John C Mathers

Newcastle University | NCL · Institute for Ageing and Health

Background Breast cancer and its treatment can have long-term adverse effects on physical and mental health. Evidence-based guidelines recommend that healthcare professionals (HCPs) advise women with breast cancer to engage in physical activity to improve health outcomes. However, support to be active is not standard care. The PURE-EX (EXpanding in...

Biomarkers of ageing serve as important outcome measures in longevity-promoting interventions. However, there is limited consensus on which specific biomarkers are most appropriate for human intervention studies. This work aimed to address this need by establishing an expert consensus on biomarkers of ageing for use in intervention studies viathe D...

Background Despite an urgent need for multi-domain lifestyle interventions to reduce dementia risk, there is a lack of interventions which are informed by theory- and evidence-based behaviour change strategies, and no interventions in this domain have investigated the feasibility or effectiveness of behaviour change maintenance. We tested the feasi...

Biomarkers of ageing serve as important outcome measures in longevity-promoting interventions. However, there is limited consensus on which specific biomarkers are most appropriate for human intervention studies. This work aimed to address this need by establishing an expert consensus on biomarkers of ageing for use in intervention studies via the...

While adherence to a healthy diet is known to reduce dementia risk, the impact varies by diet type. This study examines the association between six dietary scores and dementia incidence. In this prospective analysis, 210,269 participants aged 60 and above (mean age 64.1 years, 52.7% women) from the UK Biobank were included. Dietary adherence was as...

Purpose: Dietary nitrate supplementation increases nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and reduces blood pressure (BP). Inter-individual differences in these responses are suspected but have not been investigated using robust designs, e.g., replicate crossover, and appropriate statistical models. We examined the within-individual consistency of the e...

The gut microbiome is impacted by certain types of dietary fibre. However, the type, duration, and dose needed to elicit gut microbial changes, and whether these changes also influence microbial metabolites, remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of supplementing healthy participants with two types of non-digestible carbohydrates (res...

Objective Evaluate knowledge and beliefs about dietary nitrate among United Kingdom (UK)-based adults. Design An online questionnaire was administered to evaluate knowledge and beliefs about dietary nitrate. Overall knowledge of dietary nitrate was quantified using a 21-point Nitrate Knowledge Index. Responses were compared between sociodemographi...

Background Selenium has potential safeguarding properties against cognitive decline, because of its role in protecting DNA, proteins, and lipids in the brain from oxidative damage. However, acute and chronic overexposure to selenium can be neurotoxic. Objective The aim of this analysis was to explore the association between selenium status [serum...

It is elusive why some heavy drinkers progress to severe alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) while others do not. This study aimed to investigate if the association between alcohol consumption and severe ALD is modified by diet. This prospective study included 303,269 UK Biobank participants. Alcohol consumption and diet were self-reported. The die...

Background Social connections may impact the dynamic trajectory of frailty. Methods Using data from the British Regional Heart Study (BRHS) in the UK (n = 715), and the US Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study (n = 1256), we conducted multinominal regression analyses to examine the association of baseline and change in social engag...

Objective: Evaluate knowledge and beliefs about dietary nitrate among United Kingdom (UK)-based adults. Design: An online questionnaire was administered to evaluate knowledge/beliefs about dietary nitrate. Overall knowledge of dietary nitrate was quantified using a 21-point Nitrate Knowledge Index. Responses were compared between sociodemographic g...

Approximately 40% of cancers in the UK are attributable to modifiable, lifestyle risk factors such as overweight and obesity and low dietary fibre intake ⁽¹⁾ . The WCRF and AICR published ten lifestyle- based Cancer Prevention Recommendations with the aim of reducing the risk of cancer and other non-communicable diseases ⁽²⁾ . In the UK Biobank coh...

The trace element selenium is known to protect against oxidative damage which is known to contribute to cognitive impairment with ageing (1,2) . The aim of this study was to explore the association between selenium status (serum selenium and selenoprotein P (SELENOP)) and global cognitive performance at baseline and after 5 years in 85-year-olds li...

Introduction Physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour are linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, infections and dementia, as well as placing a significant economic burden on healthcare systems. The implementation of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures aimed at reducing virus transmission posed challenges to the opportunity to be phy...

Diets low in vegetables are a main contributor to the health burden experienced by Australians living in rural communities. Given the ubiquity of smartphones and access to the Internet, digital interventions may offer an accessible delivery model for a dietary intervention in rural communities. However, no digital interventions to address low veget...

The ‘double burden of malnutrition’ is a global health challenge that increasingly affects populations in both low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). This phenomenon refers to the coexistence of undernutrition and overweight or obesity, as well as other diet‐related non‐communicable diseases, in the same population, household or even individual....

Background Eating healthier is associated with a range of favorable health outcomes. Our previous model estimated the impact of dietary changes on life expectancy gains but did not consider height, weight, or physical activity. Objectives We aimed to estimate the increase in life expectancy resulting from the transition from typical national die...

Georgia lies to the north east of Türkiye, having a western border on the Black Sea. With a population of some 3.73 million, Georgia has a tradition of gastronomic excellence dating back millennia. However, changing lifestyles and external influences have, as elsewhere, led to problems of suboptimal nutrition, and lifestyle related diseases and dis...

The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis suggest early-life environment impacts health outcomes throughout the life course. In particular, epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation, are thought to be key mechanisms through which environmental exposures programme later-life health. Adequate maternal folate status before and durin...

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which neighborhood-level socioeconomic factors (objective and perceived) are associated with poor oral health in older adults over time, independent of individual socioeconomic position. Data for this cross-sectional and longitudinal observation study came from a socially and geographically represe...

Introduction Diets low in vegetables are a main contributor to the health burden experienced by young adults in rural communities. Digital health interventions provide an accessible delivery model that can be personalised to meet the diverse preferences of young adults. A personalisable digital vegetable intake intervention (Veg4Me) was codesigned...

Background Diets low in vegetables are a main contributor to the health burden experienced by Australians living in rural communities. Given the ubiquity of smartphones and access to the Internet, digital interventions may offer an accessible delivery model for a dietary intervention in rural communities. However, no digital interventions to addres...

Background Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) refers to the intravenous administration of macronutrients, micronutrients and fluid. The aims of treatment are to increase survival and improve quality of life (QoL). However, patients struggle with physiological symptoms, time-consuming invasive therapy and an increased occurrence of depression and socia...

Background The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Cancer Prevention Recommendations are lifestyle-based recommendations which aim to reduce cancer risk. This study investigated associations between adherence, assessed using a standardised scoring system, and the risk of all cancers combined and of 14 can...

Aim This study aimed to contrast the associations of five common diet scores with severe non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) incidence. Materials and Methods In total, 162 999 UK Biobank participants were included in this prospective population‐based study. Five international diet scores were included: the 14‐Item Mediterranean Diet Adherenc...

Adherence to healthy dietary patterns can prevent the development of non-communicable diseases and affect life expectancy. Here, using a prospective population-based cohort data from the UK Biobank, we show that sustained dietary change from unhealthy dietary patterns to the Eatwell Guide dietary recommendations is associated with 8.9 and 8.6 years...

Background The 2018 (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Cancer Prevention Recommendations are evidence-based lifestyle recommendations which aim to reduce the risk of cancer worldwide. Sociodemographic factors modulate lifestyle behaviours, and both cancer incidence and survival are socio-economically patterned. We investigated adh...

Background: The WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention Recommendations are lifestyle-based guidelines which aim to reduce cancer risk. This study investigated, in the UK Biobank, associations between an abbreviated score to assess adherence to these Recommendations and the risk of all cancers combined and of 14 cancers for which there is strong evidence for...

There is a dearth of data on selenium status in very old adults. The aims of this study were to assess selenium status and its determinants in 85-year-olds living in the Northeast of England by measuring serum selenium and selenoprotein P (SELENOP) concentrations and glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3) activity. A secondary aim was to examine the inter...

Inverse associations between dietary fiber (DF) and colorectal cancer risk are well-established. However, evidence is limited in relation to other cancer sites. This study, of 364,856 participants from UK Biobank, aimed to evaluate the associations between total and source-specific partial DF and risk of 17 specific cancers and all cancers combined...

Background DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism through which environmental factors including nutrition and inflammation influence health. Obesity is a major modifiable risk factor for many common diseases including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. In particular, obesity-induced inflammation resulting from aberrantly-methylated inflammator...

Background With a rapidly expanding ageing population, frailty has become a public health challenge. Social connections, including quantitative (i.e., the number of social engagements) and qualitative aspects (i.e. loneliness), have been theorised to contribute to frailty. Few studies have untangled their effects on the dynamic trajectory of frailt...

Background The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Cancer Prevention Recommendations are lifestyle-based recommendations updated in 2018 which aim to reduce cancer risk. In 2019, a standardised scoring system (‘2018 WCRF/AICR Score’) was published enable comparability across studies. This score has not ye...

Background There are marked socioeconomic inequalities in oral health. However, the influence of socioenvironmental circumstances of where individuals, particularly older adults, live remains underexplored. This study examined the influence of area-level socioenvironmental deprivation (objective and perceived) on changes in oral health of older adu...

Objectives This study examined the relationships of dental status, use and types of dental prothesis and oral health problems, individually and combined, with diet quality, frailty and disability in two population-based studies of older adults. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants Men form the British Regional Heart Study (BRHS)...

Background: Despite an urgent need for multi-domain lifestyle interventions to reduce dementia risk there is a lack of interventions which are informed by theory and evidence based behaviour change strategies and no interventions in this domain have investigated the feasibility or effectiveness of behaviour change maintenance. Objectives: We tested...

Indigenous peoples and ethnic minority groups often experience poor diet quality and poor health outcomes. Such inequities may be partially due to nutrition interventions not meeting the unique cultural and linguistic needs of these population groups, which could be achieved using co-creation and/or personalised approaches. Cultural adaptation or t...

Background The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations are lifestyle‐based guidelines that aim to reduce cancer risk. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of studies investigating associations between a score for adherence to the 2018 Cancer Prevention Recommendations and cancer risk was...

Objective: To investigate the dose-response associations of dietary inflammatory potential with all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of 198,265 UK Biobank participants who completed at least one dietary assessment. A web based 24-hour recall questionnaire was used...

Background Although non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is linked to inflammation, whether an inflammatory diet increases the risk of NAFLD is unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between the Energy-adjusted Diet Inflammatory Index (E-DII) score and severe NAFLD using UK Biobank. Methods This prospective cohort study included...

Personalised and precision nutrition uses information on individual characteristics and responses to nutrients, foods and dietary patterns to develop targeted nutritional advice that is more effective in improving the diet and health of each individual. Moving away from the conventional 'one size fits all', such targeted intervention approaches may...

Background Digital interventions may help address low vegetable intake in adults, however there is limited understanding of the features that make them effective. We systematically reviewed digital interventions to increase vegetable intake to 1) describe the effectiveness of the interventions; 2) examine links between effectiveness and use of co-d...

Background The identification of effective dementia prevention strategies is a major public health priority, due to the enormous and growing societal cost of this condition. Consumption of a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been proposed to reduce dementia risk. However, current evidence is inconclusive and is typically derived from small cohorts w...

Background & aims: Few studies have explored the prolonged effects of dietary nitrate on vascular health. This pilot study tested the effects of prolonged consumption (13 weeks) of a range of doses of dietary nitrate (NO3-), provided as beetroot juice (BJ), on blood pressure (BP) and endothelial function in overweight and obese older participants....

Introduction In 2018, The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) published ten evidence-based Cancer Prevention Recommendations designed to reduce the risk of cancer via improved lifestyle behaviours. In 2019, Shams-White and colleagues created the “2018 WCRF/AICR Score” which aimed to standardise how adhere...

Diet, the most important modulator of inflammatory and immune responses, may affect COVID-19 incidence and disease severity. Data from 196,154 members of the UK biobank had at least one 24 h dietary recall. COVID-19 outcomes were based on PCR testing, hospital admissions, and death certificates. Adjusted Poisson regression analyses were performed t...

Objectives Dietary intake information is key to understanding nutrition-related outcomes. Intake changes with age and some older people are at increased risk of malnutrition. Application, difficulties, and advantages of the 24-hour multiple pass recall (24hr-MPR) dietary assessment method in three cohorts of advanced age in the United Kingdom (UK)...

microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate several metabolic pathways and are potential biomarkers for early risk prediction of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Our aim was to evaluate the levels of 21 miRNAs in plasma according to MetS components and sex in adults. We employed a cross-sectional study of 192 adults aged 20 to 59 years old from the 2015 Health Survey of...

Background DNA methylation in the human genome is established and maintained by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs). DNMT isoforms show differential expression by cell lineage and during development, but much remains to be elucidated about their shared and unique genomic targets. Results We examined changes in the epigenome following overexpression of...

Objective To investigate the prospective associations between oral health and progression of physical frailty in older adults. Design Prospective analysis. Setting and Participants Data are from the British Regional Heart Study (BRHS) comprising 2137 men aged 71 to 92 years from 24 British towns and the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (HABC)...

Background Poor oral health could be associated with changes in musculoskeletal health over time. This aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal relationship between oral health and decline in physical function in later life. Methods We did a prospective analysis of two cohorts of older adults (aged 70 years or older) including men from...

Lifestyle—what we eat, how much exercise we do, and how much we weigh, can change our chances of getting diseases like cancer in the large intestine (colorectal cancer). The World Cancer Research Fund has come up with eight lifestyle recommendations to lower our chances of getting cancer. For example, we are recommended to eat at least five serving...

Background The combined incidence rate of all cancers is higher in deprived population groups than in least-deprived groups. Approximately 40% of cancers in the UK are attributable to lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking and obesity, which are also socioeconomically patterned, and which suggests that public health strategies for primary cancer p...

Introduction: There is increasing interest in the assessment of health-related quality of life (QoL) in the care of patients treated with home parenteral nutrition (HPN). However, it is not known whether healthcare professionals (HCPs) have embedded QoL assessment into routine clinical practice in line with current guidelines, and to favour a more...

Introduction: Substantial response heterogeneity is commonly seen in dietary intervention trials. In larger datasets, this variability can be exploited to identify predictors, for example genetic and/or phenotypic baseline characteristics, associated with response in an outcome of interest. Objective: Using data from a placebo-controlled crossover...

Purpose High-fat and low-fibre discretionary food intake and FTO genotype are each associated independently with higher risk of obesity. However, few studies have investigated links between obesity and dietary patterns based on discretionary food intake, and the interaction effect of FTO genotype are unknown. Thus, this study aimed to derive dietar...

Higher selenium status has been associated with lower bone turnover markers (BTM) in epidemiological studies. However, the long‐term impact of selenium supplementation on BTMs has not been studied. We investigated the effects of selenium supplementation on BTMs including osteocalcin (OC), procollagen type I N‐terminal propeptide (PINP), collagen ty...