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Lifestyle-related Diseases (lifestyle-related + disease)
Selected AbstractsAntihypertensive effect of Nigella sativa seed extract in patients with mild hypertensionFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Farshad Roghani Dehkordi Abstract Hypertension (HT) is a lifestyle-related disease and dietary modifications are effective for its management and prevention. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of treatment with an oral Nigella sativa (NS) seed extract supplement in patients with mild HT. Subjects were randomized into three groups: a placebo and two test groups that received 100 and 200 mg of NS extract twice a day. After 8 weeks, systolic blood pressure (SBP) values in both case groups were found to be significantly reduced when compared with the baseline values for each group. In addition, the decrease in SBP in the two case groups was statistically significant relative to the placebo group (P < 0.05,0.01). Meanwhile, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values in the case groups were found to be significantly reduced from the baseline and a significant reduction was also observed in these groups (P < 0.01) when compared with the placebo group. In addition, extract administration reduced both SBP and DBP in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, NS extract caused a significant decline in the level of total and low-density-lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol relative to baseline data. No complications caused by NS were observed. The results suggest that the daily use of NS seed extract for 2 months may have a blood pressure-lowering effect in patients with mild HT. [source] Comprehensive geriatric assessment of elderly highlanders in Qinghai, China II: The association of polycythemia with lifestyle-related diseases among the three ethnicitiesGERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2009Kiyohito Okumiya Aim: The objective of this study is to disclose the association of polycythemia with lifestyle-related diseases (hypertension, obesity and glucose intolerance) among the three ethnicities in Qinghai, China. Methods: The subjects were 393 elderly people (247 Han, 97 Tibetan and 49 Mongolian) aged 60 years and more living in Qinghai (3000 m a.s.l.) in China. The associated factors with polycythemia were analyzed in the subjects. Excessive polycythemia was defined as hemoglobin concentration over 20 mg/dL. Results: Polycythemia was associated with men, hypoxemia, obesity and high diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the elderly in Qinghai. Male sex was associated with polycythemia in all ethnicities. Obesity was associated with Han and Tibetan men. Glucose intolerance and activities of daily living were not directly associated with polycythemia after adjustment for sex. There were 7.9% with excessive polycythemia. Independently-associated factors for excessive polycythemia were male sex, body mass index of 25 or more, SpO2 of less than 85%, DBP of 85 mmHg or more and Han ethnicity (vs Tibetan) by multiple logistic regression. Conclusion: There was a close association of polycythemia with diastolic hypertension and obesity in lifestyle-related diseases in high-altitude elderly people. Han people had a higher hemoglobin concentration after adjustment of lifestyle-related diseases compared with Tibetan people. The difference of hemoglobin concentration may be due to Tibetans undergoing a much longer period of adaptation than Han people. Further study is needed to disclose the association between the difference of hypoxic adaptation, lifestyle-related diseases and chronic mountain sickness for their prevention. [source] Cost-effectiveness of Weight Watchers and the Lighten Up to a Healthy Lifestyle programAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2010Linda Cobiac Abstract Objective: Intensive weight loss programs that incorporate dietary counselling and exercise advice are popular and are supported by evidence of immediate weight loss benefits. We evaluate the cost-effectiveness of two weight loss programs, Lighten Up to a Healthy Lifestyle and Weight Watchers. Methods: Health gains from prevention of chronic disease are modelled over the lifetime of the Australian population. These results are combined with estimates of intervention costs and cost offsets (due to reduced rates of lifestyle-related diseases) to determine the dollars per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted by each intervention program, from an Australian health sector perspective. Results: Both weight loss programs produced small improvements in population health compared to current practice. The time and travel associated with attending group-counselling sessions, however, was costly for patients, and overall the cost-effectiveness ratios for Lighten Up ($130,000/DALY) and Weight Watchers ($140,000/DALY) were high. Conclusion: Based on current evidence, these intensive behavioural counselling interventions are not very cost-effective strategies for reducing obesity, and the potential benefits for population health are small. Implications: It will be critical to consider other strategies (e.g. changing the ,obesogenic' environment) or explore alternative methods of intervention delivery (e.g. Internet) to see if they offer a more cost-effective approach by effectively reaching a high number of people at a low cost. [source] Preventive effects of drinking green tea on cancer and cardiovascular disease: Epidemiological evidence for multiple targeting preventionBIOFACTORS, Issue 1-4 2000Kei Nakachi Abstract The significance of drinking green tea in prevention of two of the main lifestyle-related diseases, cancer and cardiovascular disease, was demonstrated in terms of a prospective cohort study on a total of 8,552 general residents in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. On the basis of the follow-up study, we revealed decreased relative risk of cancer incidence for those consuming over 10 cups a day, compared with those consuming below 3 cups: 0.54 (95% men, 0.57 (0.34,0.98) for women, and 0.59 (0.35,0.98) for both sexes. Furthermore, a significant delay in cancer onset was associated with increased consumption of green tea. Next, decreased relative risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 0.58 (0.34,0.99) for men, 0.82 (0.49,1.38) for women, and 0.72 (0.60,1.04) for members of both sexes consuming over 10 cups a day. Finally, we evaluated the life-prolonging effects of drinking green tea on cumulative survival, using the life table. [source] INCREASED SYSTEMIC OXIDATIVE AND NITRATIVE STRESS IN A NEW CONGENIC MODEL OF METABOLIC SYNDROME DERIVED FROM STROKE-PRONE SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS AND ZUCKER FATTY RATSCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 2007Yu Yamaguchi SUMMARY 1Oxidative stress has been recognized as an important factor in the biology of lifestyle-related diseases. Systemic oxidative stress may increase in metabolic syndrome characterized by a cluster of metabolic risk factors. To confirm this hypothesis, we investigated systemic oxidative/nitrative stress in a new congenic model of metabolic syndrome, namely SHRSP/ZF rats, which are derived from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive (SHRSP) and Zucker fatty (Zucker) rats. 2The SHRSP/ZF rats display obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, hyperglycaemia and glucose intolerance. At 6 weeks of age, SHRSP/ZF rats already showed increases in serum levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and oxidatively modified low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) compared with lean SHRSP littermates and Zucker rats, whereas serum levels of 8-hydroxy-2,-deoxyguanine (8-OHdG), 3-nitrotyrosine, 3-chlorotyrosine and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), an inflammatory marker, did not differ significantly among the three rat strains. However, levels of these oxidative/nirative stress markers in SHRSP/ZF rats, as well as in SHRSP, increased gradually with age. After 36 weeks of age, the levels of TBARS, 8-OHdG, 3-nitrotyrosine and hsCRP in SHRSP/ZF rats increased rapidly and three of six rats died thereafter. Increased oxidative/nitrative stress may be associated with death in these rats. 3Our findings indicate that systemic oxidative/nitrative stress is evidently increased in metabolic syndrome. [source] | ||||||||||