Publications by authors named "Sharan K Rai"
Article Synopsis
- A study explored the relationship between genetic variants in the GLUL gene and others involved in glutamate metabolism and coronary artery disease (CAD) in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D).
- Researchers sequenced genes in a group of 2,394 T2D patients and identified 96 rare variants associated with CAD risk.
- Three specific variants were highlighted: one linked to lower CAD risk (rs62447457), another showing a protective effect (rs145322388), and a third associated with increased risk (rs1238275622), suggesting that these genetic variations play a crucial role in the connection between T2D and CAD.
Importance: Plant-based diets are increasing in popularity due, in part, to their health benefits for selected cardiometabolic diseases as well as favorable environmental impact. Little is known about how such a diet is related to gout risk.
Objective: To examine associations between adherence to a plant-based diet (including healthy and unhealthy versions of this diet), as well as its 18 individual food groups, and incident gout.
Importance: The associations of low-carbohydrate diets (LCDs) with long-term weight management remains unclear, and the source and quality of macronutrients within LCDs are less explored.
Objectives: To prospectively examine associations between changes in LCD indices and weight change among US adults.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective cohort study included initially healthy participants at baseline from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 1986-2010), Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII; 1991-2015), and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS; 1986-2018).
Objective: The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risks for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease in certain populations, although data among diverse groups are limited. This study evaluated cross-sectional and prospective associations between a novel South Asian Mediterranean-style (SAM) diet and cardiometabolic risk among US South Asian individuals.
Methods: The study included 891 participants at baseline in the Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA) study.
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet reduces serum urate (SU); however, the impact of the DASH diet has not been previously evaluated among patients with gout. We conducted a randomized, controlled, crossover pilot study to test the effects of ~$105/week ($15/day) of dietitian-directed groceries (DDG), patterned after the DASH diet, on SU, compared with self-directed grocery shopping (SDG). Participants had gout and were not taking urate lowering therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: The population impact of modifying obesity and other key risk factors for hyperuricemia has been estimated in cross-sectional studies; however, the proportion of incident gout cases (a clinical end point) that could be prevented by modifying such factors has not been evaluated.
Objective: To estimate the proportion of incident gout cases that could be avoided through simultaneous modification of obesity and other key risk factors.
Design, Setting, And Participants: The Health Professionals Follow-up Study is a US prospective cohort study of 51 529 male health professionals enrolled in 1986 and followed up through questionnaires every 2 years through 2012.
Objective: Weight loss diets may reduce serum urate (SU) by lowering insulin resistance while providing cardiometabolic benefits, something urate-lowering drugs have not shown in trials. We aimed to examine the effects of weight loss diets on SU and cardiometabolic risk factors.
Research Design And Methods: This secondary study of the Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) used stored samples from 235 participants with moderate obesity randomly assigned to low-fat, restricted-calorie ( = 85); Mediterranean, restricted-calorie ( = 76); or low-carbohydrate, non-restricted-calorie ( = 74) diets.
Objective: To conduct a systematic review of depression and anxiety among patients with gout that specifically evaluates the prevalence, incidence, determinants, and effects of these mental health comorbidities.
Methods: We conducted a literature search in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, and PsycINFO using indexed terms and key words to identify studies reporting on depression/anxiety in patients with gout. This review included full-text articles published in English that reported on patients with gout, evaluated depression/anxiety using a routinely reported measure, and provided estimates or sufficient data on the prevalence, incidence, determinants, or effects of depression/anxiety.
Background: Allopurinol is commonly prescribed for gout, and its clinical use may expand with ongoing trials assessing its potential cardiorenal benefits. Because heart disease has been suggested to be a risk factor for allopurinol-associated severe cutaneous adverse reactions, we sought to confirm this association in a Canadian general population cohort.
Methods: We used population data from British Columbia, Canada, to identify all incident allopurinol users between 1997 and 2015.
Population Impact Attributable to Modifiable Risk Factors for Hyperuricemia.
Arthritis Rheumatol
January 2020
Objective: To examine modifiable risk factors in relation to the presence of hyperuricemia and to estimate the proportion of hyperuricemia cases in the general population that could be prevented by risk factor modification, along with estimates of the variance explained.
Methods: Using data obtained from 14,624 adults representative of the US civilian noninstitutionalized population, we calculated adjusted prevalence ratios for hyperuricemia, population attributable risks (PARs), and the variance explained according to the following 4 factors: body mass index (BMI; ≥25 kg/m ), alcohol intake, nonadherence to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, and diuretic use.
Results: BMI, alcohol intake, adherence to a DASH-style diet, and diuretic use were all associated with serum urate levels and the presence of hyperuricemia in a dose-dependent manner.
Objective: To estimate the current prevalence rates and decadal trends of gout and hyperuricemia in the US, as well as the prevalence of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) among gout patients, using 2007-2016 data from a nationally representative survey of American men and women (the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES]).
Methods: Using data from 5,467 participants in the NHANES 2015-2016, we estimated the most recent prevalence rates of gout and hyperuricemia. When the NHANES was conducted, all participants were asked about their history of gout (as diagnosed by a health professional) and medication use.
Objective: Medication non-adherence is a substantial problem among patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA). Our aim was to explore IA patients' perspectives on strategies to support medication adherence.
Methods: We collaborated with a leading arthritis patient group and conducted a qualitative study on individuals with IA who were taking at least one medication for their IA.
Objective: Systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARD) are associated with an increased risk of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality. We examined the potential survival benefit of statin use among patients with SARD in a general population setting.
Methods: We conducted an incident user cohort study using a UK general population database.
Background: Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) retinopathy may be more common than previously recognized; recent ophthalmology guidelines have revised recommendations from ideal body weight (IBW)-based dosing to actual body weight (ABW)-based dosing. However, contemporary HCQ prescribing trends in the UK remain unknown.
Methods: We examined a UK general population database to investigate HCQ dosing between 2007 and 2016.
Background: Prior qualitative research on gout has focused primarily on barriers to disease management. Our objective was to use patients' perspectives to construct an explanatory framework to understand how patients become engaged in the management of their gout.
Methods: We recruited a sample of individuals with gout who were participating in a proof-of-concept study of an eHealth-supported collaborative care model for gout involving rheumatology, pharmacy, and dietetics.
Statin use and mortality in gout: A general population-based cohort study.
Semin Arthritis Rheum
December 2018
Objectives: Gout is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. We examined the potential survival benefit of statin use among gout patients in the general population.
Methods: We performed an incident user cohort study with time-stratified propensity score matching using a database representative of the UK general population between January 1999 and December 2014.
Objectives: Gout care remains highly suboptimal, contributing to an increased global disease burden. To understand barriers to gout care, our aim was to provide a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies worldwide reporting provider and patient perspectives and experiences with management.
Methods: We conducted a mapped search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Social Sciences Citation Index databases and selected qualitative studies of provider and patient perspectives on gout management.
Objectives: To examine associations of race/ethnicity and purported risk factors with hospitalised allopurinol-associated severe cutaneous adverse reactions (AASCARs).
Methods: We used US Medicaid data to identify incident allopurinol users between 1999 and 2012. We examined the risk of hospitalised AASCARs according to race/ethnicity and purported key risk factors and calculated relative risks (RR).
Objective: Patients with SLE have increased morbidity and premature mortality. Whether this mortality gap has improved in recent years, as in RA, is unknown.
Methods: We conducted a population-based cohort study using a medical records database representative of the general population of the UK.
Objectives: Recent studies have shown an increase in both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in ankylosing spondylitis (AS). We examined the potential survival benefit of statin use in AS within a general population context.
Methods: We performed an incident user cohort study with time-stratified propensity score matching using a UK general population database between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2014.
To prospectively examine the relation between the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and Western diets and risk of gout (ie, the clinical endpoint of hyperuricemia) in men. Prospective cohort study. The Health Professionals Follow-up Study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis, is associated with premature mortality. Whether this mortality gap has improved over time, as observed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is unknown.
Methods: Using an electronic medical record database representative of the UK general population, we identified incident gout cases and controls between 1999 and 2014.
Objectives: Gout is increasingly recognized as the most common form of inflammatory arthritis worldwide; however, no Canadian data on the disease burden of gout are available. We estimated the prevalence, incidence, prescription patterns, and comorbidity burden of gout in an entire Canadian province [British Columbia (BC)] over the last decade.
Methods: We utilized PopulationData BC, a province-wide database, to estimate temporal trends in the prevalence and incidence of gout from 2000 to 2012, as well as according to age category.