Exercise and Self-Esteem in Middle-Aged Adults: Multidimensional Relationships and Physical Fitness and Self-Efficacy Influences

In the context of sedentary middle-aged adults, the present study examined the relationships among domain-specific and global levels of self-esteem over the course of a 20-week exercise program. Additionally, the roles played by physical fitness, body composition, self-efficacy, and exercise participation as possible contributors to changes in physical self-worth were examined. Significant improvements in self-esteem at all levels were discovered with global esteem, physical self-worth, and perceptions of physical condition and attractive body increasing. Tests of the hierarchical structure of self-esteem showed greater improvements in physical condition and physical self-worth than global esteem and the relationships between global esteem and subdomain levels were shown to be mediated by physical self-worth. Hierarchical regression analyses showed changes in ratings of importance to have little impact on changes in physical self-worth. Both changes in efficacy and aerobic capacity were demonstrated to account for modest but significant variation in physical self-esteem. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary models of self-esteem, potential mediators of exercise effects on esteem, and the need to measure the constructs of interest appropriately.     

体感游戏与有氧健身舞改善老年人健康体适能与平衡能力的效果对比研究

目的 研究体感游戏与有氧健身舞对老年人健康体适能与平衡能力改善的效果。方法 40名老年人随机分配为体感组或舞蹈组。分别进行12周中高强度的运动训练,干预前后进行健康体适能与动静态平衡能力指标测量。结果 与舞蹈组相比,体感组肺活量(P<0.05,d=0.85)、舒张压(P<0.05,d=-0.24)显著改善;静态平衡测试前后摇摆面积改善效果较好(d=-0.57),动态平衡测试后(d=-0.70)、右前方向上(d=-0.67)的运动控制能力改善效果较好。与体感组相比,舞蹈组闭眼单脚站立(d=-0.61),动态平衡测试左方向上(d=1.14)的运动控制能力改善效果较好。结论 体感游戏运动比有氧健身舞在提高老年人健康体适能、身体平衡能力方面更具优势,可作为老年人体育锻炼的重要方式,进一步提高健康水平,预防跌倒损伤现象发生。     

Aerobic Fitness and the Cardiovascular Response to Stress

The observation that aerobically fit persons react to physical load with a smaller sympathetic response than do less fit subjects suggests that their response to psychological stress might also be reduced. The evidence for this, however, is far from consistent. It was argued that this inconsistency might be due to the incomplete measurement of the response system involved. In the present experiment two groups, which differed strongly in maximal aerobic power, were compared with respect to their cardiovascular response to a laboratory stressor. In addition to the traditional heart rate and blood pressure measurements, pre-ejection period, cardiac output, and peripheral resistance were assessed. Since only the part of the stress response that is not accounted for by metabolic needs might have pathological significance, the so-called "additional" responses were also measured. Fitness was shown to be associated with smaller sympathetic effects on both heart and vessels. The decrement in pre-ejection period and the heart rate response were smaller in the high fit group. The total peripheral resistance and diastolic blood pressure responses pointed to a much stronger vascular reactivity in the low fit group. Unexpectedly cardiac output did not increase during stress. The strong heart rate response in the low fit group was compensated by a reduction in stroke volume, which probably originated in an increased peripheral resistance. The largest discrepancy between the effects of sympathetic activation during stress and exercise occurred in the vessels, as demonstrated by the large "additional" response in total peripheral resistance during stress. The data point to the often neglected role of vascular processes in experiments of this kind. Furthermore, it seems necessary to take the effect of fitness into account when comparing subjects with respect to their cardiovascular stress response.     

中青年男性血清睾酮水平变化的初步探讨

了解健康中、青年男性血清性激素水平的变化.选取126例健康男性分为20～29岁、30～39岁、40～49岁共3个年龄组.分别测定血清睾酮(T)、游离睾酮(FT)、性激素结合球蛋白(SHBG)、雌二醇(E2)、黄体生成素(LH)、卵泡刺激素(FSH),对各组测定值进行统计学分析.结果显示:血清T、FT水平在30～39岁组...     

Aerobic Fitness Affects Cardiovascular and Catecholamine Responses to Stressors

Subjects of varying degrees of aerobic fitness were subjected to four laboratory stressors in a test of the hypothesis that aerobic fitness is associated with decreased responsiveness to stressors other than exercise. Blood pressure, heart rate, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and psychological responses to a film of industrial accidents (passive psychological stressor), the Stroop word color task (active psychological stressor), the cold pressor test (passive physical stressor), and running to exhaustion on a treadmill (active physical stressor) were measured. Baseline systolic blood pressure and relative diastolic responses to the film, Stroop task, and exercise were smaller in fit subjects over 40 than in less fit subjects of the same age group. Heart rates were lower in fit subjects at most times, except during and after maximal exercise. Norepinephrine was lower after 9 min of exercise in fit subjects, but was much higher at exhaustion, after these subjects had accomplished more work. Norepinephrine levels fell rapidly and were not different among groups 3 and 10 min after exercise. There was no preferential generalization of the “fitness effect” to the active psychological task.     

Aerobic Fitness and Opioidergic Inhibition of Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity

The role of endogenous opioids in aerobic fitness-induced decrements in cardiovascular stress reactivity was examined by comparing the effects of opioid antagonism with naltrexone on responses to stress in young adults with high versus low levels of aerobic fitness. Two hundred forty subjects were given an activity questionnaire and males with the highest (Fit) and lowest (Nonfit) aerobic activity profiles were recruited for maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) treadmill testing and psychological stress testing (final sample N = 28). Heart rate and blood pressures were measured during performance on a computer-controlled arithmetic task after pretreatment with either naltrexone (Trexan, DuPont) or a placebo. During placebo challenges, Fit subjects, compared with Nonfit, showed lower heart rate reactivity during stress and lower mean arterial blood pressures immediately before and during recovery from stress. Naltrexone eliminated these reactivity differences by increasing heart rate reactivity and raising mean arterial blood pressure in Fit subjects. These data suggest that aerobic fitness is associated with enhanced opioidergic inhibition of circulatory stress reactivity. Opioidergic modulatory effects on stress reactivity may comprise an important mechanism in fitness-associated risk reduction for cardiovascular disease.     

Serum Cholesterol Concentrations and Non-Physical Aggression in Healthy Adults

Although physical aggression in humans and other primates appears to be negatively associated with total serum cholesterol (TSC) concentrations, the relationship between other forms of aggression and TSC is less clear. A plurality of studies have reported a positive association, some have reported no association, and a minority have reported a negative association. Some authors have speculated that the variability in findings is attributable to inconsistencies in the definitions and measurement of what has often been termed “verbal” aggression. Buss and Perry have developed the Aggression Questionnaire, a theoretically-derived and empirically validated self-report measure of aggression that breaks aggression into subcomponents. One hundred and seventy-one college students and university personnel were recruited to participate in a cholesterol screening health initiative and then invited to participate in a study of mood and cholesterol. They completed a Demographic Questionnaire, and the Aggression Questionnaire. Regression analyses with age and Body Mass Index (BMI) as covariates revealed that anger, hostility, and verbal aggression significantly predicted TSC. Physical aggression did not. This finding suggests that non-physical forms of aggression may constitute a risk factor for coronary artery disease and one that may be worthy of targeting through behavioral interventions such as anger management training.     

Aerobic Fitness and Inhibition in Young Children: Moderating Roles of ADHD Status and Age

We examined the relation between aerobic fitness and inhibition in young children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-risk status. Participants (91 ADHD risk, 107 typically developing, M_age = 6.83, 53.5% male, 68.2% Caucasian) completed an assessment of aerobic fitness and a flanker task requiring variable amounts of inhibitory control. Aerobic fitness was positively associated with inhibition. When inhibitory control demands were largest, the relation varied as a function of ADHD-risk status such that the link between aerobic fitness and inhibition was significant only for children with ADHD risk. The relation between aerobic fitness, status, and inhibition was further moderated by age for interference control. Specifically, the positive relation between aerobic fitness and interference control was only significant for younger children with ADHD risk. A fitness–cognition link appears in young childhood that seems particularly salient for those in the earliest school years with ADHD risk. The findings extend work on typically developing children and suggest that exploring aerobic fitness interventions to address executive function impairments in children at risk for ADHD is warranted.     

Choline acetyltransferase and somatostatin levels in aged Microcebus murinus Brain

β-Amyloid protein (β-AP) deposits, analoguous to those found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are observed in the brain of aging Microcebus murinus. Because choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and somatostatin (SRIH) content are consistently decreased in AD, we tested whether such changes could be observed in middle aged to aged Microcebus cerebral cortex and whether they were accompanied by β-AP deposits. A positive correlation was observed between age and ChAT activity. By HPLC, SRIH immunoreactivity eluted as four peaks, two of which being identical with SRIH-28 and SRIH-14 while the other two likely represented precursor forms. Cortical SRIH content was not significantly affected by age. ChAT activity and SRIH content were not significantly correlated. Amyloid angiopathy was observed in every brain examined and the presence of cortical lesions analoguous to senile plaques observed in the oldest case only which did not demonstrate important alterations in ChAT and somatostatin levels.     

Neuroendocrine and Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity in Middle-Aged Normotensive Adults with Parental History of Cardiovascular Disease

Neuroendocrine and cardiovascular stress reactivity was studied in healthy middle-aged individuals whose parental history included essential hypertension and/or myocardial infarction and a control group without parental history of cardiovascular disease. All subjects completed a rest session (1 hour) and a stress session (1 hour). The stress session included behavioral (mirror image tracing, mental arithmetic, and the Stroop color word conflict test) and physical stressors (the cold pressor test and isometric exercise). Systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were recorded at baseline before and during all stressors. Specimens for determination of urinary catecholamines and cortisol were sampled after the rest and stress sessions respectively. Generally, a parental history of hypertension but not of myocardial infarction influenced neuroendocrine and cardiovascular stress reactivity. A family history of hypertension was associated with exaggerated epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol excretion during stress and with enhanced heart-rate reactivity to behavioral (mental arithmetic and mirror image tracing) but not to physical stressors (isometric exercise or the cold pressor test). We conclude that individuals with a family history of hypertension tend to display exaggerated cardiovascular and neuroendocrine reactivity to stress.     

Aerobic Fitness, Physical Activity, and Psychophysiological Reactions to Mental Tasks

The association between aerobic fitness, exercise, and psychophysiological reactivity was assessed in cross-sectional and prospective analyses. Seventy-five healthy but sedentary adults carried out a sub-maximal exercise test and easy and difficult problem solving tasks. Blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance level, respiration rate, tidal volume, and oxygen consumption were monitored and additional heart rate was also computed. Differences between relatively fit and unfit individuals were found in respiration rate during tasks and in skin conductance level during post-task recovery periods, with a tendency toward diminished heart rate reactivity in fitter people. Subjects were subsequently allocated to four conditions: high intensity aerobic training, moderate intensity aerobic training, an undemanding strength and flexibility program (designed as an attention-placebo condition), and waiting list control. Training programs were conducted over a 10-week period, and were followed by a second laboratory session. Appropriate changes in aerobic performance over the training period were observed in the 12-min run/walk test. There were no important modifications in psychophysiological stress reactions associated with the different experimental conditions. These results are discussed in relation to the literature concerning the effects of fitness and physical activity on physiological response patterns.     

Atazanavir Plasma Concentrations Vary Significantly Between Patients and Correlate with Increased Serum Bilirubin Concentrations

Abstract

Background: Atazanavir (ATV) is recommended to be dosed at 400 mg once daily or 300 mg daily coadministered with 100 mg ritonavir (RTV). Method: 31 male patients receiving ATV either alone or boosted with RTV for more than 2 weeks had ATV concentration measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). ATV concentrations were adjusted to obtain a 24-hour trough level using a standard pharmacokinetic formula. Results: 25 samples were taken from patients who received 300 mg ATV, 6 with 200 mg, 3 with 400 mg, and 2 with 150 mg, all boosted with 100 mg RTV. In the unboosted group, patients received 400 mg (7) or 600 mg (2). The median adjusted 24-hour trough ATV concentration was 630 ng/mL (interquartile range [IQR] 355-1034) in the boosted and 113 ng/mL (IQR 50-225) in the unboosted group (p = .001). Median serum bilirubin concentration was 34 IU/L (IQR 27.5-49) and 41 IU/L (IQR 31-45) in the boosted and unboosted groups, respectively. In the boosted group, high ATV concentrations were significantly correlated with increased serum bilirubin concentrations (p = .003). Conclusion: ATV concentrations showed considerable interpatient variability. Bilirubin concentrations are an indicator of high ATV concentrations and may prove to be useful in selecting patients for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).     

Efficiency of Coping with a Real-Life Stressor: A Multimodal Comparison of Aerobic Fitness

The mediating effects of aerobic fitness on the psychological and physiological responses to a real-life psychological stressor (rappelling) were examined. Subjective anxiety, heart rate, nor epinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol were monitored in IS male novice rappellers at various intervals before and following the rappel task. Results showed that high fit compared to low fit subjects maintained overall lower heart rate levels. Aerobic power was associated with faster recovery from subjective anxiety and a more efficient recovery for relative plasma epinephrine measures. Norepinephrine, heart rate, and cortisol did not parallel this recovery pattern. These results provide some support for the research which indicates that high levels of aerobic power are associated with greater coping efficiency.     

Physical Exercise and Brain Mitochondrial Fitness: The Possible Role Against Alzheimer's Disease

Exercise is one of the most effective strategies to maintain a healthy body and mind, with particular beneficial effects of exercise on promoting brain plasticity, increasing cognition and reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in later life. Moreover, the beneficial effects resulting from increased physical activity occur at different levels of cellular organization, mitochondria being preferential target organelles. The relevance of this review article relies on the need to integrate the current knowledge of proposed mechanisms, focus mitochondria, to explain the protective effects of exercise that might underlie neuroplasticity and seeks to synthesize these data in the context of exploring exercise as a feasible intervention to delay cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative conditions, particularly Alzheimer disease.     

Total Serum IgE Concentrations in Adolescents and Adults Using the Phadebas IgE PRIST® Technique

Total serum IgE measured with the Phadebas PRIST® technique was titrated in 117 normal non-allergic subjects, 237 allergic adolescents or adults and 89 non-allergic patients who suffered from asthma, rhinitis, or conjunctivitis. All subjects were of Caucasian origin. In normal subjects, mean total serum IgE was 38±43 kU/l. This value is exactly the same as that found in a study of Caucasian New Zealanders and very similar to the values found in most U.S. studies. This suggests that the mean total serum IgE concentration is remarkably constant in normal non-allergic Caucasians. The upper limit of the normal range is considered to be 150 kU/l. 38% of allergic patients have total IgE concentrations within the normal range Some pollen or hymenoptera venom-sensitive patients have a total serum IgE concentration of 94±93 kU/I The non-allergic patients had a mean IgE concentration below 20% kU/l. The non-allergic patients had a mean IgE concentration of 94±93 kU/l, and 25% of them had a total serum IgE above the normal range. Asthmatic patients had higher mean IgE levels than those who were suffering from either rhinitis or conjunctivitis.     

Similar Brain Mechanism of Hypothesis-Testing Between Children and Adults

Fourteen children and 15 adults were sequentially presented with triplets of cookies and were asked to learn what kinds of cookies were eatable while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The results locked to the third cookies that served to strengthen or reject a preliminary hypothesis showed that (1) the parietal P220 and frontal HRP (Hypothesis Reject Potential) was larger in reject condition than in strengthen condition for both age groups; (2) the intensive process of hypothesis testing activated most of the left brain. These results suggest that the logical function of the frontal lobe has been formed during the critical period of development of thinking.     

Diurnal Alterations of Brain Electrical Activity in Healthy Adults: A LORETA Study

EEG background activity was investigated by low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) to test the diurnal alterations of brain electrical activity in healthy adults. Fourteen right-handed healthy male postgraduate medical students were examined four times (8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and next day 2 p.m.). LORETA was computed to localize generators of EEG frequency components. Comparing the EEG activity between 2 p.m. and 8 a.m., increased activity was seen (1) in theta band (6.5–8 Hz) in the left prefrontal, bilateral mesial frontal and anterior cingulate cortex; (2) in alpha2 band (10.5–12 Hz) in the bilateral precuneus and posterior parietal cortex as well as in the right temporo-occipital cortex; (3) in beta1-2-3 band (12.5–30 Hz) in the right hippocampus and parieto-occipital cortex, left frontal and bilateral cingulate cortex. Comparing the brain activity between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., (1) midline theta activity disappeared; (2) increased alpha2 band activity was seen in the left hemisphere (including the left hippocampus); and (3) increased beta bands activity was found over almost the whole cortex (including both of hippocampi) with the exception of left temporo-occipital region. There were no significant changes between the background activities of 2 p.m. and next day 2 p.m. Characteristic distribution of increased activity of cortex (no change in delta band, and massive changes in the upper frequency bands) may mirror increasing activation of reticular formation and thus evoked thalamocortical feedback mechanisms as a sign of maintenance of arousal.     

Existing and Training Induced Differences in Aerobic Fitness: Their Relationship to Physiological Response Patterns During Different Types of Stress

Aerobic fitness has been associated with various desirable psychological and physiological characteristies. Recently, attenuation of physiological reactivity during stressful situations was added to this list, although comparison of the stress responses of sportsmen and sedentary subjects has yielded equivocal results. The present study examined cardiovascular patterns rather than single variables, and tried to clarify these matters. Tasks were used that were known to increase blood pressure through different combinations of changes in cardiac output and vascular resistance. Autonomic nervous system dynamics underlying these response patterns were studied using preejection period as an index of β-adrenergic activity, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia as an index of vagal activity. Pre-existing differences in aerobic fitness in a sample of sedentary subjects were related to their responses during the stressful tasks and the recovery periods afterwards. This approach prevented confounding of the relationship between fitness and stress-reactivity with the psychological effects of regular exercise. Furthermore, it excluded the bias in psychological makeup that is introduced when subjects spontaneously engaged in sports are compared to non-exercising persons. To rule out a third (hereditary?) factor underlying both stress-reactivity and fitness, physiological responses before and after a seven-week training program were compared to those of subjects in a waiting list control group. Substantial individual differences in aerobic fitness were found in spite of the fact that all subjects reported low levels of habitual activity. During two active coping tasks, diastolic blood pressure reactivity and vagal withdrawal were negatively related to these pre-existing differences in fitness. No such relation was seen during a cold pressor test or during recovery from the tasks. Neither β-adrenergic cardiac reactivity nor heart rate responses were related to fitness, but the absolute heart rate during the tasks was lower in the more fit subjects. Seven weeks of training were not effective in changing either reactivity or recovery of any of the variables. The discrepancy between cross-sectional and longitudinal results in the present study suggests that training of longer duration is necessary to induce the psychological or physiological changes underlying reduced reactivity. The latter may include changes in cardiac vagal/sympathetic balance or in adrenoceptor sensitivity. Alternatively, both psychological and physiological determinants of stress-reactivity may be related to aerobic fitness at a dispositional level.