severe maternal morbidity.

Excessive gestational weight gain is associated with severe maternal morbidity.

Purpose: We determined the association between gestational weight gain and severe maternal morbidity.

Methods: We used data on 84,241 delivery hospitalizations at Magee-Womens Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA (2003-2012). Total gestational weight gain (kilogram) was converted to gestational age-standardized z-scores.

Presurgery Weight Loss Goals, Depressive Symptoms, and Weight Loss Among Women Undergoing Bariatric Surgery.

To determine whether preoperative weight loss goals are associated with postoperative weight loss and whether the effect is modified by preoperative depressive symptoms. Sixty-three women from an ongoing cohort study who were undergoing first-time bariatric surgery at a large, academic hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, were included in this subanalysis. They were assessed preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively in regard to anthropometric and biobehavioral factors.

Endometrial histology in severely obese bariatric surgery candidates: an exploratory analysis.

Background: Endometrial pathology risk has been linked to obesity; however, little is known of its prevalence in severely obese women not seeking care for endometrial pathology associated symptoms. This pilot study was designed to explore the frequency and risk factors associated with endometrial pathology in cancer-free, severely obese, bariatric surgery candidates using the Pipelle endometrial sampling technique (SureFlex Preferred Curette, Bioteque America, Inc, New Taipei City, Taiwan).

Methods: Twenty-nine severely obese bariatric surgery candidates with intact uteruses and no history of endometrial cancer or endometrial ablation were included in this subanalysis from a larger cohort of 47.

Adipose-derived stems cells and their role in human cancer development, growth, progression, and metastasis: a systematic review.

Obesity is a well recognized risk factor for several types of cancers, many of which occur solely or disproportionately in women. Adipose tissue is a rich source of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC), which have received attention for their role in cancer behavior. The purpose of this systematic review is to present the existing literature on the role of ASCs in the growth, development, progression, and metastasis of cancer, with an emphasis on malignancies that primarily affect women.

Obesity, lymphadenectomy and survival outcomes in intermediate to high-risk, early-stage endometrial cancer patients.

Aim: Lymphadenectomy or lymph node dissection is a topic of controversy in endometrial cancer (EC) treatment.

Materials & Methods: Associations between lymph node dissections and clinical factors were retrospectively examined in obese, endometrioid endometrial cancer patients with early-stage disease between 1995 and 2005. Overall, EC-specific and recurrence-free survival were also evaluated.

USA endometrial cancer projections to 2030: should we be concerned?

Aim: As the incidence of endometrial cancer (EC) increased considerably since 2007, this study aimed to project the burden of EC to the year 2030.

Methods: Multivariate linear regression was used to project EC incidence by modeling trends in EC incidence from 1990 to 2013, while accounting for temporal changes in obesity, hysterectomy and smoking.

Results: The best-fitting model predicting EC rates included a time effect plus effects for hysterectomy (12-year lag), severe obesity (3-year lag) and smoking (9-year lag).

The role of adipose-derived stem cells in endometrial cancer proliferation.

Background: Obesity has been identified as a key risk factor for the development of endometrial cancer (EC), the most common gynecologic malignancy in the US. We hypothesized that adipose tissue from EC patients secretes higher levels of cancer-promoting factors than healthy adipose tissue and promotes tumor cell growth.

Methods: In this study, we generated conditioned media from adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), an important regenerative cell population within adipose tissue.

Bariatric surgery interest around the world: what Google Trends can teach us.

Background: Bariatric surgery may prove an effective weight loss option for those struggling with severe obesity, but it is difficult to determine levels of interest in such procedures at the population level through traditional approaches. Analysis of Google Trend information may give providers and healthcare systems useful information regarding Internet users' interest in bariatric procedures. The objective of this study was to gather Google Trend information on worldwide Internet searches for "bariatric surgery", "gastric bypass", "gastric sleeve", "gastric plication", and "lap band" from 2004-2012 and to explore temporal relationships with relevant media events, economic variations, and policy modifications.

An exploratory investigation of links between changes in adipokines and quality of life in individuals undergoing weight loss interventions: possible implications for cancer research.

Objective: Obesity has been linked to a wide spectrum of malignancies, with the strongest association demonstrated for endometrial cancer. Although the mechanisms are not yet entirely clear, a number of risk biomarkers have been proposed, including altered adipokines. Systemic levels of these adipose derived molecules have also been linked in prior research to self-reported quality of life (QOL).