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To investigate the monthly and seasonal variation in adult osteoporotic fragility fractures and the association with weather. 12-year observational study of a UK Fracture Liaison Service (outpatient secondary care setting). Database analyses of the records of adult outpatients aged 50 years and older with fragility fractures. Weather data were obtained from the UK's national Meteorological Office. In the seasonality analyses, we tested for the association between months and seasons (determinants), respectively, and outpatient attendances, by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test. In the meteorological analyses, the determinants were mean temperature, mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, number of days of rain, total rainfall and number of days of frost, per month, respectively. We explored the association of each meteorological variable with outpatient attendances, by regression models. The Fracture Liaison Service recorded 25,454 fragility fractures. We found significant monthly and seasonal variation in attendances for fractures of the: radius or ulna; humerus; ankle, foot, tibia or fibula (ANOVA, all p-values <0.05). Fractures of the radius or ulna and humerus peaked in December and winter. Fractures of the ankle, foot, tibia or fibula peaked in July, August and summer. U-shaped associations were showed between each temperature parameter and fractures. Days of frost were directly associated with fractures of the radius or ulna (p-value <0.001) and humerus (p-value 0.002). Different types of fragility fractures present different seasonal patterns. Weather may modulate their seasonality and consequent healthcare utilisation. • Fragility fractures of the radius or ulna and humerus peaked in winter. • Fragility fractures of the ankle, foot, tibia or fibula peaked in summer. • Weather was associated with fragility fractures. • We found U-shaped associations between temperature parameters and fractures. • Days of frost were associated with fractures of the radius or ulna and humerus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centenarians and their offspring are increasingly considered a useful model to study and characterize the mechanisms underlying healthy aging and longevity. The aim of this project is to compare the prevalence of age-related diseases and telomere length (TL), a marker of biological age and mortality, across five groups of subjects: semisupercentenarians (SSCENT) (105–109 years old), centenarians (CENT) (100–104 years old), centenarians' offspring (CO), age- and gender-matched offspring of parents who both died at an age in line with life expectancy (CT) and age- and gender-matched offspring of both non-long-lived parents (NLO). Information was collected on lifestyle, past and current diseases, medical history and medication use. SSCENT displayed a lower prevalence of acute myocardial infarction (p = 0.027), angina (p = 0.016) and depression (p = 0.021) relative to CENT. CO appeared to be healthier compared to CT who, in turn, displayed a lower prevalence of both arrhythmia (p = 0.034) and hypertension (p = 0.046) than NLO, characterized by the lowest parental longevity. Interestingly, CO and SSCENT exhibited the longest (p < 0.001) and the shortest (p < 0.001) telomeres respectively while CENT showed no difference in TL compared to the younger CT and NLO. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that the longevity of parents may influence the health status of their offspring. Moreover, our data also suggest that both CENT and their offspring may be characterized by a better TL maintenance which, in turn, may contribute to their longevity and healthy aging. The observation that SSCENT showed considerable shorter telomeres compared to CENT may suggest a progressive impairment of TL maintenance mechanisms over the transition from centenarian to semisupercentenarian age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]