Skip Navigation


IJE Advance Access originally published online on July 26, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology 2006 35(4):944-947; doi:10.1093/ije/dyl149
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
35/4/944    most recent
dyl149v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Meade, T. W
Right arrow Articles by De Stavola, B. L
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Meade, T. W
Right arrow Articles by De Stavola, B. L
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2006; all rights reserved.

Commentary

Commentary: Fibrinogen and coronary heart disease—test of causality by ‘Mendelian’ randomization by Keavney et al.

Tom W Meade*, Steve E Humphries and Bianca L De Stavola

Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK

* Corresponding author. E-mail: tom.meade@lshtm.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The theory of Mendelian randomization (MR) represents a relatively new and promising way of determining whether associations between risk factors and important clinical events such as myocardial infarction (MI) are of causal significance or not. But how does it work out in practice? A good deal of attention has been given to the relation between fibrinogen and MI. In this issue of the IJE, Keavney et al.1 conclude that usual fibrinogen concentrations do not materially influence coronary disease incidence and that their analysis provides strong evidence (our italics) that fibrinogen is not a major determinant of coronary risk. They acknowledge that in this case, the contribution of a common polymorphism to the level of fibrinogen is small, so the contribution of any polymorphism to MI risk is also likely to be small. So far, so good. But there are a number of other questions to be answered about . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   Mendelian randomization
 

   Estimating the relationship between fibrinogen levels and MI risk
 

   Estimating the relationship between genotype and fibrinogen levels
 

   Estimating the relationship between genotype and MI risk
 

   Predicting the relationship between genotype and MI risk
 

   Conclusions
 

Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Int J EpidemiolHome page
G. D. Smith
'Something funny seems to happen': J.B.S. Haldane and our chaotic, complex but understandable world
Int. J. Epidemiol., June 1, 2008; 37(3): 423 - 426.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J EpidemiolHome page
Associations of Plasma Fibrinogen Levels with Established Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, Inflammatory Markers, and Other Characteristics: Individual Participant Meta-Analysis of 154,211 Adults in 31 Prospective Studies: The Fibrinogen Studies Collaboration
Am. J. Epidemiol., October 15, 2007; 166(8): 867 - 879.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Clin. Chem.Home page
R. M. van Dam and F. B. Hu
Lipocalins and Insulin Resistance: Etiological Role of Retinol-Binding Protein 4 and Lipocalin-2?
Clin. Chem., January 1, 2007; 53(1): 5 - 7.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Int J EpidemiolHome page
G. D. SMITH
Mensuration, Mendel, and a 19th century public health justification for US imperialism
Int. J. Epidemiol., August 1, 2006; 35(4): 811 - 813.
[Full Text] [PDF]