RESEARCH CONDITIONS. A regional initiative on registry-based research has led to new advances in such areas as research on prostate cancer and COVID-19. The researchers from Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the University of Gothenburg are behind the project. One of these researchers is Ola Bratt, a professor of clinical cancer epidemiology and senior physician at the Prostate Cancer Center at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. He has long been active in prostate…
Youth overweight a risk factor for blood clots as adult
NEW STUDY. Being overweight in childhood and in early adulthood are discrete risk factors for blood clots later in life, a University of Gothenburg study shows. The study is based on the early BMI history of more than 37,000 men and information about their thrombi, if any, in adulthood. The association between obesity and blood clots is already established. However, to date it has been unclear how much influence a raised…
Use of methotrexate is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer
NEW STUDY. The immunosuppressive drug methotrexate (MTX) can be linked to an elevated risk of three types of skin cancer, a new study by University of Gothenburg researchers shows. Patients receiving the drug include those with moderate to severe psoriasis; but in this particular patient group, a risk increase was only observed for basal cell carcinoma. The study, based on Danish health care registers, was a result of a research…
Severe obesity in youth a risk factor for early atrial fibrillation
NEW STUDY. Severe or morbid obesity at age 18 may be linked to an elevated risk of atrial fibrillation in younger middle age. This is shown by a University of Gothenburg study comprising data on roughly 1.7 million men in Sweden. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, is based on analysis of nationwide register data on 1,704,467 men who signed up military service in Sweden…
Primary hyperparathyroidism linked to bone fracture, stroke, and heart attack
NEW STUDY. In the hormonal disorder primary hyperparathyroidism, patients’ risk of hip fracture is elevated by 51%, and that of heart attack or stroke 45%. These are results from a major study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, which also demonstrates that surgery is associated with reduced risks of these outcomes. Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common hormone disorder, especially among the elderly. It occurs more often in women, and some…