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The effect of obesity degree on childhood pulmonary function tests.

Balkan Med J. 2014 Sep;31(3):235-8

Authors: Torun E, Cakir E, Ozgüç F, Ozgen IT

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity has become a global epidemic. It is related to several chronic diseases such as essential hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and renal disease. The relationship between the degree of obesity and lung functions is well defined in adults, but limited information is available about the childhood period.
AIMS: This study aims to determine the impact of the degree of obesity on the pulmonary functions of school children and adolescents.
STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional study.
METHODS: Included in the study were a total of 170 school children and adolescents (9-17 years old) referred to our paediatric outpatient clinic. Of these subjects, 42 were lean and non-obese (BMI % <85), 30 subjects were overweight (BMI % >85, <95), 34 subjects were obese (BMI % >95, <97), and 64 subjects were morbidly obese (BMI % >97). Anthropometric measurements were taken and spirometry was performed on all subjects. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity 25-75 (FEV25-75) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were used to measure the ventilatory functions for all the subjects.
RESULTS: The groups showed no significant differences in age or gender. Despite no statistically significant differences in FEV1, FVC, or FEV1/FVC, there were significant reductions in PEF (p<0.001) and FEV25-75 (p<0.001) in the overweight, obese and morbidly obese subjects, when compared with those who were non-obese.
CONCLUSION: Overweight, obese and morbidly obese children have no obstructive abnormalities compared with healthy lean subjects.

PMID: 25337419 [PubMed]

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Pharmacogenomic biomarkers for personalized cancer treatment.

J Intern Med. 2014 Oct 23;

Authors: Rodríguez-Antona C, Taron M

Abstract
Personalized medicine involves the selection of the safest and most effective pharmacological treatment based on the molecular characteristics of the patient. In the case of anticancer drugs, tumour cell alterations can have a great impact on drug activity and, in fact, most biomarkers predicting response originate from these cells. On the other hand, the risk of developing severe toxicity may be related to the genetic background of the patient. Thus, understanding the molecular characteristics of both the tumour and the patient, and establishing their relation with drug outcomes will be critical for the identification of predictive biomarkers and to provide the basis for individualized treatments. This is a complex scenario where multiple genes as well as pathophysiological and environmental factors are important; in addition, tumours exhibit large inter- and intra-individual variability in space and time. Against this background, the huge amounts of biological and genetic data generated by the high-throughput technologies will facilitate pharmacogenomic progress, suggest novel druggable molecules, and support the design of future strategies aimed at disease control. Here, we will review the current challenges and opportunities for pharmacogenomic studies in oncology, as well as the clinically established biomarkers. Lung and renal cancer, two areas in which huge progress has been made in the last decade, will be used to illustrate advances in personalized cancer treatment; we will consider EGFR mutation as the paradigm of targeted therapies in lung cancer, the dissection of lung cancer into clinically relevant molecular subsets and novel advances that suggest an important role of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the response to anti-angiogenic agents, as well as the challenges that remain in these fields. Finally, we will discuss new approaches and future prospects for personalizing medicine in oncology. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID: 25338550 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]