Background/Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of developing several diseases, but much is unknown about the molecular effects involved. Gene expression technology is increasingly being used to elucidate molecular mechanisms related to nutritional factors, and in this study of free-living, middle-aged Norwegian women, we aimed at identifying gene expression ...

BACKGROUND: It is well established that parity and use of oral contraceptives reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, but the associations with other reproductive variables are less clear.<p> <p>METHODS: We examined the associations of oral contraceptive use and reproductive factors with ovarian cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. Among 327 396 eligible ...

Objectives. To examine the relationship between ‘‘traditional Sami’’ dietary pattern and mortality in a general northern Swedish population. Study design. Population-based cohort study.<p> <p>Methods. We examined 77,319 subjects from the Va¨sterbotten Intervention Program (VIP) cohort. A traditional Sami diet score was constructed by adding 1 point for intake above the median level of red meat, ...

The WHO currently considers maternal anemia global public health concern, and one of the most common complications during pregnancy. Symptoms range from weakness and fatigue, to serious cardiac complications. Maternal anemia also poses a risk to the infant, as it can increase the likelihood of preterm birth and low birth weight babies, among additional concerns. Past research is primarily focused ...

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) needs iron to survive and replicate and has evolved systems to harvest iron from its host. In humans, excess iron could potentially increase the risk of S. aureus carriage and infections. Moreover, iron plays a vital role in the development and function of the host immune system. Adolescence is a growth spurt period with increased iron requirements. The aim of this ...

Alcohol consumption, overweight and smoking are associated with premature mortality. These behaviors tend to co-occur and often differ between different socioeconomic groups. Previous studies have indicated a reversed social gradient in total alcohol consumption. The main purpose of this repeated-measures study was to investigate the social gradient in total alcohol consumption and its relationship ...

Background: In studies of social inequalities in health, there is no consensus on the best measure of socioeconomic position (SEP). Moreover, subjective indicators are increasingly used to measure SEP. The aim of this paper was to develop a composite score for SEP based on weighted combinations of education and income in estimating subjective SEP, and examine how this score performs in predicting ...

Background: Self-reported data on educational level have been collected for decades in the Tromsø Study, but their validity has yet to be established. Aim: To investigate the completeness and correctness of self-reported educational level in the Tromsø Study, using data from Statistics Norway. In addition, we explored the consequence of using these two data sources on educational trends in ...

Objective To use data from two longstanding, population based screening programmes to study overdiagnosis in screening mammography.<p> <p>Design Population based cohort study. <p>Setting Copenhagen municipality (from 1991) and Funen County (from 1993), Denmark. <p>Participants 57 763 women targeted by organised screening, aged 56-69 when the screening programmes started, and followed up to ...

Background: Overweight and obesity in childhood doubles the risk of becoming overweight as an adult, as well as it increases the risk of related comorbidities. Cardiovascular diseases are a consequence of obesity and the most common cause of death worldwide. Diet and physical activity are modifiable causes of overweight. Overweight and obesity should be prevented, but treatment must be optimized as ...