Role Of Lifestyle Factors Research Articles

Socioeconomic status and stomach cancer incidence in men: results from The Netherlands Cohort Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To study the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and stomach cancer incidence (cardia and non-cardia) and the role of lifestyle factors in explaining this association. DESIGN: Prospective cohort...

Exercise, immunity and aging.

In general population, many protective immune responses are impaired in old age, leading to an increased risk of infection. However, recent studies in SENIEUR subjects (healthy centenarians who are examples of successful aging) suggest that complex remodeling and reshaping of the immune system occurs with aging. An appropriate regular regimen of endurance exercise might help elderly to lead a quality of life by preserving immune function. However, very little is known regarding the interaction between exercise, aging and the immune system. Given that a number of age-related changes occur in many physiological systems which are known to alter the immune function both at rest and during exercise, it would be of value to learn the extent to which both acute and chronic exercise influence immune function in the elderly. The immune system response to exercise is multifaceted, depending on the nature of exercise. Significant interaction between the neuroendocrine and immune systems, and the role of lifestyle factors in immune function are known to occur. In theory, moderate exercise should help to reverse the adverse effects of aging upon the immune system by increasing the production of endocrine hormones which may contribute to less accumulation of autoreactive immune cells by enhancing the programmed cell death. Active elderly subjects demonstrated a significantly greater proliferative response to phytohemagglutinins (PHA) and to pokeweed mitogen (PWM), and higher rates of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) production. A moderate training program can enhance the resting natural killer (NK) cell function of healthy elderly people, potentially increasing resistance to both viral infections and preventing the formation of malignant cells. Recent studies have suggested that endurance training in later life is associated with a lesser age-related decline in certain aspects of circulating T cell function and related cytokine production. It is important that the dose of physical activity needed to optimize immune function be defined more clearly at various points during the aging process both in females and males in order to optimize the immune function and to prevent any rise in adverse effects of exercise on the elderly population.

Sex difference in lifestyle factors predictive of diabetes in Mexican-Americans.

Little is known about the role of lifestyle factors in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) incidence among Mexican-Americans. Therefore, we examined whether baseline lifestyle factors predictive of 8-year NIDDM incidence differ in Mexican-American men and women. We studied 353 Mexican-American men and 491 Mexican-American women free of diabetes at baseline who participated in the San Antonio Heart Study follow-up. Lifestyle factors examined were body mass index (BMI), energy intake (total calories/kg), grams of alcohol consumed per week, efforts to control weight by dieting and exercise, leisure physical activity, sugar avoidance, saturated fat/cholesterol avoidance, and 24-h dietary recall assessment of total calories and percentage of calories from total carbohydrate, sucrose, and starch and from total, saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fat. Incidence of NIDDM was regressed on lifestyle factors separately for men and women using a backward elimination procedure. Lifestyle factors significantly associated with NIDDM incidence differed for the two sexes. In men, leisure physical activity, was inversely associated and alcohol consumption, weight control by dieting, and BMI were positively associated with NIDDM. In women, BMI was positively associated with NIDDM and was the strongest lifestyle predictor. Sugar avoidance and leisure physical activity were also associated with increased NIDDM risk, while weight control by dieting was associated with decreased NIDDM risk. Saturated fat/cholesterol avoidance, grams of alcohol consumed per week, and energy intake were also negatively and indirectly associated with NIDDM in women by means of their direct effects on BMI. It may be important to tailor interventions designed to prevent NIDDM in Mexican-Americans to address sex differences in lifestyle precursors of this disease

The role of lifestyle factors in the etiology of stroke. A population-based case-control study in Perth, Western Australia.

We sought to examine risk factors for all strokes and for ischemic stroke and primary intracerebral hemorrhage separately. This was a population-based case-control study. Each case subject meeting World Health Organization criteria for stroke (n = 536) from a population-based register of acute cerebrovascular events compiled in Perth, Western Australia, in 1989 to 1990 was matched for age and sex with up to five control subjects drawn from the same geographical area. Objective confirmation of the type of stroke was available from computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or necropsy for 86% of the case subjects. Data on medical history and lifestyle factors were collected from case and control subjects by interview of the subject or a proxy informant. Current smoking, consumption of meat more than four times weekly, and a history of hypertension or intermittent claudication were each associated with increased risk in multivariate models for all strokes and for all first-ever strokes. Consumption of 1 to 20 g/d alcohol in the preceding week was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of all strokes, all ischemic strokes, and of primary intracerebral hemorrhage, while eating fish more than two times per month appeared to protect against first-ever stroke and against primary intracerebral hemorrhage. Diabetes mellitus was associated with a significantly increased risk of ischemic stroke but a decreased risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Risk factors for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke are not exactly the same. Changes in lifestyle relating to tobacco and diet might make important contributions to further reductions in the incidence of stroke.

Enzyme-histochemical quantitation of rat pancreas foci induced by azaserine - the role of life-style factors

Enzyme-histochemical quantitation of rat pancreas foci induced by azaserine - the role of life-style factors

Risk for alcohol-related accidents in divorced and separated women.

The relationship between marital status and risk for alcohol-related automobile accidents was examined in 10,544 subjects (12% women) who entered 28 driver alcohol education programs over a 6-month period in 1983. Women were more likely than men to be divorced or separated (28 vs 16%). In their marital category, women were younger than men and were more likely to be living alone with their children. The findings implicate the role of lifestyle factors in the development and maintenance of alcohol-related problems, and suggest that women in driver alcohol education programs may require more help than men because they have less social support.