Blog posts on causality in population health from the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit
In our research unit we are looking at ways to reduce the environmental impact of our research. Chin Yang Shapland and Hayley Wragg share some of what they learned in a recent workshop and how IEU is beginning to apply this learning in making our computing processes more sustainable. (more…)
PhD student Winfred Gatua was part of the team that organised a recent Postgraduate Research Symposium. In this post, she shares how organising this event helped him develop important skills for her research and beyond. (more…)
Ashley Budu-Aggrey and Lavinia Paternoster discuss their recent paper shedding light on genetic factors in eczema and the potential implications of understanding these links better. (more…)
In July 2023 a group of researchers from IEU travelled to Entebbe, Uganda to deliver a short course on genome-wide association analyses and Mendelian randomization. Amanda Chong shares a glimpse of what happened during the week.
PhD student Maddy Smith shares what she learned from attending a recent international conference on diabetes research.
Weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic have made many headlines and sparked a frenzy on social media in recent months. Not only is their potential to “end obesity” being unpacked in the media, but also their issues such as side effects, weight regain after stopping taking it, and supply shortages. Since obesity is a main risk factor for type 2 diabetes, these new drugs have implications for diabetes treatment – in fact, some of them were originally developed to treat diabetes and weight loss was noticed to be a concurrent effect.
Some things seem to be too good to be true.
The idea that life’s little pleasures – a glass of red wine, for example – might be good for us is seductive. Given that most public health advice is simultaneously common sense and mildly dispiriting – eat healthily, exercise, don’t smoke – the possibility that we don’t have to live like Spartans to live long and healthily lives is surely good news… But is that really the case?
In this blog post, first published on the Institute of Alcohol Studies blog, Professor Marcus Munafò and Professor George Davey Smith of MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit explain why confounding factors skew studies to suggest a small amount of alcohol might have health benefits, and how Mendelian randomization has debunked this common myth. (more…)
In a post first published on The Scholarly Kitchen blog, Nina Di Cara and Claire Haworth discuss the Data Hazards project and how it is being applied to improve how data ethics are identified and communicated in mental health research. (more…)
Maria Sobczyk shares her experience of being part of the Royal Society pairing scheme, which links scientists with people at the heart of UK policy making
“Yes, Minister” – truth, fiction, or something in between? I have always been fascinated by the inner workings of politics. So, when an opportunity arose to combine this interest with my role as a post-doc in health data science, I promptly applied for the 2023 edition of the Royal Society pairing scheme, which offers a week-long experience in Westminster.
Éimear Foley discusses a new systematic review examining links between inflammation and depression.
Depression is an illness that is estimated to affect around 10-20% of the world’s population in a lifetime. However, for many people, current treatment strategies do not work sufficiently well. Depression is a multifactorial condition and there is mounting evidence that several biological and non-biological mechanisms may be at play.
One aetiological factor of increasing interest is inflammation. Prof Golam Khandaker, Head of the Immunopsychiatry Programme at the University of Bristol’s MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, tries to illustrate this point by asking people to think of the symptoms they experience when they have a cold or flu. Along with a runny nose and a cough, people often experience fatigue, a change to usual appetite or sleeping patterns, and/or a reduced ability to experience pleasure. He points out that these are also typical symptoms of major depressive disorder. Moreover, were you to have a blood sample taken, you would also find evidence of high levels of inflammation due to the activation of an immune response. Recent research suggests that up to a quarter of all depressed patients consistently show evidence of inflammation in their blood, as defined by C-reactive protein levels. Other studies have supported these findings, showing that depression may be causally linked to elevated concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines (i.e., proteins often used as markers of inflammation), like interleukin 6.