Month: October 2016

Smoke exposure in early life and Rheumatic Heart Disease

david-phillipsDavid Phillips

Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) is caused by a bacterial (streptococcal) throat infection acquired in childhood.  Although this type of infection is common and widespread, a small proportion of children so affected go on to develop an inflammatory condition that leads to scarring and narrowing of the heart valves and, in time, heart failure. Early on in the course of the disease the joints may be affected – hence the term “rheumatic”.

Still an important disease
At one time Rheumatic Heart Disease was common throughout the UK, Europe and the US; it was the most important cause of heart disease among young adults in Victorian Britain and probably caused the death of Mozart.  Although rare now in most developed countries, it remains an important public health problem in many low and middle income countries. The disease is widespread in the Middle East and Asia, and the the poor indigenous populations of some wealthy countries, for example among Australian Aboriginees and New Zealand Maoris. It is particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is one of the commonest causes of heart disease, typically affecting children or young adults. There it carries a grim prognosis because of the lack of specialised treatment. Continue reading “Smoke exposure in early life and Rheumatic Heart Disease” →

Last but not least – the 2016 IJE conference

photoLuisa Zuccolo

The IJE conference took place in Bristol on 7 October  2016, a one-day, one-off event.

Rodolfo Saracci, as ever bow-tied and in good spirits, did the honours throughout the day. It was under his IEA presidency that Shah Ebrahim and George Davey Smith were hired as IJE editors, and Rodolfo praised their editorial work by likening it to conducting research (“exciting, adventurous, challenging”), and acknowledging that brave decisions have exposed them to the future judgement of historians.

A historical perspective was also taken by Tom Koch, who recalled the very origins of the IJE, of epidemiology itself, and of the transition to modern epidemiology, and by Alex Mold, who told us about the historical relationship between the public and public health by drawing on three key epidemiological narratives (John Snow and the pump’s handle, Richard Doll and the British Doctors’ study, Jerry Morris and London’s bus drivers and conductors). Continue reading “Last but not least – the 2016 IJE conference” →

You should totally watch this entire day of the IJE conference

ben-goldacreBen Goldacre

This post originally appeared on Ben Goldacre’s ‘Bad Science’ blog on 7 October 2016: http://www.badscience.net/2016/10/you-should-watch-this-entire-day-of-the-ije-conference/

Today marks the end of an era. The International Journal of Epidemiology used to be a typical hotchpotch of isolated papers on worthy subjects. Occasionally, some were interesting, or related to your field. Under Shah Ebrahim and George Davey Smith it became like nothing else: an epidemiology journal you’d happily subscribe to with your own money, and read in the bath. Continue reading “You should totally watch this entire day of the IJE conference” →

Metabolic Phenotyping in Epidemiology

ala-korpela_squareMika Ala-Korpela

Metabolic phenotyping, nowadays most often termed metabolomics, is becoming increasingly applied in molecular epidemiology. Recent technological developments resulting in increased numbers of quantitative molecular applications of metabolomics triggered the idea for a themed issue of the IJE on Metabolic Phenotyping in Epidemiology edited by George Davey Smith and myself.  Continue reading “Metabolic Phenotyping in Epidemiology” →