Overweight and obesity as risk factors for chronic low back pain: a new follow-up in the HUNT Study.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have examined associations between overweight and obesity and risk of low back pain (LBP), but the exact magnitude of these associations is not yet clear. The purpose of this work was to assess such sex-specific associations in a community-based setting in Norway, taking into account potential relationships with other risk factors. METHODS: A cohort study was conducted combining data from two waves of the Trøndelag Health Study, HUNT3 (2006-2008) and HUNT4 (2017-2019). Separate analyses were performed of risk of chronic LBP in HUNT4 among 14,775 individuals without chronic LBP in HUNT3, and of recurrence or persistence in HUNT4 among 5034 individuals with chronic LBP in HUNT3. Relative risks were estimated in generalised linear models for overweight and obesity compared to normal weight. Body size classification was based on values of BMI computed from measurements of height and weight. Chronic LBP was defined as LBP persisting at least 3 months during last year. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, smoking, physical activity in leisure time and work activity, analysis of risk among women produced relative risks 1.11 (95% CI 1.00-1.23) for overweight, 1.36 (95% CI 1.20-1.54) for obesity class I and 1.68 (95% CI 1.42-2.00) for obesity classes II-III. Relative risks among men were 1.10 (95% CI 0.94-1.28) for overweight, 1.36 (95% CI 1.13-1.63) for obesity class I and 1.02 (95% CI 0.70-1.50) for obesity classes II-III, the last estimate being based on relatively few individuals. Analyses of recurrence or persistence indicated similar relationships but with smaller magnitude of relative risks and no drop in risk among obesity classes II-III in men. The change in BMI from HUNT3 to HUNT4 hardly differed between individuals with and without chronic LBP in HUNT3. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of chronic LBP increases with higher values of BMI in both sexes, although it is uncertain whether this applies to very obese men. Very obese women carry a particularly large risk. Probabilities of recurrence or persistence of chronic LBP among those already afflicted also increase with higher values of BMI. Adjustment for other factors does not influence relationships with overweight and obesity to any major extent.

Ramsay Hunt Syndrome: A Rare Complication of Herpes Zoster Infection With an Incidental Finding of Submandibular Hemangioma.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a rare viral condition that develops from the varicella zoster virus that affects the face's geniculate ganglion. It has been defined by a herpes zoster oticus, which can be associated with further cranial nerve lesions and acute peripheral facial nerve palsies. In this case, we present a 73-year-old female patient who presented to the outpatient department (OPD) with unbearable pain in the lower left cheek that she had been experiencing for the last four days. The reported pain was continuous and could be described as deep-aching and burning. Facial swelling was observed in relation to the lower lip, especially in the vermillion area; there was ulceration, paralysis seen on the left face, and swelling on the submandibular region. Intravenous corticosteroids and antiviral drugs were administered to her for seven days as an association therapy. In this report, the authors want to stress the necessity of using adequate clinical examination and early intervention in the case of the Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

Ramsay Hunt Syndrome Associated With Etanercept Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Report and a Review of Literature.

A 38-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis treated with etanercept presented with complaints of ear pain. Over four days, the pain progressed to a vesicular rash and then facial nerve paralysis. The patient was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome (RHS), a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that specifically affects the seventh cranial nerve (CN VII). Etanercept is an anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agent that has known immunosuppressive effects. RHS occurs more commonly in immunocompromised states, such as the one induced by etanercept. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first reported cases of RHS with etanercept treatment.

The HUNT lung-SNP model: genetic variants plus clinical variables improve lung cancer risk assessment over clinical models.

PURPOSE: The HUNT Lung Cancer Model (HUNT LCM) predicts individualized 6-year lung cancer (LC) risk among individuals who ever smoked cigarettes with high precision based on eight clinical variables. Can the performance be improved by adding genetic information? METHODS: A polygenic model was developed in the prospective Norwegian HUNT2 study with clinical and genotype data of individuals who ever smoked cigarettes (n = 30749, median follow up 15.26 years) where 160 LC were diagnosed within six years. It included the variables of the original HUNT LCM plus 22 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) highly associated with LC. External validation was performed in the prospective Norwegian Tromsø Study (n = 2663). RESULTS: The novel HUNT Lung-SNP model significantly improved risk ranking of individuals over the HUNT LCM in both HUNT2 (p < 0.001) and Tromsø (p < 0.05) cohorts. Furthermore, detection rate (number of participants selected to detect one LC case) was significantly better for the HUNT Lung-SNP vs. HUNT LCM in both cohorts (42 vs. 48, p = 0.003 and 11 vs. 14, p = 0.025, respectively) as well as versus the NLST, NELSON and 2021 USPSTF criteria. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was higher for the HUNT Lung-SNP in both cohorts, but significant only in HUNT2 (AUC 0.875 vs. 0.844, p < 0.001). However, the integrated discrimination improvement index (IDI) indicates a significant improvement of LC risk stratification by the HUNT Lung-SNP in both cohorts (IDI 0.019, p < 0.001 (HUNT2) and 0.013, p < 0.001 (Tromsø)). CONCLUSION: The HUNT Lung-SNP model could have a clinical impact on LC screening and has the potential to replace the HUNT LCM as well as the NLST, NELSON and 2021 USPSTF criteria in a screening setting. However, the model should be further validated in other populations and evaluated in a prospective trial setting.

Evaluation of Patients with Painful Ophthalmoplegia for Benign and Secondary Etiologies.

This study aims to establish the final definite etiology among patients with long-term follow-up for painful ophthalmoplegia. The data of 44 cases (16 females, 28 females) were examined. In the first diagnosis, subjects were scanned in terms of benign and secondary etiologies. Clinical and radiological follow-up results of patients were recorded. During the follow-up period, data on clinical outcomes (relapse or progression), treatment responses, and final diagnoses were evaluated In total, 49 episodes of painful ophthalmoplegia (44 patients) were evaluated. Secondary etiologies were identified in 21 patients benign/secondary tumours causes in 10, inflammatory in 1, infectious in 3, vascular in 3, demyelinating disease in 1, autoimmune in 2, drug-related cause in 1. 23 patients with benign etiologies; 11 had Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS), 2 had Recurrent Painful Ophthalmoplegic Neuropathy (RPON), and 10 had diabetic ophthalmoparesis (DO). 7 of 11 patients with THS met the International Classification Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD-3 beta) criteria, 4 were with a normal MRI, and 1 had a recurrence. 9 of 10 patients with benign/secondary tumours causes were malignant, and 7 died due to disease progression during the treatment process. One of ten patient was followed with diabetic ophthalmoparesis and was diagnosed with cavernous sinus involvement of B-cell lymphoma as a result of clinical progression during follow-up. Painful ophthalmoplegia is a complex clinical condition with a broad differential diagnosis with malignant and benign etiologies. A detailed clinical examination, imaging, and long-term follow-up are essential for accurate diagnosis and treatment management.

Moderate cardiac vagal tone predicts more cooperation in highly sensitive individuals.

Cooperation, as a mutual collaboration, is a defining feature of human social life. Individual characteristics can influence cooperation. Recent studies have shown a quadratic relationship between cardiac vagal tone (CVT), an index of self-regulation, and prosocial behaviors. Individual differences in cooperation might also vary as a function of people's environmental sensitivity (ES), i.e., may be influenced by individual differences in the perception and processing of inner and external stimuli. We tested the direct and interactive effect of CVT and ES on cooperative behaviors in two independent samples. We measured heart rate and engagement in cooperative acts in 80 young adults (M = 23.61; SD = 1.60) who were also asked to self-report on ES. We found an inverted-U relationship between CVT and cooperative behaviors. ES, on the other hand, did not predict differences in cooperative behaviors but moderated the relationships between CVT and cooperation, although the magnitude of this result was small. Specifically, only among individuals with higher ES cooperative behaviors change as a function of CVT. Highly sensitive individuals with lower or higher CVT, were less cooperative than low sensitive ones. Subsequently, we replicated the same study design in a second sample of 88 undergraduate students (M = 23.69; SD = 4.91). Once again, we found evidence supporting the presence of an inverted-U relationship between CVT and cooperative behaviors, and we also found that ES moderated the relationships between the quadratic CVT term and cooperation.

Tolosa-Hunt syndrome: a review of diagnostic criteria based on a case series.

Purpose: Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS) is a rare cause of painful ophtalmoplegia with different clinical manifestations. It is described as a unilateral periorbital headache with concomitant dysfunction of at least one out of the IIIrd, IVth and VIth cranial nerves due to the granulomatous inflammation of periorbital structures, but no underlying cause has been established. Case description: We present six patients referred to the Neurology Department due to a unilateral headache with ipsilateral paresis of at least one cranial nerve responsible for eye movements. The THS diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Disorders Classification (ICHD-3) were applied and analysed. Few patients had atypical clinical manifestations according to these criteria. Comment: Diagnosing THS may prove very challenging. There is a lack of specific markers for the disorder, whereas diagnostic criteria leave a wide area for misdiagnosis. The diagnostic approach should be focused on the exclusion of other pathologies because typical steroid therapy may prove fatal in otherwise benign cases.

Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome as the Initial Presentation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS), also known as painful ophthalmoplegia, recurrent ophthalmoplegia, or ophthalmoplegia syndrome, is described as severe and unilateral peri-orbital headaches associated with painful and restricted eye movements. THS is an uncommon disorder due to granulomatous inflammation of the cavernous sinus. Although THS is primarily idiopathic, it has rarely been reported in association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This case report describes a unique case of THS presenting as the initial manifestation of SLE, a multi-system autoimmune disease. We present a detailed case report of a 54-year-old female patient who presented with THS with the classical symptoms of THS including unilateral headache, double vision, and orbital pain. A cranial nerve examination revealed right oculomotor nerve palsy with the inability to adduct, raise, or depress her right eye. A detailed clinical examination revealed alopecia areata and erythematous macular lesions on her right earlobe. Laboratory investigations were unremarkable except for an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). Diagnostic investigations, including MRI and serological tests, were conducted to explore the underlying causes and systemic involvement. The patient's MRI showed characteristic findings consistent with THS, while serological tests revealed positive antinuclear antibodies, anti-ds-DNA antibodies, and anti-Smith antibodies and low complement levels leading to a concurrent diagnosis of SLE. There were no other systemic manifestations of lupus at the time of presentation.  Treatment with high-dose corticosteroids led to rapid improvement in ocular symptoms and headaches. Maintenance immunosuppressive therapy was initiated for the management of SLE. The patient had no relapses on follow-up. This case report underscores THS as a potential initial manifestation of SLE. It highlights the need for comprehensive diagnostic evaluation in patients presenting with atypical cranial neuropathy to consider systemic autoimmune disorders like SLE. Early diagnosis and management are crucial for improving outcomes in such intertwined pathologies. This case emphasizes the need for clinicians to be aware of the possibility of THS as the initial manifestation of SLE. This extended abstract provides a comprehensive overview of the article, laying out the significance of the case in broadening the clinical understanding of the overlap between localized inflammatory syndromes and systemic autoimmune conditions like SLE.

Cardiovascular disease risk factors and infertility: multivariable analyses and one-sample Mendelian randomization analyses in the Trøndelag Health Study.

STUDY QUESTION: Are cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors causally associated with higher risk of infertility among women and men? SUMMARY ANSWER: We found evidence to support a causal relationship between smoking initiation and history of infertility in women. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Several CVD risk factors are associated with history of infertility. Previous studies using Mendelian randomization (MR) further support a causal relationship between BMI and infertility in women. STUDY DESIGN SIZE DURATION: We used data from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in Norway, a prospective population-based cohort study, including 26 811 women and 15 598 men participating in three survey collections in 1995-1997 (HUNT2), 2006-2008 (HUNT3), and 2017-2019 (HUNT4). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS SETTING METHODS: Our outcome was women's self-reported history of infertility, defined as ever having tried to conceive for 12 months or more or having used ART. We assigned the history of infertility reported by women to their male partners; therefore, the measure of infertility was on the couple level. We used both conventional multivariable analyses and one-sample MR analyses to evaluate the association between female and male CVD risk factors (including BMI, blood pressure, lipid profile measurements, and smoking behaviours) and history of infertility in women and men, separately. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: A total of 4702 women (18%) and 2508 men (16%) were classified with a history of infertility. We found a higher risk of infertility among female smokers compared to non-smokers in both multivariable and MR analyses (odds ratio (OR) in multivariable analysis, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.12-1.28; OR in MR analysis, 1.13; CI, 1.02-1.26), and potentially for higher BMI (OR in multivariable analysis, 1.13; CI, 1.09-1.18; OR in MR analysis, 1.11, CI, 0.92-1.34). In multivariable analysis in women, we also found evidence of associations between triglyceride levels, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lifetime smoking index, and smoking intensity with higher risk of infertility. However, these results were not consistent in MR analyses. We found no robust or consistent associations between male CVD risk factors and infertility. LIMITATIONS REASONS FOR CAUTION: Our main limitation was that the CVD risk factors measured might not adequately capture the relevant time periods for when couples were trying to conceive. Additionally, we did not have information on causes of infertility in either women or men. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Women with infertility could have a worse CVD risk factor profile and thus public health interventions aimed at reducing the impact of some CVD risk factors, such as smoking and BMI, could reduce the burden of infertility. However, additional MR studies of the relationship between CVD risk factors and infertility with a larger sample size would be of value. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS: The study was supported by a grant from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreements no. 947684). This research was also supported by the Research Council of Norway through its Centres of Excellence funding scheme (project no. 262700) and partly funded by the Research Council of Norway, project: Women's fertility-an essential component of health and well-being (project no. 320656). D.A.L. and A.F. work in a unit that is supported by the University of Bristol and the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00011/6). D.A.L.'s contribution to the article is supported by the European Research Council (101021566), the British Heart Foundation (CH/F/20/90003 and AA/18/7/34219). S.B.'s contribution to the article is supported by the Wellcome Trust (225790/Z/22/Z). B.M.B. is funded by The Liaison Committee for education, research and innovation in Central Norway; and the Joint Research Committee between St. Olavs Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU. The genotyping in HUNT was financed by the National Institute of Health (NIH); University of Michigan; The Research Council of Norway; The Liaison Committee for education, research and innovation in Central Norway; and the Joint Research Committee between St. Olavs Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU. None of the funding organizations influenced the study design, reporting, or interpretation of results. The views expressed in the present article are those of the authors and not necessarily any acknowledged funding organization. D.A.L. reports grants from Medtronic Ltd and Roche Diagnostics outside the submitted work. The other authors have no conflicts of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: N/A.

Serum vitamin D, blood pressure and hypertension risk in the HUNT study using observational and Mendelian randomization approaches.

Limited studies have triangulated the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) or hypertension risk utilizing both observational and Mendelian randomization (MR) approaches. We employed data from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) to conduct cross-sectional (n = 5854) and prospective (n = 3592) analyses, as well as one-sample MR (n = 86,324). We also used largest publicly available data for two-sample MR. Our cross-sectional analyses showed a 25 nmol/L increase in 25(OH)D was associated with a 1.73 mmHg decrease in SBP (95% CI - 2.46 to - 1.01), a 0.91 mmHg decrease in DBP (95% CI - 1.35 to - 0.47) and 19% lower prevalence of hypertension (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.90) after adjusting for important confounders. However, these associations disappeared in prospective analyses. One-sample and two-sample MR results further suggested no causal relationship between serum vitamin D levels and blood pressure or hypertension risk in the general population.