Fasting plasma glucose as initial screening for diabetes and prediabetes in irish adults: The Diabetes Mellitus and Vascular health initiative (DMVhi).

Objective: Type 2 diabetes has a long pre clinical asymptomatic phase. Early detection may delay or arrest disease progression. The Diabetes Mellitus and Vascular health initiative (DMVhi) was initiated as a prospective longitudinal cohort study on the prevalence of undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, diabetes risk and cardiovascular risk in a cohort of Irish adults aged 45-75 years.

Inverse Relationship Between Physical Activity, Adiposity, and Arterial Stiffness in Healthy Middle-Aged Subjects.

Background: Several obesity related factors are reported to exacerbate premature arterial stiffening, including inactivity and metabolic disarray. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity, arterial stiffness and adiposity using objective methods. To further explore the role of adiposity in this complex process, obesity associated anthropometric and humoral biomarkers were measured.

An association between abnormal bone turnover, systemic inflammation, and osteoporosis in patients with chronic pancreatitis: a case-matched study.

Introduction: Because of deteriorating exocrine function, malabsorption renders chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients at risk of osteoporosis and fracture. However, the pathogenesis of low bone mineral density (BMD) has not been characterized. We hypothesized that bone turnover is elevated in CP, and we sought to investigate an association between bone metabolism and systemic inflammation.

Age and cortisol levels modulate judgment of positive and negative facial expressions.

There is some evidence that older adults respond to emotional stimuli differently to young adults, and that they may exhibit better performance on measures of memory and attention when stimuli are positive rather than negative in valence. A relation between cortisol levels and attention/memory for emotional stimuli in young adults has also been reported. The relationship between cortisol levels and the judgment of facial expressions of emotion in aging, however, has yet to be explored.

Why the "widespread agreement" is wrong: contesting the non-harm arguments for the prohibition of full commercial surrogacy.

Entering a commercial surrogacy agreement is an offence in almost all Australian jurisdictions. A 2009 Consultation Paper produced by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General suggested that there was "widespread agreement" that commercial surrogacy should remain prohibited. The arguments most commonly raised against legalising commercial surrogacy are not harm-based; that is, they do not purport to show that any party involved is tangibly, objectively and non-consensually worse off as a result of the transaction.

New and old cardiovascular risk factors: C-reactive protein, homocysteine, cysteine and von Willebrand factor increase risk, especially in smokers.

Background: The relative importance of new risk factors for heart disease singly or in combination is uncertain. We assessed relationships between C-reactive protein, homocysteine, cysteine, von Willebrand factor, activated factor XII and stable heart disease, as well as interaction with established risk factors.

Methods: A case-control study of 260 cases of stable heart disease from the Irish component of the European Action on Secondary Prevention through Intervention to Reduce Events (EUROASPIRE) II cohort and 260 age, sex-matched controls.

Recurrent abdominal pain in children and the endogenous opiates: a brief hypothesis.

The aetiology of recurrent abdominal pain in children (RAP) remains unclear. Some features of this syndrome suggest that an opiate-like mechanism may be involved. The evidence for this is reviewed, and it is hypothesised that RAP may result from a differential gastrointestinal response to stress mediated by the endogenous opiate system.