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Simple measures of the biological fitness of adult men aged 25–65 years, inhabitants of the city of Wroclaw, Poland, were studied in two well-defined social groups: professionals and skilled workers. It was found that the manual workers, compared to professionals, have higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lower relative vital capacity, inferior flexibility of spine, poorer eye-hand co-ordination, and poorer hearing acuity. These social differences appear consistently at each age level between 25 and 65 years and tend to increase with age to the disadvantage of skilled workers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Variation in the body mass index (BMI) among occupationally active inhabitants of one Polish urban center was studied by means of a three-factor ANOVA. The material is cross-sectional and comprises 32,750 men and women aged 22-60 years, examined in five successive surveys between 1983-1999. The factors considered in each sex were: 1) age category, 2) year of examination, and 3) social class. The increase of BMI with age is markedly greater among women than among men. No sustained intergeneration trend towards increased BMI was detectable in either sex. The BMI means rise regularly with decreasing position on the social scale in both sexes, but this effect is much more dramatic in women. The latter finding suggests that the condition of being situated low on the social scale is conducive to growth of fatness with age, markedly more so in women than in men. The absence of a secular trend in BMI means during the period considered contrasts with results reported for a number of other countries. This finding is intriguing, because Poland underwent abrupt and profound socio-economic transformation in the early 1990s., (Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Background: Studies carried out in Poland have shown that some important indices of growth and maturation in children, of the biological well-being during adulthood and the rates of premature mortality depend strongly upon the individual's position on the social scale., Aim: The study considers whether adult males of higher educational status differ from their chronological age-matches of lower educational status in biological age., Subjects and Methods: The data of 2800 occupationally active men, aged 25-65 from the 1994/1995 Polish Health Surveys were used. Twenty-two different measures were used. Biological age was assessed by the method of Borkan and Norris (Journal of Gerontology, 35, 177-184, 1980)., Results: A comparison of biological age profiles of two groups of males based on their educational status showed that in 13 of the 22 characteristics. better-educated men were biologically younger than their poorer educated peers (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Better education is associated with the slowing down of the process of ageing, probably because it produces a healthier life-style.

During the process of aging in males a trend toward an unfavourable body fat accumulation, especially within the visceral depots, is observed. This fact is presumed to be associated with the age-related decline in androgen levels among aging men. The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between sex steroid levels (DHEAS, estradiol, free and total testosterone) and BMI, percent fat mass, WHR values in 190 healthy and professionally active men, aged 22-67, inhabitants of the city of Wroclaw, Poland. Hormonal levels were measured using standard immunoassays. BMI was used as a measurement of obesity. Obesity was also assessed using percent fat mass equations according to the Crook formula. WHR was used as an index of fat distribution. All the correlations between sex steroids, BMI, WHR, percent fat mass and age were evaluated using statistical non-parametric analyses (Spearman coefficient) in the entire group of examined subjects, and in two age-specific groups: a) younger males (aged 22-39) and b) older males (aged 40-67). The aging of Polish males is accompanied by both a significant increase of BMI, percent fat mass and WHR values, and by a decline in estradiol, gonadal and adrenal androgen levels. In the younger group only total testosterone levels were significantly negatively related to BMI, percent fat mass and WHR. Within the group of older men both estradiol and DHEAS levels are significantly positively related to WHR. The sex steroids seem to be associated with indices of overall obesity and distribution of fat in men, but these relationships differ considerably when they are evaluated in younger and older age categories. Worthy of notice is the fact that free testosterone levels are not related to any anthropometric parameters in any age category, although free testosterone (not total testosterone) is commonly recognised as a reliable and sensitive endocrinological indicator of the general psycho-physical status of an aging man.

Certain elements of lifestyles (distinctive for the particular population) are presumed to influence on bone metabolism. This fact results in considerable differences between various populations, concerning both the occurrence of the normal variability of BMD (bone mineral content) among adult and elderly men and women, and also the prevalence of osteopenia or osteoporosis. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the variability of BMD in a group of healthy and occupationally active inhabitants of the city of Wroclaw, Poland (426 men aged 20-59 and 1218 women aged 20-62) and to compare our results with the reference ranges provided by the producer of the Stratec 960 apparatus. Trabecular and total BMD at the distal radius of the nondominant hand were assessed by peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) using the Stratec 960 apparatus. BMD of Polish men and women significantly differ from the reference ranges of Stratec 960. The unfavourable phenomenon of the greater BMD decline with age, as compared to the standard values provided by the producer of the device, occurred. It should also be stressed that this reduction is more intense with age and it is marked among men older than 36. Taking into consideration the fact, that our material comprises only occupationally active subjects, the revealed differences would be probably greater, if they were evaluated in Polish population as a whole (our sample does not include persons, who are retired from the healthy conditions). Considering those significant discrepancies between our data and the Stratec reference population, one should be careful when using the normative database provided by Stratec for the densitometric diagnosis of osteoporosis among Polish women and men. Additionally the present study reveals that BMD (and its age-related changes during normal aging) is one of the features characteristic for the particular regional population, which is due to inter-populational differences of those elements of lifestyle, which can influence both general health condition and bone mineral density.

The decline of mineral bone density with age can lead in more extreme cases to osteopenia and osteoporosis, and is therefore one of the aspects of ageing with great medical and social significance. With this idea in mind a study of age changes in the trabecular and, separately, the cortical bone density of the radius was carried out in 1218 females and 405 males, aged 22 to 60 years, all occupationally active inhabitants of the city of Wroclaw, Poland. The technique used was the peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT). It was found that in females bone densities remain relatively stable throughout the period between 22 and 40 years. They then begin to decline slowly, with a rapid decline after the age of 55. A distinctly different pattern was found among males, with bone densities reaching peak values, markedly higher than those in females, in the third decade of life. After this age the bone density values begin to decline at a rapid rate, so that by the age of 60 years mean trabecular and cortical densities in males have decreased to levels almost equivalent to females of equal age. In view of the small size of the male samples, especially in the older age classes, the above results should be treated with caution and confirmed using larger samples.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of smoking, alcohol and coffee drinking on bone mineral content (BMC) in a group of 258 healthy men, aged 40-63, occupationally active inhabitants of Wroclaw. Trabecular, cortical and total BMC at the distal radius of the non-dominant hand were measured by pQCT method using the Stratec apparatus. The data concerning smoking, alcohol and coffee intake were obtained through a questionnaire. The significance of BMC differences between groups were tested using a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA. The extent of alcohol intake did not differentiate BMC values at the distal radius, whereas the significant detrimental effects of both smoking and coffee drinking on trabecular (but not cortical and total) BMC were revealed. Among healthy Polish males coffee drinking was associated with a significant reduction of trabecular BMC. Simultaneously, smokers and ex-smokers (when compared to never-smokers) had lower trabecular BMC.

The incidence of obesity, defined as the fraction of persons with BMIs exceeding 30-0, was examined in two birth cohorts of 40-50-year-old occupationally active inhabitants of the city of Wrocław, Poland. In both cohorts and both genders obesity increased monotonically with decreasing position on a three-level educational scale. During the 1986-1996 decade obesity increased dramatically among males with trade school education only; concomitant shifts were much smaller or absent in the college-educated groups. The contrast in obesity between the opposite ends of the educational scale has widened markedly in both genders; and the between-gender gap has declined somewhat.

We have analyzed longitudinal twin data by using a multivariate normal model to identify and quantify genetic effects over time on two main aspects of growth, height and skeletal maturity. The largest genetic contribution to the variance in both height and skeletal maturity coincided with the respective ages of peak growth velocity. The highest genetic covariance between these two traits coincided with the age of greatest acceleration of growth in height. These findings imply the existence of regulatory or structural genes that influence growth in both height and skeletal maturity. We also found sex differences in the rapport between velocities for height and skeletal maturity. These are consistent with a predominant role of estrogen in accelerating skeletal maturation in females, and the existence of additional mechanisms in males which may promote growth in height independently of the effects of gonadal sex steroids.

Mortality rates among adult men and women, inhabitants of the city of Wrocław, were studied within 5-year age classes between 20 and 64 years of age relative to two social variables: education and marital status of the deceased. Age- and sex-specific mortality rates reveal a systematic social gradient. They are highest among persons with primary or "basic vocational" school education, lower among those with secondary school education, and lowest among those with college education. This gradient consistently appears in each of the age classes of males and females, although it is more pronounced among males. In both sexes, married persons have lower rates of mortality than those who have never married or were divorced or widowed. Among females, marital status appears to have a stronger effect on age-specific rates of mortality than educational status; the reverse is the case among males. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc., (Copyright © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company.)