Association of lifetime lactation and characteristics of menopause: a longitudinal cohort study
The researchers used survey data on 19,783 parous women aged 40 to 65 years at enrollment in the Alberta’s Tomorrow Project to investigate the association between lifetime duration of lactation and the timing and type of menopause in midlife women. They found that in a dose-response manner, longer lactation was associated with reduced risk of natural menopause before age 50, surgical menopause before age 55, and indeterminate menopause before age 50. Longer lactation was associated with lower odds of surgical and indeterminate menopause, compared to natural menopause.
Unilateral Oophorectomy and Age at Natural Menopause: A Longitudinal Community-Based Cohort Study.
The researchers investigated the impact of unilateral oophorectomy (UO) on the age of natural menopause using data from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project. They found that UO was linked to an earlier age at natural menopause, with the strongest effect seen in women who had UO between ages 20-40. These findings highlight that UO, particularly before the age of 40, increases the risk of earlier natural menopause.
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization in People with Diabetes: A Time-Segmented Longitudinal Study of Alberta’s Tomorrow Project
The objective is to characterize the impact of COVID-19 on major healthcare for diabetes, including hospitalization, emergency department (ED) visits and primary care visits in Alberta, Canada. Participants from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP) with pre-existing diabetes prior to 1 April 2018 were included and followed up to 31 March 2021. The declared COVID-19 states of emergency had a negative impact on healthcare utilization for people with diabetes, especially for hospital and ED services, which suggests the importance of enhancing the capacity of these two healthcare sectors during future COVID-19-like public health emergencies.
Education level is associated with the occurrence and timing of hysterectomy: A cohort study of Canadian women
Les chercheurs ont utilisé les données de 30 496 femmes dans le projet Alberta Tomorrow pour déterminer l’association entre le niveau d’éducation et l’occurrence et le moment de l’hystérectomie chez les femmes canadiennes. Ils ont constaté que les femmes ayant un faible niveau d’éducation étaient plus susceptibles de subir une hystérectomie, y compris avant la ménopause et à un âge plus jeune.
Estimating Additive Interaction in Two-Stage Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.
The researchers aimed to describe how the Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction (RERI) and other measures of additive interaction or effect modification can be validly estimated within two-stage individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. They proposed a three-step procedure to estimate additive interaction, and illustrate this procedure by investigating interaction between depression and smoking and risk of smoking-related cancers incidence during follow-up, and used IPD of six cohorts, including CARTaGENE.
Association of parity with the timing and type of menopause: A longitudinal cohort study
The study aimed to determine the time-varying association between parity and timing of natural menopause, surgical menopause, and premenopausal hysterectomy among 23,728 women aged 40-65 years at enrollment in the Alberta’s Tomorrow Project cohort study. The researchers found that overall, natural menopause was most common, then premenopausal hysterectomy and surgical menopause. The risk of natural menopause before age 50 was higher for women with 0 or 1 birth, while the risk was similar for those with 3 or more births compared to those with 2 births. Elevated risks of surgical menopause before age 45 for women with 0 or 1 birth were reduced after excluding those with a history of infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss, and the risk decreased over time for women with 3 or more births. Additionally, the risk of premenopausal hysterectomy before age 50 was lower for women with 0 births but increased after age 40 for those with 3 or more births.
Cohort profile: the CARTaGENE Cohort Nutrition Study (Quebec, Canada)
The researchers aimed to address emerging nutritional epidemiological research questions, using data from the CARTaGENE cohort. Dietary information was collected making it a rich resource for the exploration of diet in the etiology of many health outcomes. They found that dietary intake and quality varied among participants but generally met recommended nutrient levels. Along with other findings, the Canadian Healthy Eating Index 2005 (C-HEI) scores were higher among never smokers, those with higher education, and those with more physical activity compared to current smokers, less than high school education, and those with lower physical activity.
Sex-Specific Associations of Aldosterone and Renin with Body Composition: A Population-Based Cohort Study
The researchers investigated the associations of aldosterone and renin with body composition according to sex in a population-based cohort. Using data from 3,687 adults aged 40-69 years enrolled in the CARTaGENE study, they found that among males, higher aldosterone and renin levels were linked to increased waist to hip ratio, increased fat mass, and decreased lean and muscle mass, while aldosterone specifically was also associated with increased ectopic cardiac adiposity. In contrast, among females higher renin, but not aldosterone, was associated with increased waist circumference, increased waist-to-hip ratio, and increased cardiac adiposity. Higher renin and aldosterone were associated with increased fat mass but were not associated with lean body mass or muscle mass.
Genomic Analysis Identifies Risk Factors in Restless Legs Syndrome
The researchers studied 9,851 Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) cases and 38,957 controls of European ancestry from CARTaGENE, Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, and All of Us biobanks in Canada and the U.S. They found nine genetic locations linked to RLS, including one new location (LMX1B), and identified two related genes (GLO1 and ELFN1). The study also revealed genetic overlaps between RLS and traits like neuroticism, depression, and intelligence. This research enhances our understanding of RLS’s genetic factors.
Addressing dispersion in mis-measured multivariate binomial outcomes: A novel statistical approach for detecting differentially methylated regions in bisulfite sequencing data
The researchers investigated the association between DNA methylation and levels of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), a preclinical marker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk, using asymptomatic samples from the CARTaGENE cohort. Through targeted custom capture sequencing of whole blood, their analysis identified 23 significant genes potentially contributing to ACPA-related differential methylation. These findings emphasize the roles of cell signaling and collagen metabolism in RA.