Older age at first birth is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Some studies found that age at first birth is associated with pancreatic cancer; others did not. The present meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between age at first birth and pancreatic cancer in women. DATA SOURCES: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for relevant publications on age at first birth and pancreatic cancer up to April, 2014. The eligible studies (six cohorts and five case-controls) were independently selected by two authors. Pooled relative risk (RR) estimates and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated using the inverse-variance method. RESULTS: The pooled RR of pancreatic cancer risk for the highest versus lowest categories of age at first birth was 1.21 (95% CI: 1.01-1.45, P=0.314, I2=13.7%). Consistent relationships were also observed within subgroup analyses stratified by study design, geographic region, and whether the studies included adjustment for cigarette smoking, diabetes, or all of the confounders. In this meta-analysis, no publication bias among studies was observed using Egger's test (P=0.383) or Begg's test (P=0.436). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that older age at first birth is associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in women and the exact functional mechanism needs further investigation.

The Influence of Secular Trends in Body Height and Weight on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Chinese Children and Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the influence of secular trends in body height and weight on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Chinese children and adolescents. METHODS: The data were obtained from five cross-sectional Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health. Overweight/obesity was defined as BMI-for-age Z-score of per the Wold Health Organization (WHO) reference values. Body height and weight for each sex and age were standardized to those reported in 1985 (standardized height: SHY; standardized weight: SWY) and for each sex and year at age 7 (standardized height: SHA; standardized weight: SWA) using the Z-score method. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity in Chinese children was 20.2% among boys and 10.7% among girls in 2010 and increased continuously from 1985 to 2010. Among boys and girls of normal weight, SHY and SHA were significantly greater than SWY and SWA, respectively (P < 0.001). Among boys and girls with overweight/obesity, SHY was significantly lower than SWY (P < 0.001), and showed an obvious decreasing trend after age 12. SHA was lower than SWA among overweight boys aged 7-8 years and girls aged 7-9 years. SHY/SHW and SHA/SWA among normal-weight groups were greater than among overweight and obese groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The continuous increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity among Chinese children may be related to a rapid increase in body weight before age 9 and lack of secular increase in body height after age 12.

Combined intervention with education and progressive muscle relaxation on quality of life, functional disability, and positive symptoms in patients with acute schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the effects of combined intervention with education and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on quality of life (QoL), functional disability, and positive symptoms of patients with acute schizophrenia. METHODS: This randomized controlled study took place in an acute schizophrenia ward in Changsha, China. Sixty-four patients with acute schizophrenia were randomly assigned to four groups: control, education, PMR, and education plus PMR. QoL was assessed with the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire Short Form. Functional disability was assessed with the Sheehan Disability Scale. Severity of positive schizophrenia symptoms was assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms. All patients were evaluated at baseline (within 72 hours before the interventions) and at the end of weeks 5 (when the interventions ended) and week 15 (a 10-week follow-up after the interventions). RESULTS: The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of all four study groups were similar at baseline. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant differences among the interventions in improving QoL, functional disability, and positive symptoms over time in the patients. Education and PMR alone resulted in sustained improvement of QoL during the intervention period and a 10-week follow-up but had no significant effects on functional disability or positive schizophrenia symptoms. In contrast, combined intervention with education and PMR showed better effects on improving QoL than did education or PMR alone throughout the 15-week study. It also statistically significantly improved functional disability and positive schizophrenia symptoms during the intervention period and led to sustained improvement of functional disability during the 10-week follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: A combined intervention with education and PMR is effective in improving QoL, functional disability, and positive symptoms in patients with acute schizophrenia. The combined intervention model could be a new paradigm of adjunctive treatment for acute schizophrenia.

Consumption of vegetables may reduce the risk of liver cancer: results from a meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies.

PURPOSE: We conducted a meta-analysis of all published case-control and cohort studies to evaluate the relationship between vegetables intake and liver cancer risk. METHODS: We searched for cohort and case-control studies published before February 2014, using Pubmed and Cochrane Library Central database. Pooled relative risk (RR) estimates and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using the inverse-variance method. RESULTS: Eight case-control studies and one cohort study were included in this meta-analysis, involving a total of 136,425 subjects and 1349 liver cancer cases. Finally, we observed a statistically significant protective effect of vegetables consumption on liver cancer (RR=0.78, 95% CI [0.62, 0.99]). In the present meta-analysis, no publication bias was observed among studies using Begg's P value (P=0.532); Egger's (P=0.180) test, which suggested there was no evidence of publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that vegetables consumption may reduce the risk of liver cancer. More prospective cohort studies with larger sample size, well-controlled confounding factors are warranted to further evaluate the association.