| Application: | 6326, Women?s reproductive health and chronic disease |
| Title: | Number of offspring and cardiovascular disease risk in men and women |
| Size: | 145795 B |
| Archived: | 5 Jul 2018 |
| Stability: | Complete |
| Personal: | No individual-level data |
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Notes
Previous studies have shown a differential risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among women according to the number of offspring. The actual shape of the association, and which group (with how many offspring) constitutes the lowest CVD risk, remains unclear. Several mechanisms for an increasing risk of CVD with increasing number of offspring are proposed, including the cardiometabolic stress of undergoing a pregnancy, lifestyle/behavioural aspects linked to having more children, and the fact that individuals from a lower socio-economic status tend to raise more children. We tried to clarify which of these three explanations might be more likely by examining the relationship between number of offspring and CVD among both men and women in UK Biobank. Overall, we observed similar associations in both sexes. Women and men with no children had the lowest risk of CVD. Among those with at least one child, the nadir of CVD risk was observed among those with two offspring. Due to the similar associations between the sexes, the previously reported association between number of offspring and CVD among women might therefore be largely explained by unobserved behavioural and lifestyle characteristics linked to having more children in both sexes.Application 6326
Women?s reproductive health and chronic disease
The overall aim is to study female reproductive health across the lifecourse and in relation to chronic disease. More specifically: 1. To examine how different reproductive indicators (e.g. age at periods starting and stopping, parity, HRT use) are related to each other. 2. To study the separate and joint associations of female reproductive health indicators with major chronic diseases. 3. To assess whether information on reproductive health improves the performance of disease prediction risk scores for CVD, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. We will also consider: cognitive, respiratory and mental health, physical capability. Here we propose to use Biobank to improve our understanding of the role of female reproductive health in disease aetiology and in risk and prognosis prediction. This research has the potential to inform prevention strategies by establishing whether women at increased risk of ill health in later life can be better identified using readily available and easily recalled information on indicators of reproductive health. Our plan is to look at how women?s reproductive health is related to health and disease. We will examine how different reproductive indicators (e.g. age at periods starting and stopping, number of pregnancies) are related to each other; study their separate and combined associations with major health outcomes; assess whether information on female reproductive health aids in disease prediction. We will use data on a range of reproductive health indicators and on heart disease, diabetes, physical capability, bone, respiratory, cognitive and mental health from the baseline examination, and linked hospital, general practitioner and cancer and death registry data. Full cohort. Although this application is concerned with female reproductive health, we request relevant data on men as well. This is to enable comparisons to be made so that mechanisms can be identified and to increase our ability to make causal inferences. See Aim 4 below.
| Lead investigator: | Dr Abigail Fraser |
| Lead institution: | University of Bristol |
1 Publication
| Pub ID | Title | Author(s) | Year | Journal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1476 | Number of Offspring and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Men and Women | Maria C. Magnus (+5) | 2017 | Epidemiology |
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