University of Gothenburg

About: University of Gothenburg is a education organization based out in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 23855 authors who have published 65241 publications receiving 2606327 citations. The organization is also known as: Göteborg University & Gothenburg University.

The comorbidity of ADHD in the general population of Swedish school-age children.

Abstract: This study examined patterns of comorbid/associated diagnoses and associated problems in a population sample of children with and without DSM-III-R attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Half (N = 409) of a mainstream school population of Swedish 7-year-olds were clinically examined, and parents and teachers were interviewed and completed questionnaires. The children were followed up 2–4 years later. Eighty-seven per cent of children meeting full criteria for ADHD (N = 15) had one or more—and 67% at least two—comorbid diagnoses. The most common comorbidities were oppositional defiant disorder and developmental coordination disorder. Children with subthreshold ADHD (N = 42) also had very high rates of comorbid diagnoses (71% and 36%), whereas those without ADHD (N = 352) had much lower rates (17% and 3%). The rate of associated school adjustment, learning, and behaviour problems at follow-up was very high in the ADHD groups. We concluded that pure ADHD is rare even in a general population sample. Thus, studies reporting on ADHD cases without comorbidity probably refer to highly atypical samples. By and large, such studies cannot inform rational clinical decisions.

The effects of testosterone treatment on body composition and metabolism in middle-aged obese men.

Abstract: Twenty-three middle-aged abdominally obese men were treated for eight months with testosterone or with placebo. Testosterone treatment was followed by a decrease of visceral fat mass, measured by computerized tomography, without a change in body mass, subcutaneous fat mass or lean body mass. Insulin resistance, measured by the euglycemic/hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp method, improved and blood glucose, diastolic blood pressure and serum cholesterol decreased with testosterone treatment. A small increase in prostate volume was noted, but serum prostate specific antigen concentrations were unchanged and no adverse functional side-effects were found. Insulin sensitivity improved more in men with relatively low testosterone values at the outset. The mechanisms involved in these changes might act either via effects on visceral fat accumulation, followed by metabolic improvements, and/or via direct effects on muscle insulin sensitivity, as suggested by results of other recent studies. It is concluded that testosterone treatment of middle-aged abdominally obese men gives beneficial effects on well-being and the cardiovascular and diabetes risk profile, results similar to those observed after hormonal replacement therapy in postmenopausal women.

Gender differences in episodic memory

Abstract: The relationship between gender and memory has been largely neglected by research, despite occasional studies reporting gender differences in episodic memory performance. The present study examined potential gender differences in episodic memory, semantic memory, primary memory, and priming. Five hundred thirty women and 470 men, randomly sampled from the city of Umea, Sweden, 35–80 years of age, participated in the study. There were no differences between men and women with regard to age or education, or on a measure of global intellectual functioning. As has been demonstrated previously, men outperformed women on a visuospatial task and women outperformed men on tests of verbal fluency. In addition, the results demonstrated that women consistently performed at a higher level than did men on the episodic memory tasks, although there were no differences between men and women on the tasks assessing semantic memory, primary memory, or priming. The women’s higher level of performance on the episodic memory tasks could not be fully explained by their higher verbal ability.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture

Abstract: Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 4 new loci (IGFBP4, H6PD, RSRC1 and PPP2R2A) influencing height detected in the distribution tails and 7 new loci (HNF4G, RPTOR, GNAT2, MRPS33P4, ADCY9, HS6ST3 and ZZZ3) for clinical classes of obesity. Further, we find a large overlap in genetic structure and the distribution of variants between traits based on extremes and the general population and little etiological heterogeneity between obesity subgroups.