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Background: The family kitchen resembles an uncontrolled laboratory experiment, and some discrepancies in the relation between the risk of hypertension and dietary fat may be partly due to the manipulation to which the fats were subjected., Objective: We investigated whether deterioration in the quality of the cooking oils in the family household contributes to the risk of high blood pressure., Design: The study was cross-sectional. Anthropometric measurements were obtained for 1226 persons aged 18-65 y who were selected randomly from the municipal census of Pizarra, Spain. An oral-glucose-tolerance test was given to 1020 of these persons. Samples of the cooking oil being used were taken from the kitchens of a random subset of 538 persons. The concentrations of polar compounds and polymers were used as markers of the deterioration of the oils. The strength of association between variables was measured by calculating the odds ratio from logistic models., Results: Hypertension was strongly associated with obesity and was influenced by sex, diabetes, and age. The presence of excess polar compounds in the cooking oil and the use of sunflower oil were related to the risk of hypertension, whereas the concentration of monounsaturated fatty acids in the serum phospholipids was negatively related to this risk. These associations remained after inclusion in the models of age, sex, obesity, and the presence of carbohydrate metabolism disorder., Conclusions: The risk of hypertension is positively and independently associated with the intake of cooking oil polar compounds and inversely related to blood concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids.

Background and Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate in a cross-section, populational study the association between daily physical activity and various metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors., Patients and Method: A total of 1226 randomly selected persons (aged 18-65 years) from a town in southeast Spain were evaluated for studying the association between the level of daily physical activity, both in and out of working hours, and the following variables: body mass index, plasma lipids, hypertension, obesity, altered baseline glycemia, and abnormal glucose tolerance., Results: The intensity of the physical activity at work was related negatively with insulin resistance and levels of LDL cholesterol, and positively with HDL cholesterol. The probability of hypertension, altered baseline glycemia, and abnormal glucose tolerance was greater in those undertaking less daily physical activity., Conclusions: Daily physical activity, considered as part of the lifestyle, is related with the presence of components of the metabolic syndrome. An increase in daily physical activity should contribute to improve preventible cardiovascular risk factors.

Aim: To evaluate the metabolic response (glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and beta-hydroxy-butyrate) in patients with type 1 diabetes after a trial breakfast with an enteral nutrition formula designed for patients with diabetes and compare it with standard formulas (with and without fibre)., Material and Methods: Each of 11 patients with type 1 diabetes consumed three types of liquid breakfast with a 1 week interval between each. (1). A standard diet (SD) with 49% carbohydrates, 35% lipids, 16% proteins-casein-and without fibre; (2). A fibre-enriched diet (FD): with 49% carbohydrates, 35% lipids, 16% casein and 15 g/1000 ml fibre; (3). A diet designed for patients with diabetes (DD) with 45% carbohydrates, 38% lipids, 16% soy protein and 15 g/1000 ml fibre. Each subject consumed 250 ml of each preparation at 9.00 AM after having administered their usual insulin dose, which was the same for each diet. Blood samples were taken at baseline and each 30 min, up to 150 min., Results: The increase in postprandial glycaemia was lower with DD than with the standard preparations, reaching statistical significance at 60 min. There were no significant variations in the levels of cholesterol, triglycerides or beta-hydroxy-butyrate between the three preparations., Conclusions: After a trial breakfast, a diet designed for patients with diabetes provoked lower increases in postprandial glycaemia (with no changes in lipid or beta-hydroxy-butyrate levels) compared to the standard diets evaluated (with and without fibre).

Autoantibodies against epitopes of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL), initially shown in human sera, were later related with the atherosclerotic process, although recent studies have questioned this association. Moreover, their association with total cholesterol and plasma LDL, or with the other lipoproteins, is not clear. We studied the relation between the levels of autoantibodies to oxidized LDL and lipoproteins in a population of 400 subjects from the lower Guadalhorce area in Malaga, Spain. Anti-oxidized LDL antibodies were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] were measured with commercial kits. Subjects who were positive for anti-oxidized LDL antibodies had significantly lower levels of total cholesterol (P <.01) and LDL cholesterol (P <.01). There was a negative correlation between titers of anti-oxidized LDL antibodies and levels of total cholesterol (P =.007) and LDL cholesterol (P =.024). This inverse relation between the levels of anti-oxidized LDL antibodies and the levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in a large population study, together with the discordances already published, suggests that the relation between anti-oxidized LDL antibodies, arteriosclerosis, and lipids is more complex than initially thought., (Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.)

The aim of the present study is to examine the influence which different concentrations of free fatty acids (FFAs) have on the insulin secretion response of the islets of Langerhans when the culture is prolonged over a week. Animals were killed by decapitation and pancreatic islets of Langerhans isolated. The islets were incubated in enriched RPMI and oleic or linoleic acid was added at concentrations of 0.04, 0.1, 0.375, and 1 mmol/l. The medium without FFAs was used as a control. The culture time was 7 days. For insulin secretion studies, islets were selected after preincubation in batches of six islets in 1 ml of KRB (Krebs-Ringer buffer) containing one of the following: 5.5, 11.1, 16 or 26.7 mmol/l glucose, 10 mumol/l forskolin or 20 mmol/l arginine. The results showed a significant increase in insulin secretion observed after culture with 1 mmol/l oleic and linoleic acid compared to the other concentrations and the control culture for all the secretagogues used. However, at this same concentrations no increase was observed in insulin secretion as the glucose concentration rose, and this was noticeable with linoleic acid at concentrations of 0.375 mmol/l. In conclusion, culture of islets of Langerhans for a week with high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids produces a hypersecretion of insulin which is not influenced by secretagogues such as glucose, arginine, or forskolin. The loss of gluco-sensitivity may become greater as the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid used increases.

Objectives: In July 1995 we began noticing an unusually high rate of elevated TSH levels in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer treated with levothyroxine-specifically the brand Levothroid-becoming more obvious from September 1995. Faced with the possibility that these findings had some relationship to the drug taken, we carried out a prospective study, changing this brand of levothyroxine for another., Design and Patients: We studied 58 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (50 women and eight men; aged 22-75 years) who were being treated with levothyroxine and who had previously had adequate TSH suppression. Their Levothroid tablets were changed to the same dose of Dexnon tablets, and their clinical and analytical response was evaluated 2 months later. The patients were divided into two groups according to their TSH level at the start of the study: group 1, 42 patients with TSH > 0.2 mU/l (not suppressed) and group 2, 16 patients with TSH < or = 0.2 mU/l (suppressed)., Results: After 2 months with Dexnon the TSH levels in group 1 fell significantly (P < 0.0001) also decreasing in group (P < 0.09). The free T4 and free T3 rose significantly in both groups. After the change to Dexnon, 17 patients (40%) in group 1 had suppressed TSH and 26 (62%) had free T4 levels above the upper limit of normal vs none at baseline (P < 0.001). The group 2 patients maintained their inhibited TSH values after treatment with Dexnon, and the free T4 was above the upper limit of normal in 15 (94%) vs 3 (19%) at baseline (P < 0.001). The Levothroid tablets collected from the patients in both groups formed part of those which the manufacturer later withdraw from the market. These batches possessed the correct dosage, but they had been made from 'non-micronized' raw materials from another supplier., Conclusions: The most probable cause of the inadequate TSH suppression in our patients was the reduction in bioavailability in certain batches of Levothroid, although we are unable to rule out the possibility that the results obtained after the changeover to Dexnon were due to its greater bioavailability. Simple changes in the manufacture of levothyroxine tablets may produce important variations in their bioavailability, having an adverse effect on the clinical control of the patients, and causing extra expense by the need for repeated patient visits and thyroid function tests.

Background: The nutritional state reportedly influences the age of menarche. In this work we investigated the potential relationship between the intake of various types of foods and the age of menarche, irrespective of body weight., Methods: An overall 777 schoolgirls of ages between 8 and 16 years from Benalmádena (Málaga, Spain) were subjected to a cross-sectional study involving: the age of menarche as the dependent variable; and the weight, body mass index, skinfold thickness, food intake (estimated from weekly food frequency questionnaires), and age of menarche in the proband's mother and sisters as independent variables. Several models were developed in order to calculate the strength of association between the dependent variable (the presence or absence of menarche) and the independent variables., Results: The average age of menarche was 12.4 years. The intake of the various types of foods was not consistent between the different age groups. In girls of 12 or younger, the age of menarche was found to be related to weight: Odds ratio (OR) = 7.06; (Confidence intervals (CI) = 2.80-17.6). On inclusion of various foods groups, the OR rose to 49.89 (CI = 40.85-60.84). In girls over 12, the age of menarche was essentially related to the intake of nuts and seeds (OR = 0.71, CI = 0.40-0.98). Inclusion of other foods groups decreased the OR (OR = 0.34, CI = 0.14-0.39)., Conclusions: Significant statistical relationship between intake of nuts and seeds and the age of menarche was found.