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Background: Inherited long-QT syndrome (LQTS) is associated with risk of sudden death. We assessed the clinical course and the fulfillment of current treatment strategies in molecularly defined pediatric LQTS type 1 and (LQT1) and type 2 (LQT2) patients. Methods and Results: Follow-up data covering a mean of 12 years were collected for 316 genotyped LQT1 and LQT2 patients aged 0 to 18 years. No arrhythmic deaths occurred during the follow-up. Finnish KCNQ1 and KCNH2 founder mutations were associated with fewer cardiac events than other KCNQ1 and KCNH2 mutations (hazard ratio [HR], 0.33; P=0.03 and HR, 0.16; P=0.01, respectively). QTc interval ≥500 ms increased the risk of cardiac events compared with QTc <470 ms (HR, 3.32; P=0.001). Treatment with β-blocker medication was associated with reduced risk of first cardiac event (HR, 0.23; P=0.001). Noncompliant LQT2 patients were more often symptomatic than compliant LQT2 patients (18% and 0%, respectively; P=0.03). Treatment with implantable cardioverter defibrillator was rare (3%) and resulted in reinterventions in 44% of cases. Conclusions: Severe cardiac events are uncommon in molecularly defined and appropriately treated pediatric LQTS mutation carriers. β-Blocker medication reduces the risk of cardiac events and is generally well tolerated in this age group of LQTS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine whether work stress is associated with a symptomatic status of the long QT syndrome (LQTS). Methods: The sample comprised 173 KCNQ1, KCNH2, or SCN5A gene mutation carriers (70 symptomatic) and control groups of 203 relatives without the family mutation, and of 1209 population-based young Finns control subjects. Work stress was assessed using the Job Content Questionnaire and Occupational Stress Questionnaire. Results: We found an association between the occurrence of symptoms in the LQTS and high work stress, higher job demands/effort, lower job control, and lower rewards compared with control subjects. We also found that symptomatic LQTS mutation carriers had higher work stress than asymptomatic LQTS mutation carriers. Conclusions: Higher work stress is related to arrhythmic risk in the LQTS. It may be useful to incorporate assessment of work conditions and stress interventions into management of high-risk patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A population based study conducted to find whether Temporal and Energetic Characteristics of behaviour contributes to perceived job strain and its components is presented. Findings suggest that Higher Emotional activity and perseveration and lower briskness, endurance and activity leads to higher long term job strain, higher job demands and lower job controls.

The article presents a study on the varied influence of different Type-A behavior dimensions on long-term work stress. The study involved 752 participants in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, and it shows that work stress is reported in adulthood. It concludes that high leadership predicted lower job stress and lower effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and higher reward at work, while high hard-driving employees appeared to be predisposed to work stress.

The article cites a study which investigated whether preemployment family factors predict adulthood work stress manifested as effort-reward imbalance (ERI) in Finland. The study sample involves 746 participants from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The parents accounted their socioeconomic position and life satisfaction in 1983 when the participants were at 6 to 21 years of age. The participants reported ERI in 2001 at age 24 to 39, the authors noted. The results showed that high rewards were forecasted by high parental life satisfaction in men and by high parental socioeconomic position in women. The authors concluded that though preemployment family factors were related with the reward and effort components, they appeared to have mild effect on the total ERI.

Objective: To examine whether the activation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme involved in serotonin production, is associated with depressive symptoms., Methods: The participants were 544 women and 442 men (aged 24-39 years) from the population-based Young Finns Study who participated in a medical examination in 2001 (including IDO and depression) and 2007 (follow-up assessment for depression)., Results: At baseline, IDO was associated with depressive symptoms (in the total cohort: B = 0.23, p < .001; women: B = 0.20, p = .007; men: B = 0.29, p = .002; p for interaction = .19). IDO at baseline was also associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up in women (B = 0.17, p = .03), which remained significant when adjusting for any of the biologic and behavioral risk factors. Adjusting for body mass index attenuated the association by 6%. In the final model including all baseline variables, none of the risk factors (except for baseline depressive symptoms) were associated with depressive symptoms at follow-up., Conclusions: These data suggest that IDO activity may be a risk factor for future depression especially in women. IDO-induced alterations in serotonergic function may offer one biologic explanation to the well-established associations between inflammation and depression.

Objective: We examined the Type A behavior across developmental periods as a predictor of adult carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT)., Methods and Results: In this prospective cohort study of 408 men and 606 women, socioeconomic background and biological risk factors of participants were assessed at baseline at age 6 to 18 years of age, Type A behavior (Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale) at the 6-, 9-, and 21-year follow-ups (subjects being 12 to 24, 15 to 27, and 27 to 39 years, respectively), and carotid IMT, adulthood socioeconomic situation, and biological risk factors at the 21-year follow-up when participants were at age 27 to 39 years of age. In men, the eagerness-energy component of Type A behavior, measured at any time point, was associated with thicker carotid IMT (P<0.008, P<0.04, P<0.03, and P<0.02 for the first, second, and third assessment, and for the average score, respectively), and this association was independent of early and adult risk factors. In women, the hard-driving component at baseline (P<0.04) but not later was independently related to thinner carotid IMT. The other components of Type A behavior (impatience-aggression and leadership) were not associated with IMT., Conclusions: Eagerness-energy component of Type A behavior over different developmental transitions seems to be a robust predictor of IMT in men.