Placental weight and mortality in premenopausal breast cancer by tumor characteristics

Placental weight may be regarded as an indirect marker of hormone exposures during pregnancy. There is epidemiological evidence that breast cancer mortality in premenopausal women increases with placental weight in the most recent pregnancy. We investigated if this association differs by tumor characteristics, including expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors. In a Swedish population-based cohort, we followed 1,067 women with premenopausal breast cancer diagnosed from 1992 to 2006. Using Cox regression models, we estimated hazard ratios for the association between placental weight and risk of premenopausal breast cancer mortality. In stratified analyses, we estimated mortality risks in subjects with different tumor stages, estrogen receptor (ER) or progesterone receptor (PR) status. Compared with women with placental weight less than 600 g, women with a placental weight between 600 and 699 g were at a 50 % increased risk of mortality, however, not significant change in risk was observed for women with placental weight �700 g. Mortality risks associated with higher placental weight were more pronounced among ER- and PR- breast cancer tumors, where both a placental weight 600-699 g and �700 g were associated with a more than doubled mortality risks compared with tumors among women with placental weight less than 600 g. Moreover, stratified analyses for joint receptor status revealed that a consistent increased mortality risk by placental weight was only apparent in women with ER-/PR- breast cancer. The increased mortality risk in premenopausal breast cancer associated with higher placental weight was most pronounced among ER- and PR- tumors. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Drinking pattern and socio-cultural aspects on immune response: an overview.

Peer Reviewe

Physical activity, exercise and low-grade systemic inflammation.

Peer Reviewe

Dietary Energy Density as Marker of Dietary Quality in Swedish Children and Adolescents: The European Youth Heart Study

To investigate if dietary energy density is associated with measures of dietary quality (food group, micronutrient and macronutrient intakes) in children and adolescents

Treatment of obesity in children and adolescents. How nutrition can work?

Overweight appears when persistent positive energy imbalances occur for long periods of time. Knowledge of dietary risk factors during childhood and adolescence is needed in order to design preventive measures against the increase in the prevalence of obesity and its consequences but is, however, largely missing. Longitudinal studies in children have not found clear causal associations between energy intake or diet composition and overweight development. Research has been ongoing to develop effective intervention studies for obese children but it is not clear which intervention is the most effective in assisting overweight/obese children to improve body composition without affecting growth rates. The objective of this article is to review the available knowledge on dietary risk factors for the development of childhood obesity, to discuss different dietary treatment strategies, and to propose an evidence-based approach to treat obese adolescents

Relation between plasma antioxidant vitamin levels, adiposity and cardio-metabolic profile in adolescents: Effects of a multidisciplinary obesity programme

Background & aims In vivo and in vitro evidence suggests that antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids may be key factors in the treatment and prevention of obesity and obesity-associated disorders. Hence, the objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels and adiposity and cardio-metabolic risk markers in overweight and obese adolescents participating in a multidisciplinary weight loss programme. Methods A therapeutic programme was conducted with 103 adolescents aged 12–17 years old and diagnosed with overweight or obesity. Plasma concentrations of a-tocopherol, retinol, ß-carotene and lycopene, anthropometric indicators of general and central adiposity, blood pressure and biochemical parameters were analysed at baseline and at 2 and 6 months of treatment. Results Lipid-corrected retinol (P < 0.05), ß-carotene (P = 0.001) and a-tocopherol (P < 0.001) plasma levels increased significantly, whereas lipid-corrected lycopene levels remained unaltered during the treatment. Anthropometric indicators of adiposity (P < 0.001), blood pressure (P < 0.01) and biochemical parameters (P < 0.05) decreased significantly, whereas fat free mass increased significantly (P < 0.001). These clinical and biochemical improvements were related to changes in plasma lipid-corrected antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels. The adolescents who experienced the greatest weight loss also showed the largest decrease in anthropometric indicators of adiposity and biochemical parameters and the highest increase in fat free mass. Weight loss in these adolescents was related to an increase in plasma levels of lipid-corrected a-tocopherol (P = 0.001), ß-carotene (P = 0.034) and lycopene (P = 0.019). Conclusions Plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels are associated with reduced adiposity, greater weight loss and an improved cardio-metabolic profile in overweight and obese adolescents

Duración de sueño en personas mayores con síndrome metabólico

Sleep is a quality-of-life indicator. Sleep alterations have health consequences. The objective of the study was to analyze the sleep pattern in elderly people with metabolic syndrome. A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 326 participants of node 01 of the PREDIMEDPLUS study (University of Malaga). The hours of sleep were quantified objectively with an accelerometer, and subjectively, with a self-reported questionnaire. The average duration of sleep (hours) measured with the accelerometer was higher in women (6.6±0.1) than in men (6.2±0.1); these data differ from self-reported data of 6.7h±0.1 hours in men and 7.3h±0.1 in women. 43% of men and 30% of women sleep less than 6 hours. A high percentage of participants have a poor sleep. In addition, future methodological investigations of sleep assessment are needed.El sueño es un indicador de la calidad de vida. Sus alteraciones pueden afectar la salud. El objetivo del estudio fue analizar el patrón de sueño en personas mayores con síndrome metabólico. Se realizó un estudio transversal en 326 participantes del nodo 01 del Estudio PREDIMEDPLUS (Universidad de Málaga). Las horas de sueño se cuantificaron de forma objetiva con un acelerómetro, y de manera subjetiva, a partir de un cuestionario. La duración media del sueño (horas) medida con el acelerómetro fue mayor en mujeres (6,6 ± 0,1) que en hombres (6,2 ± 0,1); estos datos difieren de los auto-declarados de 6,7 ± 0,1 horas en hombres y 7,3 ± 0,1 en mujeres. Un 43 % de hombres y un 30 % de mujeres duermen menos de 6 horas. Un alto porcentaje de los participantes tienen un sueño deficiente. Además, se necesitan futuras investigaciones metodológicas de la evaluación del sueño

Actividad física, hidratación y salud

Since the beginning of mankind, man has sought ways to promote and preserve health as well as to prevent disease. Hydration, physical activity and exercise are key factors for enhancing human health. However, either a little dose of them or an excess can be harmful for health maintenance at any age. Water is an essential nutrient for human body and a major key to survival has been to prevent dehydration. However, there is still a general controversy regarding the necessary amount to drink water or other beverages to properly get an adequate level of hydration. In addition, up to now the tools used to measure hydration are controversial. To this end, there are several important groups of variables to take into account such as water balance, hydration biomarkers and total body water. A combination of methods will be the most preferred tool to find out any risk or situation of dehydration at any age range. On the other hand, physical activity and exercise are being demonstrated to promote health, avoiding or reducing health problems, vascular and inflammatory disea ses and helping weight management. Therefore, physical activity is also being used as a pill within a therapy to promote health and reduce risk diseases, but as in the case of drugs, dose, intensity, frequency, duration and precautions have to be evaluated and taken into account in order to get the maximum effectiveness and success of a treatment. On the other hand, sedentariness is the opposite concept to physical activity that has been recently recognized as an important factor of lifestyle involved in the obesogenic environment and consequently in the risk of the non-communicable diseases. In view of the literature consulted and taking into account the expertise of the authors, in this review a Decalogue of global recommendations is included to achieve an adequate hydration and physical activity status to avoid overweight/obesity consequences.Desde los comienzos del género humano, el hombre ha buscado el modo de promover y preservar la salud, así como prevenir la enfermedad. La hidratación, la actividad física y el ejercicio son factores clave para mejorar la salud. Sin embargo, estos factores en dosis excesivamente bajas o en exceso pueden ser perjudiciales para el mantenimiento de la salud a cualquier edad. El agua es un nutriente esencial para el organismo y un factor clave para la supervivencia y la prevención de la deshidratación. Sin embargo, hay todavía una controversia general en cuanto a la cantidad necesaria de ingesta de agua u otros líquidos con objeto de conseguir un nivel adecuado de hidratación. Además, hasta la fecha no hay consenso sobre las herramientas a utilizar para medir la hidratación. Con este fin, hay varios grupos importantes de variables a tener en cuenta, como el equilibrio de agua, biomarcadores de hidratación y el agua total corporal. Se prefiere en general una combinación de métodos para evaluar riesgo de situaciones de deshidratación en cualquier franja etaria. Por otro lado, se ha demostrado que la actividad física y el ejercicio promueven la salud, evitando o reduciendo la susceptibilidad a enfermedades de tipo vascular o inflamatorio, así como para ayudar en el manejo del peso. Por todo ello, la actividad física está siendo utilizada también a modo de “píldora” en terapias para promover la salud y reducir el riesgo de enfermedad. Como en el caso de los medicamentos, hay que evaluar la dosis, intensidad, frecuencia, duración y tener en cuenta las precauciones necesarias para conseguir la máxima eficacia y el mayor éxito del tratamiento. Por el contrario, el sedentarismo es el concepto opuesto a la actividad física y se ha reconocido recientemente como un factor importante de estilo de vida implicado en el ámbito obesogénico y en consecuencia en el riesgo de las enfermedades no transmisibles. Teniendo en cuenta la bibliografía consultada y la experiencia de los autores, en esta revisión se concluye con unas recomendaciones a modo de decálogo dirigido a la población general para conseguir un estatus de hidratación y actividad física adecuados con el fin de evitar las consecuencias del sobrepeso y la obesidad

Dietary intake of phylloquinone is related to a reduced risk of all-cause mortality: the predimed study

Resumen del trabajo presentado en el 20th International Congress of Nutrition, celebrado en Granada (España) del 15 al 20 de septiembre de 2013.[Background and objectives]: Vitamin K has been associated with a reduced risk of CHD and fatal cancer. Dietary menaquinones intake has been associated with cancer mortality. However, the association between the dietary intake of vitamin K and all-cause mortality has not been evaluated in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk.[Methods]: A prospective analysis was conducted in 7216 participants in the framework of the PREDIMED cohort (median follow-up: 4.8y). Energy and nutrient intakes were evaluated using a previously validated 137-item food frequency questionnaire. Dietary phylloquinone and menaquinone intake was calculated using the USDA database and previous published Abstracts Ann Nutr Metab 2013;63(suppl 1):1– 1960 921 data, respectively. All-cause mortality was verified by medical records and consultation of National Death Index. Cox proportional hazard models were fitted to assess the relative risk of all-cause mortality.[Results]: At baseline, energy-adjusted dietary phylloquinone intake was associated with a significantly reduced risk of all-cause mortality after controlling for potential confounders (HR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.43, 0.96). No significant associations were found between quartiles of energy adjusted dietary menaquinones intake and risk of all-cause mortality. In a longitudinal manner, subjects who increase their consumption of vitamin K, phylloquinone or menaquinone, had a lower risk of allcause mortality (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.74 and HR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.78, respectively) compared with subjects who decrease their consumption.[Conclusions]: The results showed that an increase of dietary intake of vitamin K is related with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk