2,971 publications from this institution
This paper summarizes current evidence on excess mortality in Europe from 2020 to 2023, emphasizing the different drivers of excess death rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.The first two years (2020-2021) accounted for a substantial proportion of additional deaths -estimated at approximately 1,000,000 across 29 European countries -largely due to direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and other factors such as hospital resource constraints and deferred medical care.Excess mortality persisted in 2022 and substantially decreased in 2023.Marked regional disparities emerged, with Eastern Europe, parts of Southern Europe, and specific high-density urban areas reporting some of the highest excess mortality, often linked to structural healthcare limitations and lower vaccination uptake.By contrast, Nordic countries experienced lower surges, partly attributable to robust healthcare infrastructure and proactive public health measures: the smallest excess mortality was in Sweden.Older adults bore most of the burden, underscoring the role of demographic vulnerability.Socioeconomic factors, including gross domestic product and healthcare accessibility, further shaped the uneven toll of the pandemic.
The total duration of 'ovulatory activity' or 'ovulatory age' has been reported to be the strongest indicator of the risk of ovarian cancer. In the case-control study examined in this paper this variable was found to be a strong correlate of the risk of ovarian cancer. However, the finding that in older women the major determinant of 'ovulatory age' was age at menopause (which is a very unreliable indicator of 'ovarian activity'), and that age at menopause by itself was related to the risk of ovarian cancer as strongly as the total duration of ovulatory age, threw doubt on the biological consistency of that model. Furthermore, the protection conferred by pregnancies was different at different ages, and age at first pregnancy was more strongly associated with the risk of ovarian cancer than the actual number of pregnancies. The model of carcinogenesis for epithelial ovarian cancer appears, therefore, to be more complex than is indicated simply by the total duration of 'ovarian activity.'