Religious minority identity associates with stress and psychological health among Muslim and Hindu women in Bangladesh and London.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association of minority religious identification (Hindu or Muslim) with self-reported stress and psychological symptoms among sedentee and immigrant Bangladeshi women. METHODS: Women, aged 35-59 (n = 531) were drawn from Sylhet, Bangladesh and London, England. Muslim immigrants in London and Hindu sedentees in Sylhet represented minority religious identities. Muslim sedentees in Sylhet and Londoners of European descent represented majority religious identities. In bivariate analyses, minority religious identity was examined in relation to self-reported measures of stress, nervous tension, and depressed mood. Logistic regression was applied to examine the relationship between these variables while adjusting for marital status, parity, daily walking, and perceived financial comfort. RESULTS: In bivariate analyses, religious minorities reported more stress than religious majorities in all group comparisons (p < .05), and minority Muslims reported more nervous tension and depressed mood than majority Muslims (p < .05). In logistic regression models, minority Muslims had greater odds of high stress than majority Muslims (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.18-3.39). Minority Muslims had greater odds of stress (OR 3.05, 95% CI 1.51-6.17) and nervous tension (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.66-6.87) than majority Londoners. Financial comfort reduced odds of stress and symptoms in all models. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic situation, immigration history, and minority ethnicity appear to influence the relationship between religious identity and psychosomatic symptoms in Bangladeshi women. Attention to personal and socioeconomic context is important for research examining the association between religion and mental health.

Risk factors for non-communicable diseases related to obesity among first- and second-generation Bangladeshi migrants living in north-east or south-east England.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global burden, which significantly increases the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). More than a quarter of adults in the United Kingdom are obese, but prevalence varies by ethnicity, and South Asians have the largest burden of NCDs. This paper assesses how sex, generation, and region interplay to vary the predisposition to obesity-related (OR) NCDs among UK Bangladeshis. METHODS: We used National Institute for Health and Care Excellence suggested grading for combining body mass index and waist circumference to define populations at risk of OR-NCDs. Data from 517 adults of Bangladeshi origin from a cross-sectional study (March 2013 to April 2015) were analysed. Male and female participants from London and north-east England were equally sampled including: (1) adult migrants, who came to the UK aged >16 years; (2) child migrants, who came to the UK aged ≤16 years; and (3) second-generation Bangladeshis (who were born and brought up in the UK). A generalised estimating equation using a binomial distribution and a logit link was used to explore the relationship between the binary outcome of being 'at risk of OR-NCDs' and associated factors. RESULTS: Females, married individuals, those living in London, the second-generation, and those of lower self-assessed financial status, with low acculturation status, or who did not walk daily for at least 20 min were more likely to develop OR-NCDs. A striking sex difference was found with more females prone to OR-NCD risk in the north-east than in London. CONCLUSIONS: Our study observed important inter- and intra-regional inequality in OR-NCD risk which worsens the health of ethnic minorities and widens inequality.

Hot flash report and measurement among Bangladeshi migrants, their London neighbors, and their community of origin.

OBJECTIVES: To examine hot flashes in relation to climate and activity patterns, and to compare subjective and objective hot flashes among Bangladeshi immigrants to London, their white London neighbors, and women still living in their community of origin, Sylhet, Bangladesh ("sedentees"). METHODS: Ninety-five women, aged 40-55, wore the Biolog ambulatory hot flash monitor. Objective measurements and subjective hot flash reports were examined in relation to demographic, reproductive, anthropometric, and lifestyle variables; temperature and humidity at 12:00 and 18:00; and time spent on housework and cooking. Concordance of objective and subjective hot flashes was assessed by Kappa statistics and by sensitivity of hot flash classification. RESULTS: During the study period, Bangladeshi sedentees reported more subjective hot flashes (p < .05), but there was no difference in number of objective hot flashes. White Londoners were more likely to describe hot flashes on their face and neck compared to Bangladeshis (p < .05). Sedentees were more likely to describe hot flashes on their feet (p < .05). Postmenopausal status, increasing parity, and high levels of housework were significant determinants of subjective hot flashes, while ambient temperature and humidity were not. Measures of subjective/objective concordance were low but similar across groups (10-20%). The proportion of objective hot flashes that were also self-reported was lowest among immigrants. DISCUSSION: Hot flashes were not associated with warmer temperatures, but were associated with housework and with site-specific patterns of cooking. The number of objective hot flash measures did not differ, but differences in subjective experience suggest the influence of culture.

The 9-bp deletion between the mitochondrial lysine tRNA and COII genes in tribal populations of India.

A 9-base-pair (bp) deletion located between the lysine tRNA (MTTK) and COII (MTCOX*2) genes in the human mitochondrial genome is a valuable marker for tracing population relationships. Previous research has shown that the 9-bp deletion is associated with two major clusters of control region sequences; one occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, while the other is associated with Asian populations and populations of Asian origin. We surveyed 898 individuals from 16 tribal populations in India and found 6 individuals with the 9-bp deletion. Sequences of the first hypervariable segment (HV1) of the mtDNA control region from these 9-bp deletion-bearing mtDNAs were compared to those previously reported from Asian and African populations. Phylogenetic analysis indicates three distinct clusters of tribal Indian 9-bp deletion mtDNA types. One cluster, found in northeast India, includes southeast Asian and Indonesian mtDNA types. The remaining two clusters appear to have unique origins in southern India. These data provide further evidence of past migrations from Asia into the northeast corner of the Indian subcontinent.

Salivary estradiol and progesterone levels in conception and nonconception cycles in women: evaluation of a new assay for salivary estradiol.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the usefulness of salivary E2 and progesterone for noninvasive assessment of ovarian function. DESIGN: Prospective study of salivary hormone levels in women planning a pregnancy. SETTING: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, Illinois. PATIENT(S): Fourteen women aged 23-39 years with regular menstrual cycles who were planning a pregnancy. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Salivary estradiol and progesterone concentrations. RESULT(S): The sensitivity of the E2 assay is 2.0 pmol/L; the interassay coefficient of variation was 5.2% (mean value 17 pmol/L). Recovery of E2 added to saliva was 106%. The correlation with simultaneous serum samples was 0.71. Menstrual cycle patterns contained a preovulatory depression and a midcycle surge. By comparison with nonconception cycles, the luteal phases of conception cycles had significantly elevated salivary E2 within the first 5 days after ovulation. Salivary progesterone was significantly elevated but not until 10 days after ovulation. CONCLUSION(S): Salivary measurements of E2 and progesterone can be used as noninvasive methods for assessment of ovarian function. Salivary specimens can be collected at home and brought to the laboratory for analysis, obviating the need for frequent phlebotomy. The sensitivity and precision of the salivary E2 assay make it comparable with assays of serum E2 for assessing changes in hormone levels.

Women's strategies to alleviate nutritional stress in a rural African society.

Many agricultural populations are subject to chronic or seasonal undernutrition, reproductive women and children often being most vulnerable. This paper presents quantitative and qualitative data on food consumption, food distribution practices, food taboos, garden sizes and work effort to show how Lese horticulturalist women living in the Ituri Forest of northeast Democratic Republic of Congo attempt to alleviate nutritional stress. The Lese experience an annual hunger season when approximately one quarter of the population suffer from energy deficiency. Nutritional intake is also compromised by a complex system of food taboos against meat from wild forest animals. Anthropometric data collected over several years suggest that Lese women suffer from nutritional stress more than men during the hunger season. They also have more food taboos particularly during pregnancy and lactation. Their low fertility is compounded by nutritional stress. Despite these inequities, Lese women use several strategies to improve their food intake. Since they are responsible for all household cooking, they manipulate food portions. During the hunger season, they snack frequently, and increase their consumption of palliative foods. Women with more food taboos plant larger gardens to supplement their diet with vegetable foods. Although this results in their consumption of more daily protein, they work harder compared to women with smaller gardens. Women cheat in their adherence to specific food taboos by actively discounting them, or by eating prophylactic plants that supposedly prevent the consequences (usually illness) of eating tabooed foods. In addition, women resort to subterfuge to access desirable resources. Lese women do not reduce work effort during the hunger season, but adapt physiologically by reducing resting metabolic rates during periods of weight loss. These results point to the ability of Lese women to minimize the ecological and cultural constraints on their nutrition. More data, however, are required to assess the long-term effectiveness of these strategies.

Dietary composition and ovarian function among Lese horticulturalist women of the Ituri Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo.

OBJECTIVE: To assess dietary composition in relation to energetic status and ovarian function. DESIGN: An eight-month prospective study undertaken in 1989. SETTING: Ituri Forest, northeast Democratic Republic of Congo. SUBJECTS: Sixty-four female volunteers of reproductive age (16-45), with a subsample of 30 for nutritional focal follows, 39 for analysis of salivary progesterone levels, and 18 for analysis of salivary oestradiol. INTERVENTIONS: Regular anthropometric measurements of heights, weights, and mid-triceps skinfolds, 204 h of nutritional focal follows when all foods prepared and consumed were recorded and weighed, analysis of dietary composition using African food tables, collection of saliva samples every-other day for radioimmunoassay of salivary oestradiol and progesterone. RESULTS: The primary staple in the Lese diet is manioc, consumed at nearly every meal, but the diet is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Important seasonal crops are groundnuts and rice. Carbohydrates comprise 64% of the diet, protein 14% and fat 22%, but seasonal fluctuations in food items create significant differences in protein content (P = 0.007). Energy intake falls by 25% in the hunger season. Lese energy balance reflects this lack with women losing a mean 7% of total body weight. The mean BMI for Lese women at the beginning of the study was 22.8 but, during the hunger season, the BMI for 20% of women fell to < 18.5, indicative of chronic energy shortage. Mean levels of Lese salivary oestradiol and progesterone are chronically and significantly lower than healthy, Western controls (P = 0.0001 for progesterone; P = 0.03 for follicular values of oestradiol, P = 0.0001 for mid-cycle values, and P = 0.0002 for luteal values). Mean salivary progesterone levels were significantly lower for those Lese women losing weight (P = 0.03), and significantly lower for weight-loss women when comparing levels at the beginning and end of the hunger season (P = 0.03). DISCUSSION: The relatively low-fat, high-fibre diet of the Lese appears healthy, but there are occasional seasonal deficiencies in protein-energy and micronutrient content, especially for pregnant and lactating women. Dietary composition may affect Lese levels of reproductive steroids, partly explaining the chronically low salivary oestradiol profile of this population.

Hydration as a limiting factor in lactation.

A relatively untapped area of research concerning lactation and hydration exists for bioanthropologists interested in the ecology of breastfeeding. This review details current limited knowledge on the topic with recommendations about relevant research questions for human biologists. On average, lactating mothers produce >750 ml/day milk for their infants. Breastfeeding thus promotes a powerful thirst stimulus in the lactating mother, resulting in a 12-16% increase in fluid intake among Western women. Thirst during lactation may be mediated by oxytocin release, since this hormone is structurally similar to the antidiuretic hormone, vasopressin. Prolactin also may be involved. A few studies among Western women concluded that moderate dehydration does not affect milk production, but it is not known how lactating women in hot and/or dry climates respond to chronically limited water supplies. Lactating women in such environments may use both physiological and behavioral adaptations to conserve fluid requirements, such as reducing activities during breastfeeding and carrying extra fluid supplies while travelling. Given the limited state of knowledge on lactation and hydration, future field studies should incorporate research to determine the importance of adequate fluids in maintaining milk production and the health of both mothers and infants. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:151-161, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

An analysis for menstrual data with time-varying covariates.

This paper concerns the analysis of menstrual data; in particular, methodology to identify variables that contribute to the variability of menstrual cycles both within and between women. The basis for the proposed methodology is a parameterization of the mean length of a menstrual cycle conditional upon the past cycles and covariates. This approach accommodates the length-bias and censoring commonly found in menstrual data. Data from a longitudinal study of menstrual patterns and other variables among Lese women of the Ituri Forest, Zaire, illustrate the methodology. A small simulation illustrates the bias caused by incorrectly deleting the censored cycles.

Secondary phosphorus poisoning in dogs.

Subsequent to a possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) poisoning operation purportedly using 1% phosphorus baits, six dogs with access to poisoned possums died of phosphorus poisoning. Two dogs survived, following treatment with oral copper sulphate and parenteral vitamin K. Clinical signs included depression, jaundice, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea. Post-mortem lesions included large areas of subcutaneous, interstitial and intermuscular haemorrhage, subserosal haemorrhage and liver degeneration. Free phosphorus was detected in the ingesta of three of the dogs which died up to 7 days after the last of the poison was laid. Analysis of two batches of baits used showed P levels of 1.17% and 1.24%.

The ecology of birth seasonality among agriculturalists in central Africa.

The Lese are subsistence farmers living in the Ituri Forest of north-east Zaïre. They exhibit significant birth seasonality, with lowest frequencies of conception when food production is least, nutritional status is low and ovarian function, as measured by salivary steroid hormone levels, is reduced. Efe pygmy foragers, who live in the same geographical area but are less dependent on cultivated foods and have a more flexible life style, do not exhibit frequent fluctuations in nutritional status nor significant birth seasonality. These findings support a model of birth seasonality relating climatic variables to variation in fertility through a causal chain linking rainfall to food production to energy balance to ovarian function to fertility. The model, which emphasises an ecological approach to the study of human reproduction, should have broad applicability since seasonality of food production and energy balance is widespread geographically and across a wide variety of economies and cultures.

PIP: Researchers compared 1980-87 data on rainfall, garden size, nutritional status, ovarian function, and births among the Lese subsistence farmers and the nomadic Efe pygmies who lived in the Ituri Forest in northeast Zaire to analyze the ecology of human birth seasonality. Natural fertility for the Lese was 2.35 and 2.56 for the Efe. Rainfall patterns determined the size of Lese gardens (p.05) which in turn determined nutritional status for both the Lese and the Efe (p.01), but particularly the Lese. Negative changes in female nutritional status diminished ovarian function. Specifically, women with lower indices of weight for height and who had lost 2 kg during the study had lower peak progesterone levels and ovulatory frequency than women who lost =or 2 kg. Menstrual cycles lengthened and duration of menstrual flow decreased with a decline in nutritional status. Conceptions were significantly reduced in May-July for the Lese (p=.012). For both Efe and Lese women, conceptions were lowest in May and highest in September. Lese women experienced considerably fewer conceptions during the periods with poor food availability than during other months (p=.002). The corresponding p value was almost significant for Efe women (.55). Thus Efe women experience less fluctuations in nutritional status than did Lese women, but variability in the seasonal pattern of rainfall did determine variation in fertility. The causal chain was rainfall - determined food production which determined energy balance which determined ovarian function which determined fertility. This model can be applied to any population in any geographic region. It integrates knowledge of behavior and cultural practices with the biology of human reproduction.

Selenium, vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations in goat kids with and without nutritional myodegeneration.

Mean selenium and vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) concentrations in the liver, myocardium and skeletal muscle of nine goat kids with nutritional myodegeneration (NMD) were significantly lower than those in a group of nine kids dying from other causes. Each of the 18 kids was from a different property in the southern half of the North Island. The polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of the liver, myocardium and skeletal muscle was not significantly different between the two groups, but the overall level of peroxidisable polyunsaturated fatty acids appeared high in both groups. A further 21 kids with confirmed NMD and live 'controls', submitted as routine cases to Palmerston North Animal Health Laboratory, were included with the above 18 kids in a comparison of liver selenium and alpha-tocopherol concentrations. Kids with NMD had liver selenium concentrations ranging from 170-1100 (mean = 380) nmol/kg and alpha-tocopherol from 0.7-11.0 (mean =2.2) micromol/kg. In control kids, the liver selenium concentration ranged from 530-4300 (mean = 1220) nmol/kg and a-tocopherol from 1.7-14.0 (mean = 5.6) pmollkg. Although these ranges overlapped, the results suggest that liver selenium concentrations <500 nmol/kg and alpha-tocopherol concentrations <2.5 micromol/kg should be regarded as deficient. Liver selenium concentrations from 500-1100 nmol/kg and alpha-tocopherol concentrations from 2.5-10 micromol/kg should be considered marginal. Goat kids appear to require more selenium than lambs or calves which may explain the higher prevalence of NMD in kids. In some cases, however, the disease is associated with low alpha-tocopherol suggesting that supplementation with selenium alone may not always be sufficient.

Vitamin E, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acids in clinically normal grower (9-16 weeks old) pigs and their feed: their relationship to the vitamin E/selenium deficiency ("VESD") syndrome.

Vitamin E, selenium and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were determined in feed used at three piggeries over.a four week period and compared with corresponding concentrations in clinically normal grower pigs at slaughter. Mean values were vitamin E: 59 IU/kg (feed), 6 micromol/kg (liver), 1.7 micromol/l (serum); and selenium: 310 microg/kg (feed), 5200 nmol/kg (liver), 1700 nmol/l (blood). Alpha-tocopherol accounted for 80% of the mean vitamin E activity in the feed and over 95% that in the liver and serum. The mean ratio of PUFA to total fatty acid (FA) in the feed (38%) was similar to that in the serum (36%) and liver (39%), but the ratio of peroxidisable PUFA (PPUFA) to FA increased from 1.7% in the feed to 4.2% in the serum and 10.8% in the liver. The ratio of alpha-tocopherol (mmol) to PPUFA (mol) in the liver varied from 0.16 to 0.48. The relationship of these data to the VESD syndrome is discussed in the light of other published data.

Fitch diets in New Zealand: an analytical survey.

Fitch diets from 30 farms were surveyed and analysed for moisture, protein, carbohydrate, fibre, ash, fat and individual fatty acids, fat peroxide value, and infinity-tocopherol. The dietary raw materials most often used were mutton, fish, poultry, beef and cereals. Eight of the 30 breeders added no vitamin or other supplements. Analytical mean (range) values on a wet matter basis were: moisture, 66.3 (49.6-76.8)%; protein, 16.5 (12.4-21.2)%; carbohydrate, 2.5 (<0.1-8.7)%; fibre, 0.4 (0.1-1.0)%; ash, 3.7 (1.2-8.3)%; fat, 10.6 (1.4-26.1)%; peroxide value, 5.7 (0.3-110) m.equiv x /kg fat; infinity-tocopherol, 13 (0.6-103) mg/kg; calculated gross energy value, 7.2 (3.7-13.7) MJ/kg. Protein contributed 42 (20-79)% of the gross energy value; fat, 49 (15-74) %, and carbohydrate, 6 (0-20) %. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA's) comprised 10 (3.6-39) % of the total fatty acids. The ratio of infinity-tocopherol to PUFA was 2.1(0.1-10.5) mg/g. Results of the survey are discussed in the light of nutrient requirements for the fitch.