Publications by authors named "Rachel Gitau"

We examined the impact of APOE genotype on plasma lipids and glucose in a secondary analysis of data from a five-arm, randomised controlled, parallel dietary intervention trial ('RISCK' study), to investigate the impact of replacing saturated fatty acids (SFA) with either monounsaturated fat (MUFA) or carbohydrate of high or low glycaemic index (GI) on CVD risk factors and insulin sensitivity. We tested the impact of APOE genotype (carriage of E2 and E4 alleles versus E3/E3), determined retrospectively, on plasma lipids, lipoproteins and glucose homeostasis at baseline ( = 469), and on the change in these variables after 24 weeks of dietary intervention ( = 389). At baseline, carriers of E2 ( = 70), E4 ( = 125) and E3/E3 ( = 274) expressed marked differences in total plasma cholesterol (TC, = 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explored the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for children with anxiety disorders, particularly when their mothers also had anxiety issues.
  • It compared three treatment groups: standard child CBT, child CBT plus maternal CBT, and child CBT plus interventions targeting mother-child interactions.
  • Results indicated that adding maternal treatments could improve outcomes for children, and an economic analysis assessed the cost-effectiveness of these interventions.
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Our objective in this study was to develop and implement an effective intervention strategy to manipulate the amount and composition of dietary fat and carbohydrate (CHO) in free-living individuals in the RISCK study. The study was a randomized, controlled dietary intervention study that was conducted in 720 participants identified as higher risk for or with metabolic syndrome. All followed a 4-wk run-in reference diet [high saturated fatty acids (SF)/high glycemic index (GI)].

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CVD is a common killer in both the Western world and the developing world. It is a multifactorial disease that is influenced by many environmental and genetic factors. Although public health advice to date has been principally in the form of prescribed population-based recommendations, this approach has been surprisingly unsuccessful in reducing CVD risk.

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Background: Multiple micronutrient supplementation of Nepalese women during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in birth weight.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that improved birth weight in infants of mothers supplemented with micronutrients is associated with a decrease in inflammatory responses and an increase in the production of T helper 1 cells and T helper 2 cells.

Design: The study was embedded in a randomized controlled trial of 15 micronutrients, compared with iron-folate supplementation (control), given during pregnancy with the aim of increasing birth weight.

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Subclinical mastitis, defined as raised milk sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratio, is associated with poor infant growth and, among HIV-infected women, with increased milk HIV viral load. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study in Lusaka, Zambia, in order to investigate the relative importance of several potential causes of subclinical mastitis: maternal infection, micronutrient deficiencies and poor lactation practice. Women (198 HIV-infected, 189 HIV-uninfected) were recruited at 34 weeks' gestation and followed up to 16 weeks postpartum for collection of information on their health, their infant's health, infant growth and infant feeding practices.

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