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Diseases of urinary organs are quite important from the standpoint of public health as the frequent cause of death, disease, defect, disability, discomfort, dissatisfaction and destitution (7D). From 1979 to 1984, 82,071 persons died from diseases of urinary organs in Japan. Of these 14.4, 11.9 and 8.5% were deaths from cancers of prostate, urinary bladder and kidney, respectively. Mortality from these diseases, is on the increase in recent years. Deaths due to kidney insufficiency, both acute and chronic, are also on the increase. Series of epidemiological studies revealed selected risk factors enhancing the risk of occurrence of each of these diseases, e.g., cigarette smoking and meat intake for bladder cancer, drinking of hard liquor and lesser consumption of green-yellow vegetables for prostatic cancer, lesser consumption of soybean paste soup for chronic nephritis. Obviously these diseases are a heavy burden to the nation, the effective planning and implementation of primary and secondary prevention programs are urgently necessary.

This study was designed to examine the effects of a lifestyle modification on the improvement in an exaggerated systolic blood pressure (SBP) response to exercise in normotensive females.The subjects were 78 normotensive females with (n = 25) and without (n = 53) an exaggerated SBP response to exercise who were not taking any medications. An exaggerated SBP response to exercise was defined according to the criteria of the Framingham Study (peak SBP: ≥190 mm Hg). A lifestyle modification program consisting of aerobic exercise and diet counseling was conducted for 12 weeks. The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), plasma nitrate/nitrite (NOx), plasma thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, fibrinogen levels, and the white blood cell (WBC) counts were measured before and after 12-week intervention.After 12-week intervention, the exercise-induced SBP elevation decreased in an exaggerated SBP response group (P0.05). In addition, the plasma NOx significantly increased, and the WBC counts and plasma TBARS decreased in an exaggerated SBP response group (P0.05). In an exaggerated SBP response group, a stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the percent change in exercise-induced SBP elevation was independently associated with the percent changes in the plasma NOx level and baPWV (r2 = 0.647, P0.0001).These results suggest that a lifestyle modification is considered to be important for reducing an exaggerated SBP response to exercise by improving the arterial stiffness and nitric oxide bioavailability.

Comprehensive intervention measures for preventing cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases of community population were carried out in Beijing, Shanghai and Changsha urban areas, and then was evaluated to its effects on knowledge, attitude and behavior (KAB) levels and health-related behaviors of population by quasi-trial designation. Results showed that the net KAB leveling were separately 9.89 in 1995, 4.74 in 1997 and 10.66 in 2000 in comparison with base investigation, and statistically significant difference was found. Of 6 health-related behaviors, caring to health knowledge, being influenced by health knowledge and exercising were significantly influenced, next controlling salt consumption. No change of smoking and alcohol drinking was found. Among different target population, these changes among women were higher than man as well as at home or retired than at work, and hypertension than normtension. As aging and education time decreasing, both absolute and relative effects of health education were better. It suggests that comprehensive intervention with health education as its main measure promote KAB levels and transfer health-related behaviors of population. It is great important to preventing cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases of community population.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to understand the actual state of life hours (working time, sleep time, and time of meal intake) and dietary habits of male shift work employees, and to elucidate the impact of working arrangements and dietary habits on their physical condition and health problems. Methods The subjects were 187 male employees (aged 18-64 years) working for an industrial company in Toyama prefecture. We used a self-administered questionnaire to assess dietary habit, lifestyle habits, and life hours at the time of a periodic health examination in April 2013. The subjects were grouped based on their working condition (i.e., day shift, late shift, and late-night shift) into two groups of day shift (n = 107) and shiftwork (n = 80). The proportion of time spent sleeping and feeding was determined in half hour increments, and the incidences of skipping meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and midnight snack intake were calculated for each working condition. We also examined the association between the frequency of eating and physical condition for each working condition. Results The state of life hours of the shiftwork group during the day was similar to that of the day shift group. However, the workers' state of life hours, incidences of skipping meals, and midnight snack intake varied considerably when working at the other shift times. In the shiftwork group, regardless of the working patterns, the BMI and % body fat of the group that ate more than three times a day were significantly lower than those of the group that ate less than twice a day. Conclusions The results of the present study suggest that it is difficult to ensure the time and opportunity for meals for shift workers. We consider that it is necessary to prevent them skipping of meals, and to support a proper dietary intake during the night.

INTRODUCTION: To characterise the nutritional status in children with obesity or wasting conditions, European anthropometric reference values for body composition measures beyond the body mass index (BMI) are needed. Differentiated assessment of body composition in children has long been hampered by the lack of appropriate references. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study is to provide percentiles for body composition indices in normal weight European children, based on the IDEFICS cohort (Identification and prevention of Dietary-and lifestyle-induced health Effects in Children and infantS). METHODS: Overall 18 745 2.0-10.9-year-old children from eight countries participated in the study. Children classified as overweight/obese or underweight according to IOTF (N = 5915) were excluded from the analysis. Anthropometric measurements (BMI (N = 12 830); triceps, subscapular, fat mass and fat mass index (N = 11 845-11 901); biceps, suprailiac skinfolds, sum of skinfolds calculated from skinfold thicknesses (N = 8129-8205), neck circumference (N = 12 241); waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (N = 12 381)) were analysed stratified by sex and smoothed 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentile curves were calculated using GAMLSS. RESULTS: Percentile values of the most important anthropometric measures related to the degree of adiposity are depicted for European girls and boys. Age-and sex-specific differences were investigated for all measures. As an example, the 50th and 99th percentile values of waist circumference ranged from 50.7-59.2 cm and from 51.3-58.7 cm in 4.5-to < 5.0-year-old girls and boys, respectively, to 60.6-74.5 cm in girls and to 59.9-76.7 cm in boys at the age of 10.5-10.9 years. CONCLUSION: The presented percentile curves may aid a differentiated assessment of total and abdominal adiposity in European children.

Healthy eating and increased physical activity can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes mellitus and facilitate diabetes management. Current guidelines recommend long-term weight loss of 5% to 7% of body weight and 150 minutes of at least moderate-intensity physical activity per week for most patients with prediabetes and diabetes. Techniques to assess and facilitate adherence to these lifestyle changes can be practical in primary care. During office visits, physicians should assess and gradually encourage patients' readiness to work toward change. Addressing patients' conviction and confidence can be effective in moving them toward action. Long-term goals are best separated into highly specific short-term outcome goals and achievable behavior targets. Lifestyle goals and targets should be tailored to patients' preferences and progress while building confidence in small steps. Screening for diabetes-related attitudes, expectations, and quality of life, and addressing psychosocial factors, both favorable and unfavorable, can facilitate the likelihood of success. Follow-up contact with patients helps maintain and expand progress by reviewing self-monitored goals, targets, and achievements; finding opportunities to encourage and empower; reviewing slips, triggers, and obstacles; and negotiating further customization of the plan.

An appropriate balanced diet and dietary patterns are important at every stage of life, but in the case of young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), it is especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to assess health and nutritional behaviors, mainly adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD), during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland among women with T1DM, and to compare them with a healthy population. This survey (based on a questionnaire) was conducted in December 2020 and included 219 young women, healthy (n = 106) and with T1DM (n = 113), from northeast Poland. Over 30% of the study group admitted that they did not engage in any physical activity. A large proportion declared that their screen time was 5–7 h a day (48% in control and 40% in T1DM group). High intakes of sweet-beverages, sweets and red meat, but also low intakes of olive oil, fish and nuts were observed. The vast majority of participants (60% vs. 71%) were moderately adherent to the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS). The study demonstrated that despite the similarity between the behaviors of healthy people and those with T1DM, negative health and nutritional practices, such as low physical activity, long screen time, medium and high levels of stress and inappropriate eating habits were observed.

Background:Cholineandbetainearefoundinavarietyofplantand animal foods and were recently shown to be associated with decreased homocysteine concentrations. Objective: The scope of this work was to investigate the associations between dietary choline and betaine consumption and various markers of low-grade systemic inflammation. Design: Under the context of a cross-sectional survey that enrolled 1514 men (18–87 y of age) and 1528 women (18–89 y of age) with no history of cardiovascular disease (the ATTICA Study), fasting blood samples were collected and inflammatory markers were measured. Dietary habits were evaluated with a validated foodfrequencyquestionnaire,andtheintakesofcholineandbetainewere calculated from food-composition tables. Results: Compared with the lowest tertile of choline intake (250 mg/d),participantswhoconsumed310mg/dhad,onaverage,22% lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (P 0.05), 26% lower concentrations of interleukin-6 (P 0.05), and 6% lower concentrations of tumor necrosis factor- (P 0.01). Similarly, participants who consumed 360 mg/d of betaine had, on average, 10% lower concentrations of homocysteine (P0.01), 19% lower concentrations of C-reactive protein (P0.1), and 12% lower concentrations of tumor necrosis factor- (P 0.05) than did those who consumed 260 mg/d. These findings were independent of various sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical characteristics of the participants. Conclusions: Our results support an association between choline and betaine intakes and the inflammation process in free-eating and apparently healthy adults. However, further studies are needed to confirmorrefuteourfindings. AmJClinNutr2008;87:424–30.

Families are inextricably embedded within their larger sociopolitical contexts, an observation acknowledged by many theorists. The field of family therapy is working on its translation into comprehensive and effective approaches for helping families change. This article illustrates the use of the Cultural Context Model to help families change, guided by the linked foundational concepts of accountability, critical consciousness, and empowerment. The authors support their discussion of theory with examples illustrating the ways in which social patterns connected to race, gender, class, and sexual orientation shape the dilemmas that family members encounter, as well as their access to solutions.

The purpose of this study was to determine how emotional, external and restrained eating behavior and other health-related lifestyle factors were associated with being overweight in adolescents. Moreover, demographic and ethnic differences in eating behavior have been examined. The respondents were 10,087 Dutch adolescents aged 11-16 years (M= 13.0, SD= 0.8). Self-reported eating behavior was measured with the DEBQ. Health-related lifestyle was determined by physical activity, breakfasting, fruit consumption and snacking. High restrained, and low external eating were positively associated with being overweight, whereas no significant association between emotional eating and being overweight was found for girls, and a negative association for boys. Adolescents who ate breakfast on a daily basis were less likely to be overweight than those who ate breakfast irregularly or never. Being overweight was positively associated with fruit consumption for girls and negatively with physical activity for boys.

In an effort to make intensive lifestyle modification programs more accessible to patients with cardiovascular disease, the Ornish Program was offered at eight independent medical centers located across the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine if one of these independent sites was able to replicate outcomes produced by the original Ornish Program. Fifty program participants from six different cohorts provided baseline, 3- and 12-month data consisting of blood lipids, body fat, blood pressure, anginal pain, quality of life, stress, depression, social support, and hostility. A pooled analysis showed significant reductions in almost all physiological and psychosocial variables with most reductions persisting for at least 12 months. These findings suggest that cardiovascular disease patients who choose to participate in an independent, intensive lifestyle modification program can experience significant improvements in both physiological and psychosocial cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of two nobles, twenty-four burial companions, thirty-nine rural commoners, and seventy-five urban individuals excavated from the Central Plains in northern China enables this first study of status differences in human diet during the highly stratified Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The results indicate that nobles had a millet-based diet, and ate substantially more animal protein than all the other individuals, confirming their reputation as “meat eaters”. The burial companions (individuals buried along with nobles) were probably servants living with their masters in cities; they display similar dietary features to other urban commoners who ate limited animal protein and a certain amount of wheat, a non-preferred staple. Contemporary rural populations ate millet as their staple food and a similar amount of animal protein to urban people; no evidence of wheat consumption was found isotopically, suggesting that rural life was less affected than life in urban areas during this chaotic era. These isotopic data provide initial evidence for status patterning including a noble-commoner dietary dichotomy in staple foods, rural-urban dietary differences, and a similarity between the diets of burial companions and urban residents. These patterns provide a new window into life style and social stratification in Eastern Zhou China.

This article gives information about the life style of the people in Central and Western Anatolia especially during the Bronze Age and the chalcolithic period; while examining the factors that affected and shaped the culture of society over time in the mentioned periods.

The European Guidelines on Dyslipidaemias (2011) and Cardiovascular Prevention (2012) have incorporated important changes. Firstly, it highlights the identification of a group of "very high risk" patients: patients with atherosclerotic disease in any vascular area, diabetes with associated risk factors, advanced chronic renal failure, or a SCORE estimate10%. Patients with diabetes and no other risk factors, moderate renal failure, severe hypertension, genetic dyslipidaemias, or a SCORE estimate 5-10%, are considered as "high risk". The HDL cholesterol and triglycerides levels are considered as modulators of risks, but not therapeutic objectives per se. The therapeutic objectives are set at LDL cholesterol levels70 mg/dl (or at least a reduction of at least 50%) for patients at very high risk, and an LDL100 mg/dl for high risk patients. As well as the changes in lifestyle, pharmacological treatment with statins is the focal point of lipid lowering treatments. Other pharmacological options may be considered if the treatment with the maximum tolerable doses of statins do not achieve the therapeutic objectives.

Objective We conducted this study among school adolescents to identify factors, which influence schoolchildren to smoke. Methods We carried out a cross-sectional study in a sample of 924 students of all classes (ages 12–18 years old) in 15 public high schools in a semi-urban area in Crete, Greece, using a questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of 46 questions covering children's lifestyle habits regarding daily activities and leisure time, frequency of risk-taking behaviour, knowledge about the hazards and long-term consequences of smoking. Results 23.9% of participants were experimental smokers and 18.6% were current smokers. 11.4% of the total population was daily smokers. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of experimental and current smokers with school grades, while peaks in last grades were observed. Boys started smoking earlier than girls, mean (standard error) age 13.4 (2.3) years vs. 14.1 (2.3) years, P = 0.01. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed a positive relationship between current smoking and having brother or sister smoking [odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 2.7 (1.7–4.4) and 1.8 (1.1–3.3) respectively], having more than three friends who were smokers [2.6 (2–3.4)] and last school grade [1.4 (1.2–1.7)]. Students appeared to be informed about long-term smoking hazards and had negative views on children who smoke especially in the lower grades. Conclusions Prevention programmes should be imposed early in elementary schools while cessation policies should target at all grades, in particular at critical grades depending on population-specific characteristics.

Objectives The intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (ccIMT) is an established risk marker for cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, it is unclear whether lifestyle interventions can easily demonstrate an improvement in ccIMT. The objective was to test if our intervention would beneficially affect ccIMT (among other CVD markers). Design Non-randomized controlled trial Setting Rural northwest Germany Participants Middle-aged and elderly participants from the general population (intervention: n = 114; control: n = 87) Intervention A community-based, 6-month controlled lifestyle intervention focusing on four areas of lifestyle change: a plant-based diet, physical activity, stress management, and an improved social life. A strong emphasis was on dietary change. Measurements We tested whether ccIMT change from baseline to 6 months was different between groups. Results With all participants included, no significant difference in mean ccIMT change between groups was observed (p = 0.708). However, in a subgroup analysis with participants with high baseline mean ccIMT (≥0.800 mm) a significant difference in mean ccIMT change between intervention (−0.023 [95% CI −0.052, 0.007] mm; n = 22; baseline mean ccIMT: 0.884 ± 0.015 mm) and control (0.041 [95% CI 0.009, 0.073] mm; n = 13; baseline mean ccIMT: 0.881 ± 0.022 mm) was observed (p = 0.004). Adjusting for potential confounders did not substantially alter the results. Conclusion The results indicate that healthy lifestyle changes can beneficially affect ccIMT within 6 months and that such a beneficial effect may be more easily demonstrated if participants with high baseline ccIMT are recruited. The observed effect is of relevance for the prevention of CVD events, including myocardial infarction and stroke.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with multifactorial aetiology that influences the quality of life. However, the association of possible factors with PD is need to be investigated in Indian population, hence we aimed to determine the association of lifestyle, environmental factors, biochemical parameters and genetic insights of MT-ND1 gene in PD patients. Using a standardised questionnaire, PD patients and control group of about 146 subjects were interviewed on demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors. The subjects includes n = 73 Parkinson's patients [juvenile (n = 4); early-onset (n = 8); late-onset (n = 61)] with equal number of age and sex matched controls, further we had obtained institutional ethical clearance and informed consent from study participants. Biomarker investigations and MT-ND1 alterations were investigated by appropriate molecular techniques. During the average follow-up years of 5.1, significant association was observed among smoking, alcohol, caffeinated drinks, surgery, pesticide exposure at p 0.05 in varied PD age groups. Occupational exposure to agriculture and industry showed an increased risk among the late-onset group. The biomarkers uric acid (UA) and dopamine (DA) were significant at p 0.05 in all the three PD age groups. The MT-ND1 alteration with A3843 G variant was significant at p 0.05 for AG allele in all the three PD groups but the highest prevalence was observed in late-onset group. From our study, smoking, alcohol, caffeinated drinks, occupational influence of agriculture and industry and pesticide exposure had more association with PD occurrence. Hence, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first kind of study in Tamil Nadu population, India to validate the various factors with PD. Therefore we suggest that further research is mandatory to detect other possible associations among PD, using comprehensive larger sample size.

A new method for correcting erroneous communality estimates is applicable to any completed orthogonal factor solution. It seeks, by direct correction of factor loadings, to make the residuals conform to the chance error criteria of zero mean and zero skewness for each row separately. Two numerical examples, with one and two factors, respectively, are presented. The method can be used as a short cut for Dwyer's extension in adding variables to a matrix. It can also be used as a short cut in cross-validation factor studies. Successful use on problems with many variables and numerous factors is claimed. Factors can be made oblique,after correction, if desired.