Objectives. To assess the association of trunk and leg fat mass (FM) and leg lean tissue mass (LTM) with conventional cardiovascular risk factors. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting and subjects. We studied 1249 men and 3007 women (age 20-79 years) who attended a research institute for a health checkup between October 1995 and February 2004. Main outcome measures. Body mass index, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose and haemoglobin A 1C were measured. Trunk FM, leg FM and leg LTM were obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We evaluated the associations between the indices for regional body composition and cardiovascular risk factors, which included hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, hypo-HDL cholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, dyslipidaemia and diabetes mellitus. Results. Increase in WC and HC respectively showed increase and decrease in odds ratios of cardiovascular risk factors. Increase in trunk FM by 1 kg significantly increased the risk of the cardiovascular risk factors with the odds ratios ranging between 1.11 and 1.45. Increase in leg FM by 1 kg significantly decreased the risk with the odds ratios ranging between 0.52 and 0.90, except for the nonsignificant results for hypercholesterolaemia and hypo-HDL cholesterolaemia in men. Odds ratios of 1 kg increase in leg LTM were only significant for dyslipidaemia in men and hypercholesterolaemia in women (both 0.93). Conclusions. WC and HC showed opposite and independent associations with cardiovascular risk factors. The favourable association of HC was mainly attributable to that of leg FM.
SUMMARYThe effects of exercise and mild calorie restriction on heart rate variability (HRV) were investigated in 12 mildly obese, normotensive Japanese women aged 45.8±4.2 (SEM) years with a body mass index (BMI) of 27.3±0.4 kg/m 2 . The subjects participated in a 3-month program aimed at increasing physical activity and modifying eating behavior (intervention group). The control group consisted of 12 women (age 50.1±4.8 years, BMI 27.2±0.6 kg/m 2 ) who did not attend the program. The frequency domain of HRV was calculated from 5-min Holter recordings while the subjects rested in a supine position. After 3 months, BMI decreased to 25.0±0.5 kg/m 2 (p<0.001 vs baseline) in the intervention group, which was accompanied by decreases in body fat mass, waist circumference, serum total cholesterol and triglycerides, and improvement in insulin sensitivity. The mean and SD of the RR intervals, total power, and low and high frequency power of HRV significantly increased after the intervention, whereas no significant changes were seen for the controls. The changes in these HRV variables (calculated by subtracting the baseline values from the follow-up values) negatively correlated with the change in waist circumference, with the Pearson correlation coefficients being between −0.50 and −0.62 (p<0.05). A negative correlation was also seen between the changes in high frequency power and insulin resistance estimated by homeostasis model assessment (r=−0.49, p<0.05). The combination of exercise and mild calorie restriction led to changes in HRV indicative of an improvement in parasympathetic modulation. (Jpn Heart J 2001; 42: 459-469)
1. The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is considered to be involved in the development of atherosclerosis by inducing local inflammatory responses in the vascular wall. Because TNF-alpha is also known to affect lipid and glucose metabolism, the association between the circulating concentration of TNF-alpha and atherogenic risk factors was examined in 82 apparently healthy Japanese women (aged 19-69 years; mean age 48.5 years). 2. The mean (+/-SD) serum TNF-alpha concentration was 2.7+/-0.9 pg/mL (range 1.4-5.9 pg/mL). The TNF-alpha concentration showed significant correlations with age (r = 0.28; P = 0.01), body mass index (r = 0.27; P = 0.01), the waist-hip ratio (r = 0.41; P = 0.0002), percentage body fat (r = 0.30; P = 0.006), systolic (r = 0.32; P = 0.004) and diastolic (r = 0.24; P = 0.03) blood pressure, total cholesterol (r = 0.27; P = 0.02) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C; r = 0.36; P = 0.001), while the correlations with high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (r = -0.20; P = 0.08) and insulin resistance estimated by the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA(IR); r = 0.16; P = 0.15) were not statistically significant. 3. When adjusted for age and menopause, TNF-alpha was significantly associated with systolic blood pressure (r = 0.25; P = 0.02) and LDL-C (r = 0.27; P = 0.02). The association between TNF-alpha and LDL-C remained significant when adjustment was made for age, menopause and the waist-hip ratio (r = 0.24; P = 0.03). 4. Our results indicate that TNF-alpha may play a role in modulating blood pressure and LDL-C.
Since the effect of the submaximal aerobic exercise on bone had been controversial, the aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of the bench step (BS), that seemed to deliver higher mechanical load on bone than any other aerobic exercises, on the total bone mineral content (BMC) and the bone metabolism of menopausal women. Sixteen menopausal women (65 ± 9 years old) as the exercise group (ExG) and 28 pre-menopausal women (43 ± 3 years old) as the control group (CG) were studied. ExG carried out BS training with the exercise intensity at lactate threshold (LT) for 21 weeks. In ExG, BMC was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at one year before the intervention (A year before), preintervention (Pre) and post-intervention (Post). Serum osteocalcin (OC) as the marker of bone formation and serum type I collagen cross-linked N-telopeptide (NTx) as the marker of bone absorption at Pre, 11th week of the intervention and Post. In CG, BMC was measured annually without the intervention. In ExG, OC was not changed, but NTx was significantly decreased by intervention (p<0.05). The decreased amount of annual change in BMC between a year before and Pre (T1) was significantly higher compared to that between Pre and Post (T2) (p<0.01) and CG (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between T2 and CG. In conclusion, BS with LT could prevent decreasing BMC in menopausal women, and maintain the same level of BMC in pre-menopausal women by suppressing the bone absorption.
The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relation between double product break point (DPBP) and pulse wave velocity (PWV). Two hundred three healthy Japanese females were studied (mean age; 53.5 +/-11.7 years old). The DPBP was measured by continuous incremental exercise test with a bicycle ergometer (ML-3600, Fukuda Electronic Co. Ltd). The work rate at DPBP was converted into metabolic equivalents (METs@DPBP). The brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) was also measured. In addition, height, weight and mean blood pressure (mBP) were measured and physical activity condition in daily life (PA) was evaluated by questionnaire. The mean METs@DPBP was 5.0 +/-0.7 METs. The mean baPWV was 1,373 +/-254 cm/ sec. The relation between METs@DPBP and baPWV was investigated with the use of multiple linear regression models with adjustment for affecting factors of baPWV. In this study, it was identified that there was a significantly inverse relation between METs@DPBP and baPWV (p<0.01). This finding was independent from age, height, weight, mBP and PA. Thus, there was an inverse relation between sub-maximal aerobic capacity and arterial stiffness.(Jpn. J. Phys. Fitness Sports Med. 2011, 60:249-257) Key words:Cross-sectional study, Double product break point, Pulse wave velocity, Health relation fitness 1) 福岡市健康づくりセンター
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