Lancet
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
An informal school-based peer-led intervention for smoking prevention in adolescence (ASSIST): a cluster randomised trial.
Schools in many countries undertake programmes for smoking prevention, but systematic reviews have shown mixed evidence of their effectiveness. Most peer-led approaches have been classroom-based, and rigorous assessments are scarce. We assessed the effectiveness of a peer-led intervention that aimed to prevent smoking uptake in secondary schools. ⋯ The results suggest that, if implemented on a population basis, the ASSIST intervention could lead to a reduction in adolescent smoking prevalence of public-health importance.
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Few studies have assessed the extent and distribution of the blood-pressure burden worldwide. The aim of this study was to quantify the global burden of disease related to high blood pressure. ⋯ Most of the disease burden caused by high blood pressure is borne by low-income and middle-income countries, by people in middle age, and by people with prehypertension. Prevention and treatment strategies restricted to individuals with hypertension will miss much blood-pressure-related disease.
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Osteoporosis is diagnosed by the measurement of bone mineral density, which is a highly heritable and multifactorial trait. We aimed to identify genetic loci that are associated with bone mineral density. ⋯ Two gene variants of key biological proteins increase the risk of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. The combined effect of these risk alleles on fractures is similar to that of most well-replicated environmental risk factors, and they are present in more than one in five white people, suggesting a potential role in screening.