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We still know too little on the historical influences of social and political forces on epidemiological research.

This work presents an alphabetical listing of over 5000 words and phrases used in public health, with definitions, discussion, and occasional brief commentary on their relevance to people and to their health. This text serves as a reference to busy public health practitioners that helps them answer questions that arise in their work.

Ainda que sua 'morte' tenha sido freqüentemente certificada, os livros continuam sendo relevantes para muitas profissões e disciplinas acadêmicas. Análises de citações recebidas por textos epidemiológicos podem complementar outras visões em epidemiologia. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o número de citações recebidas por alguns livros de epidemiologia e saúde pública, como um primeiro passo para estudar a influência do pensamento epidemiológico e o pensar da academia. Para este propósito, a base de dados do Institute for Scientific Information/ Thomson Scientific - Web of Science/ Web of Knowledge foi consultada em maio de 2006. O livro de Rothman & Greenland recebeu o maior número de citações no total (mais de 8.000) e por ano. Os livros de Kleinbaum et al, e de Breslow & Day tiveram em torno de 5.000 citações. Em termos de citações por ano, o livro de Sackett et al ocupou o terceiro lugar, e o de Rose, o quarto entre os incluídos no estudo. Outros livros que tiveram influência em salas de aula, comparativamente, tiveram menos citações. Os achados oferecem um rico retrato das influências acadêmicas e tendências de métodos epidemiológicos e interpretação em saúde pública, medicina clínica e outras ciências da saúde, da vida, e sociais. Eles podem contribuir para avaliar os esforços dos epidemiologistas para demarcar a epidemiologia e afirmar sua autoridade epistemológica, e para analisar algumas influências históricas de forças econômicas, sociais e políticas sobre as pesquisas epidemiológicas. ; Whilst their 'death' has often been certified, books remain highly important to most professions and academic disciplines. Analyses of citations received by epidemiologic texts may complement other views on epidemiology. The objective was to assess the number of citations received by some books of epidemiology and public health, as a first step towards studying the influence of epidemiological thought and thinking in academia. For this purpose, Institute for Scientific Information/ Thomson Scientific - Web of Science/ Web of Knowledgedatabase was consulted, in May 2006. The book by Rothman & Greenland appeared to have received the highest number of citations overall (over 8,000) and per year. The books by Kleinbaum et al, and by Breslow & Day received around 5,000 citations. In terms of citations per year the book by Sackett et al ranks 3rd, and the one by Rose, 4th of those included in this preliminary study. Other books which were influential in the classrooms collected comparatively less citations. Results offer a rich picture of the academic influences and trends of epidemiologic methods and reasoning on public health, clinical medicine and the other health, life and social sciences. They may contribute to assess epidemiologists' efforts to demarcate epidemiology and to assert epistemic authority, and to analyze some historical influences of economic, social and political forces on epidemiological research.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) substantially cost society as a result of increases in disease and disability but—unlike other toxicant classes such as carcinogens—have yet to be codified into regulations as a hazard category. This Series paper examines economic, regulatory, and policy approaches to limit human EDC exposures and describes potential improvements. In the EU, general principles for EDCs call for minimisation of human exposure, identification as substances of very high concern, and ban on use in pesticides. In the USA, screening and testing programmes are focused on oestrogenic EDCs exclusively, and regulation is strictly risk-based. Minimisation of human exposure is unlikely without a clear overarching definition for EDCs and relevant pre-marketing test requirements. We call for a multifaceted international programme (eg, modelled on the International Agency for Research in Cancer) to address the effects of EDCs on human health—an approach that would proactively identify hazards for subsequent regulation.

ContextObesity and diabetes are epidemic in the European Union (EU). Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is increasingly recognized as a contributor, independent of diet and physical activity.ObjectiveThe objective was to estimate obesity, diabetes, and associated costs that can be reasonably attributed to EDC exposures in the EU.DesignAn expert panel evaluated evidence for probability of causation using weight-of-evidence characterization adapted from that applied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Exposure-response relationships and reference levels were evaluated for relevant EDCs, and biomarker data were organized from peer-reviewed studies to represent European exposure and burden of disease. Cost estimation as of 2010 utilized published cost estimates for childhood obesity, adult obesity, and adult diabetes. Setting, Patients and Participants, and Intervention: Cost estimation was performed from the societal perspective.ResultsThe panel identified a 40% to 69% probability of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene causing 1555 cases of overweight at age 10 (sensitivity analysis: 1555-5463) in 2010 with associated costs of €24.6 million (sensitivity analysis: €24.6-86.4 million). A 20% to 39% probability was identified for dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene causing 28 200 cases of adult diabetes (sensitivity analysis: 28 200-56 400) with associated costs of €835 million (sensitivity analysis: €835 million-16.6 billion). The panel also identified a 40% to 69% probability of phthalate exposure causing 53 900 cases of obesity in older women and €15.6 billion in associated costs. Phthalate exposure was also found to have a 40% to 69% probability of causing 20 500 new-onset cases of diabetes in older women with €607 million in associated costs. Prenatal bisphenol A exposure was identified to have a 20% to 69% probability of causing 42 400 cases of childhood obesity, with associated lifetime costs of €1.54 billion.ConclusionsEDC exposures in the EU contribute substantially to obesity and diabetes, with a moderate probability of >€18 billion costs per year. This is a conservative estimate; the results emphasize the need to control EDC exposures.

This article examines the online comments written by readers of the major Spanish newspapers on the subject of pollution and contamination in Spain. The study offers a comparative analysis of the perceptions, ideas and discourse of those who post comments in the cases of fish contaminated with mercury and atmospheric pollution in the city of Barcelona. The research includes analysis based on some methodological principles of Grounded Theory, and reports differences between per- ceptions of food contamination felt as a severe, imminent and global health problem and of air pollution perceived as a social and political problem. Readers' comments reveal a significant tendency towards blaming the political and industrial sectors, among others, as well as a profound distrust of the institutions responsible for safeguarding public health.

8 pages, 4 pages.-- PMID: 19797353 [PubMed].-- Printed version published Nov 2009. ; While KRAS activation is a fundamental initiating event in the aetiopathogenesis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA), environmental factors influencing the occurrence and persistence of KRAS mutations remain largely unknown. The objective was to test the hypothesis that in PDA there are aetiopathogenic relationships among concentrations of some organochlorine compounds (OCs) and the mutational status of the KRAS oncogene, as well as among the latter and coffee intake. Incident cases of PDA were interviewed and had blood drawn at hospital admission (N = 103). OCs were measured by high-resolution gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Cases whose tumours harboured a KRAS mutation had higher concentrations of p,p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene (DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 138, 153 and 180 than cases with wild-type KRAS, but differences were statistically significant only for p,p′-DDT and PCBs 138 and 153. The association between coffee intake and KRAS mutations remained significant (P-trend < 0.015) when most OCs where accounted for. When p,p′-DDT, PCB 153, coffee and alcohol intake were included in the same model, all were associated with KRAS (P = 0.042, 0.007, 0.016 and 0.025, respectively). p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE and PCB 138 were significantly associated with the two most prevalent KRAS mutations (Val and Asp). OCs and coffee may have independent roles in the aetiopathogenesis of PDA through modulation of KRAS activation, acquisition or persistence, plausibly through non-genotoxic or epigenetic mechanisms. Given that KRAS mutations are the most frequent abnormality of oncogenes in human cancers, and the lifelong accumulation of OCs in humans, refutation or replication of the findings is required before any implications are assessed. ; Government of Catalonia (2009 SGR 1350); 'Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Cáncer' (C03/10); 'Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Epidemiología y salud pública' (C03/09); CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Government of Spain. ; Peer reviewed

Este estudio ha sido financiado por el Instituto de Salud Carlos III (G03/176 y CB06/02/0031), el Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS-FEDER 03/1615, 04/1509, 04/1112, 04/2018, 04/1436, 04/1931, 05/1079, 05/1052, 06/1213, 07/0314, 07/0252, 08/1151, 09/02647, 09/02311), la Conselleria de Sanitat de la Generalitat Valenciana, la Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (PI-0183/2007 y PI-0675/2010), la Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT 1999SGR 00241, la Diputación Foral de Guipúzcoa (DFG/004), el Departamento de Sanidad y Consumo del Gobierno Vasco (2005111093), la EU Commission (QLK4-1999-01422, QLK4-2002-00603, NEWGENERIS FP6-2003-Food-3-A-016320 and CONTAMED FP7-ENV-212502) y la Fundación Roger Torné. También ha sido financiado por la encomienda de gestión entre el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y el Instituto de Salud Carlos III para la investigación sobre la presencia y la vigilancia de contaminantes orgánicos persistentes y otras sustancias en humanos (BOE 34495 y DOCV 6198).

Evidence on the association between vitamin D status and pancreatic cancer risk is inconsistent. This inconsistency may be partially attributable to variation in vitamin D regulating genes. We selected 11 vitamin D-related genes (GC, DHCR7, CYP2R1, VDR, CYP27B1, CYP24A1, CYP27A1, RXRA, CRP2, CASR and CUBN) totaling 213 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and examined associations with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Our study included 3,583 pancreatic cancer cases and 7,053 controls from the genome-wide association studies of pancreatic cancer PanScans-I-III. We used the Adaptive Joint Test and the Adaptive Rank Truncated Product statistic for pathway and gene analyses, and unconditional logistic regression for SNP analyses, adjusting for age, sex, study and population stratification. We examined effect modification by circulating vitamin D concentration (≤50, >50 nmol/L) for the most significant SNPs using a subset of cohort cases (n = 713) and controls (n = 878). The vitamin D metabolic pathway was not associated with pancreatic cancer risk (p = 0.830). Of the individual genes, none were associated with pancreatic cancer risk at a significance level of p<0.05. SNPs near the VDR (rs2239186), LRP2 (rs4668123), CYP24A1 (rs2762932), GC (rs2282679), and CUBN (rs1810205) genes were the top SNPs associated with pancreatic cancer (p-values 0.008-0.037), but none were statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Associations between these SNPs and pancreatic cancer were not modified by circulating concentrations of vitamin D. These findings do not support an association between vitamin D-related genes and pancreatic cancer risk. Future research should explore other pathways through which vitamin D status might be associated with pancreatic cancer risk. ; This project has been funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. HHSN261200800001E. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Please see the Supplemental Information section for a detailed listing of study-specific funding. Co-authors Xiaoqin Xiong (Information Management Systems, Inc.), Dennis Maeder (Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.) and Michelle Brotzman (Westat) are employed by commercial enterprises, and received salary from these companies to support this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; Sí

Introduction: We present the protocol of a large population-based case-control study of 5 common tumors in Spain (MCC-Spain) that evaluates environmental exposures and genetic factors. Methods: Between 2008-2013, 10,183 persons aged 20-85 years were enrolled in 23 hospitals and primary care centres in 12 Spanish provinces including 1,115 cases of a new diagnosis of prostate cancer, 1,750 of breast cancer, 2,171 of colorectal cancer, 492 of gastro-oesophageal cancer, 554 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and 4,101 population-based controls matched by frequency to cases by age, sex and region of residence. Participation rates ranged from 57% (stomach cancer) to 87% (CLL cases) and from 30% to 77% in controls. Participants completed a face-to-face computerized interview on sociodemographic factors, environmental exposures, occupation, medication, lifestyle, and personal and family medical history. In addition, participants completed a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire and telephone interviews. Blood samples were collected from 76% of participants while saliva samples were collected in CLL cases and participants refusing blood extractions. Clinical information was recorded for cases and paraffin blocks and/or fresh tumor samples are available in most collaborating hospitals. Genotyping was done through an exome array enriched with genetic markers in specific pathways. Multiple analyses are planned to assess the association of environmental, personal and genetic risk factors for each tumor and to identify pleiotropic effects. Discussion: This study, conducted within the Spanish Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), is a unique initiative to evaluate etiological factors for common cancers and will promote cancer research and prevention in Spain ; The study was partially funded by the "Accion Transversal del Cancer", approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on the 11th October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PS09/00773, PS09/01286, PS09/01903, PS09/02078, PS09/01662, PI11/01403, PI11/01889, PI11/00226, PI11/01810, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI12/00150), by the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09), by the ICGC International Cancer Genome Consortium CLL, by the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2), by the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (PI-0571), by the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP 061/10), by the Recercaixa (2010ACUP 00310), by the Regional Government of the Basque Country by European Commission grants FOOD-CT- 2006-036224-HIWATE, by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation, by the The Catalan Government DURSI grant 2009SGR1489