Cardiac biomarkers of prognostic importance in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Ischemic heart disease is common in COPD and associated with worse prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the presence and prognostic impact of biomarkers of myocardial injury and ischemia among individuals with COPD and normal lung function, respectively.

Methods: In 2002-04, all individuals with airway obstruction (FEV/VC < 0.

Prescribing Paradigm Shift? Applying the 2019 European Society of Cardiology-Led Guidelines on Diabetes, Prediabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease to Assess Eligibility for Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors or Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists as First-Line Monotherapy (or Add-on to Metformin Monotherapy) in Type 2 Diabetes in Scotland.

Objective: In 2019, the European Society of Cardiology led and released new guidelines for diabetes cardiovascular risk management, reflecting recent evidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) reduction with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT-2is) and some glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) in type 2 diabetes (T2D). A key recommendation is that all those with T2D who are (antihyperglycemic) drug naïve or on metformin monotherapy should be CVD risk stratified and an SGLT-2i or a GLP-1RA initiated in all those at high or very high risk, irrespective of glycated hemoglobin. We assessed the impact of these guidelines in Scotland were they introduced as is.

Parkinson's Disease, NOTCH3 Genetic Variants, and White Matter Hyperintensities.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on magnetic resonance imaging may influence clinical presentation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), although their significance and pathophysiological origins remain unresolved. Studies examining WMH have identified pathogenic variants in NOTCH3 as an underlying cause of inherited forms of cerebral small vessel disease.

Methods: We examined NOTCH3 variants, WMH volumes, and clinical correlates in 139 PD patients in the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative cohort.

Germline HOXB13 mutations p.G84E and p.R217C do not confer an increased breast cancer risk.

In breast cancer, high levels of homeobox protein Hox-B13 (HOXB13) have been associated with disease progression of ER-positive breast cancer patients and resistance to tamoxifen treatment. Since HOXB13 p.G84E is a prostate cancer risk allele, we evaluated the association between HOXB13 germline mutations and breast cancer risk in a previous study consisting of 3,270 familial non-BRCA1/2 breast cancer cases and 2,327 controls from the Netherlands.

Replication of 15 loci involved in human plasma protein N-glycosylation in 4802 samples from four cohorts.

Human protein glycosylation is a complex process, and its in vivo regulation is poorly understood. Changes in glycosylation patterns are associated with many human diseases and conditions. Understanding the biological determinants of protein glycome provides a basis for future diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

ARIA digital anamorphosis: Digital transformation of health and care in airway diseases from research to practice.

Digital anamorphosis is used to define a distorted image of health and care that may be viewed correctly using digital tools and strategies. MASK digital anamorphosis represents the process used by MASK to develop the digital transformation of health and care in rhinitis. It strengthens the ARIA change management strategy in the prevention and management of airway disease.

Identification of potential candidate genes and pathways in atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia by whole-exome sequencing.

Background: Atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) is the most common manifestation of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT). Increasing data have indicated familial clustering and participation of genetic factors in AVNRT, and no pathogenic genes related to AVNRT have been reported.

Methods: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed in 82 patients with AVNRT and 100 controls.

Quality of primary health care in China: challenges and recommendations.

China has substantially increased financial investment and introduced favourable policies for strengthening its primary health care system with core responsibilities in preventing and managing chronic diseases such as hypertension and emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, widespread gaps in the quality of primary health care still exist. In this Review, we aim to identify the causes for this poor quality, and provide policy recommendations.

Effect of low-dose aspirin on health outcomes: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Aims: This study aimed to use an umbrella review methodology to capture the range of outcomes that were associated with low-dose aspirin and to systematically assess the credibility of this evidence.

Methods: Aspirin is associated with several health outcomes, but the overall benefit/risk balance related to aspirin use is unclear. We searched three major databases up to 15 August 2019 for meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including low-dose aspirin compared to placebo or other treatments.

The Help for Hay Fever community pharmacy-based pilot randomised controlled trial for intermittent allergic rhinitis.

Management of intermittent allergic rhinitis (IAR) is suboptimal in the UK. An Australian community pharmacy-based intervention has been shown to help patients better self-manage their IAR. We conducted a pilot cluster RCT in 12 Scottish community pharmacies to assess transferability of the Australian intervention.

The accuracy of using administrative healthcare data to identify epilepsy cases: A systematic review of validation studies.

Our objective was to undertake a systematic review ascertaining the accuracy of using administrative healthcare data to identify epilepsy cases. We searched MEDLINE and Embase from 01/01/1975 to 03/07/2018 for studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of routinely collected healthcare data in identifying epilepsy cases. Any disease coding system in use since the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) was permissible.

The UK Biobank imaging enhancement of 100,000 participants: rationale, data collection, management and future directions.

UK Biobank is a population-based cohort of half a million participants aged 40-69 years recruited between 2006 and 2010. In 2014, UK Biobank started the world's largest multi-modal imaging study, with the aim of re-inviting 100,000 participants to undergo brain, cardiac and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and carotid ultrasound. The combination of large-scale multi-modal imaging with extensive phenotypic and genetic data offers an unprecedented resource for scientists to conduct health-related research.

Time trends in deaths before age 50 years in people with type 1 diabetes: a nationwide analysis from Scotland 2004-2017.

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to examine whether crude mortality and mortality relative to the general population below 50 years of age have improved in recent years in those with type 1 diabetes.

Methods: Individuals with type 1 diabetes aged below 50 and at least 1 year old at any time between 2004 and 2017 in Scotland were identified using the national register. Death data were obtained by linkage to Scottish national death registrations.

Multi-ancestry GWAS of the electrocardiographic PR interval identifies 202 loci underlying cardiac conduction.

The electrocardiographic PR interval reflects atrioventricular conduction, and is associated with conduction abnormalities, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation (AF), and cardiovascular mortality. Here we report a multi-ancestry (N = 293,051) genome-wide association meta-analysis for the PR interval, discovering 202 loci of which 141 have not previously been reported. Variants at identified loci increase the percentage of heritability explained, from 33.

Validating a GPS-based approach to detect health facility visits against maternal response to prompted recall survey.

Introduction: Common approaches to measure health behaviors rely on participant responses and are subject to bias. Technology-based alternatives, particularly using GPS, address these biases while opening new channels for research. This study describes the development and implementation of a GPS-based approach to detect health facility visits in rural Pune district, India.

Genome-wide association study identifies 32 novel breast cancer susceptibility loci from overall and subtype-specific analyses.

Breast cancer susceptibility variants frequently show heterogeneity in associations by tumor subtype. To identify novel loci, we performed a genome-wide association study including 133,384 breast cancer cases and 113,789 controls, plus 18,908 BRCA1 mutation carriers (9,414 with breast cancer) of European ancestry, using both standard and novel methodologies that account for underlying tumor heterogeneity by estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status and tumor grade. We identified 32 novel susceptibility loci (P < 5.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokines and Neurodegeneration-Associated Proteins in Parkinson's Disease.

Introduction: Immune markers are altered in Parkinson's disease (PD), but relationships between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma cytokines and associations with neurodegeneration-associated proteins remain unclear.

Methods: CSF and plasma samples and demographic/clinical measures were obtained from 35 PD patients. CSF samples were analyzed for cytokines (together with plasma) and for α-synuclein, amyloid β(1-42) peptide, total tau, and phospho(Thr231)-tau.

Prevalence of secondary care multimorbidity in mid-life and its association with premature mortality in a large longitudinal cohort study.

Objectives: Multimorbidity is the coexistence of two or more health conditions in an individual. Multimorbidity in younger adults is increasingly recognised as an important challenge. We assessed the prevalence of secondary care multimorbidity in mid-life and its association with premature mortality over 15 years of follow-up, in the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s (ACONF) cohort.

Early Postoperative Death in Patients Undergoing Emergency High-Risk Surgery: Towards a Better Understanding of Patients for Whom Surgery May Not Be Beneficial.

The timing, causes, and quality of care for patients who die after emergency laparotomy have not been extensively reported. A large database of 13,953 patients undergoing emergency laparotomy, between July 2014 and March 2017, from 28 hospitals in England was studied. Anonymized data was extracted on day of death, patient demographics, operative details, compliance with standards of care, and 30-day and in-patient mortality.

Global and regional prevalence, burden, and risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and modelling study.

Background: Estimation of the epidemiological burden of carotid atherosclerosis can serve as a basis for prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to provide the first estimation on the prevalence, number of cases, and risk factors for carotid atherosclerosis in the general population globally and regionally.

Methods: In this systematic review, meta-analysis, and modelling study, we searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure for articles published from database inception until May 7, 2019, with no language restrictions, for population-based studies that quantified prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis by means of increased carotid intima-media thickness, carotid plaque, and carotid stenosis.

Implementing lung health interventions in low- and middle-income countries: a FRESH AIR systematic review and meta-synthesis.

The vast majority of patients with chronic respiratory disease live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Paradoxically, relevant interventions often fail to be effective particularly in these settings, as LMICs lack solid evidence on how to implement interventions successfully. Therefore, we aimed to identify factors critical to the implementation of lung health interventions in LMICs, and weigh their level of evidence.