Decreased bone mineral density in adults born with very low birth weight

In a study published this week in the open-access medical journal, PLoS Medicine, Petteri Hovi and colleagues from the National Institute for Health and Welfare Helsinki, Finland evaluated skeletal health in 144 adults (ages ranging from 18 to 27 years) who were born preterm with very low birth weight. They show that as adults these individuals have significantly lower bone mineral density than do their term-born peers and suggest that this finding translates into increased risk for osteoporosis in adulthood for these individuals.

Funding: This study was supported by grants from the Academy of Finland; the Finnish Medical Society Duodecim; Finska La¨karesa¨llskapet; the Finnish Foundation for Paediatric Research; the Special Governmental Subsidiary for Health Sciences Research; the Jalmari and Rauha Ahokas Foundation; the Novo Nordisk Foundation; the Pa¨ ivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation; the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; the Yrjo¨ Jahnsson Foundation; the Orion-Pharma Foundation; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; Maud Kuistila Memorial Foundation; the Paediatric Graduate School, University of Helsinki; the Clinical Graduate School in Paediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynaecology, University of Helsinki; the Wilhelm and Else Stockmann Foundation; the Perkle´n Foundation, the Biomedicum Helsinki Foundation; the Finnish Medical Foundation; and the National Graduate School of Clinical Investigation, University of Helsinki. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: Hovi P, Andersson S, Järvenpää A-L, Eriksson JG, Strang-Karlsson S, et al. (2009) Decreased Bone Mineral Density in Adults Born with Very Low Birth Weight: A Cohort Study. PLoS Med 6(8): e1000135. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000135

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000135

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-08-hovi.pdf

CONTACT:
Dr. Petteri Hovi
National Institute for Health and Welfare
Department for Prevention of Chronic Disease
Mannerheimintie 166
P.O. Box 30
Helsinki, FI-00271
Finland
358503684256
358206108661 (fax)
petteri.hovi@helsinki.fi

In a Student Forum piece published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, medical student Keyan Salari (Stanford University, Stanford, California) argues that it is crucial that medical students be trained to use and interpret patients' genetic information appropriately and responsibly. This is especially true, he argues, because personal genetic information is becoming an increasingly frequent component of the patient medical record.

Funding: KS is supported by the Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation and is a fellow of the Medical ScientistTraining Program at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The funders had no role in the decision to publish or the preparation of this manuscript.

Competing Interests: The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Citation: Salari K (2009) The Dawning Era of Personalized Medicine Exposes a Gap in Medical Education. PLoS Med 6(8): e1000138. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000138

IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000138

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-08-salari.pdf

CONTACTS:
Keyan Salari
Stanford University
Department of Genetics
CCSR-3240
269 Campus Drive
Stanford, CA 94305
United States of America
650-736-1989
650-736-0073 (fax)
ksalari@stanford.edu