DNA Methylome perturbations: An epigenetic basis for the Emergingly heritable neurodevelopmental abnormalities associated with maternal smoking and maternal nicotine exposure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan M Buck ◽  
Li Yu ◽  
Valerie S Knopik ◽  
Jerry A Stitzel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Animal Model ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Smoking During Pregnancy ◽  
Dna Methylome ◽  
Model Research ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Abnormalities

Abstract Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with an ensemble of neurodevelopmental consequences in children and therefore constitutes a pressing public health concern. Adding to this burden, contemporary epidemiological and especially animal model research suggests that grandmaternal smoking is similarly associated with neurodevelopmental abnormalities in grandchildren, indicative of intergenerational transmission of the neurodevelopmental impacts of maternal smoking. Probing the mechanistic bases of neurodevelopmental anomalies in the children of maternal smokers and the intergenerational transmission thereof, emerging research intimates that epigenetic changes, namely DNA methylome perturbations, are key factors. Altogether, these findings warrant future research to fully elucidate the etiology of neurodevelopmental impairments in the children and grandchildren of maternal smokers and underscore the clear potential thereof to benefit public health by informing the development and implementation of preventative measures, prophylactics, and treatments. To this end, the present review aims to encapsulate the burgeoning evidence linking maternal smoking to intergenerational epigenetic inheritance of neurodevelopmental abnormalities, to identify the strengths and weaknesses thereof, and to highlight areas of emphasis for future human and animal model research therein.

Barriers to Help Seeking among Victims of Elder Abuse: A Scoping Review and Implications for Public Health Policy in Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jessica K. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Elder Abuse ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Effective Assessment

Abstract Elder abuse is a serious public health concern requiring immediate intervention; however, the under-reporting of elder abuse by victims to formal and informal networks remains a major obstacle. This scoping review aims to identify barriers to help seeking that older adults experiencing abuse confront. The goal is to inform public policies and practices in the Canadian context and identify research gaps in the extant literature. Seven scholarly databases were searched from which 12 articles met the inclusion criteria and were extracted for analysis. The findings from this scoping review revealed three levels at which barriers exist: individual focused, abuser/family focused, and community/culture focused barriers. The results suggest that there are several complex obstacles that older adults face when contemplating disclosure of abuse. Future research into help seeking in the Canadian context should more readily incorporate the voices of elder abuse victim-survivors to develop effective assessment strategies and responsive service provisions.

scholarly journals Physical activity and health in Chinese children and adolescents: expert consensus statement (2020)

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (22) ◽  
pp. 1321-1331
Author(s):  
Peijie Chen ◽  
Dengfeng Wang ◽  
Hongbing Shen ◽  
Lijuan Yu ◽  
Qian Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Consensus Statement ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Chinese Children ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
Chinese Children And Adolescents

China is experiencing significant public health challenges related to social and demographic transitions and lifestyle transformations following unprecedented economic reforms four decades ago. Of particular public health concern is the fourfold increase in overweight and obesity rates in the nation’s youth population, coupled with the low prevalence of adolescents meeting recommended levels of physical activity. Improving the overall health of China’s more than 170 million children and adolescents has become a national priority. However, advancing nationwide health initiatives and physical activity promotion in this population has been hampered by the lack of a population-specific and culturally relevant consensus on recommendations for achieving these ends. To address this deficiency and inform policies to achieve Healthy China 2030 goals, a panel of Chinese experts, complemented by international professionals, developed this consensus statement. The consensus was achieved through an iterative process that began with a literature search from electronic databases; in-depth reviews, conducted by a steering committee, of the resulting articles; and panel group evaluations and discussions in the form of email correspondence, conference calls and written communications. Ultimately, the panel agreed on 10 major themes with strong scientific evidence that, in children and adolescents aged 6–17, participating in moderate to vigorous physical activities led to multiple positive health outcomes. Our consensus statement also (1) highlights major challenges in promoting physical activity, (2) identifies future research that addresses current knowledge gaps, and (3) provides recommendations for teachers, education experts, parents and policymakers for promoting physical activity among Chinese school-aged children and adolescents. This consensus statement aligns with international efforts to develop global physical activity guidelines to promote physical activity and health and prevent lifestyle-related diseases in children and adolescents. More importantly, it provides a foundation for developing culturally appropriate and effective physical activity interventions, health promotion strategies and policy initiatives to improve the health of Chinese children and adolescents.

scholarly journals HIV/AIDS Among Female Prison Inmates

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cortney A. Franklin ◽  
Noelle E. Fearn ◽  
Travis W. Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Female Inmates ◽  
High Risk Behaviors ◽  
Medical Needs ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Hiv Aids

Research points to the importance of adequate health care in women’s prisons. This is especially important as female inmates are faced with a host of unique and distinct needs, in particular, an increased risk of HIV/AIDS infection. This risk presents a significant public health concern as the majority of female offenders receive limited screening, treatment, education, and counseling related to HIV/AIDS infection and transmission while in prison. Additionally, when these women return to their communities, they are generally ill-equipped to prevent the transmission of their disease. Further, their heath concerns become the responsibility of an already overburdened public health system. Effective medical care in prison alleviates inmates’ growing medical needs and protects the public from the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This study identifies the current state of HIV/AIDS among female inmates in correctional institutions nation wide. We argue that mandatory AIDS screening for all inmates and gender-specific educational programming will lower the rate of transmission and the prevalence of high-risk behaviors, thus reducing pre- and post-release health threats. Future research directions and policy implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Tobacco Use Among College Students Across Various Disciplines in Kerala, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1179173X2093877
Author(s):  
Priya G Menon ◽  
Sanju George ◽  
B Sivasankaran Nair ◽  
Anjana Rani ◽  
K Thennarasu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Young People ◽  
Tobacco Use ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Lifetime Prevalence ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis

Background: Tobacco use is a major public health concern in India. Its use in young people is linked to increased severity, longer duration, and reduced efforts to seek treatment for tobacco use. A significant proportion of young people are enrolled in colleges, and early prevention during this period has better effectiveness. There is preliminary evidence that prevalence may vary across courses even among students of the same sociocultural background. Hence, we compared the prevalence and correlates of tobacco use among college students enrolled in five common streams of collegiate education (medical, nursing, engineering, arts/science and others, law/fisheries) in Kerala, India. Methods: 5784 college students from 58 colleges (medical, nursing, engineering, arts, and law and fisheries) selected by cluster random sampling in the district of Ernakulum, Kerala, completed a self-administered questionnaire incorporating standardized instruments. R software was used for analyses. Lifetime prevalence and severity of tobacco use were determined. Sociodemographic variables of tobacco users and nonusers enrolled in various courses were compared using chi-square test and two-way ANOVA. Furthermore, for each course, factors influencing tobacco use were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: The mean age of the sample was 19.5 ± 1.9 years, with the majority being female (65.3%). Lifetime prevalence of tobacco use varied from 0.5% in nursing students, 4.2% in medical students, 8.2% in students of arts and science, 12.5% in engineering students, and 22.8% among other students (law/fisheries). Approximately two-thirds of all tobacco users across courses showed signs of nicotine dependence. Dependent users also showed variance with none in nursing, 2.6% among medicine, 1.6% among arts and science, 1.9% among engineering, and 6.3% among others. Male gender and alcohol use were consistently associated with tobacco use across courses, whereas other examined psychosocial correlates showed variance. Conclusions: To conclude, it appears that among college students, course-level characteristics may influence risk of tobacco use. This has public health importance as it suggests that interventions need to be tailored bearing this in mind. Future research needs to examine campus-level characteristics that may explain variance.

scholarly journals The Controversies, Challenges and Complexities of Lyme Disease: A Narrative Review

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Claire Van Hout
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
History Of

Purpose: Lyme disease has become an increasingly important global public health concern. Method: A narrative review was conducted and designed to present a broad perspective on Lyme disease, and describe its history and development in terms of clinical care and public health implications. A structured literature search was conducted based on the question; what is currently known about Lyme disease? Results: The narrative review is presented in chronological order in terms of a summary of the history of Lyme disease, the complexities of clinical diagnosis, the problematic interpretation of serologic testing, the conflicting guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic Lyme, and benefits of antibiotic treatment. Conclusion: Despite growing global incidence of the Lyme disease, treatment has not attracted pharmaceutical investment, and the evidence base and international guidelines for treatment and management of chronic Lyme continue to be conflicting and controversial. The challenges of this immune mediated tick borne disease for public health policy and clinical practice are summarised, alongside directions for future research.

scholarly journals Emerging Opportunities to Improve Treatment Access for Substance Use Disorders and Other Comorbid Health Issues Among Women Enrolled in WIC

2022 ◽  
pp. 152483992110690
Author(s):  
Yukiko Washio ◽  
Bradley N. Collins ◽  
Linda M. Kilby
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Substance Use Disorders ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Routine Practice ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Underserved Communities ◽  
Increased Risk

Women living in underserved communities are at an increased risk for substance use disorders and other comorbid health issues, a public health concern that was exacerbated as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. In response to the challenges the pandemic presented, services delivered by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) adapted nimbly, including WIC nutrition managers’ and counselors’ efforts to provide reactive referrals of clients raising concern about substance misuse and related consequences. This adaptation signaled an opportunity to consider integrating more proactive, evidence-based strategies for substance use disorders such as standardized brief assessments, advice, and referral procedures (i.e., Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referral to Treatment [SBIRT]), as part of routine WIC operations. Integration of such routine practice would improve the quality of care WIC provides to their clients and families, while addressing a major gap in public health by connecting clients at high risk for substance use disorders and substance-related problems to much needed services. Given the adaptability of WIC to reactively manage the wide array of psychosocial and mental health problems that increased during the pandemic, opportunities exist for future research to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of proactive implementation of brief screening, advice, and treatment referral to reduce substance-related harm among women living in underserved communities.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Food Insecurity and Symptoms of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children: A Summary of the Literature

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 659
Author(s):  
Stacy Lu ◽  
Leanna Perez ◽  
Abby Leslein ◽  
Irene Hatsu
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Attention Deficit ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Adhd Symptoms ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Adequate Food

Food insecurity is a major public health concern characterized by an individual or household lacking access to adequate food to support a healthy lifestyle. Food insecurity has been associated with predisposing or exacerbating mental health symptoms in children. However, the evidence is scarce with regards to Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children. The purpose of this review is to summarize and identify gaps in the existing literature, as well as to explore associations between food insecurity and symptoms of childhood ADHD. Literature for this review was pulled from Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed library databases, with a focus on food insecurity, food insufficiency, hunger, and ADHD symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in children. The limited evidence to date shows a predictive and inverse relationship between childhood experience of food insecurity and symptoms of ADHD, with lasting impacts into adulthood. Evidence exists to hypothesize that childhood food insecurity is associated with predisposing or exacerbating ADHD symptoms in children, yet the literature needed to confirm this relationship is scarce and utilizes inconsistent methodology. Future research is needed to further characterize this complex relationship and inspire community or public health interventions addressing food insecurity in children with ADHD. Additionally, it may be clinically useful to routinely screen for food insecurity when assessing pediatric ADHD symptoms.

scholarly journals Developmental effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the human frontal cortex transcriptome

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Semick ◽  
Leonardo Collado-Torres ◽  
Christina A. Markunas ◽  
Joo Heon Shin ◽  
Amy Deep-Soboslay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Differential Expression ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Differentially Expressed ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Smoking During Pregnancy ◽  
Smoking Exposure ◽  
Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy

AbstractCigarette smoking during pregnancy is a major public health concern. While there are well-described consequences in early child development, there is very little known about the effects of maternal smoking on human cortical biology during prenatal life. We therefore performed a genome-wide differential gene expression analysis using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on prenatal (N=33; 16 smoking-exposed) as well as adult (N=207; 57 active smokers) human post-mortem prefrontal cortices. Smoking exposure during the prenatal period was directly associated with differential expression of 14 genes; in contrast, during adulthood, despite a much larger sample size, only 2 genes showed significant differential expression (FDR<10%). Moreover, 1,315 genes showed significantly different exposure effects between maternal smoking during pregnancy and direct exposure in adulthood (FDR<10%) – these differences were largely driven by prenatal differences that were enriched for pathways previously implicated in addiction and synaptic function. Furthermore, prenatal and age-dependent differentially expressed genes were enriched for genes implicated in non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and were differentially expressed as a set between patients with ASD and controls in post-mortem cortical regions. These results underscore the enhanced sensitivity to the biological effect of smoking exposure in the developing brain and offer novel insight into the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the prenatal human brain. They also begin to address the relationship between in utero exposure to smoking and the heightened risks for the subsequent development of neuropsychiatric disorders.One Sentence SummaryMaternal smoking during pregnancy alters the expression of genes within the developing human cortex and these changes are enriched for genes implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders.

scholarly journals Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring executive function: What do we know and what are the next steps?

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1333-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Micalizzi ◽  
Valerie S. Knopik
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Maternal Smoking ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Comprehensive Review ◽  
Smoking During Pregnancy ◽  
Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy ◽  
Developmental Significance ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractChildren exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) exhibit difficulties in executive function (EF) from infancy through adolescence. Due to the developmental significance of EF as a predictor of adaptive functioning throughout the life span, the MSDP–EF relation has clear public health implications. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the literature on the relationship between MSDP and offspring EF across development; consider brain-based assessments, animal models, and genetically informed studies in an effort to elucidate plausible pathways of effects; discuss implications for prevention and intervention; and make calls to action for future research.

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