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Background and Objective: More than 80% of women experience physical, vasomotor, sexual and psychological symptoms after menopause, and in 10-20% of women, the severity of menopause symptoms affects their quality of life. Due to the complications of using chemical drugs, this study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of evening primrose oil and soybean oil in postmenopausal women. Methods: In this randomized controlled prospective study, 40 postmenopausal women were assigned into two groups of 20, 500 mg of evening primrose oil and 233 mg of soybean oil extract twice a day for 8 weeks. Measurement of serum hormones (follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol), lipid profile, fasting blood glucose, and high sensitivity C-reactive protein were performed. Moreover, menopausal symptoms were analyzed and compared based on the evaluation score of menopausal symptoms (range 0-3). Findings: The mean age of women was (51.65±3.7) years. After 2 months of treatment with evening primrose oil, there was a decrease in follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone levels concurred with increase in estradiol levels (-10.64%) (-8.09%) (7.47%), respectively (p<0.05). Meanwhile, women receiving the soybean oil revealed increase in all the three hormones (5.77%) (12.73%) (13.39%), respectively (p<0.05). Total cholesterol and triglycerides decreased in both study groups after treatment (p<0.05), fasting blood glucose level decreased in group 1 only (-1.39%), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein decreased in group 2 only (-22.33%) (p<0.05). In both groups, women presented with mild to moderate pre-treatment menopausal symptoms (Menopause Symptom Assessment score ranging from 0.75 to 2.25) showed significant decrease in their score up to no symptoms in each study group after 2 months (less than 0.75) (p<0.01). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that both evening primrose oil and soybean oil supplements improve menopausal symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate anthropometric, biochemical and clinical parameters in climacteric yoga practitioners. This study investigated 108 climacteric women. We recruited 28 women between 40 and 65 years old who started yoga practices in premenopause and had already practiced for at least 5 years. As controls, we selected 30 physical activity (PA) practitioners who had practiced for at least 5 years and 50 sedentary women in the same age range. We conduced anthropometric, biochemical and blood pressure measurements. The yoga group had significantly lower fasting blood glucose than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Yoga practitioners also had lower weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat percentage and waist-to-height ratio; higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; lower levels of triglycerides, insulin, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance, uric acid, apolipoprotein B and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; and lower frequency of metabolic syndrome, lipid accumulation product, visceral adiposity index and systolic blood pressure than the sedentary women. Yoga practitioners had lower glucose serum concentrations than the PA practitioners and sedentary women. Overall, the yoga group also had better anthropometric, biochemical and clinical variables than the other groups. Although further investigation is required, yoga practice in premenopause seems to be beneficial for women when they reach menopause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies have shown that modifiable risk factors are associated with aortic valve stenosis (AVS). However, the causality behind these associations remains largely unknown. Objectives: To explore the associations of modifiable risk factors, including metabolic factors, biochemical measures, education, and lifestyles with AVS and their potential causal associations. Methods: We enrolled 361,930 British white people with genetic data in the UK biobank. Cox proportional risk regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratios between 28 modifiable risk factors and AVS. We used genetic instruments for modifiable risk factors to determine the potential causal relationships using a one-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Results: A total of 1602 participants developed AVS during an 8.4-year follow-up. Observational analyses showed higher adiposity, blood pressure, heart rate, low-density lipoprotein, urate, C-reactive protein, creatinine, albumin, and glycated hemoglobin, but lower serum vitamin D, and education, unhealthy lifestyle, and poor sleep quality were related to a higher risk of AVS after adjusting for the Bonferroni correction (p < 0.0013). Genetically predicted 1-SD higher levels of body mass index [HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.16], body fat percentage (1.17, 1.03 to 1.33), triglyceride (TG) [1.08, 1.00 to 1.16], low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (1.15, 1.08 to 1.21) and serum total cholesterol (TC) (1.13, 1.02 to 1.25) were associated with a higher risk of AVS, respectively. Genetically determined per category higher insomnia (1.32, 1.13 to 1.55) was also associated with AVS. The abovementioned genetic associations with the incident AVS showed an increasing relationship pattern. Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence for the potential causal roles of cardiometabolic factors in developing AVS, highlighting that an idea of metabolic status through a healthy lifestyle may help prevent AVS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Observational studies have shown that modifiable risk factors are associated with aortic valve stenosis (AVS). However, the causality behind these associations remains largely unknown. Objectives: To explore the associations of modifiable risk factors, including metabolic factors, biochemical measures, education, and lifestyles with AVS and their potential causal associations. Methods: We enrolled 361,930 British white people with genetic data in the UK biobank. Cox proportional risk regression models were used to estimate the hazard ratios between 28 modifiable risk factors and AVS. We used genetic instruments for modifiable risk factors to determine the potential causal relationships using a one-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Results: A total of 1602 participants developed AVS during an 8.4-year follow-up. Observational analyses showed higher adiposity, blood pressure, heart rate, low-density lipoprotein, urate, C-reactive protein, creatinine, albumin, and glycated hemoglobin, but lower serum vitamin D, and education, unhealthy lifestyle, and poor sleep quality were related to a higher risk of AVS after adjusting for the Bonferroni correction (p < 0.0013). Genetically predicted 1-SD higher levels of body mass index [HR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.16], body fat percentage (1.17, 1.03 to 1.33), triglyceride (TG) [1.08, 1.00 to 1.16], low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (1.15, 1.08 to 1.21) and serum total cholesterol (TC) (1.13, 1.02 to 1.25) were associated with a higher risk of AVS, respectively. Genetically determined per category higher insomnia (1.32, 1.13 to 1.55) was also associated with AVS. The abovementioned genetic associations with the incident AVS showed an increasing relationship pattern. Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence for the potential causal roles of cardiometabolic factors in developing AVS, highlighting that an idea of metabolic status through a healthy lifestyle may help prevent AVS.

Background: food insecurity occurs when quality and quantity of food is insufficient for maintaining healthy nutritional and food profiles.Objectives: to determine if food insecurity is associated with dietary and biochemical measures in mothers of the northwest of Mexico, which relies primarily on fisheries for livelihood.Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted with 116 mothers of the Northwest of Mexico. A socioeconomic survey, food security scale, andtwo non-consecutive 24-hour recalls were applied. Anthropometric  measurements were made and hemoglobin, glucose and cholesterol levelswere measured. The association between key measures and food insecurity was assessed using logistic and linear regression.Results: two-thirds (68%) of households experienced food insecurity. Mothers with mild insecurity had 3.7 and 3.2 times higher odds of not consuming fruits and vegetables, respectively, and 4.9 times higher odds of consuming sweetened non-dairy drinks (p = 0.04; 0.04 and 0.05, respectively). In addition, they consumed less protein (β = -3.22%; p < 0.01) and more carbohydrates (β = 6.04%; p = 0.02) compared with mothers with food security. Mothers with severe insecurity consumed less iodine (β = -24.41 μg; p = 0.03) and had lower levels of HDL cholesterol (β = -12.01 mg/dl; p = 0.03) than mothers with food security.Conclusions: food insecurity was associated with low quality diet and low levels of HDL cholesterol in mothers of Northwest Mexico relying on fisheries for livelihood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Fish oil contains essential fatty acids that are linked to better cardiovascular health and even the prevention of sudden cardiac death in athletes. The purpose of this work was to examine the effects of 90 days of fish oil supplementation in elite-, leisure-, and non-athletes on body fat percent, body mass index (BMI), blood cholesterol and triglycerides, heart rate and blood pressure, and on exercise performance. Method. Three groups of participants were tested with 12 equally distributed men and women in each: eliteathletes, leisure-athletes, and non-athletes. Participants received body weight-adjusted commercially available fish oil over 90 days. These nutritional supplements were taken in the morning, immediately following breakfast. Results. The findings revealed that compared to the baseline, body fat percent decreased in all the three groups (p = .034), however, blood cholesterol and the cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio increased (p < .05), with the elite-athletes showing the largest increase. Exercise performance, in terms of the time of running to voluntary exhaustion, increased (p = .05), but the largest benefits were observed in non-athletes (22%) in contrast to leisureathletes (4%) and elite-athletes (1%), which could be linked to a ceiling effect. No statistically significant changes were observed in any other anthropometric, physiological, or biochemical measures. Conclusion. These findings suggest that 90 days of fish oil supplementation may benefit body composition and increase exercise performance, especially in non-athletes, and increases cholesterol, as well as cholesterol/HDL ratio levels, primarily in elite-athletes. Based on these results, it appears that fish oil supplementation yields greater benefits in non-athletes than in athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fatty liver of mule ducks (i.e., French "foie gras") is the most valuable product in duck production systems. Its quality is measured by the technological yield, which is the opposite of the fat loss during cooking. The purpose of this study was to determine whether biochemical measures of fatty liver could be used to accurately predict the technological yield (TY). Ninety-one male mule ducks were bred, overfed, and slaughtered under commercial conditions. Fatty liver weight (FLW) and biochemical variables, such as DM, lipid (LIP), and protein content (PROT), were collected. To evaluate evidence for nonlinear fat loss during cooking, we compared regression models describing linear and nonlinear relations between bio-chemical measures and TY. We detected significantly greater (P = 0.02) linear relation between DM and TY. Our results indicate that LIP and PROT follow a dif-ferent pattern (linear) than DM and showed that LIP and PROT are nonexclusive contributing factors to TY. Other components, such as carbohydrates, other than those measured in this study, could contribute to DM. Stepwise regression for TY was performed. The tradi-tional model with FLW was tested. The results showed that the weight of the liver is of limited value in the determination of fat loss during cooking (R2 = 0.14). The most accurate TY prediction equation included DM (in linear and quadratic terms), FLW, and PROT (R2 = 0.43). Biochemical measures in the fatty liver were more accurate predictors of TY than FLW. The model is useful in commercial conditions because DM, PROT, and FLW are noninvasive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]