Endotoxin as a determinant of asthma and wheeze among rural dwelling children and adolescents: a case-control study.

Background: The association between endotoxin exposure and asthma is complex and has been associated with rural living. We examined the relationship between domestic endotoxin and asthma or wheeze among rural school-aged children (6-18 years) and assessed the interaction between endotoxin and other characteristics with these outcomes.

Methods: Between 2005 and 2007 we conducted a case-control study of children 6-18 years in the rural region of Humboldt, Canada.

Increased glutamate levels in the medial prefrontal cortex in patients with postpartum depression.

The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is a key brain area in depressive symptomatology; specifically, glutamate (Glu) has been reported to play a significant role in major depression (MD) in this area. MPFC Glu levels are sensitive to ovarian hormone fluctuations and pregnancy and the postpartum period are associated with the most substantial physiological alterations of female hormones. It is therefore logical to measure MPFC Glu levels in women with postpartum depression (PPD).

The association between endotoxin and lung function among children and adolescents living in a rural area.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND⁄

Objectives: Knowledge of the effects of domestic endotoxin on children's lung function is limited. The association between domestic endotoxin and asthma or wheeze and lung function among school-age children (six to 18 years of age) was examined. The interaction between endotoxin and other personal and environmental characteristics and lung function was also assessed.

Hepatitis C virus co-infection increases neurocognitive impairment severity and risk of death in treated HIV/AIDS.

Previous studies have reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection worsens neurocognitive status among individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection. We assessed the prevalence of neurologic disorders and the severity of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment among HIV-infected individuals in two centralized HIV clinics in Alberta, Canada from 1998 to 2010 based on their HCV serostatus. Of 456 HIV-infected persons without concurrent substance abuse, 91 (20.

Relationship of endotoxin and tobacco smoke exposure to wheeze and diurnal peak expiratory flow variability in children and adolescents.

Background And Objective: The relationship between endotoxin exposure and asthma severity (wheeze and airways obstruction) is not well described. The effects of endotoxin and tobacco smoke exposure on self-reported wheeze and diurnal PEF variability (DV-PEF) were examined in children aged 6-18 years with asthma or wheeze.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in a rural area.

Improving reliability of the assessment of the life course of schizophrenia.

Objective: Life course studies of schizophrenia that have used a 3-phase model (onset, course, and outcome) have had their use restricted owing to differences in definition and methodology. The purpose of this investigation was to describe life course data in mathematical terms and to compare the results with the findings from other life course studies.

Method: The study population was comprised of 128 of 137 people who were first admitted for schizophrenia to 1 of the 2 mental hospitals in Alberta in 1963 and followed until 1997 or death.

Relationship between indoor environment and asthma and wheeze severity among rural children and adolescents.

Few studies have examined the associations between environmental characteristics and asthma severity among children in a rural setting. The authors studied these associations using a number of asthma severity indicators. They conducted a case-control study of 6- to 18-year-old children and adolescents in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and the surrounding area.

A population-based family study of minor depression.

Background: There is a paucity of research on whether minor depression is a familial disorder.

Methods: We conducted a population-based family study of minor depression in which subjects were interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). Minor depression only (MDO) was diagnosed if there was a lifetime history of what the DIS refers to as a depressive "spell" and no lifetime history of either Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, major depression or dysthymia.

Trends in antidepressant prescriptions among the elderly in Alberta during 1997 to 2004.

Objective: To analyze trends in antidepressant (AD) prescription rates among the elderly (aged 65 years and older) in Alberta during 1997 to 2004.

Method: Numerical data on AD prescriptions were obtained from Alberta Blue Cross. Age-standardized prescription rates were calculated according to type of AD.

Type 2 diabetes does not increase risk of depression.

Background: Although diabetes mellitus has a strong association with the presence of depression, it is unclear whether diabetes itself increases the risk of developing depression. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether people with diabetes have a greater incidence of depression than those without diabetes.

Methods: We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study using the administrative databases of Saskatchewan Health from 1989 to 2001.

A population-based family study of DSM-III generalized anxiety disorder.

Background: A recent meta-analysis provides evidence that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is familial. However, two of the key studies relied on subjects who were self-selected or recruited from the clinic setting, thereby limiting generalizability.

Method: We conducted a family study of GAD in which probands and controls came from a community sample originally enrolled in a prevalence study in Edmonton, Canada.

Causal analysis of case-control data.

In a series of papers, Robins and colleagues describe inverse probability of treatment weighted (IPTW) estimation in marginal structural models (MSMs), a method of causal analysis of longitudinal data based on counterfactual principles. This family of statistical techniques is similar in concept to weighting of survey data, except that the weights are estimated using study data rather than defined so as to reflect sampling design and post-stratification to an external population. Several decades ago Miettinen described an elementary method of causal analysis of case-control data based on indirect standardization.

Prevalence and predictors of depression in elderly Canadians: The Canadian Study of Health and Aging.

Depression in elderly Canadians is an important but often unrecognized public health problem. Numerous studies have examined depression in the general community, but studies of depression in the elderly have generally been small and limited. The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) includes a large and national representation of both the cognitively intact and the cognitively impaired elderly.

Alteration of decreased plasma NO metabolites and platelet NO synthase activity by paroxetine in depressed patients.

Although major depression (MD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) have been conclusively linked in the literature, the mechanism associating MD and CVD is yet undetermined. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate a potential mechanism involving nitric oxide (NO) and to examine the effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor paroxetine on NO production by both platelets and the endothelium. In total, 17 subjects with MD and 12 healthy controls (HCs) with no known history of cardiovascular illness completed the study.

History of depression increases risk of type 2 diabetes in younger adults.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the history of previous depression in people with incident diabetes compared with people without diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a population-based nested case-control study using the administrative databases of Saskatchewan Health to assess the study objective. We identified cases of type 2 diabetes based on diagnostics codes and prescription records for individuals over the age of 20 years.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a Northern Alberta population.

Objective: To describe the demographics and estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a cohort of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients in Northern Alberta.

Methods: A cross-sectional (prevalence) study was performed on a cohort of HIV-positive patients. HCV testing was not widely available until December 1989, and the more sensitive, second generation immunoassay was not available until 1992.

Commonalities in the classical, collapsibility and counterfactual concepts of confounding.

Objectives: Three definitions of confounding are available in the epidemiologic literature, namely, the classical, collapsibility, and counterfactual. The classical and collapsibility definitions are intuitively appealing but, especially in the case of the latter, there are shortcomings. The more recent counterfactual definition overcomes these limitations but at the cost of increased abstraction.

Treatment seeking for obsessive-compulsive disorder: role of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and comorbid psychiatric diagnoses.

Previous research has indicated that individuals afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have a very low rate of seeking help from mental health professionals. From standardized psychiatric interviews of 7,214 residents of Edmonton, Canada, we identified 172 subjects with a lifetime diagnosis of OCD; 63 (36.6%) had consulted a doctor about their symptoms.