This Annals volume presents four scholarly meeting reports: (1)
Application of combined omics platforms to accelerate biomedical
discovery in diabesity; (2) Prioritizing health disparities in
medical education to improve care; (3) The paradox of overnutrition
in aging and cognition; and vitamin D: beyond bone. Diabesity has
become a popular term to describe the specific form of diabetes
that develops late in life and is associated with obesity. While
there is a correlation between diabetes and obesity, the
association is not universally predictive. Defining the metabolic
characteristics of obesity that lead to diabetes, and how obese
individuals who develop diabetes different from those who do not,
are important goals. The use of large-scale omics analyses (e.g.,
metabolomic, proteomic, transcriptomic, and lipidomic) of diabetes
and obesity may help to identify new targets to treat these
conditions. This report discusses how various types of omics data
can be integrated to shed light on the changes in metabolism that
occur in obesity and diabetes. Despite yearly advances in
life-saving and preventive medicine, as well as strategic
approaches by governmental and social agencies and groups,
significant disparities remain in health, health quality, and
access to health care within the United States. The determinants of
these disparities include baseline health status, race and
ethnicity, culture, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic
status, region or geography, sexual orientation, and age. In order
to renew the commitment of the medical community to address health
disparities, particularly at the medical school level, we must
remind ourselves of the roles of doctors and medical schools as the
gatekeepers and the value setters for medicine. Within those roles
are responsibilities toward the social mission of working to
eliminate health disparities. This effort will require partnerships
with communities as well as with academic centers to actively
develop and to implement diversity and inclusion strategies.
Besides improving the diversity of trainees in the pipeline, access
to health care can be improved, and awareness can be raised
regarding population-based health inequalities. Populations of many
countries are becoming increasingly overweight and obese, driven
largely by excessive calorie intake and reduced physical activity;
greater body mass is accompanied by epidemic levels of comorbid
metabolic diseases. At the same time, individuals are living
longer. The combination of aging and the increased prevalence of
metabolic disease is associated with increases in aging-related
comorbid diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular
dementia, and sarcopenia. Here, correlative and causal links
between diseases of overnutrition and diseases of aging and
cognition are explored. In recent years, vitamin D has been
received increased attention due to the resurgence of vitamin D
deficiency and rickets in developed countries and the
identification of extraskeletal effects of vitamin D, suggesting
unexpected benefits of vitamin D in health and disease, beyond bone
health. The possibility of extraskeletal effects of vitamin D was
first noted with the discovery of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in
tissues and cells that are not involved in maintaining mineral
homeostasis and bone health, including skin, placenta, pancreas,
breast, prostate and colon cancer cells, and activated T cells.
However, the biological significance of the expression of the VDR
in different tissues is not fully understood, and the role of
vitamin D in extraskeletal health has been a matter of debate. This
report summarizes recent research on the roles for vitamin D in
cancer, immunity and autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular and
respiratory health, pregnancy, obesity, erythropoiesis, diabetes,
muscle function, and aging. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for
sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on
institutional journal subscriptions, please visit
http://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subs.asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632.
ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences
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York Academy of Science receive full-text access to Annals online
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