Level of physical activity in the week preceding an ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: Most observational studies investigating physical activity as a risk factor for stroke have concentrated on the years preceding a stroke event. In the present case control study we compared the reported level of physical activity performed during the week preceding an ischemic stroke with that of community controls. Furthermore we calculated the odds ratio for stroke based on the level of physical activity. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Patients with an ischemic stroke were recruited consecutively from hospitals covering Copenhagen City. Community controls were recruited among participants of the Copenhagen City Heart Study and matched according to age and gender. The level of physical activity was assessed using The Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), which quantifies the amount of physical activity done in the last 7 days. RESULTS: A total of 127 cases and 301 control subjects were included in the study. Mean (+/-SD) PASE scores for cases were 76.0 +/- 46.2 and 119.7 +/- 69.4 for controls (p < 0.001). For each 1-point increase in PASE score the odds ratio for ischemic stroke was 0.98 (0.98-0.99), equivalent to an odds ratio of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82-0.90) for each 10-point increase. CONCLUSION: Stroke patients are less physically active in the week preceding an ischemic stroke when compared to age- and sex-matched controls. Increasing PASE score was inversely, log-linearly and significantly associated with odds ratio for ischemic stroke.     

Angina pectoris, job strain, and social status: A cross-sectional study of employed urban citizens

As a part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study, the Job Strain Mode! proposed by Karasek and Theorell was tested on a Danish urban population. Participants in the study were 1,049 actively employed men and women. They Tilled in 2 questionnaires on health and workingconditions and went through a medical examination, including measurements of height, weight, and blood pressure and the drawing of a venous. blood sample for determination of serum lipids, fasting glucose, and plasma fibrinogen. Angina pectoris was assessed by a trained nurse according to the Rose and Blackburn questionnaire method (Rose, Blackburn. Gillum. & Prinea). High job strain was defined as the combination of self-assessed high demands and low control at work. Social status was measured on a 5-point scale. Thirty-five cases of questionnaire positive angina pectoris were identified. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant associalion (odds ratio = 2.3.p = 0.02) between high job strain and questionnaire positive angina pectoris independently of coronary risk factors. Systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein-cho-lesterol ratio, and gender were the only other factors contributing to the final model when a backwards procedure was performed. Entering social network and social status into the analysis did not change the strength of the association. Working hours and few social relationships at work were borderline associated with questionnaire positive angina pectoris.     

Sociodemographic status, stress, and risk of prostate cancer. A prospective cohort study

PURPOSE: The social gradient in prostate cancer incidence observed in several studies may be a result of differential access to prostate cancer screening. We aim to assess if socioeconomic status, stress, and marital status are associated with prostate cancer risk in a population with free access to health care. METHODS: The 5,496 men who participated in the Copenhagen City Heart Study were asked about their income, educational level, stress level, and marital status during 1981-1983. These men were prospectively followed up in the Danish Cancer Registry until the end of 2002 and fewer than 0.1 % were lost to follow-up. RESULTS: During follow-up, 157 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Neither high income (HR = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.78-1.76) nor high education (HR = 1.22; 95% CI: 0.76-1.96) were associated with risk of prostate cancer. There were also no differences in prostate cancer risk according to stress (HR = 0.99; 95% CI: 0.90-1.09) or marital status. CONCLUSION: In a racially homogeneous population of Caucasians with free access to health care, we found no evidence of a relation between sociodemographic variables or stress and subsequent risk of prostate cancer.     

Copenhagen City Heart Study: longitudinal analysis of ventilatory capacity in diabetic and nondiabetic adults.

The natural history of lung function in diabetes is unknown due to the lack of longitudinal observations. The decline of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) was studied over 15 yrs in the 17,506 adult participants of The Copenhagen City Heart Study, which included 266 individuals with diabetes. Multiple linear regression and a mixed-effects model were used, taking into account correlation between repeated measurements and adjusting for relevant confounders. In both sexes, FEV1 and FVC were consistently lower in diabetic individuals, compared with healthy individuals, with an average reduction of approximately 8% of the predicted value. Longitudinal analyses showed that the decline of FEV1 and FVC in diabetic individuals was similar to that observed in nondiabetic subjects. It was concluded that although diabetic subjects have, on average, a lower forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity than individuals without diabetes, this deficit seems not to be progressive in the long term. These observations may be of importance with regard to diabetes treatment with inhaled pulmonary insulin, which is likely to become available within a few years.     

Apolipoprotein E genotypes predict attendance rates at lipid clinic

Except for the rare epsilon22 genotype it remains largely unsettled whether apolipoprotein E genotype influences an individual's referral to lipid clinics. To test this hypothesis, we compared genotype distributions among 156 hypercholesterolemic and 83 hypertriglyceridemic patients attending a lipid clinic with that among 9241 individuals sampled from the Danish general population. The relative genotype frequencies of epsilon22, epsilon32, epsilon42, epsilon33, epsilon43, and epsilon44 were 0.005, 0.126, 0.026, 0.564, 0.251, and 0.027 in the general population, which differed from genotype frequencies in both hypercholesterolemic (chi2: P = 0.01) and hypertriglyceridemic patients (chi2: P < 0.001). By comparison with epsilon33, epsilon44 predicted a 2-fold increase whereas epsilon32 predicted a 2-fold decrease in the attendance rate at the lipid clinic for hypercholesterolemic patients (95% confidence intervals: 1.1-4.3 and 0.2-0.9). Among hypertriglyceridemic patients, epsilon22, epsilon42, epsilon43, and epsilon44 versus epsilon33 predicted 13-, 3-, 1 1/2-, and 3-fold attendance rates at the lipid clinic, respectively (95% confidence intervals: 4.5-39.9, 1.2-8.4, 1.0-2.8, and 1.1-7.6). These findings are in accordance with the fact that epsilon44 raises cholesterol levels, epsilon32 reduces cholesterol levels, and epsilon22, epsilon42, epsilon43, and epsilon44 raise triglyceride levels in comparison with epsilon33. These data suggest that hypercholesterolemic individuals carrying epsilon44 and hypertriglyceridemic individuals carrying epsilon22, epsilon42, epsilon43, or epsilon44 are relatively more often referred to lipid clinics than carriers of epsilon33.     

The combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on fatal ischaemic heart disease and all-cause mortality.

AIMS: To determine the combined influence of leisure-time physical activity and weekly alcohol intake on the risk of subsequent fatal ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and all-cause mortality. METHODS AND RESULTS: Prospective cohort study of 11 914 Danes aged 20 years or older and without pre-existing IHD. During approximately 20 years of follow-up, 1242 cases of fatal IHD occurred and 5901 died from all causes. Within both genders, being physically active was associated with lower hazard ratios (HR) of both fatal IHD and all-cause mortality than being physically inactive. Further, weekly alcohol intake was inversely associated with fatal IHD and had a U-shaped association with all-cause mortality. Within level of physical activity, non-drinkers had the highest HR of fatal IHD, whereas both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers had the highest HR of all-cause mortality. Further, the physically inactive had the highest HR of both fatal IHD and all-cause mortality within each category of weekly alcohol intake. Thus, the HR of both fatal IHD and all-cause mortality were low among the physically active who had a moderate alcohol intake. Conclusion Leisure-time physical activity and a moderate weekly alcohol intake are both important to lower the risk of fatal IHD and all-cause mortality.     

Untersuchungen Über den Chlorgehalt der Gewebe Bei Ratten Mit Hoher Darmobstruktion

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Screen-based activities and physical complaints among adolescents from the Nordic countries

Background  

A positive association between time spent on sedentary screen-based activities and physical complaints has been reported, but the cumulative association between different types of screen-based activities and physical complaints has not been examined thoroughly.