Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and smoking: a meta-analysis and mechanistic insights.

Background: The association between cigarette smoking and multiple system atrophy (MSA) has been debated. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis to investigate this link.

Results: We identified 161 articles from database searching and bibliographic review.

Etiologic links between environmental and lifestyle factors and Essential tremor.

Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common adult movement disorders, characterized by clinical tremor and other nonmotor symptoms. It is a progressive disease that shares features with other neurodegenerative diseases. ET is a complex disease with both genetic and environmental underpinnings.

The association of maternal vitamin D status with infant birth outcomes, postnatal growth and adiposity in the first 2 years of life in a multi-ethnic Asian population: the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort study.

Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy has been associated with infant birth and postnatal growth outcomes, but reported findings have been inconsistent, especially in relation to postnatal growth and adiposity outcomes. In a mother-offspring cohort in Singapore, maternal plasma vitamin D was measured between 26 and 28 weeks of gestation, and anthropometric measurements were obtained from singleton offspring during the first 2 years of life with 3-month follow-up intervals to examine birth, growth and adiposity outcomes. Associations were analysed using multivariable linear regression.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid status during pregnancy and maternal mental health in pregnancy and the postpartum period: results from the GUSTO study.

Objective: Studies have demonstrated a relationship between lower omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) status and anxiety and depression. It is uncertain whether similar associations occur in pregnant women, when anxiety and depression could have long-term effects on the offspring. We examined the associations between plasma LC-PUFA status during pregnancy and perinatal mental health.

Retinal ganglion cell analysis using high-definition optical coherence tomography in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with emerging evidence that it is associated with retinal ganglion cell loss; however, few data exist to establish this association.

Objective: To determine whether macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), as quantitatively measured by non-invasive in vivo spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), are altered in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: Patients with AD and MCI were recruited from dementia/memory clinics, and cognitively normal controls were selected from the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Disease program.