Prospective association of occupational and leisure-time physical activity with orthostatic blood pressure changes in older adults

\ua9 2023, The Author(s).Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is common in older people. We examined the influence of self-reported occupational-related physical activity (PA) and leisure-time physical exercise (PE) on orthostatic response in a sample of older people over a 2 year period. Supine and orthostatic systolic blood pressure (sBP), diastolic blood pressure (dBP), and mean blood pressure (mBP) were assessed in response to Active Stand (AS) test in 205 older subjects (> 60 years old) at baseline and 2-year follow-up. OH was found in 24 subjects (11.71%) at baseline and 20 subjects (9.76%) after 2 years, with a significant degree of variability in the occurrence of OH after 2 years. Twenty-two subjects who had OH at baseline were free of it after 2 years, two subjects had persistent OH at baseline and after 2 years. After 2 years, adults with occupational PA showed no significant decrease of blood pressure in response to AS test, while lack of undertaking an occupation-related PA was significantly related with a greater decrease in sBP and mBP in response to AS testing in the 1st min. Occupation-related PA and leisure-time-related PE were related to an increase in the response of BP on AS in change between baseline and after 2 years. High between-subjects variance in OH over 2 years was noted. Occupations that involved continuous physical activity and leisure-time physical exercise in middle age were both protective for BP decline on orthostatic stress test within 2 years

Improvement of renal oxidative stress markers after ozone administration in diabetic nephropathy in rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) e.g. nephropathy (DN) have been linked to oxidative stress. Ozone, by means of oxidative preconditioning, may exert its protective effects on DN.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>The aim of the present work is to study the possible role of ozone therapy in ameliorating oxidative stress and inducing renal antioxidant defence in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six groups (n = 10) of male Sprague Dawley rats were used as follows: Group C: Control group. Group O: Ozone group, in which animals received ozone intraperitoneally (i.p.) (1.1 mg/kg). Group D: Diabetic group, in which DM was induced by single i.p. injections of streptozotocin (STZ). Group DI: Similar to group D but animals also received subcutaneous (SC) insulin (0.75 IU/100 gm BW.). Group DO: In which diabetic rats received the same dose of ozone, 48 h after induction of diabetes. Group DIO, in which diabetic rats received the same doses of insulin and ozone, respectively. All animals received daily treatment for six weeks. At the end of the study period (6 weeks), blood pressure, blood glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c), serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), kidney tissue levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxide (GPx), aldose reductase (AR) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Induction of DM in rats significantly elevated blood pressure, HbA_1c, BUN, creatinine and renal tissue levels of MDA and AR while significantly reducing SOD, CAT and GPx activities. Either Insulin or ozone therapy significantly reversed the effects of DM on all parameters; in combination (DIO group), they caused significant improvements in all parameters in comparison to each alone.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ozone administration in conjunction with insulin in DM rats reduces oxidative stress markers and improves renal antioxidant enzyme activity which highlights its potential uses in the regimen for treatment of diabetic patients.</p

Evaluation of Nephroprotective and Immunomodulatory Activities of Antioxidants in Combination with Cisplatin against Murine Visceral Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease (NTD) caused by Leishmania, has been put on the World Health Organization agenda for eradication as a part of their Special Programme for Tropical Diseases Research. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a life-threatening disease when no treatment is given. Most of the drugs still used to treat VL are often expensive, difficult to administer, have serious side effects, and several are becoming ineffective because of increasing parasite resistance. Cisplatin is a first-generation platinum-containing drug, used in the treatment of various solid tumors. We have for the first time characterized the in vivo effect of cisplatin in murine experimental visceral leishmaniasis, but at higher doses it is nephrotoxic. Considering the above findings, the present study was designed to evaluate the protective efficacy of the drug in combination with various antioxidants to reduce or prevent cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. Drug treatment induces a higher secretion of Th1 cytokines, diminution in parasite burden, and the supplementation of antioxidants which are antagonists of the toxicity helps in reducing the nephrotoxicity

Care Dependency Scale - psychometric testing of the Polish version

The importance of this study lies in the availability of psychometrically sound assessment instruments, which are of critical importance for the study of patient's care dependency and the provision of care to these patients. The aim of this study was to identify the psychometric properties of the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) by analyzing data gathered in Poland. The Polish research instrument was a translation of the original Dutch CDS. Psychometric evaluations were carried out based on a convenience sample of 216 older patients. A high alpha coefficient of 0.98 was obtained. Subsequent inter-rater and test-retest reliability revealed Kappa values between 0.82-0.97 and 0.64-0.86, respectively. Factor analysis (principal component analysis) confirmed the one-factor model reported in earlier studies. The analysis of the scale showed that the instrument is promising to be used in elderly care in Poland. The Polish version of the CDS permits comparison with results from earlier studies using this instrument

Health and nursing problems of elderly patients related to bio-psycho-social need deficiencies and functional assessment

Elderly population is characterized by larger need for social welfare and medical treatment than other age groups. Along with aging, there is a number of emerging health, nursing, caring, psychological and social problems. Complexity of these problems results from overlapping and advancing involutional changes, multi-illness, decreased functional efficiency and other factors. The aim of the study was the assessment of health problems in geriatric patients as well as bio-psycho-social need deficiencies in a view of selected parameters of functional efficiency. The research group consisted of the Chair and Clinic of Geriatrics, 186 women and 114 men, 300 persons in total. The research was carried out using a diagnostic poll method with the application of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) questionnaire of assessment of daily efficiency on the basis of the Katz Scale; the Care Dependency Scale (CDS) questionnaire used to measure the level of the care dependency and human needs, Norton's bed sores risk assessment scale, the Nursing Care Category (NCC) questionnaire applied to assess the need for nursing care. In most patients the results unveiled manifestations of three or more illnesses. Functional efficiency was at low and average level. Half of the subjects were endangered by risk of bed sores as well as showed high need fulfillment deficiency. The highest level of the deficiency was observed in patients in the eldest age group as well as suffering from multi-illness. Material status, education, place of residence or gender showed no significant influence on the level of need fulfillment. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Independence of elderly patients with arterial hypertension in fulfilling their needs, in the aspect of functional assessment and quality of life (QoL)

Functional efficiency is the ability to be independent in fulfilling the basic needs of everyday life. Independence in meeting these needs is important to maintain a good quality of life (QoL). Chronic diseases affecting elderly people may, to some extent, limit fulfilling numerous needs, however, the acquired ability to live with a disease enables such patients to cope well with their needs. The aim of the study was to evaluate in the examined patients the independence in meeting their bio-psycho-social needs in relation to functional efficiency and QoL. The study group was recruited among hospitalized patients in the Department and Clinic of Geriatrics, 91 women and 59 men, for a total of 150 people. The mean age of the study group was 73.4 years. The research was carried out using a diagnostic poll method with the application of The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy questionnaire (FACIT-F version 4); Activities of Daily Living questionnaire (ADL) of assessment of daily efficiency on the basis of the Katz Scale; Care Dependency Scale questionnaire (CDS) used to measure the level of the care dependency and human needs. The results of CDS for the study group were running at high level and were dependent on the marital status and age. No impact of gender, place of residence, education, material situation and disease duration was revealed. Similarly, FACIT-F scores were higher for married patients than for widowed ones, and they were age-dependent. Most of CDS scores were at a high level, which means that the investigated patients were, to a limited extent, care-dependent in meeting their needs. In the majority of subjects, the level of daily activities was high, which proves an independent functioning. Results of CDS were dependent on FACIT-F scores in the study group. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved