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Scope: Mid-life overweight and obesity are the potentially leading causes of late-life dementia and its subtypes. This systematic literature review assessed the epidemiological evidence of the association between mid-to-late life overweight/obesity and the future risk development of dementia. Methods: A systematic literature search in published peer-reviewed journals between 2003 and 2019 was conducted to identify prospective and retrospective cohort and case-control studies reporting mid-to-late life overweight and obesity by dementia risk. Of the 610 abstracts identified and reviewed from the main scientific databases, 17 high-quality original research studies were included for the final analysis, which has entirely met the study inclusion criteria. The studies were limited to humans and English language publications. Study methods were summarised and tabulated according to the study characteristics, design, reported exposures to overweight and obesity, dose-response relationship, and type of dementia outcome. The strength of association between mid-to-late life overweight and obesity with dementia risk contributed by each study was assessed consistently, and the main limitations of the included studies were discussed. Results: The study results were based on 2,048,255 participants with a follow-up period ranging between 3 to 36 years. Seventeen full-text articles were examined. Of these, 13 studies assessed mid-life overweight/obesity and the risk of late-life dementia, and four studies evaluated late-life overweight/obesity and the risk of dementia. The association between overweight and obesity with dementia risk is varied from mid-life to late-life. Most of the mid-life reviewed studies reported that being overweight and obese at mid-life had a positive association with an increased risk of dementia in late-life, although the results were inconsistent across some studies. A negative association between late-life overweight and obesity with the risk of dementia

We examined the association of occupational exposure to handling cytotoxic drugs at work with risk of birth defects among a cohort of female veterinarians. This study is a follow up survey of 321 female participants (633 pregnancies) who participated in the Health Risks of Australian Veterinarian project. Data on pregnancies and exposure during each pregnancy was obtained by self-administered mailed questionnaire. Female veterinarians handling cytotoxic drugs during their pregnancy had a two-fold increased risk of birth defects in their offspring (RR = 2.08, 95% CI (1.05-4.15)). Results were consistent in subgroup analysis of those who graduated during the period of 1961 to 1980 (RR = 5.04, 95% CI (1.81, 14.03) and in those working specifically in small and large animal practice. There was no increased risk in the subgroup that graduated after 1980. Women with unplanned pregnancies were more likely to handle cytotoxic drugs on a daily basis (RR = 1.86, 95% CI, 1.00-3.48) and had a higher increased risk of birth defects than those who planned their pregnancies in recent graduates and in those who worked specifically in small animal practice (RR = 2.53, 95% CI, 1.18-5.42). This study suggests that the adverse effects of handling cytotoxic drugs in pregnant women may include an increased risk of birth defects. Pregnancy intention status is an important health behavior and should be considered in prenatal programs. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.