Assessing the future medical cost burden for the European health systems under alternative exposure-to-risks scenarios.

Background: Ageing populations and rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) increasingly contribute to the growing cost burden facing European healthcare systems. Few studies have attempted to quantify the future magnitude of this burden at the European level, and none of them consider the impact of potential changes in risk factor trajectories on future health expenditures.

Methods: The new microsimulation model forecasts the impact of behavioural and metabolic risk factors on NCDs, longevity and direct healthcare costs, and shows how changes in epidemiological trends can modify those impacts.

Immunolocalization of TRPC channel subunits 1 and 4 in the chicken retina.

In the vertebrate retina, multiple cell types express G protein-coupled receptors linked to the IP3 signaling pathway. The signaling engendered by activation of this pathway can involve activation of calcium permeable transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. To begin to understand the role of these channels in the retina, we undertake an immunocytochemical localization of two TRP channel subunits.