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

Neuropsychological function is related to irritable bowel syndrome in women with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea

Background There is increasing evidence demonstrating the co-occurrence of primary dysmenorrhea (PD), premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in women. This study aimed to investigate whether women who have symptoms of IBS in addition to PD and PMS also report more severe or frequent menstruation-associated symptoms and psychological complications compared to women with PD and PMS alone. Methods The study group included 182 female University students aged 18–25 years. IBS was diagnosed using the Rome III criteria. The severity of PMS and PD was determined using a 10-point visual analog scale and PSST (Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool), respectively. Neuropsychological functions including cognitive function, depression score, anxiety score, stress, insomnia, daytime sleepiness, quality of life and personality were assessed using standard questionnaires. Results Of the 182 young females, 31 (17.0%) had IBS. Average days of bleeding during the menstrual cycle and mean pain severity on the PSST scale were significantly greater in the group with IBS compared to the non-IBS group (p < 0.01). The non-IBS individuals scored more favorably than the women with IBS with respect to severity of depression, insomnia, daytime sleepiness (p < 0.05). The PSST scores were significantly correlated with scores for depression (r = 0.29; p < 0.001), anxiety (r = 0.28; p < 0.001), stress (r = 0.32; p < 0.001), insomnia (r = 0.34; p < 0.001) and daytime sleepiness (r = 0.31; p < 0.001); while, they were negatively correlated with cognitive abilities (r = − 0.20; p = 0.006) and quality of life (r = − 0.42; p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that the PSST scores were possibly significant factors in determining the scores for depression, anxiety, stress, quality of life, insomnia and daytime sleepiness (p < 0.05). Conclusion IBS is related to psychological comorbidities, in particular depression, sleep problems and menstrual-associated disorders. IBS may exacerbate the features of PMS which should be taken into account in the management of PMS

Neuroimaging of Narcolepsy and Primary Hypersomnias

Advances in neuroimaging open up the possibility for new powerful tools to be developed that potentially can be applied to clinical populations to improve the diagnosis of neurological disorders, including sleep disorders. At present, the diagnosis of narcolepsy and primary hypersomnias is largely limited to subjective assessments and objective measurements of behavior and sleep physiology. In this review, we focus on recent neuroimaging findings that provide insight into the neural basis of narcolepsy and the primary hypersomnias Kleine-Levin syndrome and idiopathic hypersomnia. We describe the role of neuroimaging in confirming previous genetic, neurochemical, and neurophysiological findings and highlight studies that permit a greater understanding of the symptoms of these sleep disorders. We conclude by considering some of the remaining challenges to overcome, the existing knowledge gaps, and the potential role for neuroimaging in understanding the pathogenesis and clinical features of narcolepsy and primary hypersomnias