| 1. |
- Real, Francisco Gómez, et al.
(author)
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Lung function, respiratory symptoms, and the menopausal transition
- 2008
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In: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0091-6749 .- 1097-6825. ; 121:1, s. 72-80.e3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: There is limited information on potential changes in respiratory health when women enter the menopausal transition. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether the menopausal transition is related to lung function and asthma and whether body mass index (BMI) modifies associations. METHODS: Four thousand two hundred fifty-nine women from 21 centers (ECRHS II, 2002) responded to a questionnaire concerning women's health. Women aged 45 to 56 years not using exogenous sex hormones (n = 1274) were included in the present analysis. Lung function measurements (n = 1120) and serum markers of hormonal status (follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and estradiol; n = 710) were available. Logistic and linear regression analyses were adjusted for BMI, age, years of education, smoking status, center, and height. RESULTS: Women not menstruating for the last 6 months (n = 432, 34%) had significantly lower FEV(1) values (-120 mL [95% CI, -177 to -63]), lower forced vital capacity values (-115 mL [95% CI, -181 to -50]), and more respiratory symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 1.82 [95% CI, 1.27-2.61]) than those menstruating regularly. Results were similar when restricting analyses to those who never smoked. Associations were significantly stronger in women with BMIs of less than 23 kg/m(2) (respiratory symptoms: OR, 4.07 [95% CI, 1.88-8.80]; FEV(1) adjusted difference: -166 [95% CI, -263 to -70]) than in women with BMIs of 23 to 28 kg/m(2) (respiratory symptoms: OR, 1.10 [95% CI, 0.61-1.97], P(interaction): .04; FEV(1) adjusted difference, -54 [95% CI, -151 to 43], P(interaction) = .06). CONCLUSIONS: Menopause is associated with lower lung function and more respiratory symptoms, especially among lean women.
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| 2. |
- Dratva, Julia, et al.
(author)
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Early Life Origins of Lung Ageing : Early Life Exposures and Lung Function Decline in Adulthood in Two European Cohorts Aged 28-73 Years
- 2016
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives Early life environment is essential for lung growth and maximally attained lung function. Whether early life exposures impact on lung function decline in adulthood, an indicator of lung ageing, has scarcely been studied. Methods Spirometry data from two time points (follow-up time 9-11 years) and information on early life exposures, health and life-style were available from 12862 persons aged 28-73 years participating in the European population-based cohorts SAPALDIA (n = 5705) and ECRHS (n = 7157). The associations of early life exposures with lung function (FEV1) decline were analysed using mixed-effects linear regression. Results Early life exposures were significantly associated with FEV1 decline, with estimates almost as large as personal smoking. FEV1 declined more rapidly among subjects born during the winter season (adjusted difference in FEV1/year of follow-up [95% CI] -2.04ml [-3.29;-0.80]), of older mothers, (-1.82 ml [-3.14;-0.49]) of smoking mothers (-1.82ml [-3.30;-0.34] or with younger siblings (-2.61ml [-3.85;-1.38]). Less rapid FEV1-decline was found in subjects who had attended daycare (3.98ml [2.78; 5.18]), and indicated in subjects with pets in childhood (0.97ml [-0.16; 2.09]). High maternal age and maternal smoking appeared to potentiate effects of personal smoking. The effects were independent of asthma at any age. Conclusion Early life factors predicted lung function decline decades later, suggesting that some mechanisms related lung ageing may be established early in life. Early life programming of susceptibility to adult insults could be a possible pathway that should be explored further.
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| 3. |
- Dratva, Julia, et al.
(author)
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Validation of self-reported figural drawing scales against anthropometric measurements in adults
- 2016
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In: Public Health Nutrition. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1368-9800 .- 1475-2727. ; 19:11, s. 1944-1951
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The aim of the present study was to validate figural drawing scales depicting extremely lean to extremely obese subjects to obtain proxies for BMI and waist circumference in postal surveys.Design: Reported figural scales and anthropometric data from a large population-based postal survey were validated with measured anthropometric data from the same individuals by means of receiver-operating characteristic curves and a BMI prediction model.Setting: Adult participants in a Scandinavian cohort study first recruited in 1990 and followed up twice since.Subjects: Individuals aged 38-66 years with complete data for BMI (n 1580) and waist circumference (n 1017).Results: Median BMI and waist circumference increased exponentially with increasing figural scales. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses showed a high predictive ability to identify individuals with BMI > 25.0 kg/m(2) in both sexes. The optimal figural scales for identifying overweight or obese individuals with a correct detection rate were 4 and 5 in women, and 5 and 6 in men, respectively. The prediction model explained 74% of the variance among women and 62% among men. Predicted BMI differed only marginally from objectively measured BMI.Conclusions: Figural drawing scales explained a large part of the anthropometric variance in this population and showed a high predictive ability for identifying overweight/obese subjects. These figural scales can be used with confidence as proxies of BMI and waist circumference in settings where objective measures are not feasible.
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| 4. |
- Kirkeleit, Jorunn, et al.
(author)
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Early life origins of lung ageing : A study of lung function decline the ECRHS and NFBC1966 cohorts
- 2020
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : ERS Publications. - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 56
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Objective: To determine whether early life factors associated with poor lung growth and submaximal attained lung function contribute to accelerated lung function decline later in life.Methods: Participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) and the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) with lung function measured in a first (n=10,971), second (n=7,981) and third wave (n=4,849), aged 20 – 68 years, were included. Mean annual decline in maximum forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were main outcomes. Information on early life factors was provided by standardized interviews and questionnaires. We estimated the effect of early life factors including maternal age, parental smoking, season of birth, parental asthma and respiratory infections using mixed effects models, adjusted for age, FEV1 and FVC at baseline, height, and smoking habits.Results: Decline in FEV1 was accelerated in women born of a mother with asthma (β = 2.4 ml; 95% CI 0.6-4.3) or who smoked during pregnancy (1.9; 0.2-3.6), and in men having a father with asthma (3.5; 0.2-6.9) or born by Cesarean section (7.9; 1.6-14.2). Accelerated decline in FVC was associated with paternal asthma in men (4.3; 0.1-8.5) and early menarche (<12 years) in women (2.4; 0.4-4.4). No statistically significant effect on lung function decline was found for other investigated early life factors.Conclusion: Early life risk factors contribute to an accelerated lung function decline with ageing, following sex-specific patterns. Decline in FEV1 versus FVC showed slightly different patterns.
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| 5. |
- Leynaert, Benedicte, et al.
(author)
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Gender differences in prevalence, diagnosis and incidence of allergic and non-allergic asthma : a population-based cohort
- 2012
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In: Thorax. - : BMJ. - 0040-6376 .- 1468-3296. ; 67:7, s. 625-631
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Although women with severe non-allergic asthma may represent a substantial proportion of adults with asthma in clinical practice, gender differences in the incidence of allergic and non-allergic asthma have been little investigated in the general population. Methods Gender differences in asthma prevalence, reported diagnosis and incidence were investigated in 9091 men and women randomly selected from the general population and followed up after 8-10 years as part of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. The protocol included assessment of bronchial responsiveness, IgE specific to four common allergens and skin tests to nine allergens. Results Asthma was 20% more frequent in women than in men over the age of 35 years. Possible under-diagnosis of asthma appeared to be particularly frequent among non-atopic individuals, but was as frequent in women as in men. The follow-up of subjects without asthma at baseline showed a higher incidence of asthma in women than in men (HR 1.94; 95% CI 1.40 to 2.68), which was not explained by differences in smoking, obesity or lung function. More than 60% of women and 30% of men with new-onset asthma were non-atopic. The incidence of non-allergic asthma was higher in women than in men throughout all the reproductive years (HR 3.51; 95% CI 2.21 to 5.58), whereas no gender difference was observed for the incidence of allergic asthma. Conclusions This study shows that female sex is an independent risk factor for non-allergic asthma, and stresses the need for more careful assessment of possible non-allergic asthma in clinical practice, in men and women.
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| 6. |
- Lønnebotn, Marianne, et al.
(author)
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Body silhouettes as a tool to reflect obesity in the past
- 2018
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 13:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Life course data on obesity may enrich the quality of epidemiologic studies analysing health consequences of obesity. However, achieving such data may require substantial resources. We investigated the use of body silhouettes in adults as a tool to reflect obesity in the past. We used large population-based samples to analyse to what extent self-reported body silhouettes correlated with the previously measured (9-23 years) body mass index (BMI) from both measured (European Community Respiratory Health Survey, N = 3 041) and selfreported (Respiratory Health In Northern Europe study, N = 3 410) height and weight. We calculated Spearman correlation between BMI and body silhouettes and ROC-curve analyses for identifying obesity (BMI >= 30) at ages 30 and 45 years. Spearman correlations between measured BMI age 30 (+/- 2y) or 45 (+/- 2y) and body silhouettes in women and men were between 0.62-0.66 and correlations for self-reported BMI were between 0.58-0.70. The area under the curve for identification of obesity at age 30 using body silhouettes vs previously measured BMI at age 30 (+/- 2y) was 0.92 (95% CI 0.87, 0.97) and 0.85 (95% CI 0.75, 0.95) in women and men, respectively; for previously self-reported BMI, 0.92 (95% CI 0.88, 0.95) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.85, 0.96). Our study suggests that body silhouettes are a useful epidemiological tool, enabling retrospective differentiation of obesity and non-obesity in adult women and men.
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| 7. |
- Real, Francisco Gomez, et al.
(author)
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Maternal age at delivery, lung function and asthma in offspring : a population-based survey
- 2018
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY SOC JOURNALS LTD. - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 51:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is limited information about potential impact of maternal age on the respiratory health of offspring. We investigated the association of maternal age at delivery with adult offspring's lung function, respiratory symptoms and asthma, and potential differences according to offspring sex. 10 692 adults from 13 countries participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) II responded to standardised interviews and provided lung function measurements and serum for IgE measurements at age 25-55 years. In logistic and linear multilevel mixed models we adjusted for participants' characteristics (age, education, centre, number of older siblings) and maternal characteristics (smoking in pregnancy, education) while investigating for differential effects by sex. Maternal age was validated in a subsample using data from the Norwegian birth registry. Increasing maternal age was associated with increasing forced expiratory volume in 1 s (2.33 mL per year, 95% CI 0.34-4.32 mL per year), more consistent in females (p(trend) 0.025) than in males (ptrend 0.14). Asthma (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79-0.92) and respiratory symptoms (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.82-0.92) decreased with increasing maternal age (per 5 years) in females, but not in males (p(interaction) 0.05 and 0.001, respectively). The results were consistent across centres and not explained by confounding factors. Maternal ageing was related to higher adult lung function and less asthma/symptoms in females. Biological characteristics in offspring related to maternal ageing are plausible and need further investigation.
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| 8. |
- Timm, Signe, et al.
(author)
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Does parental or grandparental farm upbringing influence risk of asthma in offspring?
- 2020
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In: European Respiratory Journal. - : ERS Publications. - 0903-1936 .- 1399-3003. ; 56:Suppl 64
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: Farm upbringing has been associated with lower risk of asthma, and also with methylation of asthma-related genes. As such, farm upbringing has the potential to transfer less asthma risk across generations. We aimed to study generational effects from parental farm upbringing on offspring asthma.Methods: Our study involved three generations: 5,759 participants from the ECRHS study (born 1945-71, denoted G1), their 9,991 parents (G0) and their 8,260 offspring (G2) participating in RHINESSA. Questionnaire data on upbringing and asthma were available for all generations; direct information for G1 and G2, and via G2 for G0. Parental and grandparental place of upbringing was categorised as (1) both parents from farm (2) mother from farm, father from village/city (3) father from farm, mother from village/city (4) both parents from village or one parent from village and one from city (5) both parents from city (ref.). Data was analysed in Cox regression with G2 age as time scale.Results: Parental farm upbringing was not related to offspring asthma when compared to city upbringing (HR 1.12, 95 % CI 0.74-1.69) Findings remained similar when stratified by offspring upbringing and asthma phenotypes. Quantitative bias analyses showed similar estimates for alternative data sources. Grandparental farm upbringing was not associated with offspring asthma in either the maternal (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.67-1.65) or paternal line (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.62-1.68).Conclusion: This multi-generation analysis suggests no evidence of an association between parental or grandparental farm upbringing and offspring asthma.
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