There is an increasing burden of obesity and obesity-related noncommunicable diseases in Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Oman. This descriptive, epidemiological study assessed physical activity among 2977 Omani adults using a population-based household survey in 2008. Overall, 54.2% of men and 41.6% of women were physically active; the rate was higher in younger cohorts and varied...

We evaluated the incidence of perioperative hyperkalaemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing parathyroidectomy and investigated possible contributors to this phenomenon. This was a retrospective cohort study looking at patients who had undergone parathyroidectomy for chronic kidney disease-associated mineral bone disease (CKD-MBD) at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, since 2001...

OBJECTIVE: Long-term outcomes of critically ill patients with diabetes are unknown. Our objectives were to evaluate the effect of diabetes on both long-term survival rates and the average number of years of life lost for patients admitted to an intensive care unit who survived to hospital discharge. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A data linkage study evaluating all adult patients in South Aust...

The histone deacetylase inhibitors, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (Vorinostat, Zolinza™) and depsipeptide (Romidepsin, Istodax™) have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Numerous histone deacetylase inhibitors are currently undergoing clinical trials, predominantly in combination with other cancer modalities, for the ...

BACKGROUND: Regional or diffuse fibrosis is an early feature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and is related to poor prognosis. Previous studies have documented low-grade inflammation in HCM. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between circulating inflammatory markers and myocardial fibrosis, systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and the degree of cardiac hypertrophy in ...

BACKGROUND: Risk of substantial haemorrhage represents a critically important limitation to effective anti-thrombotic treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). While it is known that this risk is increased in anticoagulated patients either in the presence of anti-aggregatory drugs or concomitant renal insufficiency, there are currently few data on the potential interactions between ...

Background Recruitment of general practitioners for research in Australia is problematic. We aimed to explore general practice demographics and recent research experience for effects on research attitudes and enablers and inhibitors of research participation. Methods A survey was developed and distributed to GPs via two divisions of general practice in Melbourne, Victoria. Results Seven hu...

Despite recent progress in screening for genetic causes of cardiovascular disease using genome-wide association studies, identifying causative polymorphisms has not met initial expectations. This has led to interest in exploring the contribution of non-genetic factors in disease etiology. Elevated plasma homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease but the mechanism for...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the baseline characteristics in patients who chose placement of a LAP-BAND AP® System (LBAP) and participated in the Helping Evaluate Reduction in Obesity (HERO) Study across regions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: HERO is a five-year, prospective, multicenter, international study of patients with LBAP placement between July 22, 2009 and January 31, 2011. In addition to baselin...

INTRODUCTION: Although obesity is a risk factor for hip osteoarthritis (OA), the role of body composition, if any, is unclear. This study examines whether the body mass index (BMI) and body composition are associated with hip cartilage changes using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in community-based adults. METHODS: 141 community-based participants with no clinical hip disease, including OA...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this harmonized meta-analysis was to examine the independent and combined effects of physical activity and BMI on the incidence of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Our systematic literature review in 2011 identified 127 potentially relevant prospective studies of which 9 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (total N = 117,878, 56.2 % female, mean age = 50.0 years, range = 25-...

Improving the health of Aboriginal people is a national priority and improving coordination of services for Aboriginal families is critical to achieving this goal. A care coordination framework has been developed from a limited range of clinical settings. We reflect on the utility of this framework for assessing service coordination for Aboriginal families in Australia. We conducted stakeholder...

This article originated in a leadership program for Indigenous1 Australian researchers, where a participant who had worked with traditional midwives in South Sudan reflected on her experiences. While there is increasing interest in how leadership studies can learn from Indigenous leadership experiences, much of this work has focused on men’s experiences or has not paid particular attention to w...

Chronic disease epidemiology currently lacks the mono-causal focus germ theory provides infectious diseases. However, the discovery of a form of low-grade, systemic, and chronic inflammation (“metaflammation) underlying many, if not all, chronic diseases induced by a range of stimulants labeled “anthropogens” may help change this. Anthropogens are “man-made environments, their by-products, and/...

The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service® (GHS), a free government-funded telephone-delivered information and coaching service was launched in February 2009 by the Australian New South Wales state government. It represents the translation of research evidence applied in the real world (T4 or Phase 4 translation), aimed at addressing the modifiable risk factors associated with the overwe...

BACKGROUND: Costs associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are not well documented. Understanding such costs is important to inform economic evaluations of prevention strategies and treatment options. AIM: To estimate the costs associated with CKD in Australia. METHODS: We used data from the 2004/2005 AusDiab study, a national longitudinal population-based study of non-institutionalis...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Previous studies have shown associations between atrial fibrillation (AF) and cognitive decline. We investigated this association in a prospective population study, focusing on whether stroke risk factors modulated this association in stroke-free women and men. METHODS: We included 4983 participants (57% women) from the fifth survey of the Tromsø Study (Tromsø 5, ...

BACKGROUND: Evidence on long-term trends in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) prevalence in Australia is lacking. AIMS: To assess and compare trends in GDM prevalence among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Analysis of crude and age-adjusted GDM prevalence over time by Indigenous status and age, using routinely collected midwives data from Australian ...

BACKGROUND: Underweight, overweight, and obesity in childhood and adolescence are associated with adverse health consequences throughout the life-course. Our aim was to estimate worldwide trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) and a comprehensive set of BMI categories that cover underweight to obesity in children and adolescents, and to compare trends with those of adults. METHODS: We pool...

BACKGROUND: Raised blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease. We estimated worldwide trends in mean systolic and mean diastolic blood pressure, and the prevalence of, and number of people with, raised blood pressure, defined as systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher. METHODS: ...