A reverse factual analysis of the association between smoking and memory decline in China

Enhancing understanding of healthy aging based on time-varying dependencies among multidimensional health, life satisfaction, and health behaviors of older adults aged 60 years and over

BACKGROUND

Healthy aging is a process of not only achieving good health but also increasing the life satisfaction of older adults aged 60 years and over, in which health behaviors play an important role. There is a lack of research on the time-varying dependencies between health, life satisfaction, and health behaviors, impeding a deeper understanding of healthy aging.

PURPOSE

To develop an integrated framework for modeling the interrelationships among the components of healthy aging between multiple time slices.

METHODS

Based on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Living Survey (CLHLS) data in the three waves of 2011/2012, 2014, and 2017/2018, Bayesian network and dynamic Bayesian network are jointly employed to study the relationships among the components of healthy aging within one time slice, as well as to explore the time-varying dependencies among the components between time slices.

RESULTS

The results of structure learning reveal the direction of effects between different dimensions of health, with mental health and social health affecting physical health and self-rated health affecting both physical and mental health. In addition, health behaviors are found to affect mental health and social health, while self-rated health can influence life satisfaction. The parameters learned from the data show the magnitude and direction of concurrent effects, one-period lagged effects and two-period lagged effects between the factors, which find that the time-varying dependencies vary but are generally positive, long-term, and accumulative over time. In addition, the results of autoregressive effects show the positive predictive effects of health and life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

It confirms the influence pathway from health behaviors to multidimensional health to life satisfaction, and the time-varying dependencies among the components of healthy aging, which facilitates a deeper understanding of healthy aging. Combining the results of autoregressive effects and descriptive statistics, it further indicates that healthy aging is a comprehensive result arising from interactions of multiple factors. Policymakers should guide older adults aged 60 years and over to adopt healthier behaviors and ensure the long-term sustainability and continuity of policies.

A comparative study to assess general health status and oral health score of tobacco users and nonusers in geriatric population in central India

Background:

Globally about 5 million deaths every year can be ascribed to tobacco use. It leads to many systemic and oral diseases. These diseases in geriatric population are common and more hazardous.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study was conducted in rural area of a teaching hospital to assess general health status and oral health scores of 500 geriatric age group tobacco users and non users. Data analysis was done with SPSS version-20. Chi square test and Mann Whitney U rank test were applied.

Results:

Poor self assessed health status was found in tobacco users as compared to nonusers. Significant limitation was found among the tobacco users as compared to nonusers. Significant association was found between the presence of diabetes, COPD, and tobacco use. Tobacco use was found to be significantly associated with poor oral health.

Conclusion:

Statistically significant poor general and oral health was found in tobacco users than nonusers.

Effect of EH domain containing protein 2 on the biological behavior of clear cell renal cell carcinoma

To investigate the effects of EH domain containing protein 2 (EHD2) on clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and provide new insights for the clinical treatment of rental cancer. Forty patients (26 males and 14 females, 62.4 ± 5.7 years old) with ccRCC were selected from January 2015 to December 2016 to serve as research subjects in this study. The EHD2 protein expression in the tumor tissues and adjacent healthy tissues of ccRCC patients were detected by Western Blot assay. The cells of ccRCC cell lines RLC-310 and 786-O were divided into normal control group (control), no-load control group (pLV), EHD2 overexpression group (pLV-EHD2), and EHD2 interference group (pLV-siEHD2). The expression levels of EHD2 protein in each group of cells were detected by western blot. The cell proliferation was detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Wound healing assay was performed to check the cell migration ability. Transwell invasion assay was used to detect the cell invasion ability. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The expression level of EHD2 was significantly increased in pLV-EHD2 group and decreased in pLV-siEHD2 group compared with control group and pLV-siEHD2 group, indicating the successfully established EHD2 overexpression cell line and EHD2 RNA interference cell line. EHD2 overexpression enhanced the proliferation, invasion, and migration but inhibited the apoptosis of ccRCC cells, while EHD2 interference showed opposite functions. EHD2 interference can inhibit the development of ccRCC by inhibiting the proliferation, invasion, and migration, and EHD2 can potentially serve as a molecular target for the clinical treatment of ccRCC.

Social Support and Resilience as Mediators Between Stress and Life Satisfaction Among People With Substance Use Disorder in China

This study investigated the potential mediating roles of resilience and social support in the relationship between stress and life satisfaction. A total of 426 individuals, who have substance use disorder, from the Shifosi and Dalianshan rehabilitation facilities in China participated in the study. They were tested using the Perceived Stress Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results showed that the serial multiple mediation of social support and resilience in the relationship between stress and life satisfaction was significant. Furthermore, the findings corroborate the important roles of perceived social support and resilience in alleviating stress. Finally, we discussed ways to enhance the life satisfaction for individuals who have substance use disorder and analyzed the limitations of this study.

Perceived social support and life satisfaction in drug addicts: Self-esteem and loneliness as mediators

This study was designed to investigate the mediation effects of both self-esteem and loneliness on the relationship between social support and subjective well-being in drug addicts. In all, 110 participants, all drug addicts from Guangdong Fangcun Brain Hospital, completed the questionnaire. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that perceived social support was positively related to self-esteem and life satisfaction and was negatively correlated with loneliness in drug addicts. Structural equation modeling estimated by the Bootstrap method indicated that loneliness and self-esteem partially mediated the association between perceived social support and life satisfaction. These findings provided insights into the association between perceived social support and life satisfaction in drug addicts.