This study will follow up a birth cohort for 25 years with the aim of looking at critical periods for bone development including the role of in utero exposures, early infancy, age 8 and age 16.
Association Between Birthweight And The Metabolic Syndrome - A Study In Twins.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$95,880.00
Summary
The Metabolic Syndrome is a shorthand term for a collection of disorders in the same individual; including Diabetes, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, atherosclerosis and obesity. These conditions have previously been assumed to occur because of genetic influences, acting in combination with the individual's lifestyle. However, another factor may also be important in causing the metabolic syndrome. A recent theory suggests that adverse events occurring during fetal development may result in ....The Metabolic Syndrome is a shorthand term for a collection of disorders in the same individual; including Diabetes, high cholesterol levels, hypertension, atherosclerosis and obesity. These conditions have previously been assumed to occur because of genetic influences, acting in combination with the individual's lifestyle. However, another factor may also be important in causing the metabolic syndrome. A recent theory suggests that adverse events occurring during fetal development may result in low birth weight and lead to metabolic changes which cause the metabolic syndrome in adulthood. This theory, if true, would have profound implications for the prevention of these common problems; which are the leading cause of death in developed countries. The validity of the Fetal Origins Hypothesis is curently uncertain. Confounding genetic and environmental factors make it difficult to separate the role of genetic, fetal and environmental influences. Studies of twins have the potential to sort out this important question. We will study the association between birthweight and the metabolic syndrome in sets of identical twins who have identical genes and similar environmental backgrounds. We will use a set of metabolic and hormone tests to define the characteristics of each twin. We will also employ a novel non-invasive method of measuring cell metabolism using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. If we find that the twin with lower birthweight usually has more adverse features of the metabolic syndrome, this will point to an important cause of cardiovascular disease. This study will provide very important insights into the influence of early life on subsequent health and may lead to a dramatic changes in our approach to the prevention of common diseases. Improving the health and well-being of pregnant mothers and their babies may turn out to be one of the most important public health issues that we can address.Read moreRead less
Analysis Of Perinatal Influences On Aboriginal Child Health And Potential Markers Of Chronic Adult Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$151,130.00
Summary
Aboriginal babies in the Northern Territory have a low birth rate about twice that for non-Aboriginal Australians. Most of these babies are small because of poor intrauterine growth. At the same time Aboriginal children have high rates of infectious diseases and malnutrition and adults have high rates of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, renal and chronic lung diseases with a life expectancy 20 years lower than non-Aboriginal Australians. An Aboriginal birth cohort of 686 with detailed ....Aboriginal babies in the Northern Territory have a low birth rate about twice that for non-Aboriginal Australians. Most of these babies are small because of poor intrauterine growth. At the same time Aboriginal children have high rates of infectious diseases and malnutrition and adults have high rates of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, renal and chronic lung diseases with a life expectancy 20 years lower than non-Aboriginal Australians. An Aboriginal birth cohort of 686 with detailed information on maternal medical and obstetric health and birth size and gestation as well as childhood growth has been reexamined in detail at 10 -12 years of age. Information about current nutrition, health and social environment has been collected. Analysis linking all this information will contribute to an understanding of the factors which predict illness in childhood and influence the development of chronic respiratory, renal, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases in Aboriginal adults. The findings will have important implications for the prevention and early intervention of the excess childhood and adult illnesses in the Aboriginal community.Read moreRead less
Prof Buchbinder is a rheumatologist and clinical epidemiologist investigating clinically important and public health relevant questions related to arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions. I am interested in improving patient care through the dissemination of research findings into practice, improved health literacy and communication between health professionals and health consumers.
INVESTIGATING THE VALIDITY OF PRENATAL INSULTS AS RISK FACTORS FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$201,100.00
Summary
Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating of human mental disorders affecting about 1% of the population. The cause of this disorder is not known but it seems certain that it will involve genetic and environmental factors. An adverse environmental factor could be a reduced supply of oxygen and nutrients to a baby during pregnancy. In guinea pigs we aim to investigate whether disruption to the normal supply of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus disrupts the normal fine structure and chemical ma ....Schizophrenia is one of the most devastating of human mental disorders affecting about 1% of the population. The cause of this disorder is not known but it seems certain that it will involve genetic and environmental factors. An adverse environmental factor could be a reduced supply of oxygen and nutrients to a baby during pregnancy. In guinea pigs we aim to investigate whether disruption to the normal supply of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus disrupts the normal fine structure and chemical make up of the brain and gives rise to long-lasting structural and neurochemical changes in adolescent animals, which resemble changes found in the brains of patients with schizophrenia. We will also assess whether behavioural responses of compromised animals are altered in tests that parallel disturbances seen in patients with schizophrenia. Such abnormal brain development could create an underlying vulnerability in the brain, predisposing individuals with risk factors such as genetic inheritance to develop the symptoms of schizophrenia in later life perhaps only after the complete formation of nerve pathways involved in higher brain functioning. If guinea pigs that have been subjected to low oxygen levels during pregnancy show sustained changes in the structure and neurochemistry in regions of the brain that are altered in patients with schizophrenia it would suggest that these long lasting disturbances could result from problems during pregnancy. Thus, this would support the idea that abnormal brain development during pregnancy is one of the underlying causes of schizophrenia.Read moreRead less
Exploration Of Exposures Associated With Bedding That Are Risks For Childhood Allergy And Asthma Symptoms
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$263,500.00
Summary
Asthma prevalence in Australia has doubled in the last 20 years, with 1 in 4 children now affected. House dust mites are probably the single most important allergen associated with asthma. The prevalence of mite allergy is linked to exposure, and such allergy when combined with high exposure, is a potent risk factor for asthma exacerbations. The current international advice for managing mite-allergic asthma, strongly advocates the use of bedding encasings as the best way to reduce exposure. Howe ....Asthma prevalence in Australia has doubled in the last 20 years, with 1 in 4 children now affected. House dust mites are probably the single most important allergen associated with asthma. The prevalence of mite allergy is linked to exposure, and such allergy when combined with high exposure, is a potent risk factor for asthma exacerbations. The current international advice for managing mite-allergic asthma, strongly advocates the use of bedding encasings as the best way to reduce exposure. However, three recent major trials using encasings and a meta-analysis of earlier trials all fail to show a clinical benefit. One of the applicants (ET) recently showed, using expertise in measuring personal exposure, that these encasings, as used, fail to significantly reduce aeroallergen exposure. By contrast, 3 recent Australian studies, involving the applicants, AK, ALP and NG showed that feather bedding compared to synthetic bedding, was strongly protective for asthma - the opposite of public advice. The suggested mechanisms involve reduced exposure to mite allergens, or altered exposure to bacterial endotoxin, but persuasive experimental support is lacking. We also propose a novel hypothesis that feather exposure may induce allergic 'tolerance'. Currently there is a lack of certainty about valid approaches to prevent asthma, and the Global Initiative for Asthma has described the need to understand mechanisms and improve interventions as urgent. This project is an ideal opportunity to combine the expertise of the CIA (ET) in measuring airborne exposures (mite, endotoxin, proteins) with that of the others who have expertise in children's asthma, and who are already involved in two large clinical trails involving different bedding and allergen avoidance. Our measurements of these bedding exposures and their clinical outcomes will provide, for the first time, a quantitative basis to refine public health allergen-based interventions to prevent and manage asthma.Read moreRead less