Appels CW, Vandenbroucke JP Overweight, obesity, and mortality. N Engl J Med. 2006 Dec 21;355(25):2699; author reply 2700-1.
Bender R, Zeeb H, Schwarz M, Jöckel KH, Berger M Causes of death in obesity: relevant increase in cardiovascular but not in all-cancer mortality. J Clin Epidemiol. 2006 Oct;59(10):1064-71. Epub 2006 May 30.
Beydoun MA, Beydoun HA, Shroff MR, Kitner-Triolo MH, Zonderman AB Serum leptin, thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels interact to affect cognitive function among US adults: evidence from a large representative survey. Neurobiol Aging. 2012 Aug;33(8):1730-43. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2011.05.008. Epub 2011 Jul 16.
Beydoun MA, Boueiz A, Shroff MR, Beydoun HA, Wang Y, Zonderman AB Associations among 25-hydroxyvitamin D, diet quality, and metabolic disturbance differ by adiposity in adults in the United States. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Aug;95(8):3814-27. doi: 10.1210/jc.2010-0410. Epub 2010 May 12.
Colditz GA Economic costs of obesity and inactivity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Nov;31(11 Suppl):S663-7. Review.
Ding EL, Mehta S, Fawzi WW, Giovannucci EL Interaction of estrogen therapy with calcium and vitamin D supplementation on colorectal cancer risk: reanalysis of Women's Health Initiative randomized trial. Int J Cancer. 2008 Apr 15;122(8):1690-4.
Doig GS Obesity-related excess mortality: What should we do now? Crit Care Med. 2004 Apr;32(4):1084-5.
Dorjgochoo T, Shi J, Gao YT, Long J, Delahanty R, Xiang YB, Cai Q, Shu XO Genetic variants in vitamin D metabolism-related genes and body mass index: analysis of genome-wide scan data of approximately 7000 Chinese women. Int J Obes (Lond). 2012 Sep;36(9):1252-5. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2011.246. Epub 2011 Dec 13.
Ferrucci L, Alley D Obesity, disability, and mortality: a puzzling link. Arch Intern Med. 2007 Apr 23;167(8):750-1.
Ford ES, Mokdad AH, Giles WH, Brown DW The metabolic syndrome and antioxidant concentrations: findings from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Diabetes. 2003 Sep;52(9):2346-52.
Galassi A, Reynolds K, He J Metabolic syndrome and risk of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis. Am J Med. 2006 Oct;119(10):812-9.
Gressner OA, Lahme B, Gressner AM Gc-globulin (vitamin D binding protein) is synthesized and secreted by hepatocytes and internalized by hepatic stellate cells through Ca(2+)-dependent interaction with the megalin/gp330 receptor. Clin Chim Acta. 2008 Apr;390(1-2):28-37. doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2007.12.011. Epub 2007 Dec 23.
Hill JO, Sallis JF, Peters JC Economic analysis of eating and physical activity: a next step for research and policy change. Am J Prev Med. 2004 Oct;27(3 Suppl):111-6. Review.
Kato S The function of vitamin D receptor in vitamin D action. J Biochem. 2000 May;127(5):717-22. Review.
Oh JY, Barrett-Connor E Association between vitamin D receptor polymorphism and type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome in community-dwelling older adults: the Rancho Bernardo Study. Metabolism. 2002 Mar;51(3):356-9.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.