Genetics

Shared genetic susceptibility between trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome: a genome-wide association study

The Lancet Rheumatology VOLUME 4, ISSUE 8, E556-E565, AUGUST 2022 Benjamin Patel, BMBCh Published: August, 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(22)00180-1 Summary Background Trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome are the two most common non-traumatic connective tissue disorders of the hand. Both of these conditions frequently co-occur, often in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. However, this phenotypic association is poorly understood. […]

Association Between Family History of Surgically Treated Low Back Pain and Adolescent Low Back Pain

Heikkala, Eveliina PhD SPINE: May 01, 2022 – Volume 47 – Issue 9 – p 649-655 doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000004345 Abstract Objective. To study the associations between a family history of surgically treated low back pain (LBP) and adolescent LBP. Summary of Background Data. A family history of LBP is related to adolescent LBP, but whether a […]

A Case–control Study of Major Genetic Predisposition Risk Alleles in Developing DDD in the Northeast US Population: Effects of Gene–gene Interactions

Valtchinov, Vladimir I. PhD SPINE: November 15, 2021 – Volume 46 – Issue 22 – p 1525-1533 Study Design. A case–control study of risk alleles for degenerative disc disease (DDD) using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for phenotyping. Objective. We aim to provide the first statistically adequately powered study of the relationship between the presence of […]

Obesity More Important Than Genetics for T2DM Risk

— Results underscore key role of weight management, Danish researchers say by Jeff Minerd, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today April 15, 2020 In a large Danish cohort study examining risk factors for type 2 diabetes, obesity overpowered both genetics and lifestyle. Obese individuals were nearly six times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared with […]

3 New Genes Linked to Chronic Back Pain

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Oct. 1, 2018 (HealthDay News) — New research pinpoints three genes responsible for skeletal development that appear to be connected to chronic back pain. The study authors said their findings could shed new light on the biological factors involved in the development of the condition and lead to […]

Genetic and Environmental Factors Contribute to Acne

April 24, 2018 Journal of Drugs in Dermatology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE A total of 139 identical and fraternal twin pairs were surveyed at the Twins Day Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, the largest annual gathering of multiples, to identify genetic and environmental factors that may affect acne severity. The percentage of twin pairs concordant for acne was […]

Lifestyle Factors Affect Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Risk Regardless of Genetic Predisposition

December 27, 2017 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Data from the UK Biobank study were used to create a genetic risk score for high blood pressure (BP) in adults aged 40 to 69 years without established cardiovascular diseases (CVD) to study the interaction between lifestyle factors and genetic profile and the effect on CVD risk. There was a […]

Genetic Risk, Adherence to a Healthy Lifestyle, and Coronary Disease (Full Text)

Amit V. Khera, M.D., Connor A. Emdin, D.Phil., Isabel Drake, Ph.D., Pradeep Natarajan, M.D., Alexander G. Bick, M.D., Ph.D., Nancy R. Cook, Ph.D., Daniel I. Chasman, Ph.D., Usman Baber, M.D., Roxana Mehran, M.D., Daniel J. Rader, M.D., Valentin Fuster, M.D., Ph.D., Eric Boerwinkle, Ph.D., Olle Melander, M.D., Ph.D., Marju Orho-Melander, Ph.D., Paul M Ridker, M.D., […]

Diet and Exercise Work Despite Genetic Obesity Risk

by Jeff Minerd Contributing Writer, MedPage Today 09.20.2016 Meta-analysis: no poor candidates for lifestyle intervention Obese and overweight individuals with genetic risk factors for obesity respond as well as anybody else to diet and exercise, according to a meta-analysis of clinical trials evaluating weight-loss interventions. In trial participants with the high-risk FTO (fat mass and […]

Very High LDL Seldom Caused By Familial Hypercholesterolemia Gene Variants

Susan Jeffrey April 03, 2016 CHICAGO, IL — Only a small fraction of those with very high LDL- cholesterol levels carry one of the known genes that cause familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a new study shows[1]. However, for any two individuals with the same LDL level, those with these gene variants have a significantly increased risk […]

Familial Hypercholesterolemia More Common Than Thought

Researchers find roughly 834,500 Americans have inherited condition TUESDAY, March 15, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Familial hypercholesterolemia affects about one in every 250 American men and women and significantly increases their risk for an early heart attack, according to a study published in the March 15 issue ofCirculation. Sarah de Ferranti, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant […]

Is Weight Gain Dictated by Genes?

Dr. Mark Hyman | March 11, 2016 12:23 pm “For generations, my family has been overweight or obese and I’m just wondering how much of weight gain is dictated by genes?” writes this week’s house call. “Do my genes create my destiny?” Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Some genes can […]

Substantial contribution of extrinsic risk factors to cancer development

Nature 529, 43–47 (07 January 2016) doi:10.1038/nature16166 Received 15 April 2015 Accepted 23 October 2015 Published online 16 December 2015 Song Wu,Scott Powers, Wei Zhu & Yusuf A. Hannun Abstract Recent research has highlighted a strong correlation between tissue-specific cancer risk and the lifetime number of tissue-specific stem-cell divisions. Whether such correlation implies a high […]

GMOs, Herbicides, and Public Health – Editorial in NEJM

Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., and Charles Benbrook, Ph.D. N Engl J Med 2015; 373:693-695August 20, 2015DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1505660 Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not high on most physicians’ worry lists. If we think at all about biotechnology, most of us probably focus on direct threats to human health, such as prospects for converting pathogens to biologic […]

Inflammation, not telomere length, predicts healthy longevity of centenarians

August 5, 2015 Scientists have cracked the secret of why some people live a healthy and physically independent life over the age of 100. For the first time, a team of experts from Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, explored which biological and pathological processes may be the most […]

Effect of environmental epigenetics on disease, evolution

‘Epigenetics can drive genetics,’ experts say Date: August 3, 2015 Source: Washington State University Summary: Environmental factors are having an underappreciated effect on the course of disease and evolution by prompting genetic mutations through epigenetics, a process by which genes are turned on and off independent of an organism’s DNA sequence. Researchers assert that is […]

The relationship between obesity, low back pain, and lumbar disc degeneration when genetics and the environment are considered

The relationship between obesity, low back pain, and lumbar disc degeneration when genetics and the environment are considered: a systematic review of twin studies Amabile B. Dario, MSc The Spine Journal Volume 15, Issue 5, 1 May 2015, Pages 1106–1117 Abstract Background context The relationships between obesity and low back pain (LBP) and lumbar disc […]

A study of 10 pairs of Finnish identical twins who suggest that exercise can build brains as well as brawn

One Twin Exercises, the Other Doesn’t By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS MARCH 4, 2015 Identical twins in Finland who shared the same sports and other physical activities as youngsters but different exercise habits as adults soon developed quite different bodies and brains, according to a fascinating new study that highlights the extent to which exercise shapes our […]

Regular coffee consumption contributes to DNA integrity

Eur J Nutr. 2015 Feb;54(1):149-56. doi: 10.1007/s00394-014-0696-x. Epub 2014 Apr 17. Consumption of a dark roast coffee decreases the level of spontaneous DNA strand breaks: a randomized controlled trial. Bakuradze T1, Lang R, Hofmann T, Eisenbrand G, Schipp D, Galan J, Richling E. Author information Abstract PURPOSE: Coffee consumption has been reported to decrease oxidative damage in peripheral white blood cells (WBC). […]

Family History of Arthritis Doesn’t Always Up RA Risk

by Diana Swift Contributing Writer, MedPage Today A family history of arthritis-related conditions, such as osteoarthritis (OA) or unspecified arthralgia, was not markedly predictive of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a Swedish study. “Although statistically significant familial co-aggregation was found for RA to every non-RA arthritis-related disease group — interestingly with no pronounced difference […]