Cancer risk in a cohort of Danes working in Greenland

Age Identification in the Framework of Successful Aging. A Study of Older Finnish People

A person-oriented approach was used in a study of age identification among community-dwelling older people. The study was based on 8-year follow-up data; 843 persons aged 65–84 were involved in the first phase of the study, and 426 persons aged 73–92, in the second phase. Loosely, on the basis of the distinction between successful, usual, and pathological aging (Rowe & Kahn, 1987, 1997), participants were grouped according to their self-ratings of cognitive and physical functioning as “Positive,” “Negative,” and “Others.” Participants possessing at least 4 out of the 5 criteria used as indicators of successful aging in the study (no illness or injury presenting problems in daily life, no health problems imposing limitations on hobbies, self-rated cognitive functioning better than satisfactory, age-comparative functional capacity as good, and no signs of depression) were assigned to the “Positive” group. The results showed these individuals typically to have a more youthful age identity, indicated by a lower feel age and thus a lower subjective age-perception score, lower mental, physical, and look ages, and a less frequently reported sense of age weighing on them. Moreover, this group reported a higher ideal age and had a chronological age satisfaction score closer to 0, suggesting higher satisfaction with chronological age. Also a tendency to set the onset of old age later and a willingness to live to 100 years of age were features that were more characteristic of the “Positive” than the other groups. The findings, supported by multivariate analyses, were in line with those of previous variable-oriented studies on age identification, suggesting that an association exists between perceptions of personal aging and physical and psychological well-being.

Trends of cervical cancer in Greenland: a 60-year overview

BACKGROUND

Due to its extraordinarily fast economic and social transition, virtually closed borders before 1940 and, moreover, that 85% of the population has the distinctive genetics of the Inuit, Greenland is a very interesting country to study cervical cancer from a historical perspective. Nevertheless, little has been reported about long-term cancer trends in Greenland. Our aim was to describe and interpret the incidence of cervical cancer from 1950 to 2009.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed for articles reporting the incidence of cervical cancer in Greenland. We supplemented this with data for 1980-2009 obtained from the Chief Medical Officer of Greenland.

RESULTS

Incidence of cervical cancer was around 10 per 100 000 women (age-standardised, world population, ASW) in the 1950s, 30 per 100 000 in the 1960s, and in the 1980s around 60 per 100 000. From 1985 onwards, the incidence of cervical cancer started decreasing to the current level of 25 per 100 000.

CONCLUSION

The steep increase in the incidence of cervical cancer from the 1950s onwards is unlikely to be explained by increasing completeness of data. In parallel with the economic development, however, out-of-wedlock births (proxy for sexual behaviour) increased dramatically from 1935 onwards while tobacco use increased from the 1950s onwards. From the late 1960s to around 1990, data suggested rather stable but high levels of sexual habits. The decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer since 1985 is consistent with the introduction of screening. The data strongly suggested that the increased burden of cervical cancer in Greenlandic women was real and followed earlier changes in sexual behaviour; these changes were likely a consequence of the tremendous societal changes.

MicroRNAs: potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly malignant cancer with local invasion and early distant metastasis. NPC is highly prevalent in the Southern China and South-eastern Asia. The genetic susceptibility, endemic environment factors, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection are believed to be the major etiologic factors of NPC. Once metastasis occurs, the prognosis is very poor. It is urgently needed to develop biomarkers for early clinical diagnosis/prognosis, and novel effective therapies for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In this paper, we systematically reviewed the current progress of miRNA studies in NPC. It has been shown that both host encoded miRNAs and EBV encoded miRNAs play key roles in almost all the steps of epithelia cell carcinogenesis, including epithelial-mesenchymal to stem-like transition, cell growth, migration, invasion, and tumorigenesis. More importantly, some miRNAs could be secreted out and play a role in the microenvironments. The level of sera miRNAs is correlated with the copy numbers of host miRNAs in tumor biopsies. Promising results of gene therapy have been also achieved by lentiviral delivered miRNAs. Taken together, cell free miRNAs would be potential biomarkers of early clinical diagnosis/prognosis; while some miRNAs could be further developed into therapeutic agents in the future.

Change in Subjective Age among Older People over an Eight-Year Follow-Up: ‘Getting Older and Feeling Younger?’

The purpose of this prospective study was to describe changes in subjective age over an 8-year period among community-dwelling people aged 65 to 84 years in Finland. At the baseline 1155 respondents met study criteria and 451 of these participated in the follow-up study. Participants described in years the age they felt themselves to be (feel age) and their preferred age (ideal age). Discrepancy scores relative to chronological age were calculated for feel age and ideal age. No significant mean-level changes were observed in the age discrepancy scores over the 8-year time frame. The baseline discrepancy between chronological and feel age remained constant among 48% of the participants, with 26% reporting a younger and 26% an older feel age. Similar patterns were observed in the discrepancy between chronological age and ideal age. The findings point both to stability and to individual variability in feel and preferred age identification over time in older adults.

Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion and increased UVB radiation: potential impacts to human health

Contrary to popular belief, stratospheric ozone depletion, and the resultant increase in solar UV-B (280-320 nm), are unlikely to fully recover soon. Notwithstanding the success of the Montreal Protocol in reducing the amount of ozone destroying chemicals into the stratosphere, the life-times of these compounds are such that even with full compliance with the Protocol by all countries, it will be decades before stratospheric ozone could return to pre-1980 levels. This raises the question, therefore, of what will happen to biological processes essential to the maintenance of life on earth which are sensitive to damage by increased UV-B radiation, particularly those involved with human health? The polar regions, because of the vagaries of climate and weather, are the bellwether for stratospheric ozone depletion and will, therefore, be the first to experience impacts due to increases in solar UV-B radiation. The impacts of these are incompletely understood and cannot be predicted with certainty. While some UV-B impacts on human health are recognized, much is unknown, unclear and uncertain. Thus, this paper attempts, as a first approximation, to point out potential impacts to the health and welfare of human inhabitants of the Arctic due to increased solar UV-B radiation associated with stratospheric ozone depletion. As will be seen, much more data is critically needed before adequate risk assessment can occur.

The Relationship Between Generalized Resistance Resources, Sense of Coherence, and Health Among Finnish People Aged 65-69

Abstract. The present study investigated the appropriateness of Antonovsky's model, in which generalized resistance resources (GRRs) facilitate an individual's sense of coherence (SOC); which in turn is assumed to sustain health. The proposed model was tested using a sample of 320 Finnish persons (132 of them were men and 188 women) aged 65-69 years. The GRRs investigated were family income, cognitive functioning, years of formal education, marital status, and physical exercise. Health was measured by means of a multidimensional indicator composed of physical, social and mental health. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) within the framework of LISREL models were used to test the hypothesized model. The results showed that good cognitive functioning and physical activity in the whole sample, and marital status in men, were associated with a strong SOC, which in turn was positively related to physical, and especially, social and mental health.

Meaning in life in three samples of elderly persons with high cognitive functioning

The study examined the relationships between meaning in life and cognitive functioning in three elderly samples. The participants in Sample I were 78 persons aged 82-87, in Sample II 182 persons aged 83-92, and in Sample III 299 persons aged 65-69. The samples took part in interviews and cognitive tests in 1996-1997. Several interview questions together with the Sense of Coherence questionnaire were used to study the degree and content of meaning in life. Cognitive functioning was measured by Digit Span, Digit Symbol, and Word Fluency in Sample I and Mini-D in Samples II and III. Each sample was divided into the group of persons with high cognitive functioning (including those whose results in cognitive tests fell in the top third of their age cohort) and the comparison group (including the rest of the sample). The analysis showed no difference between the groups in the degree of meaning in life in any of the three samples. The content of meaning in life differed in the two groups: human relationships were reported as a reason for meaning in life and a source of strength in life more often by the persons with high cognitive functioning than by the comparison group. Moreover, those with high cognitive functioning reported that they had taken up a new activity (especially one involving social interests) that gave a sense of meaning in life after retirement more often than the comparison group. Death had positive meaning for the majority of the participants and the groups did not differ in meaning of death. The interactions between the various measures of meaning in life showed that having a sense of coherence and zest for life were factors related to the sense of meaningfulness in life. Meaning of death was not related to other measures.