Influence of a brief aerobic training program on heart rate and subjective response to a psychologic stressor

An experiment was conducted to determine whether a brief program of aerobic exercise would reduce the heart rate and subjective responses of high- and low-fit subjects to a psychologic stressor. Thirty-four high-fit and 34 low-fit subjects were exposed to a moderate stressor (recall of digits backwards test) while their heart rates and subjective responses were monitored. Approximately half of the high- and low-fit subjects then participated in a 13-week aerobic exercise training program, whereas the other subjects did not. After the 13-week period, the subjects were again exposed to the stressor. Results indicated that a) in the pretest the low-fit subjects showed a greater heart rate response to the stressor than the high-fit subjects, b) the training program was effective for increasing subjects' levels of aerobic fitness, and c) the training program was effective for reducing the heart rate response to the stressor of low-fit subjects. These findings provide support for the relationship between fitness and the response to psychologic stressors and they suggest that aerobic training may be an effective way of helping low-fit persons deal with psychologic stressors.     

Influence of stressful life events on the onset of Type 1 diabetes in childhood

The study focuses on the effects of different psychosocial stress on the onset of Type 1 diabetes in Zimbabwe. Type 1 diabetic children were compared with healthy control group. A set of relevant anthropometric indices was used to asses their physical development and fitness. Diabetic children were admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidoses, high blood glucose levels and severe dehydration. It was difficult to achieve stable long-term metabolic control because of acute infections , diatery lapses, frequent hypoglycemic attacks due to poverty and malnutrition, lack of intensive insulin therapy and glucose monitoring. It was found that diabetic children had higher heart rates (97.7 bts/min) and showed lower results when submitted to apnoeic test (20.6 sec) and tipping test (233.2 points). Stressful events that occurred within the family during the year prior to the clinical, onset of Type 1 diabetes were recorded on an inventory consisting of 45 questions. The total frequency of stressful life events were higher for diabetic children (95.4) than in the control group.(4.2). The relative frequencies of events that included actual or threatened loss within the family were significantly higher for the diabetic children (32-53%). In conclusion, severe emotional stress induced by life events such as the birth of another sibling, the influence of a step-parent, serious illness of the mother, marital separation or divorce of parents and the change in parent's financial status are associated with the onset of childhood diabetes and may be considered as risk factors.     

Young children's views of stressful life events

Fourth through 6th grade urban and suburban children first judged how upsetting they thought each of 22 stressful life events would be if the events occurred to age-mates (“cognitive” set). The children then checked events they had actually experienced and rated each in terms of how upsetting it was for them (“experiential” set). Low-level consistencies were found among judged cognitive upset ratings for the 22 items. The latter formed three factors reflecting loss events getting into trouble, and change in living situation. Although there were significant relationships between judged cognitive and experiential upset ratings for the 22 events, absolute levels of judged upset were consistently higher under the cognitive set.     

Social support and stressful life events during mid-life

Life events have been shown to produce psychological distress in women during mid-life. It has been argued that social relationships may modify the detrimental effects of life events and/or have a direct influence on psychological well-being.

This paper examined the influence of eight social relationship variables on ‘psychological’ and ‘somatic’ distress in a general population sample of women at mid-life. Several of the social relationship variables were shown to be important. The availability of individuals in whom the subject could confide was of particular importance.

It is argued that the results confirm the importance of psychosocial factors in producing psychological distress during mid-life.     

Influence of training on sleeping heart rate following daytime exercise

Summary The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of daytime exercise on heart rate during sleep. Nine, untrained male college students volunteered to participate. They cycled at 75% maximum oxygen uptake, ( O_2max) 30 min·day^–1 for 12 weeks. The exercise duration was increased by 5 min every 4 weeks from 30 to 40 min per session. Post-training O_2max[mean (SE): 48.9 (1.7) ml · kg^–1 · min^–1] values were significantly (P<0.01) higher than pre-training [45.5 (1.8) ml-kg^–1·min^–1] values. Before and after training, sleeping heart rate was assessed on two separate nights. Data were obtained during a night following 30 min of daytime cycling at 75 (6) % O_2maxand on a night in which no daytime exercise was performed. A three-way repeated measures ANOVA [training status (pre-/post-training) × activity (exercise day/nonexercise day) × sleep time (18 epochs of 20 min each)] revealed a significant main effect for sleep time (P < 0.001) as well as a sleep time × training status interaction (P<0.02). No significant difference in sleeping heart rate was noted when exercise and non-exercise days were compared both before and after training. It is concluded that endurance training in these young adult men: (1) hastens the achievement of baseline heart rate during sleep, and (2) does not moderate the relationship between an acute bout of daytime exercise and sleeping heart rate.     

Natural history of male psychologic health: effects of mental health on physical health

Four decades ago 204 men were selected as adolescents for an interdisciplinary study of health; since then they have been followed biennially. Of the 185 men who remained in the study and in good health until 1964 (age, 42 +/- 1 years), 100 men remained in excellent physical health over the next 11 years, 54 acquired minor problems, and 31 acquired serious chronic illness or died. Of 59 men with the best mental health, assessed from the age of 21 to 46 years, only two became chronically ill or died by the age of 53. Of the 48 men with the worst mental health from the age of 21 to 46, 18 became chronically ill or died. The relation between previous mental health and subsequent physical health remained statistically significant when the effects on health of alcohol, tobacco use, obesity, and longevity of ancestors were excluded by multiple regression analysis. The data suggest that good mental health retards midlife deterioration in physical health.     

Development of common cold symptoms following experimental rhinovirus infection is related to prior stressful life events.

Previous studies of rhinovirus infection indicate that about one third of the persons with confirmed viral infection do not show evidence of cold symptoms. Factors that determine which infected individuals will develop colds are not known. Using a rhinovirus inoculation protocol, the authors explored the possible role of recent life events, current mood, and perceived stress in the development of symptoms in individuals known to be infected. As part of a larger study, 17 subjects were exposed to a rhinovirus and were individually isolated for 5 consecutive days; cold symptoms, mucus weights, and tissue use were monitored on a daily basis during this period. Although all 17 subjects had confirmed rhinovirus infection, only 12 subjects developed clinical colds, as indicated by self-reported symptoms and by objective symptom indices. The average number of reported major life events for the previous year was significantly higher for those who developed colds than for those who did not (p < .05). Measures of affect and perceived stress before the inoculation were not different for those who did and did not develop colds. Complementing recent research demonstrating psychosocial influences on experimental infection rates, these results provide evidence that the development of cold symptomatology in experimentally infected individuals is related to prior life events.     

Modifications of serum glycoproteins the days following a prolonged physical exercise and the influence of physical training

Summary Eight male subjects (mean age 24.1±2.6 years) performed at intervals of 2 weeks successively a 3 h and two 2 h runs of different running speed. The days following the running there were moderate elevations of C-reactive protein, haptoglobin, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, coeruloplasmin, transferrin, alpha-1-antitrypsin and plasminogen. There were small or no changes of albumin, alpha-2-macroglobulin and hemopexin. The elevations of the acute phase reactants were examined in three male subjects following a 2 h run before and after an endurance training period of 9 weeks. This demonstrated a decreased acute phase response after training as illustrated by the changes of C-reactive protein, haptoglobin and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein in spite of higher posttraining running speeds. Well-trained athletes have elevated levels of the serum protease inhibitors alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-2-macroglobulin and C₁-inhibitor. These antiproteolytic glycoproteins might limit exercise-induced inflammatory reactions.This research was supported by the Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaften (Köln-Lövenich)     

The influence of socioeconomic status and ethnicity on adolescents' exposure to stressful life events

OBJECTIVE: To test the relations between resource-based and prestige-based measures of socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and life events that varied in valence, dependency on adolescent behavior, and duration. METHOD: Six measures of SES were administered to the parents of 148 black and white adolescents, who completed a measure of five mutually exclusive categories of life events. RESULTS: As predicted, our results suggest that having few assets and being black were independently related to life events exposure. Correlations between socioeconomic indices were not so high as to suggest redundancy, and different SES indicators were of importance in predicting exposure to different types of life events.     

Neighborhood disadvantage,stressful life events and adjustments in urban elementary-school children

Assessed the occurrence of three types of stressful life events among African- American and Hispanic children living in urban neighborhoods, and examined the concurrent and prospective relations between stressful life events and adjustment. Younger children and children living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods experienced more stressful life events. Stressful life events were significantly related to higher concurrent levels of aggression and predicted increases in aggression P year later. Life transitions and exposure to violence predicted concurrent aggression, but circumscribed events served as the strongest predictor of aggression 1 year later. Total number of stressful events and exposure to violence significantly interacted with neighborhood disadvantage, such that effects were only apparent under conditions of high neighborhood disadvantage.     

农村老年人生活质量及与负性生活事件、社会支持的相关性

目的:了解农村老年人生活质量的相关因素,以及负性生活事件和社会支持对生活质量的交互作用.方法:在湖南浏阳农村社区采用多阶段抽样方法,共调查了839名≥60岁的常住居民(应答率为89.2％).用老年人生活事件量表(LESE)评估老年人的生活事件及其刺激量,用社会支持评定量表(SSRS)评估社会支持,用6条目生活质量量表(QOL)评估生活质量.结果:样本QOL得分为(20±4),SSRS得分为(40±8),负性生活事件总刺激量得分在0 ～ 240分之间,中位数M=12(P25=2,P75=32).多元线性回归分析显示,与配偶一起生活(b=-0.55)、收入较高(b=0.52)、负性生活事件刺激量较低(b=1.63)、社会支持较高(b=-0.69)的老人有较高的生活质量.交互作用分析显示负性生活事件刺激量评分与社会支持评分存在交互作用(超额相对危险度为2.72,95％CI =0.48 ～4.97;交互作用指数为2.42,95％ CI=1.25～4.62).结论:本研究提示对农村老年人,尤其是遭遇了负性生活事件的农村老年人,提供社会支持,有助于改善其生活质量.     

The delayed effects of prolonged physical exercise and physical training on cholesterol level

Summary The delayed effects of prolonged physical exercise on total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were studied before and after a training period of 8 weeks. In 15 subjects, 1 and 2 days after a 3 h running test, total cholesterol was significantly lower than 1 day before and 8 days after the end of the exercise. One day post-exercise, HDL-cholesterol was significantly higher compared with 1 day before and 8 days afterwards. In ten subjects participating in the training program, decreased total cholesterol values were again found on the first day after the post-training exercise test. Total and HDL cholesterol levels were not significantly affected by 8 weeks of training.This work was supported by the Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft, Köln     

Effect of training on proteinuria following muscular exercise

Summary As a consequence of a short and exhaustive exercise, proteinuria increases due to haemoconcentration; proteins in urine increase from 40.4 ± 7.7 mg to mg 922.8 ± 19.1 and the A/G ratio in urine increases from 0.57 ± 0.01 to 1.54 ± 0.12, a value which is about the same as in plasma proteins.Exercise proteinuria seems to be independent from pH and from modifications of lactic acid serum level; it is probably due to secretion of l-noradrenaline during exercise, as infusion of this substance induces the same changes as exercise.After a 50 days' training, exercise proteinuria and proteinemia show a progressive decrease, while the inversion of urinary A/G ratio after exercise remains unaltered.     

The reliability of subjects' reports on stressful life events inventories: A longitudinal study

Previous studies of the reliability of stressful life events inventories employing test-retest, informant report, and fall-off designs have all suffered from significant methodological limitations. In order to provide a more rigorous test of the reliability of subjects' reports on life events inventories, the present study employed a longitudinal design with multiple, frequent assessments. Fifty-three subjects completed life events questionnaires every 5 weeks for 5 months. At the end of this time, subjects were asked to report all events occurring during the entire study period. The intraclass correlation between the number of events reported in the four 5-week assessments and the final, 5-month assessment was .63. There was a 26% decline in the number of events reported between the 5-week assessments and the 20-week assessment. Agreement on specific inventory items was only 52%. These data are consistent with previous, less methodologically rigorous studies in raising serious questions about the reliability of stressful life events questionnaires.     

Effects of aerobic exercise training on cognitive function and cortical vascularity in monkeys

This study examined whether regular exercise training, at a level that would be recommended for middle-aged people interested in improving fitness could lead to improved cognitive performance and increased blood flow to the brain in another primate species. Adult female cynomolgus monkeys were trained to run on treadmills for 1 h a day, 5 days a week, for a 5 month period (n=16; 1.9±0.4 miles/day). A sedentary control group sat daily on immobile treadmills (n=8). Half of the runners had an additional sedentary period for 3 months at the end of the exercise period (n=8). In all groups, half of the monkeys were middle-aged (10–12 years old) and half were more mature (15–17 years old). Starting the fifth week of exercise training, monkeys underwent cognitive testing using the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus (WGTA). Regardless of age, the exercising group learned to use the WGTA significantly faster (4.6±3.4 days) compared to controls (8.3±4.8 days; P=0.05). At the end of 5 months of running monkeys showed increased fitness, and the vascular volume fraction in the motor cortex in mature adult running monkeys was increased significantly compared to controls (P=0.029). However, increased vascular volume did not remain apparent after a 3-month sedentary period. These findings indicate that the level of exercise associated with improved fitness in middle-aged humans is sufficient to increase both the rate of learning and blood flow to the cerebral cortex, at least during the period of regular exercise.     

The impact of generalized anxiety disorder and stressful life events on risk for major depressive episodes

BACKGROUND: Both generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and stressful life events (SLEs) are established risk factors for major depressive disorder, but no studies exist that examine the interrelationship of their impact on depressive onsets. In this study, we sought to analyze the joint effects of prior history of GAD and recent SLEs on risk for major depressive episodes, comparing these in men and women. METHOD: In a population-based sample of 8068 adult twins, Cox proportional hazard models were used to predict onsets of major depression from reported prior GAD and last-year SLEs rated on long-term contextual threat. RESULTS: For all levels of threat, prior GAD increases risk for depression, with a monotonic relationship between threat level and risk. While females without prior GAD consistently show higher depressive risk than males, this is no longer the case in subjects with prior GAD who have experienced SLEs. Rather, males appear to be more vulnerable to the depressogenic effects of both prior GAD and SLEs. CONCLUSION: The effects of prior GAD and SLEs jointly increase the risk of depression in both sexes, but disproportionately so in males.     

Prevalence of stressful life events during pregnancy and its association with postpartum depressive symptoms

Archives of Women's Mental Health - Experiencing stressful life events (SLEs) has negative consequences for both mother and infant. This study examined the predictive contributions of (1)...