Publications by authors named "Rachel A Murphy"

Background: The 313-variant polygenic risk score (PRS) provides a promising tool for clinical breast cancer risk prediction. However, evaluation of the PRS across different European populations which could influence risk estimation has not been performed.

Methods: We explored the distribution of PRS across European populations using genotype data from 94,072 females without breast cancer diagnosis, of European-ancestry from 21 countries participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and 223,316 females without breast cancer diagnosis from the UK Biobank.

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One often-overlooked consequence of stroke is a deficit in emotion regulation. Acting with awareness in everyday life has been found to support emotion regulation but it is an open question whether such associations generalize to stroke populations. Factors associated with emotion regulation in stroke survivors are key to inform rehabilitation efforts.

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The COVID-19 pandemic challenged older adults' health behaviours, making it even more difficult to engage in healthy diets and physical activity than it had been prepandemic. A resource to promote these could be social support. This study uses data from 136 older adults ( = 71.

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Context: Social ties are associated with the mortality and morbidity of aging populations; however, the role of social ties in healthy eating practices or gender differences in this link is less understood.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the longitudinal evidence for the impact of changes in social ties on fruit and vegetable (FV) intakes among aging adults, with attention to gender differences.

Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and ProQuest databases were searched until December 2022.

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Background: With the burden of colorectal cancer in Canada, there is a need to address the psycho-oncologic challenges, including mental health. This study aims to explore the lived mental health experiences in patients with CRC across the phases of the CRC care continuum.

Methods: We employed a patient-oriented constructivist grounded theory design and recruited English speaking participants ≥18 years, diagnosed with CRC within the last 10 years, residing in Canada.

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Context: In the face of the growing global burden of cancer, there is increasing interest in dietary interventions to mitigate its impacts. Pre-clinical evidence suggests that time-restricted eating (TRE), a type of intermittent fasting, induces metabolic effects and alterations in the gut microbiome that may impede carcinogenesis. Research on TRE in cancer has progressed to human studies, but the evidence has yet to be synthesized.

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While hundreds of germline genetic variants have been associated with breast cancer risk, the mechanisms underlying the impacts of most of these variants on breast cancer remain uncertain. Metabolomics may offer valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying genetic risks of breast cancer. Among 143 cancer-free female participants, we used linear regression analyses to explore associations between the genetic risk of breast cancer, as determined by a previously developed polygenic risk score (PRS) that included 266 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and 223 measures of metabolites obtained from blood samples using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

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This study aimed to examine the impact of employment transitions (ETs) on anthropometric changes among middle-aged and older workers (ages 45y+). Using two waves of data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, we analyzed the impact of ETs (stayed working, entered retirement, and stopped working) on change in body weight and waist circumference (WC) on continuous scales as well as categories (≥5% cut-off). Analyses were sex/gender-stratified.

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The 313-variant polygenic risk score (PRS) provides a promising tool for breast cancer risk prediction. However, evaluation of the PRS across different European populations which could influence risk estimation has not been performed. Here, we explored the distribution of PRS across European populations using genotype data from 94,072 females without breast cancer, of European-ancestry from 21 countries participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) and 225,105 female participants from the UK Biobank.

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Objectives: Negative and repetitive self-oriented thinking (rumination) is associated with lower well-being and health. The social context of rumination remains underexplored and mostly centers on marital relationships. To embrace the diversity of older adult relationships, this study includes a range of different relationships (e.

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Background: It is unknown whether dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) modifies the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk associated with a family history of CVD. We assessed interactions between biomarkers of low PUFA intake and a family history in relation to long-term CVD risk in a large consortium.

Methods: Blood and tissue PUFA data from 40 885 CVD-free adults were assessed.

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There is conflicting evidence for the association between antihypertensive medications and colorectal cancer risk, possibly reflecting methodological limitations of previously conducted studies. Here, we aimed to clarify associations between commonly prescribed antihypertensive medication classes and colorectal cancer risk in a large, retrospective, cohort study. Using linked administrative data between 1996 and 2017 from British Columbia, we identified a cohort of 1,693,297 men and women who were 50 years of age or older, initially cancer-free and nonusers of antihypertensive medications.

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Older adults spend significant time by themselves, especially since COVID-19. Solitude has been associated with positive and negative outcomes. Partners need to balance social connectedness with time for one's own needs.

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Aims: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Most metabolomics studies investigating metabolites predicting MI are limited by the participant number and/or the demographic diversity. We sought to identify biomarkers of incident MI in the COnsortium of METabolomics Studies.

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Introduction: Experimental research suggests that affect may influence prospective memory performance, but real-life evidence on affect-prospective memory associations is limited. Moreover, most studies have examined the valence dimension of affect in understanding the influence of affect on cognitive performance in daily life, with insufficient consideration of the arousal dimension. To maximize ecological validity, the current study examined the relationships between daily affect and daily prospective memory using repeated daily assessments and the role of resting heart rate on these relationships.

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This study investigated everyday associations between one key facet of mindfulness (allocating attention to the present moment) and pain. In Study 1, 89 community-dwelling adults (33-88 years; = 68.6) who had experienced a stroke provided 14 daily end-of-day present-moment awareness and pain ratings.

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Article Synopsis
  • A genome-wide study explored gene-environment interactions (G×E) to identify variants that could impact breast cancer risk, analyzing data from around 72,285 breast cancer cases and 80,354 controls.
  • Researchers found two specific SNP-risk factor pairs that showed a significant association with breast cancer risk, including variations related to adult height and age at menarche.
  • Overall, the study concluded that G×E interactions contribute minimally to the heritability of breast cancer and don't significantly enhance risk prediction for the disease.
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Diabetes medications may modify the risk of certain cancers. We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL from 2011 to March 2021 for studies evaluating associations between diabetes medications and the risk of breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, liver, and pancreatic cancers. A total of 92 studies (3 randomized controlled trials, 64 cohort studies, and 25 case-control studies) were identified in the systematic review, involving 171 million participants.

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Introduction: Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program is proven to reduce CRC incidence and mortality, understanding patterns and predictors of suboptimal adherence in screening program requires further investigation in Canada.

Methods: We used self-reported data from five regional cohorts of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath), namely the BC Generations Project (BCGP), Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP), the Ontario Health Study (OHS), Quebec's CARTaGENE, and the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow's Health Study (Atlantic PATH). We stratified participants into the following four risk categories: 1) age 50-74 years, 2) family history in a first-degree relative, 3) personal history of chronic inflammatory bowel disease and/or polyps, and 4) co-existence of personal risk and family history.

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Background: Evidence on the association between mental health disorders and cancer risk is inconclusive, despite well-established associations between mental health disorders and lifestyle factors such as smoking. This study examines the relationships between depression, anxiety and cancer risk, and the potential mediating effects of lifestyle factors.

Methods: A study of 34,571 participants aged 40-69 years in the CARTaGENE cohort was conducted.

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Background: Low-frequency variants play an important role in breast cancer (BC) susceptibility. Gene-based methods can increase power by combining multiple variants in the same gene and help identify target genes.

Methods: We evaluated the potential of gene-based aggregation in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium cohorts including 83,471 cases and 59,199 controls.

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Symptom-system fit theory proposes that problematic behaviors are maintained by the social system (e.g., the couple relationship) in which they occur because they help promote positive relationship functioning in the short-term.

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Article Synopsis
  • Many variants found in disease susceptibility genes are classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS), making their interpretation critical for clinical decisions.
  • This study introduces a new likelihood ratio-based method that takes into account gene-specific age-related penetrance to better analyze the pathogenicity of these variants.
  • The method outperformed traditional approaches in simulated and real datasets, allowing for clearer classifications of variants as pathogenic or non-pathogenic for conditions like breast cancer, and includes user-friendly tools for researchers.
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