The relationship between educational level and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women

BACKGROUND: This study describes the influence of educational level on bone mineral density (BMD) and investigating the relationship between educational level and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. METHODS: A total of 569 postmenopausal women, from 45 to 86 years of age (mean age of 60.43 ± 7.19 years) were included in this study. A standardized interview was used at the follow-up visit to obtain information on demographic, life-style, reproductive and menstrual histories such as age at menarche, age at menopause, number of pregnancies, number of abortions, duration of menopause, duration of fertility, and duration of lactation. Patients were separated into four groups according to the level of education, namely no education (Group 1 with 209 patients), elementary (Group 2 with 222 patients), high school (Group 3 with 79 patients), and university (Group 4 with 59 patients). RESULTS: The mean ages of groups were 59.75 ± 7.29, 61.42 ± 7.50, 60.23 ± 7.49, and 58.72 ± 7.46, respectively. Spine BMD was significant lower in Group 1 than that of other groups (p < 0.05). Trochanter and ward's triangle BMD were the highest in Group 4 and there was a significant difference between Group 1 and 4 (p < 0.05). The prevalence of osteoporosis showed an inverse relationship with level of education, ranging from 18.6% for the most educated to 34.4% for the no educated women (p < 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant correlation between educational level and spine BMD (r = 0.20, p < 0.01), trochanter BMD (r = 0.13, p < 0.01), and ward's BMD (r = 0.14, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study suggest that there is a significant correlation between educational level and BMD. Losses in BMD for women of lower educational level tend to be relatively high, and losses in spine and femur BMD showed a decrease with increasing educational level

Adverse health effects of low levels of perceived control in Swedish and Russian community samples

Background: This cross-sectional study of two middle-aged community samples from Sweden and Russia examined the distribution of perceived control scores in the two populations, investigated differences in individual control items between the populations, and assessed the association between perceived control and self-rated health. Methods: The samples consisted of men and women aged 45–69 years, randomly selected from national and local population registers in southeast Sweden (n = 1007) and in Novosibirsk, Russia (n = 9231). Data were collected by structured questionnaires and clinical measures at a visit to a clinic. The questionnaire covered socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, societal circumstances, and psychosocial measures. Self-rated health was assessed by standard single question with five possible answers, with a cut-off point at the top two alternatives. Results: 32.2 % of Swedish men and women reported good health, compared to 10.3 % of Russian men and women. Levels of perceived control were also significantly lower in Russia than in Sweden and varied by socio-demographic parameters in both populations. Sub-item analysis of the control questionnaire revealed substantial differences between the populations both in the perception of control over life and over health. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds ratios (OR) of poor self-rated health were significantly increased in men and women with low perceived control in both countries (OR between 2.61 and 4.26). Conclusion: Although the cross-sectional design does not allow causal inference, these results support the view that perceived control influences health, and that it may mediate the link between socioeconomic hardship and health

"I don't eat a hamburger and large chips every day!" A qualitative study of the impact of public health messages about obesity on obese adults

BackgroundWe are a society that is fixated on the health consequences of \u27being fat\u27. Public health agencies play an important role in \u27alerting\u27 people about the risks that obesity poses both to individuals and to the broader society. Quantitative studies suggest people comprehend the physical health risks involved but underestimate their own risk because they do not recognise that they are obese.MethodsThis qualitative study seeks to expand on existing research by exploring obese individuals\u27 perceptions of public health messages about risk, how they apply these messages to themselves and how their personal and social contexts and experiences may influence these perceptions. The study uses in depth interviews with a community sample of 142 obese individuals. A constant comparative method was employed to analyse the data.ResultsPersonal and contextual factors influenced the ways in which individuals interpreted and applied public health messages, including their own health and wellbeing and perceptions of stigma. Individuals felt that messages were overly focused on the physical rather than emotional health consequences of obesity. Many described feeling stigmatised and blamed by the simplicity of messages and the lack of realistic solutions. Participants described the need for messages that convey the risks associated with obesity while minimising possible stigmatisation of obese individuals. This included ensuring that messages recognise the complexity of obesity and focus on encouraging healthy behaviours for individuals of all sizes.ConclusionThis study is the first step in exploring the ways in which we understand how public health messages about obesity resonate with obese individuals in Australia. However, much more research - both qualitative and quantitative - is needed to enhance understanding of the impact of obesity messages on individuals

Social Competitiveness and Plasticity of Neuroendocrine Function in Old Age: Influence of Neonatal Novelty Exposure and Maternal Care Reliability

Early experience is known to have a profound impact on brain and behavioral function later in life. Relatively few studies, however, have examined whether the effects of early experience remain detectable in the aging animal. Here, we examined the effects of neonatal novelty exposure, an early stimulation procedure, on late senescent rats' ability to win in social competition. During the first 3 weeks of life, half of each litter received daily 3-min exposures to a novel environment while the other half stayed in the home cage. At 24 months of age, pairs of rats competed against each other for exclusive access to chocolate rewards. We found that novelty-exposed rats won more rewards than home-staying rats, indicating that early experience exerts a life-long effect on this aspect of social dominance. Furthermore, novelty-exposed but not home-staying rats exhibited habituation of corticosterone release across repeated days of social competition testing, suggesting that early experience permanently enhances plasticity of the stress response system. Finally, we report a surprising finding that across individual rat families, greater effects of neonatal novelty exposure on stress response plasticity were found among families whose dams provided more reliable, instead of a greater total quantity of, maternal care

Dynamics of Lamin-A Processing Following Precursor Accumulation

Lamin A (LaA) is a component of the nuclear lamina, an intermediate filament meshwork that underlies the inner nuclear membrane (INM) of the nuclear envelope (NE). Newly synthesized prelamin A (PreA) undergoes extensive processing involving C-terminal farnesylation followed by proteolysis yielding non-farnesylated mature lamin A. Different inhibitors of these processing events are currently used therapeutically. Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is most commonly caused by mutations leading to an accumulation of a farnesylated LaA isoform, prompting a clinical trial using farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTI) to reduce this modification. At therapeutic levels, HIV protease inhibitors (PI) can unexpectedly inhibit the final processing step in PreA maturation. We have examined the dynamics of LaA processing and associated cellular effects during PI or FTI treatment and following inhibitor washout. While PI reversibility was rapid, with respect to both LaA maturation and associated cellular phenotype, recovery from FTI treatment was more gradual. FTI reversibility is influenced by both cell type and rate of proliferation. These results suggest a less static lamin network than has previously been observed

Benefits for Dominant Red Deer Hinds under a Competitive Feeding System: Food Access Behavior, Diet and Nutrient Selection

Social dominance is widely known to facilitate access to food resources in many animal species such as deer. However, research has paid little attention to dominance in ad libitum access to food because it was thought not to result in any benefit for dominant individuals. In this study we assessed if, even under ad libitum conditions, social rank may allow dominant hinds to consume the preferred components of food. Forty-four red deer hinds (Cervus elaphus) were allowed to consume ad libitum meal consisting of pellets of sunflower, lucerne and orange, and seeds of cereals, corn, cotton, and carob tree. The meal was placed only in one feeder, which reduced accessibility to a few individuals simultaneously. During seven days, feeding behavior (order of access, time to first feeding bout, total time spent feeding, and time per feeding bout) were assessed during the first hour. The relative abundance of each meal component was assessed at times 0, 1 and 5 h, as well as its nutritional composition. Social rank was positively related to the amount of time spent feeding during the 1st h (P = 0.048). Selection indices were positively correlated with energy (P = 0.018 during the 1st h and P = 0.047 from 1st to 5th) and fat (only during the 1st h; P = 0.036), but also negatively with certain minerals. Thus, dominant hinds could select high energy meal components for longer time under an ad libitum but restricted food access setting. Selection indices showed a higher selectivity when food availability was higher (1st hour respect to 1st to 5th). Finally, high and low ranking hinds had longer time per feeding bout than mid ones (P = 0.011), suggesting complex behavioral feeding tactics of low ranking social ungulates

Pathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in girls - a double neuro-osseous theory involving disharmony between two nervous systems, somatic and autonomic expressed in the spine and trunk: possible dependency on sympathetic nervous system and hormones with implications for medical therapy

Anthropometric data from three groups of adolescent girls - preoperative adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), screened for scoliosis and normals were analysed by comparing skeletal data between higher and lower body mass index subsets. Unexpected findings for each of skeletal maturation, asymmetries and overgrowth are not explained by prevailing theories of AIS pathogenesis. A speculative pathogenetic theory for girls is formulated after surveying evidence including: (1) the thoracospinal concept for right thoracic AIS in girls; (2) the new neuroskeletal biology relating the sympathetic nervous system to bone formation/resorption and bone growth; (3) white adipose tissue storing triglycerides and the adiposity hormone leptin which functions as satiety hormone and sentinel of energy balance to the hypothalamus for long-term adiposity; and (4) central leptin resistance in obesity and possibly in healthy females. The new theory states that AIS in girls results from developmental disharmony expressed in spine and trunk between autonomic and somatic nervous systems. The autonomic component of this double neuro-osseous theory for AIS pathogenesis in girls involves selectively increased sensitivity of the hypothalamus to circulating leptin (genetically-determined up-regulation possibly involving inhibitory or sensitizing intracellular molecules, such as SOC3, PTP-1B and SH2B1 respectively), with asymmetry as an adverse response (hormesis); this asymmetry is routed bilaterally via the sympathetic nervous system to the growing axial skeleton where it may initiate the scoliosis deformity (leptin-hypothalamic-sympathetic nervous system concept = LHS concept). In some younger preoperative AIS girls, the hypothalamic up-regulation to circulating leptin also involves the somatotropic (growth hormone/IGF) axis which exaggerates the sympathetically-induced asymmetric skeletal effects and contributes to curve progression, a concept with therapeutic implications. In the somatic nervous system, dysfunction of a postural mechanism involving the CNS body schema fails to control, or may induce, the spinal deformity of AIS in girls (escalator concept). Biomechanical factors affecting ribs and/or vertebrae and spinal cord during growth may localize AIS to the thoracic spine and contribute to sagittal spinal shape alterations. The developmental disharmony in spine and trunk is compounded by any osteopenia, biomechanical spinal growth modulation, disc degeneration and platelet calmodulin dysfunction. Methods for testing the theory are outlined. Implications are discussed for neuroendocrine dysfunctions, osteopontin, sympathoactivation, medical therapy, Rett and Prader-Willi syndromes, infantile idiopathic scoliosis, and human evolution. AIS pathogenesis in girls is predicated on two putative normal mechanisms involved in trunk growth, each acquired in evolution and unique to humans