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Objective: Limiting SFA intake may minimise the risk of CHD. However, such reduction often leads to increased intake of carbohydrates. We aimed to evaluate associations and the interplay of carbohydrate and SFA intake on CHD risk.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: We followed participants in the Hordaland Health Study, Norway from 1997-1999 through 2009. Information on carbohydrate and SFA intake was obtained from a FFQ and analysed as continuous and categorical (quartiles) variables. Multivariable Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI. Theoretical substitution analyses modelled the substitution of carbohydrates with other nutrients. CHD was defined as fatal or non-fatal CHD (ICD9 codes 410-414 and ICD10 codes I20-I25).Participants: 2995 men and women, aged 46-49 years.Results: Adjusting for age, sex, energy intake, physical activity and smoking, SFA was associated with lower risk (HRQ4 v. Q1 0·44, 95 % CI 0·26, 0·76, Ptrend = 0·002). For carbohydrates, the opposite pattern was observed (HRQ4 v. Q1 2·10, 95 % CI 1·22, 3·63, Ptrend = 0·003). SFA from cheese was associated with lower CHD risk (HRQ4 v. Q1 0·44, 95 % CI 0·24, 0·83, Ptrend = 0·006), while there were no associations between SFA from other food items and CHD. A 5 E% substitution of carbohydrates with total fat, but not SFA, was associated with lower CHD risk (HR 0·75, 95 % CI 0·62, 0·90).Conclusions: Higher intake of predominantly high glycaemic carbohydrates and lower intake of SFA, specifically lower intake from cheese, were associated with higher CHD risk. Substituting carbohydrates with total fat, but not SFA, was associated with significantly lower risk of CHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unknown how individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) age compared to unaffected peers. Objectives: The objective of the study is to describe the impact of MS on health and functioning in aging women. Methods: We used 10-item Physical Functioning Scale (PF10) scores (from the Short Form-36 (SF-36)) and other indicators of general, physical, mental health, and memory collected repeatedly over 25 years with self-administered questionnaires among participants in the Nurses' Health Study (n = 121,700 recruited at ages 30–55) and Nurses' Health Study II (n = 116,429 recruited at ages 25–42) to compare women with MS (n = 733) to unaffected peers in their health and disability, and describe/quantify the burden of aging with MS. Results: Women with MS had a consistently lower PF10 by 0.9–1.7 standard deviations with greater overall variability than unaffected women. PF10-scores gradually decreased with increasing age in both groups, but MS cases declined 3–4 times faster in midlife, while decline was similar in old age. The physical function score of 45-year-old women with MS was comparable to that of 75-year-old unaffected women; 70-year-old women with MS scored similarly to 85-year-old unaffected women. MS cases also reported worse health/more disability throughout adulthood on the other indicators. Conclusion: The age-related decline in physical health is accelerated by 15–30 years in MS patients compared to unaffected peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To prospectively examine for the first time the association between plasma urate levels measured in healthy participants and future amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk. Methods: A pooled case-control study nested in five US prospective cohorts comprising 319,617 participants who provided blood, of which 275 had ALS during follow-up. Pre-diagnostic plasma urate was determined for all participants using a clinical colorimetric enzyme assay. Gender-specific multivariable-adjusted rate ratios (RR) of ALS incidence or death estimated by conditional logistic regression and pooled using inverse-variance weighting. Results: In age- and matching factor-adjusted analyses, a 1 mg/dL increase in urate concentration was associated with RR = 0.88 (95% CI: [0.78, 0.997] p = 0.044). After adjustment for BMI, a strong predictor of ALS and urate levels, and other potential covariates, the RR = 0.89 (95% CI: [0.78, 1.02]; p = 0.08 for 1mg/dL increase in urate). Conclusion: Elevation of plasma urate was modestly inversely associated with the risk of ALS and warrants further study for a potential role in this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apparently paradoxical association of tobacco use with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) is well-established [[1]], although whether nicotine or other tobacco constituents reduce the risk of PD remains uncertain. Self-reported tobacco smoking and alcohol intake were independently associated with lower PD risk in both men and women - that is, the combination of smoking and alcohol consumption was associated with a lower PD risk than either factor alone. This is a particular challenge for PD, both because some individuals identified as having PD in this study may have been a false positive, but most importantly, because there can be a considerable time interval between the first motor symptoms and the final PD diagnosis. [Extracted from the article]