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A retrospective cohort study of more than 46000 patients in a military health care system found that musculoskeletal conditions and pain are more common among statin users than among similar non-users.

The researchers warned that statins’ musculoskeletal adverse events may not be fully explored, especially in physically active individuals.

Statins are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting an enzyme that plays a central role in the production of cholesterol in the liver.

Results from ALSPAC show that iodine deficiency in pregnancy is associated with an adverse effect on child cognitive development.

Children of mothers who showed iodine deficiency during early pregnancy were more likely to have scores in the lowest quartile for verbal IQ, reading accuracy, and reading comprehension.

As a component of thyroid hormones, iodine is essential for fetal brain development.

Results from the German GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts show that long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution may increase insulin resistance in children.

Researchers said that oxidative stress caused by exposure to air pollutants may play a role in the development of insulin resistance.

Data from the EPIC cohorts shows that an increase in consumption of one 33cl sweetened soft drink per day is associated with an 18% increase in risk of developing diabetes.

Juice and nectar consumption was not associated with type 2 diabetes incidence.

A large study has found that caffeine intake is associated with decreased birth weight, and that coffee consumption was associated with marginally increased gestational length.

The research was based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study and included more than 59000 women. The main caffeine source was coffee, but tea and chocolate were the main sources in women with low caffeine intake.

Even caffeine consumption below the currently recommended maximum (200mg/day) was associated with an increased risk of the fetus being small for gestational age. Caffeine passes the placental barrier; the fetus does not express the main enzymes that inactivate it, and caffeine metabolites have been found to accumulate in the fetal brain.

Researchers studying the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 found that elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, regardless of type and even without known risk factors, signals high risk of later cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes.

Clinical monitoring, risk factor evaluation, and early intervention could benefit women with hypertension in pregnancy.

Canadian scientists used new high-throughput gene sequencing technology to
characterize the gut microbiota of 24 healthy infants from the CHILD birth cohort.

DNA sequencing allowed bacteria that are difficult to culture to be included in the survey. There were significant differences in bacterial species between infants, especially those who were formula-fed or born by cesarean delivery. Although any antibiotic use was recorded for most patients, the small sample size made it difficult to investigate how antibiotics may have influenced the differences observed.

Meta-analyses by the CREAM identified multiple new genes associated with refractive error and myopia.

Up to 30% of Western populations and 80% of Asians are short sighted. The genome-wide meta-analyses included over 37000 people from 27 studies of European ancestry and over 8000 from 5 Asian cohorts. 16 mutations that may be responsible for myopia were identified, in genes with functions in neurotransmission, ion transport, retinoic acid metabolism, extracellular matrix remodelling, and eye development.

The influenza pandemic in 2009 led to the vaccination of high-risk groups with new vaccines targeting swine flu, when only limited information about the safety of the vaccines was available.

Researchers at UCL and vaccine manufacturers GSK found that Pandemrix had an acceptable safety profile in all age and risk groups studied.

The researchers analysed side effects reported within 6 months in more than 8500 people, aged 7 months to 97 years, who had received at least one dose of the adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic vaccine during the national pandemic influenza vaccination campaign in the UK.

The observed number of adverse events of special interest was below the expected number for Bell’s palsy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and demyelination, but above the expected number for neuritis (1 case within 31 days), and convulsions (8 cases within 181 days).

Analysis of 12 years of health records for 388000 Americans in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study found that calcium supplements are associated with an excess risk of CVD death in men but not in women.

Total calcium intake had a U-shaped association with total CVD mortality in men, with increased total CVD mortality observed at calcium intakes of 1500mg/d and higher.

Commentary Are Calcium Supplements Harmful to Cardiovascular Disease? concludes, The paradigm ‘the more the better’ is invalid for calcium supplementation.

A study of over 44000 Britons found that vegetarians had a 32% lower risk of hospitalization or death from ischaemic heart disease.

The EPIC Oxford study followed a total of 44561 men and women living in England and Scotland, 34% of whom consumed a vegetarian diet. After an average follow-up of 11.6 years, vegetarians had lower mean BMI, non-HDL-cholesterol concentration, and systolic blood pressure, and as a result a lower risk of ischaemic heart disease.

A new study has shown that lightning triggers headaches in people who suffer from migraines.

The researchers used daily headache diaries from 90 patients in two previous clinical trials that were conducted in Cincinnati and St Louis, combined with data from sensors that detect electromagnetic radiation and can identify cloud-to-ground lightning strikes with 90% efficiency and determine the location of lightning strikes within 500 meters.

A study that looked at Australian patients over a 15-year period found that regular use of aspirin was associated with an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration.

However a comment piece questioned whether the study had done enough to show that the association is causal.

Researchers at Imperial College London analysed lifetime occupational histories for more than 9000 people born in Britain in 1958.

Adult onset asthma was associated with 18 occupations. Four were cleaning occupations and a further three occupations were likely to use cleaning agents. Others included farming, printing, metalwork, and textile production.

Risk factors included exposure to chemicals – such as cleaning and disinfecting products, metal fumes, and printing ink – as well as biological agents such as flour and enzymes.

This the conclusion of previous work that showed several job categories were associated with adult onset asthma.