H. pylori Infection - Basic and Clinical Outcomes

H. pylori infection causes invariably chronic inflammation of the gastric mucosa and predisposes for peptic ulcerations in the stomach and duodenum as well as for gastric neoplasias. A subset of patients with chronic gastritis and without additional lesions will develop dyspeptic symptoms, whereas around 80% of all infected may never experience any clinical manifestation. The determinants of different diseases conditions associated with the H. pylori infection are related to the variability of bacterial strains, host genetic factors, and ambiental conditions.     

Diabetes mellitus and comorbidity. Change between 1984-1986 and 1995-1997: results of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study

The prevention of diabetic complications is a challenge to the health services. A health survey was carried out in the Nord-Tr?ndelag county of Norway during the period 1984-1986 (77,224 respondents) and repeated in 1995-1997 (65,599 respondents). In this study, self-reports of diabetes and other diseases and impairments in the two screenings are compared. Did respondents report more or less morbidity in 1995-1997 than in 1984-1986? Comparisons between self-reports in the two surveys show higher morbidity among young people (below 40 years of age) in 1995-1997 than in 1984-1986, both among people with and without diabetes, but the change was not statistically significant. For the middle-aged (40-59 years of age), there were smaller changes. For older people (above 60 years of age) with diabetes, there was a decrease in some of the reported morbidity, namely for cerebral stroke, mobility impairment, and impairment due to other physical diseases, compared to older people without diabetes. There was a slight increase in reported vision impairment, but smaller than for people without diabetes. The changes in relative risk for people with stroke, mobility and vision impairment, and other physical disease are statistically significant. Splitting the sample according to gender, this trend was only significant among women.     

Lifestyle factors and incident metabolic syndrome. The Tromsø Study 1979-2001

ObjectivesTo assess the relationship between lifestyle characteristics and incident metabolic syndrome.MethodsA total of 17,014 men and women without the metabolic syndrome at baseline who participated in at least two of four surveys between 1979–1980 and 2001 were included in this population based longitudinal study in the municipality of Tromsø, Norway. At each survey the participants went through a physical examination, completed two questionnaires, and blood samples were taken. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Adult Treatment Panel III criteria with modifications.ResultsThe age-adjusted incidence rates of the metabolic syndrome per 1000 person-years for people age 20–56 years were 10.0 in men and 8.7 in women. The metabolic syndrome risk significantly increased with age in women, but not in men. Leisure-time physical activity was inversely related to the metabolic syndrome. Smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day was associated with an increased risk compared to non-smokers. The hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 1.27 (1.04–1.54) and 1.40 (1.02–1.92) in men and women, respectively. Alcohol intake and education were inversely associated with metabolic syndrome in women but not in men.ConclusionsPhysical inactivity and heavy smoking increased the metabolic syndrome incidence in men and women. Low or no intake of alcohol was also associated with increased risk, but in women only.