Enlisting the power of youth for climate change.

Despite efforts by the adult generation to stem the rise of global warming, the planet is getting hotter every year. The present article analyzes, within the framework of social-cognitive theory, highly resourceful youth conducting environmental programs that curtail heat-trapping gases and protect various ecological supports of life. The children's intuitive principles of change closely matched the formal principles of social-cognitive theory.

Prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors and metabolic syndrome in obese Kuwaiti adolescents.

Background: Childhood and adolescent obesity is associated with insulin resistance, abnormal glucose metabolism, hypertension, dyslipidemia, inflammation, liver disease, and compromised vascular function. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factor abnormalities and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a sample of obese Kuwaiti adolescents, as prevalence data might be helpful in improving engagement with obesity treatment in future.

Methods: Eighty obese Kuwaiti adolescents (40 males) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 12.

Associations of pregnancy complications with calculated cardiovascular disease risk and cardiovascular risk factors in middle age: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Background: The nature and contribution of different pregnancy-related complications to future cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors and the mechanisms underlying these associations remain unclear.

Methods And Results: We studied associations of pregnancy diabetes mellitus, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm delivery, and size for gestational age with calculated 10-year CVD risk (based on the Framingham score) and a wide range of cardiovascular risk factors measured 18 years after pregnancy (mean age at outcome assessment, 48 years) in a prospective cohort of 3416 women. Gestational diabetes mellitus was positively associated with fasting glucose and insulin, even after adjustment for potential confounders, whereas hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were associated with body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids, and insulin.

Simvastatin prevents inflammation-induced aortic stiffening and endothelial dysfunction.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine whether simvastatin would protect against inflammation-induced aortic stiffening and endothelial dysfunction.

Methods: Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) were assessed three times, at baseline, after a 14 day administration of simvastatin or placebo and 8 h after Salmonella typhi vaccination in 50 healthy subjects.

Results: Following vaccination there was a significant increase in aPWV in the placebo group (5.

Association between general and central adiposity in childhood, and change in these, with cardiovascular risk factors in adolescence: prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To examine the prospective associations between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and fat mass in childhood and cardiovascular risk factors at age 15-16.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

Lack of effect of TNFalpha blockade therapy on circulating adiponectin levels in patients with autoimmune disease: results from two independent prospective studies.

Background: Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory and potentially antiatherogenic molecule. Some recent reports suggest that tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) blockade therapy increases circulating adiponectin levels, but data are sparse and inconsistent.

Methods: Data from a double-blind placebo controlled study of onercept in 126 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and from pre- and post-adalimumab treatment in 171 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were used to examine the effect of TNFalpha blockade therapy on adiponectin.

Vascular dysfunction and alteration of novel and classic cardiovascular risk factors in mothers of growth restricted offspring.

Objective: Offspring and maternal birthweight are inversely associated with maternal cardiovascular disease. However, whether established or putative novel cardiovascular risk factors including vascular and metabolic function are disrupted in women who delivered small for gestational age (SGA) offspring is unknown.

Methods: Case control study with analysis of inflammatory, lipid, metabolic and haemostatic markers and microvascular function as assessed by laser Doppler iontophoresis 4 years after the index pregnancy in 28 mothers who delivered SGA offspring at term and 29 matched controls.

High molecular weight adiponectin is not associated with incident coronary heart disease in older women: a nested prospective case-control study.

Context: Adiponectin levels appear weakly linked to incident vascular disease, but the high molecular weight (HMW) fraction may be more relevant.

Objective: Our objective was to test whether HMW adiponectin, the key biologically active fraction, is linked to incident coronary heart disease (CHD) events. DESIGN, PARTICIPANTS, AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We assessed the association between HMW adiponectin (measured by ELISA) and CHD risk in a prospective (4-yr) case-control study nested within the British Women's Heart and Health Study.

The association of insulin-like-growth factor 1 (IGF-1) with incident coronary heart disease in women: findings from the prospective British Women's Heart and Health Study.

Objective: To examine the association of insulin-like-growth factor 1 (IGF-1) with coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.

Methods: Prospective (4 year) case-control study nested within the British Women's Heart and Health Study. With 167 cases and 333 controls.

Effects of tumor necrosis factor blockade on cardiovascular risk factors in psoriatic arthritis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: To conduct a robust, double-blind, placebo-controlled study examining the effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) modulation on concentrations of traditional and novel cardiovascular disease risk factors in patients with an inflammatory condition.

Methods: In this double-blind study, 127 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and active psoriasis were randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms (placebo, onercept 50 mg, or onercept 100 mg for 12 weeks). Traditional and novel biochemical risk factors were evaluated at baseline and at the end of the treatment period.

Adipokines and risk of type 2 diabetes in older men.

Objective: The aim was to assess the relationship between adipokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, leptin, and adiponectin, with development of type 2 diabetes and assess the role of obesity and insulin resistance in these relationships.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a prospective study of 3,599 nondiabetic men aged 60-79 years and followed up for a mean period of 5 years, during which time there were 108 incident cases of type 2 diabetes.

Results: Elevated IL-6, leptin, and low adiponectin were associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes even after adjustment for BMI, lifestyle factors, preexisting cardiovascular disease, and systolic blood pressure.

Adiponectin and coronary heart disease: a prospective study and meta-analysis.

Background: There is uncertainty about the association between circulating concentrations of adiponectin and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. We report new data from a prospective study in the context of a meta-analysis of previously published prospective studies.

Methods And Results: We measured baseline adiponectin levels in stored serum samples of 589 men with fatal CHD or nonfatal myocardial infarction and in 1231 controls nested within a prospective study of 5661 men (aged 40 to 59 years) recruited during 1978-1980, as well as in paired samples obtained 4 years apart from 221 of these participants.

Cardiovascular risk parameters in men with ankylosing spondylitis in comparison with non-inflammatory control subjects: relevance of systemic inflammation.

Men with AS (ankylosing spondylitis) are at elevated risk for CHD (coronary heart disease) but information on risk factors is sparse. We compared a range of conventional and novel risk factors in men with AS in comparison with healthy controls and, in particular, determined the influence of systemic inflammation. Twenty-seven men with confirmed AS and 19 controls matched for age were recruited.

Short- and long-term changes in plasma inflammatory markers associated with preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is characterized by hypertension, dyslipidemia, and increased systemic inflammatory response and has been associated with an increased maternal risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. Low-grade chronic inflammation is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study examined changes in inflammatory markers prospectively during pregnancy, the current inflammatory status of women who had a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia 20 years previously against matched controls, and the association between inflammatory genes and risk of preeclampsia in a case (n=106) control (n=212) study.