Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, OBGYNE / 12.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, MPH Lead Research Analyst Department of Population Medicine Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Landmark Center Boston, MA 02215  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Caesarean delivery rates remain high and variable across hospitals, regions, and countries. Caesarean delivery may be a risk factor for childhood obesity, possibly because delivery route can influence the intestinal microbiomes, which may influence energy regulation. Previously reported associations of caesarean delivery with childhood obesity may be confounded by maternal BMI and sociocultural factors. To address this possibility, we studied sibling pairs from the Linked CENTURY Study, a longitudinal clinical database of well-child visits in Massachusetts linked to each child’s birth certificate, to isolate the effect of caesarean delivery from most other factors. (more…)
Author Interviews, Inflammation, Pediatrics, Pediatrics / 06.01.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor of Pediatrics Hans Bisgaard, MD, DMSc Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Bisgaard: The purpose of this study was to look for a shared risk factor for immunological diseases which make its debut in childhood. During the recent decades a parallel increase in prevalence of immune diseases such as asthma, allergy, inflammatory bowel disease, and type 1 diabetes have been observed in westernized countries. The rate of cesarean delivery has increased in the same period and has previously been associated with the development of some of these diseases. This study takes advantage of the unique and valuable nationwide registry data in Denmark to establish a large population based cohort (2 million term children) with 35 years of follow up (in the period 1977-2012). We found cesarean delivery to be a common risk factor for a range of childhood immunological diseases: asthma, juvenile arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, connective tissue disorders, immune deficiencies and leukemia, but with no association to psoriasis, celiac disease, and diabetes type 1. (more…)