PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Evidence for causal link between increased BMI and ischemic heart disease

2012-05-02
(Press-News.org) A Mendelian randomization analysis conducted by Børge Nordestgaard of Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark and colleagues, using data from observational studies, supports a causal relationship between body mass index (BMI) and risk for ischemic heart disease (IHD). The findings, published in this week's PLoS Medicine, have important implications for public health policy because they show that the association between BMI (which is modifiable by lifestyle changes) and IHD is continuous. This means that any increase in BMI increases the risk of IHD; there is no threshold below which a BMI increase has no effect on IDH risk.

The authors state: "This analysis demonstrates the value of observational studies and their ability to provide essentially unbiased results because of inclusion of genetic data avoiding confounding, reverse causation, and bias."

###Funding: Supported by the Copenhagen County Foundation and by Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital. These sponsors had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. TMP, NJT, and GDS work within and are funded by the MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, which is capacity funded by grant G0600705. BGN, TMP, MB, and NJT had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Competing Interests: George Davey Smith is on the PLoS Medicine Editorial Board. The authors have declared that no other competing interests exist.

Citation: Nordestgaard BG, Palmer TM, Benn M, Zacho J, Tybjærg-Hansen A, et al. (2012) The Effect of Elevated Body Mass Index on Ischemic Heart Disease Risk: Causal Estimates from a Mendelian Randomisation Approach. PLoS Med 9(5): e1001212. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001212

CONTACT:

Børge Nordestgaard
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
Herlev Hospital
Copenhagen University Hospital
Copenhagen
Denmark
Boerge.Nordestgaard@regionh.dk

Nicholas Timpson
MRC Centre for Causal Analysis in Translational Epidemiology
University of Bristol
Bristol
United Kingdom
n.j.timpson@bris.ac.uk


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Fun, Challenging And Social Bus Games For Every Age And Skill Level

2012-05-02
Take your online gaming to the next level by playing our fun and exciting Bus Games. Even if you have never had the opportunity to Play Bus Games in the past, you will not be disappointed when you try out our bus games. We offer an exemplary array of fun, challenging and exciting bus games, which are always free to play. On our website, we provide our users the opportunity to play bus games at their leisure. Our bus games are legal, because we only provide bus games on our website that have been specifically created to be free of charge. We strive to be the best bus ...

Moving midwives to work in rural areas helps improve essential obstetric care

2012-05-02
A scheme supporting newly graduated, unemployed, and retired midwives to work in rural areas of Nigeria and provide essential obstetric care has helped to improve maternal, newborn, and child health and could potentially serve as a model for other low-income countries. This includes helping redistribute health workforce in low-income countries to reduce the health inequities between urban and rural areas. In a Health in Action article in this week's PLoS Medicine, a group of Nigerian researchers from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency in Abuja, and the ...

Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction?

Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction?
2012-05-02
Despite years of intensive research about the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs about 65.5 million years ago, a fundamental question remains: were dinosaurs already undergoing a long-term decline before an asteroid hit at the end of the Cretaceous? A study led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History gives a multifaceted answer. The findings, to be published on May 1 in Nature Communications, suggest that in general, large-bodied, "bulk-feeding" herbivores were declining during the last 12 million years of the Cretaceous. But carnivorous dinosaurs and mid-sized ...

Who Does Mother's Day for Mom When Dad's Away?

2012-05-02
MOPS International recently asked a Facebook group of thousands of fans what they wanted for Mother's Day. The answers were NOT breakfast in bed, flowers, or jewelry. Not even chocolate. Instead, moms wanted a little R&R: time to read, time away from cleaning, or maybe even a full kid-free day. Let's face it: Busy moms take care of everyone else. They rarely make time to take care of their selves. If free time is what moms crave, imagine what it's like for a military spouse with children who has been doubly-busy as a sole parent for 12-18 months, often for the fourth ...

Large Loss Claim Response - Pie Efficiently Mobilizes Resources

2012-05-02
Pie Consulting & Engineering (Pie) is currently handling a large-loss claim that required rapid mobilization of staff and other resources from two of our regional offices, (Minnesota and Texas) in addition to resources from our corporate office in Colorado. Leading this team of engineers, registered roofing consultants (RRC), and technicians is Pie's Regional Manager Brian Erickson, P.E., RRC. "We are analyzing nearly 150 structures ranging from single-story buildings to multi-story/multi-unit structures. The analysis involving detailed distress mapping elevations, ...

Computer use and exercise combo may reduce the odds of having memory loss, Mayo Clinic finds

2012-05-02
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - You think your computer has a lot of memory … if you keep using your computer you may, too. Combining mentally stimulating activities, such as using a computer, with moderate exercise decreases your odds of having memory loss more than computer use or exercise alone, a Mayo Clinic study shows. Previous studies have shown that exercising your body and your mind will help your memory but the new study, published in the May 2012 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reports a synergistic interaction between computer activities and moderate exercise in “protecting” ...

Keyword Search Pros Helps Companies Manage Social Media

2012-05-02
The very definition of social media management is to create a comprehensive strategy for reaching out to as wide an online customer base as possible. The online consulting firm Keyword Search Pros has been specializing in this type of marketing campaign since their inception. It's not enough to simply set up a Facebook page or Twitter account and hope that followers will be generated. Instead the Keyword Search Pros staff helps companies assume a proactive stance when it comes to syndicating their brand. "Every brand or company should have a big picture message ...

Neuro researchers sharpen our understanding of memories

2012-05-02
This press release is available in French. Scientists now have a better understanding of how precise memories are formed thanks to research led by Prof. Jean-Claude Lacaille of the University of Montreal's Department of Physiology. "In terms of human applications, these findings could help us to better understand memory impairments in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease," Lacaille said. The study looks at the cells in our brains, or neurons, and how they work together as a group to form memories. Chemical receptors at neuron interconnections called synapses ...

FatCat Studios Designs Marketing Materials for NKF's "Rappel for Kidney Health" event

2012-05-02
Valentia Mundell, owner of FatCat Studios, was elated when Kelly Meltzer, Director of Special Events for the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland, called upon her and her team to design the logo and supporting materials for the "Rappel for Kidney Health" event. Taking place on Saturday, June 9, 2012, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rappel down the side of the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Along with the event logo, FatCat designed the sponsorship materials, event brochure, event poster and both print and online ads. "This is such a worthwhile ...

Garlic compound fights source of food-borne illness better than antibiotics

2012-05-02
PULLMAN, Wash.—Researchers at Washington State University have found that a compound in garlic is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting the Campylobacter bacterium, one of the most common causes of intestinal illness. Their work was recently published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. The discovery opens the door to new treatments for raw and processed meats and food preparation surfaces. "This work is very exciting to me because it shows that this compound has the potential to reduce disease-causing bacteria in the environment ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Evidence for causal link between increased BMI and ischemic heart disease