A Softgel Dietary Supplement Containing Esterified Plant Sterols and Stanols Improves the Blood Lipid Profile of Adults with Primary Hypercholesterolemia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Replication Study

AbstractA well-controlled clinical trial previously demonstrated the efficacy of a novel softgel dietary supplement providing 1.8 g/day esterified plant sterols and stanols, as part of the National Cholesterol Education Program Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, to improve the fasting lipid profile of men and women with primary hypercholesterolemia (fasting low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol ≥130 and <220 mg/dL [≥3.37 and <5.70 mmol/L]). The purpose of this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover study (conducted July 2011 to January 2012) was to support these previous findings in a similar, but independent, sample with a different lead investigator and research site. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was used to compare outcomes for sterol/stanol and placebo treatment conditions using the baseline value as a covariate. Forty-nine subjects were screened and 30 (8 men and 22 women) were randomized to treatment (all completed the trial). Baseline (mean±standard error of the mean) plasma lipid concentrations were: total cholesterol 236.6±4.2 mg/dL (6.11±0.11 mmol/L), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol 56.8±3.0 mg/dL (1.47±0.08 mmol/L), LDL cholesterol 151.6±3.3 mg/dL (3.92±0.09 mmol/L), non-HDL cholesterol 179.7±4.6 mg/dL (4.64±0.12 mmol/L), and triglycerides 144.5±14.3 mg/dL (1.63±0.16 mmol/L). Mean placebo-adjusted reductions in plasma lipid levels were significant (P<0.01) for LDL cholesterol (–4.3%), non-HDL cholesterol (–4.1%), and total cholesterol (–3.5%), but not for triglycerides or HDL cholesterol. These results support the efficacy of 1.8 g/day esterified plant sterols/stanols in softgel capsules, administered as an adjunct to the National Cholesterol Education Program Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, to augment reductions in atherogenic lipid levels in individuals with hypercholesterolemia

After Sport Culture: Rethinking Sport and Post-Subcultural Theory

The subcultural theory associated with the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) has received numerous and wide-ranging critiques. Debate has been particularly prevalent within sociological work on youth, music, and style, a context in which some commentators have rejected the idea of subculture, favoring more fleet-ing, transient socialites. However, these debates have rarely been considered within the context of the study of sporting subcultures. In this article, the author reviews the post-CCCS oeuvre, exploring the implications for the study of sporting subcultures, questions of individuality, difference, and collective identity, and the possibility and nature of cul-tural or subcultural resistance. The author evaluates Atkinson and Wilson’s proposition that bodily experiences or performances can resist constraints imposed by mainstream culture, illustrating this in the context of lifestyle sport culture. Thus, this article con-tributes to a revised agenda for the study of subcultures in sport