Search results for "Twin"
showing 10 items of 435 documents
Leisure-time physical activity and nutrition: a twin study
2010
AbstractObjectiveTo determine the association between long-term leisure-time physical activity/inactivity and eating behaviours in twin pairs discordant for physical activity for 30 years.DesignCo-twin control design with cross-sectional data collection using questionnaire on eating habits and 5 d food diary. Differences in eating behaviours between physically active and inactive co-twins were analysed with pairwise tests.SettingFinland.SubjectsSixteen same-sex twin pairs (seven monozygotic and nine dizygotic, mean age 60 years) discordant for physical activity, selected from the Finnish Twin Cohort on the basis of physical activity discordance for 30 years, blinded to their possible differ…
FinnTwin12 Cohort: An Updated Review
2019
AbstractThis review offers an update on research conducted with FinnTwin12 (FT12), the youngest of the three Finnish Twin Cohorts. FT12 was designed as a two-stage study. In the first stage, we conducted multiwave questionnaire research enrolling all eligible twins born in Finland during 1983–1987 along with their biological parents. In stage 2, we intensively studied a subset of these twins with in-school assessments at age 12 and semistructured poly-diagnostic interviews at age 14. At baseline, parents of intensively studied twins were administered the adult version of the interview. Laboratory studies with repeat interviews, neuropsychological tests, and collection of DNA were made of in…
Chronic diseases and objectively monitored physical activity profile among aged individuals – a cross-sectional twin cohort study
2019
Introduction: High physical activity (PA) at old age indicates good functional capacity enabling independent living. We investigated how different disease conditions are associated with measured PA indicators in old women and men, and whether they recognize this association. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional twin cohort study in Finland comprised 779 individuals (276 complete twin pairs, including 117 monozygotic pairs), who participated in hip-worn accelerometer monitoring of PA and responded to questions on diseases and mobility limitations at mean age of 73 (range 71 to 75). Results: Of the participants, 23.2% reported having a disease restricting mobility. With sex and age in …
Are computer and cell phone use associated with body mass index and overweight? A population study among twin adolescents
2007
Abstract Background Overweight in children and adolescents has reached dimensions of a global epidemic during recent years. Simultaneously, information and communication technology use has rapidly increased. Methods A population-based sample of Finnish twins born in 1983–1987 (N = 4098) was assessed by self-report questionnaires at 17 y during 2000–2005. The association of overweight (defined by Cole's BMI-for-age cut-offs) with computer and cell phone use and ownership was analyzed by logistic regression and their association with BMI by linear regression models. The effect of twinship was taken into account by correcting for clustered sampling of families. All models were adjusted for gen…
Mortality and health-related habits in 900 Finnish former elite athletes and their brothers.
2018
BackgroundThere is conflicting evidence on the associations between participation in vigorous sports, health habits, familial factors and subsequent mortality. We investigated all-cause mortality and health-related behaviour among former elite athletes and their brothers.MethodsThe mortality of Finnish male former elite athletes, who had represented Finland between 1920 and 1965 (n=900) and their age-matched brothers (n=900), was followed from the time when athlete started an elite athlete career until 31 December 2015. The age-adjusted HRs were calculated by a paired Cox proportional hazards model. In 2001, surviving participants (n=199 athletes and n=199 age-matched brothers) reported the…
Physical Activity in Adolescence as a Predictor of Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use in Early Adulthood: A Longitudinal Population-Based Twin Study
2009
AbstractWe investigated prospectively whether physical activity level in adolescence predicts use of alcohol and illicit drugs in early adulthood. We studied 4,240 individual twins (1,870 twin pairs). We classified those who consistently reported frequent leisure physical activity at ages 16, 17 and 181/2 as persistent exercisers, those exercising less than three times monthly as persistently inactive, and all others as occasional exercisers. To control for familial confounds, within-family analyses compared activity-substance use associations in co-twins discordant for baseline physical activity. Individual-based analyses showed no clear association between baseline physical activity and s…
Characterization of the repeat expansion size in C9orf72 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia
2013
Hexanucleotide repeat expansions within the C9orf72 gene are the most important genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The difficulty of developing a precise method to determine the expansion size has hampered the study of possible correlations between the hexanucleotide repeat number and clinical phenotype. Here we characterize, through a new non-radioactive Southern blot protocol, the expansion size range in a series of 38 ALS and 22 FTD heterozygous carriers of >30 copies of the repeat. Maximum, median and modal hexanucleotide repeat number were higher in ALS patients than in FTD patients (P < 0.05 in all comparisons). A higher median numb…
Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use are Genetically and Environmentally Correlated Across Adolescence
2010
Depressive symptoms and alcohol use are frequently positively associated during adolescence. This study aimed to assess the heritability of each phenotype across adolescence; to assess potential shared liabilities; to examine changes in the nature of shared liabilities across adolescence; and to investigate potential causal relationships between depressive symptoms and alcohol use. We studied a longitudinally assessed sample of adolescent Finnish twins (N = 1,282) to test hypotheses about genetic and environmental influences on these phenotypes within and across ages, using data from assessments at ages 12, 14, and 17.5 years. The heritability of depressive symptoms is consistent across ado…
Differential regulation of interleukin-10 production by genetic and environmental factors – a twin study
2002
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) has a critical role in the regulation of immune responses. The relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to IL-10 production is under debate. We performed a twin study in 246 monozygotic and dizygotic twins to assess the heritability of IL-10 production after LPS stimulation in whole blood. In addition, the influence of promoter single nucleotide polymorphisms (-1082, -819 and -592) on transcriptional activity and their binding to nuclear factors was studied in luciferase reporter gene and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. IL-10 production showed a genetic determination with a heritability of 0.5. Decreasing body mass index (BMI), smoking and fem…
Role of individual, peer and family factors in the use of cannabis and other illicit drugs: A longitudinal analysis among Finnish adolescent twins
2008
Background: Although use of illicit drugs shows varying degree of heritability, the influence of shared and unique environmental factors predominate among adolescents. We explored factors predicting use of cannabis and other illicit drugs among Finnish adolescent twins. Methods: We used longitudinal data from the FinnTwin 12-17 study with baseline at age 11-12 and follow-up at ages 14 and 171/2, including 4138 individuals. The outcome was self-reported ever use of cannabis or other illicit drugs at age 171/2. The potential predictors were measures reported by the twins, their parents or teachers. As individual factors we tested smoking, alcohol use, behavioral and emotional problems; as pee…