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Alcohol has been implicated in the high mortality in Central and Eastern Europe but the magnitude of its effect, and whether it is due to regular high intake or episodic binge drinking remain unclear. The aim of this paper was to estimate the contribution of alcohol to mortality in four Central and Eastern European countries. We used data from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe is a prospective multi-centre cohort study in Novosibirsk (Russia), Krakow (Poland), Kaunas (Lithuania) and six Czech towns. Random population samples of 34,304 men and women aged 45-69 years in 2002-2005 were followed up for a median 7 years. Drinking volume, frequency and pattern were estimated from the graduated frequency questionnaire. Deaths were ascertained using mortality registers. In 230,246 person-years of follow-up, 2895 participants died from all causes, 1222 from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 672 from coronary heart disease (CHD) and 489 from pre-defined alcohol-related causes (ARD). In fully-adjusted models, abstainers had 30-50 % increased mortality risk compared to light-to-moderate drinkers. Adjusted hazard ratios (HR) in men drinking on average ≥60 g of ethanol/day(3 % of men) were 1.23 (95 % CI 0.95-1.59) for all-cause, 1.38 (0.95-2.02) for CVD, 1.64 (1.02-2.64) for CHD and 2.03 (1.28-3.23) for ARD mortality. Corresponding HRs in women drinking on average ≥20 g/day (2 % of women) were 1.92 (1.25-2.93), 1.74 (0.76-3.99), 1.39 (0.34-5.76) and 3.00 (1.26-7.10). Binge drinking increased ARD mortality in men only. Mortality was associated with high average alcohol intake but not binge drinking, except for ARD in men.

Abstract Background The estimated prevalence of smoking and proportion of deaths due to tobacco in Eastern European countries are among the highest in the world. Existing estimates of mortality attributable to smoking in the region are mostly indirect. The aim of this analysis was to calculate the proportion of tobacco-attributed deaths in three Eastern European countries using individual level cohort data. Methods The PrivMort project established a cohort of relatives of participants in population sample surveys in Russia, Belarus and Hungary. Survey participants provided data on smoking habits and vital statistics of their close relatives between 1982 and 2013. Population attributable risk fractions (PARF) in men (n = 99528) and women (n = 77848) aged 40–79 years were calculated from the prevalence rates of smoking and hazard ratios of mortality for smokers versus non-smokers. Trends in PARF over four 8-year time periods (1982–1989, 1990–1997, 1998–2005, and 2006–2013) were examined. Results In men in the most recent period (2006–2013), the proportions of deaths attributable to tobacco were 23% in Russia, 22% in Belarus, and 22% in Hungary. The respective estimates in women were lower (2%, 2%, and 13%), possibly due to underestimation of smoking prevalence. PARF estimates have declined slightly since the early 1990s in men but increased in women. Conclusions Consistently with existing indirect estimates, our results based on individual level cohort data suggest that over one fifth of all deaths in men aged 40–79 years are attributable to tobacco. While these proportions are lower in women, the increasing trend is a major concern. Implications This is the first large scale, individual-level cohort study that estimated the mortality attributable to tobacco smoking directly in Eastern European population samples. The results confirm previous indirect estimates and show that more than 20% of all deaths in Eastern European men can be attributed to tobacco. The study also confirms the increasing trend in smoking-related deaths among women. These findings emphasize the importance of targeted policy interventions in Eastern European countries.

Background Previous research using routine data identified rapid mass privatisation as an important driver of mortality crisis following the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. However, existing studies on the mortality crisis relying on individual level or routine data cannot assess both distal (societal) and proximal (individual) causes of mortality simultaneously. The aim of the PrivMort Project is to overcome these limitations and to investigate the role of societal factors (particularly rapid mass privatisation) and individual-level factors (e.g. alcohol consumption) in the mortality changes in post-communist countries. Methods The PrivMort conducts large-sample surveys in Russia, Belarus and Hungary. The approach is unique in comparing towns that have undergone rapid privatisation of their key industrial enterprises with those that experienced more gradual forms of privatisation, employing a multi-level retrospective cohort design that combines data on the industrial characteristics of the towns, socio-economic descriptions of the communities, settlement-level data, individual socio-economic characteristics, and individuals’ health behaviour. It then incorporates data on mortality of different types of relatives of survey respondents, employing a retrospective demographic approach, which enables linkage of historical patterns of mortality to exposures, based on experiences of family members. By May 2016, 63,073 respondents provided information on themselves and 205,607 relatives, of whom 102,971 had died. The settlement-level dataset contains information on 539 settlements and 12,082 enterprises in these settlements in Russia, 96 settlements and 271 enterprises in Belarus, and 52 settlement and 148 enterprises in Hungary. Discussion In addition to reinforcing existing evidence linking smoking, hazardous drinking and unemployment to mortality, the PrivMort dataset will investigate the variation in transition experiences for individual respondents and their families across settlements characterized by differing contextual factors, including industrial characteristics, simultaneously providing information about how excess mortality is distributed across settlements with various privatization strategies.

The transition to the market economy has brought increasing age-related inequalities and diverging access to market-based opportunities. This can be expected to result in the polarization of the economic experiences and expectations of different age groups. Examining national surveys conducted in 12 Central and Eastern European countries across a 14-year period we find stable age differences in recent reported economic experience and evidence of growing age differences in future economic expectations. Even more pronounced is the polarization in reported experience of the market economy. The degree of polarization in recent economic experience and future expectations has been more marked in the more affluent countries of Central Europe and the Baltic than in the Former Soviet Union. This polarization has occurred concurrently with a general shift towards more positive economic experiences and expectations than early in the transition. Older people are falling behind in their experience of the market economy because others are reporting increasingly positive experiences and expectations as the market transition evolves.

The atmospheric deposition of mercury (Hg) occurs via several mechanisms, including dry and wet scavenging by precipitation events. In an effort to understand the atmospheric cycling and seasonal depositional characteristics of Hg, wet deposition samples were collected for approximately 5 years at 17 selected GMOS monitoring sites located in the Northern and Southern hemispheres in the framework of the Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project. Total mercury (THg) exhibited annual and seasonal patterns in Hg wet deposition samples. Interannual differences in total wet deposition are mostly linked with precipitation volume, with the greatest deposition flux occurring in the wettest years. This data set provides a new insight into baseline concentrations of THg concentrations in precipitation worldwide, particularly in regions such as the Southern Hemisphere and tropical areas where wet deposition as well as atmospheric Hg species were not investigated before, opening the way for future and additional simultaneous measurements across the GMOS network as well as new findings in future modeling studies.

Enolase, a multifunctional protein with diverse isoforms, has generally been recognized for its primary roles in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. The shift in isoform expression from [alpha]-enolase to neuron-specific [gamma]-enolase extends beyond its enzymatic role. Enolase is essential for neuronal survival, differentiation, and the maturation of neurons and glial cells in the central nervous system. Neuron-specific [gamma]-enolase is a critical biomarker for neurodegenerative pathologies and neurological conditions, not only indicating disease but also participating in nerve cell formation and neuroprotection and exhibiting neurotrophic-like properties. These properties are precisely regulated by cysteine peptidase cathepsin X and scaffold protein [gamma].sub.1-syntrophin. Our findings suggest that [gamma]-enolase, specifically its C-terminal part, may offer neuroprotective benefits against neurotoxicity seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, although the therapeutic potential of [gamma]-enolase seems promising, the effectiveness of enolase inhibitors is under debate. This paper reviews the research on the roles of [gamma]-enolase in the central nervous system, especially in pathophysiological events and the regulation of neurodegenerative diseases.