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Quantifying stroke incidence and mortality is crucial for disease surveillance and health system planning. Administrative data offer a cost-effective alternative to "gold standard" population-based studies. However, the optimal methodology for establishing stroke deaths from administrative data remains unclear.
Alex Brown BMed, MPH, PhD, FRACP (hon.), FCSANZ, FAAHMS Professor of Indigenous Genomics +61421278314 alex.brown@anu.edu.au Professor of Indigenous
The 2023 Australian guideline for assessing and managing cardiovascular disease risk provides updated evidence-based recommendations for the clinical assessment and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk for primary prevention. It includes the new Australian CVD risk calculator based on an equation developed from a large New Zealand cohort study, customised and recalibrated for the Australian population. The new guideline replaces the 2012 guideline that recommended CVD risk assessment using the Framingham risk equation.
Environmental epigenetics is a fast-growing field of scientific research attracting interest from key stakeholders in Indigenous health internationally, including researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and advocacy organisations. It is the study of how various external factors, including food, stress, and toxins, alter genetic expression, and could be biologically passed down to children (and potentially grandchildren).
Cardiovascular disease contributes significantly to disease burden among many Indigenous populations. However, data on stroke incidence in Indigenous populations are sparse. We aimed to investigate what is known of stroke incidence in Indigenous populations of countries with a very high Human Development Index locating the research in the broader context of Indigenous health.
Aneuploidies, and in particular, trisomies represent the most common genetic aberrations observed in human genetics today. To explore the presence of trisomies in historic and prehistoric populations we screen nearly 10,000 ancient human individuals for the presence of three copies of any of the target autosomes. We find clear genetic evidence for six cases of trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and one case of trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), and all cases are present in infant or perinatal burials.
Dementia is a health priority for Indigenous peoples. Here, we reviewed studies on the prevalence of dementia or cognitive impairment among Indigenous populations from countries with a very high Human Development Index (≥0·8). Quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute risk-of-bias tool and CONSolIDated critERia for strengthening the reporting of health research involving Indigenous peoples (CONSIDER), with oversight provided by an Indigenous Advisory Board.
Cells undergo a major epigenome reconfiguration when reprogrammed to human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPS cells). However, the epigenomes of hiPS cells and human embryonic stem (hES) cells differ significantly, which affects hiPS cell function. These differences include epigenetic memory and aberrations that emerge during reprogramming, for which the mechanisms remain unknown.
Genomic information is increasingly used to inform medical treatments and manage future disease risks. However, any personal and societal gains must be carefully balanced against the risk to individuals contributing their genomic data. Expanding our understanding of actionable genomic insights requires researchers to access large global datasets to capture the complexity of genomic contribution to diseases.
Young people who have had contact with the criminal justice system are at increased risk of early death, especially from injuries. However, deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in this population remain poorly described. We aimed to estimate mortality due to NCDs in people with a history of involvement with the youth justice system, compare NCD mortality rates in this population with those in the general population, and characterise demographic and justice-related factors associated with deaths caused by NCDs in people with a history of contact with the youth justice system.