Jason M R Gill

University of Glasgow | UofG · Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences

Background: South Asians (SAs) have higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared with other ethnicities; however, detailed analyses of their body composition profile (BCP), including ectopic fat, muscle mass and muscle quality are lacking. Such data may help explain the higher rate of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in SAs, as muscle mass and...

Background Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) refers to brief bouts of intense physical activity embedded into daily life. Objective To examine sex differences in the dose–response association of VILPA with major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and its subtypes. Methods Using multivariable-adjusted cubic splines, we ex...

Given the failure of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) raising therapies to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, attention has turned towards HDL composition and vascular protective functions. In individuals with insulin resistance, exercise interventions recover HDL function. However, the effect of exercise on HDL in otherwise healthy individuals is u...

Aim Elevated C‐reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, is common in many chronic conditions. We aimed to examine to what extent elevated CRP in chronic conditions could be explained by concurrent adiposity. Materials and Methods This cross‐sectional study analysed UK Biobank data on 10 chronic conditions reported at baseline. Linear regr...

South Asians (SAs) develop type 2 diabetes at lower body mass index values than white Europeans (WEs). This basic human experimental study aimed to compare the metabolic consequences of weight gain in SA and WE men without overweight or obesity. Fourteen SAs and 21 WEs had assessments of body composition, metabolic responses to mixed-meal ingestion...

South Asians (SAs) have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) than white Europeans, especially following gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Despite similar blood glucose levels post-GDM, SAs exhibit more insulin resistance (IR) than Nordics, though the underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to assess markers of adipose ti...

Objective To synthesise current evidence on knowledge, perceptions, and practices towards type 2 diabetes risk in sub-Saharan Africa Design Mixed-methods scoping review, which included 101 studies (73 quantitative, 20 qualitative, eight mixed methods) from seven electronic databases. Setting Sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-2023. Participants Men and wo...

Background Type 2 diabetes is increasing in Kenya, especially in urban settings, and prevention interventions based on local evidence and context are urgently needed. Therefore, this study aimed to explore diabetes risk and co-create a diabetes prevention theory of change in two socioeconomically distinct communities to inform future diabetes preve...

Background Combinations of lifestyle factors (LFs) and socioeconomic status (SES) are independently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and mortality. Less advantaged SES groups may be disproportionately vulnerable to unhealthy LFs but interactions between LFs and SES remain poorly understood. This review aimed to synthesise the a...

Background Components of social connection are associated with mortality, but research examining their independent and combined effects in the same dataset is lacking. This study aimed to examine the independent and combined associations between functional and structural components of social connection and mortality. Methods Analysis of 458,146 pa...

The roles of DGAT1 and DGAT2 in lipid metabolism and insulin responsiveness of human skeletal muscle were studied using cryosections and myotubes prepared from muscle biopsies from control, athlete, and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) cohorts of men. The previously observed increases in intramuscular triacylglycerol (IMTG) in athletes and IGR wer...

There is large potential to increase cycling participation worldwide. Participation in cycling is associated with lower risk of mortality from any cause, and incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as positive mental health and well-being. The largest potential for health gains likely to come from increasing participation a...

Objective The study aim was to investigate associations of 11 anthropometric measures with incident type 2 diabetes and compare their predictive performance. Methods This prospective cohort study included 161,127 White European UK Biobank participants who were free of diabetes at baseline. Anthropometric measures included height, weight, BMI, A Bo...

Aims: To evaluate the effects of pragmatic home-based resistance exercise training on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) as well as muscle strength and body composition in people with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods: People with type 2 diabetes were randomized (1:1) to usual care or usual care plus home-based resistance exercise for 32 weeks. T...

Background Most studies investigating the association between physical activity (PA) and the risk of type 2 diabetes are derived from self-reported questionnaires, with limited evidence using device-based measurements. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the dose–response relationship between device-measured PA and incident type 2 diabetes....

Introduction: Although stroke is an emerging cause of disability and mortality globally, associations between physical capability markers and mortality in stroke survivors are less well known. This study investigated the individual and combined associations of walking pace and grip strength with all-cause and stroke mortality in stroke survivors....

Aims: This study aims to investigate the combined association of adiposity and walking pace with incident type 2 diabetes. Methods: We undertook a prospective cohort study on 194,304 White-European participants (mean age 56.5 years, 55.9% women). Participants' walking pace was self-reported as brisk, average, or slow. Adiposity included body mas...

Background: Combinations of lifestyle factors (LFs) and socioeconomic status (SES) are independently associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and mortality. Less advantaged SES groups may be disproportionately vulnerable to unhealthy LFs but interactions between LFs and SES remain poorly understood. This review aimed to synthesise the...

Background We aimed to assess whether a structured weight management programme incorporating a total diet replacement (TDR) (3–5 months ∼850 kcal/day formula diet) weight loss phase is acceptable to people of South Asian ethnicity and can achieve type 2 diabetes (T2D) remissions similarly to other populations. Methods Adults of South Asian ethnici...

Objectives Given the decline in physical activity levels in Malawi, like other sub-Saharan African countries, and its implication for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, this study aimed to compare and contrast accounts of practices and attitudes towards physical activity among Malawian men and women (previously identified as having pre-diab...

The burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) including hypertension, diabetes, and cancer, is rising in Sub-Saharan African countries like Tanzania and Malawi. This increase reflects complex interactions between diverse social, environmental, biological, and political factors. To intervene successfully, new approaches are therefore needed to under...

Wearable devices can capture unexplored movement patterns such as brief bursts of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) that is embedded into everyday life, rather than being done as leisure time exercise. Here, we examined the association of VILPA with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality in 25,241 nonex...

Background Combinations of unhealthy behaviours are associated with greater mortality than single behaviours, but some combinations might have stronger associations than others. High-risk combinations might be more prevalent among socioeconomically deprived populations. We examined associations between combinations of 11 unhealthy behaviours and mo...

Background Unhealthy behaviours are associated with disproportionate mortality among socioeconomically deprived populations. Previous studies exploring that disproportionate harm do not examine weighted scores, or examine few behaviours. We aimed to create an extended weighted health behaviour score and examine the effect of socioeconomic status on...

Aims/hypothesis South Asians have a two- to fivefold higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those of white European descent. Greater central adiposity and storage of fat in deeper or ectopic depots are potential contributing mechanisms. We collated existing and new data on the amount of subcutaneous (SAT), visceral (VAT) and liver fat in ad...

The Cycle Nation Project (CNP) aimed to develop, test the feasibility of and optimize a multi-component individual-/social-level workplace-based intervention to increase cycling among office staff at a multinational bank (HSBC UK). To do this, we first explored barriers to cycling in a nationally-representative survey of UK adults, then undertook f...

Background The type 2 diabetes risk after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is twice as high in South Asian compared to European women. Current guidelines differ regarding which test to use as a screening-tool post-GDM. We aimed to identify ethnic differences in the prevalence rates and early predictors for actionable HbA1c (defined as prediabete...

Background Studies on physical activity (PA) and mental health are largely limited to self-reported PA. This study aims to use prospective cohort data to investigate the association between device-measured PA and affective disorders. Methods A total of 37,327 participants from UK Biobank who had not had any prior affective disorder diagnoses were...

Background: Studies of objectively measured physical activity (PA) have investigated acute cardiovascular outcomes but not heart failure (HF), an emerging chronic condition. This study aimed to investigate the dose-response relationship between device-measured PA and HF by intensity of PA. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 94 739 UK B...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Physical activity (PA) is widely recommended for the prevention of chronic conditions including cardiovascular (CV) disease. In chronic kidney disease (CKD), it is unclear whether PA confers a similar benefit. We examined whether the duration and intensity of PA are associated with the risk of CV disease and mortality and whethe...

Background Ethnic differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk have been known for decades, but a systematic exploration of how exposure and susceptibility to risk factors may contribute is lacking. This study aimed to investigate the potential impact of differential exposure and susceptibility between South Asian, Black, and White individuals....

Background: This study aimed to investigate the associations of grip strength with incidence and mortality from dementia and whether these associations differ by sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Methods: A total of 466 788 participants of the UK Biobank (median age 56.5 years, 54.5% women). The outcome was all-cause dementia incidence and...

This study investigated associations between step cadence and physical function in healthy South Asian (SA) and White European (WE) older adults, aged ≥60. Participants completed the 60-s Sit-to-Stand (STS-60) test of physical function. Free-living stepping was measured using the activPAL3™. Seventy-one WEs (age = 72 ± 5, 53% male) and 33 SAs (age...

Background Infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) impacts disadvantaged groups most. Lifestyle factors are also associated with adverse COVID-19 outcomes. To inform COVID-19 policy and interventions, we explored effect modification of socioeconomic-status (SES) on associations between lifestyle and COVID-19 outcomes. Methods Using data from UK...

The aims of the current study, therefore, were to compare (1) free-living MPS and (2) muscle and metabolic adaptations to resistance exercise in South Asian and white European adults. Eighteen South Asian and 16 White European men were enrolled in the study. Free-living muscle protein synthesis was measured at baseline. Muscle strength, body compos...

Background Increased physical activity (PA), reduced time spent sedentary (SED), healthier diet and reduced body weight may all have a positive impact on cardiometabolic risk. The relative importance of change in each of these variables on cardiometabolic risk, however, is unclear. We therefore sought to investigate the relative contributions of ch...

Background: Previous cohort studies have investigated the relationship between self-reported physical activity (PA) and dementia. Evidence from objective device-measured PA data is lacking. This study aimed to explore the association of device-measured PA with the risk of dementia incidence and common subtypes (Alzheimer's disease [AD] and vascula...

Aims/hypothesis People with obesity and a normal metabolic profile are sometimes referred to as having ‘metabolically healthy obesity’ (MHO). However, whether this group of individuals are actually ‘healthy’ is uncertain. This study aims to examine the associations of MHO with a wide range of obesity-related outcomes. Methods This is a population-...

Introduction To investigate type 2 diabetes as a risk factor for COVID-19 death following hospital admission in Kuwait. Methods A retrospective cohort study using data from a central hospital that cared for all hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Kuwait. We investigated the association between type 2 diabetes, with COVID-19 mortality using multiply...

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) can occur in patients who are ineligible for routine ultrasound screening. A simple AAA risk score was derived and compared to current guidelines used for ultrasound screening of AAA. Methods: UK Biobank participants without previous AAA were split into a derivation cohort (n=401,820, 54.6% women, mean ag...

Objective To identify risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods A case–control study comparing 70 (53% women) recently diagnosed T2D cases with age‐, sex‐ and socioeconomic status‐matched normoglycemic controls (1:1). Objectively measured data were obtained on anthropometrics, handgrip strength and physical acti...

Introduction Combinations of unhealthy lifestyle factors are strongly associated with mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. It is unclear how socioeconomic status (SES) affects those associations. Lower SES groups may be disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of unhealthy lifestyle factors compared with higher SES groups via int...

Aims Selected lifestyle interventions proven effective for White‐European populations have been culturally adapted for South Asian populations living in Europe, who are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. However, a limited theoretical basis underpins how cultural adaptations are believed to augment intervention effectiveness. We undertook a realist...

Aims To compare the incidence and mortality risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) [CVD and also ischaemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and heart failure (HF)] among people with different types of diets—including vegetarians, fish eaters, fish and poultry eaters, and meat-eaters—using data from UK Biobank. Methods and...

Objectives To investigate severe COVID-19 risk by occupational group. Methods Baseline UK Biobank data (2006–10) for England were linked to SARS-CoV-2 test results from Public Health England (16 March to 26 July 2020). Included participants were employed or self-employed at baseline, alive and aged <65 years in 2020. Poisson regression models were...

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is a circulating complex of lipids and proteins known primarily for its role in reverse cholesterol transport and consequent protection from atheroma. In spite of this, therapies aimed at increasing HDL concentration do not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and as such focus has shifted towards other HD...

Background Whilst skeletal muscles’ primary role is in allowing movement it has important metabolic roles, including in glycaemic control. Indeed, evidence indicates that low muscle mass and function are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, highlighting its’ importance in the development of metabolic disease. Methods In this mini-rev...

Background Frailty has been associated with worse prognosis following COVID-19 infection. While several studies have reported the association between frailty and COVID-19 mortality or length of hospital stay, there have been no community-based studies on the association between frailty and risk of severe infection. Considering that different defini...

Background Lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) measurement may help guide CVD risk prediction, is thought to be causal in several CVD outcomes, and phase 3 intervention trials of Lp(a) lowering agents are underway. We aimed to investigate the population attributable fraction due to elevated Lp(a) and its utility in CVD risk prediction. Methods In 413,724 part...

Aims To investigate the population attributable fraction due to elevated lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)) and the utility of measuring Lp(a) in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction. Methods and results In 413 734 participants from UK Biobank, associations of serum Lp(a) with composite fatal/non-fatal CVD (n = 10 066 events), fatal CVD (n = 3247),...

Aims/hypothesisThe aim of this work was to determine how weight patterns together with blood glucose, BP and lipids vary at diagnosis of diabetes by age, sex and ethnicity.Methods Using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we identified people with type 2 diabetes (n = 187,601) diagnosed in 1998–2015 and compared their weights, HbA1c, BP and...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

South Asians are at high risk of type 2 diabetes when living in urbanized environments. In Europe, South Asians have a prevalence of type 2 diabetes approximately four times greater than their white European counterparts, developing the disease and complications, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and kidney disease, earlier.

In a study of 96,476 participants from the UK Biobank cohort who had their physical activity objectively measured by accelerometer, both the volume of physical activity and its intensity were associated with risk of mortality.

Background To investigate whether the excess risk of adverse health outcomes associated with a lower physical capability in adulthood differs by deprivation levels. Methods 279,030 participants from the UK Biobank were included. Handgrip strength and walking pace were the exposures. All-cause mortality, CVD mortality and incidence were the outcome...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition where the underlying etiology is still unclear. Investigating the potential influence of apolipoprotein E (APOE), a major genetic risk factor, on common blood biomarkers could provide a greater understanding of the mechanisms of AD and dementia risk. Objective: Our objective w...

Objective To inform potential guideline development, we investigated nonlinear associations between television viewing time (TV time) and adverse health outcomes. Methods From 2006 to 2010, 490,966 UK Biobank participants, aged 37 to 73 years, were recruited. They were followed from 2006 to 2018. Nonlinear associations between self-reported TV tim...

Background: Resistance exercise is known to be effective in reducing glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in people with type 2 diabetes. However, studies, so far, have employed supervised resistance exercise in a laboratory or gym facility which limits the future translation of such exercise in to clinical practice and recommendations. Our primary aim, t...

Validity of predictive equations to estimate RMR in females with varying BMI - CORRIGENDUM - Volume 9 - George Thom, Konstantinos Gerasimidis, Eleni Rizou, Hani Alfheeaid, Nick Barwell, Eirini Manthou, Sadia Fatima, Jason M. R. Gill, Michael E. J. Lean, Dalia Malkova

South Asians (SA) develop T2DM at younger age and lower BMI than Europeans (EU). We hypothesized that a low ability of pre-adipocytes to differentiate to adipocytes resulting in hypertrophy may explain the high risk of T2DM. Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was obtained at baseline (BL) and after 6.3[SD1.3] % weight gain (WG) from 20 EU and 13...

Estimation of RMR using prediction equations is the basis for calculating energy requirements. In the present study, RMR was predicted by Harris–Benedict, Schofield, Henry, Mifflin–St Jeor and Owen equations and measured by indirect calorimetry in 125 healthy adult women of varying BMI (17–44 kg/m ² ). Agreement between methods was assessed by Blan...

Introduction People of South Asian origin are at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but the underpinning mechanisms are not fully understood. We determined ethnic differences in acylcarnitine, amino acid and sphingolipid concentrations and determined the associations with T2D. Research design and methods Associations between these metabolites and...

Background Information on risk factors for COVID-19 is sub-optimal. We investigated demographic, lifestyle, socioeconomic, and clinical risk factors, and compared them to risk factors for pneumonia and influenza in UK Biobank. Methods UK Biobank recruited 37-70 year olds in 2006-2010 from the general population. The outcome of confirmed COVID-19 in...

Introduction It is unclear what combinations of physical capability markers used to define sarcopenia have the strongest associations with health outcomes. Aim To compare the associations between different combinations of physical capability markers of sarcopenia with cardiovascular and respiratory outcomes and all-cause mortality. Study design 4...