Tweeting to Health: A Novel mHealth Intervention Using Fitbits and Twitter to Foster Healthy Lifestyles.

We developed and pilot tested a mHealth intervention, "Tweeting to Health," which used Fitbits, Twitter, and gamification to facilitate support for healthy lifestyle changes in overweight/obese (OW) and healthy weight (HW) young adults. Participants tracked activity and diet using Fitbits and used Twitter for messaging for 2 months. Physical activity, dietary intake, and Tweets were tracked and participants completed surveys at enrollment, 1 month, and 2 months. Descriptive statistics were used to examine steps/day, physical activity intensity, lifestyle changes, and total Tweets. Participants were on average 19 to 20 years old and had familiarity with Twitter. OW participants had on average 11 222 daily steps versus 11 686 (HW). One-day challenges were successful in increasing steps. Participants increased fruit/vegetable intake (92%) and decreased their sugar-sweetened beverage intake (67%). Compliance with daily Fitbit wear (99% of all days OW vs 73% HW) and daily dietary logging (82% OW vs 73% HW) and satisfaction was high.

Is bigger really better? Obesity among high school football players, player position, and team success.

OBJECTIVE: American football is one of the most common high school sports in the United States. We examine obesity among high school football players, and variations based on positions, team division, and team success. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used 2 data sets from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (n = 2026) and MaxPreps (n = 6417). We examined body mass index, calculated using coach-reported height and weight, by player position, division, and success based on win-loss percentage. RESULTS: Most players (62%) were skill players, with 35% linemen and 3% punters/kickers. Most skill players (62%) were healthy weight and 4% obese or morbidly obese. In contrast, only 8% of linemen were healthy weight, with 21% morbidly obese. Team success was correlated with size only for skill players. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity is a significant problem for high school football players. Pediatricians should consider the context of football playing in assessing long-term health risks for these young men.

Diabetic retinopathy is associated with bone marrow neuropathy and a depressed peripheral clock.

The present epidemic of diabetes is resulting in a worldwide increase in cardiovascular and microvascular complications including retinopathy. Current thinking has focused on local influences in the retina as being responsible for development of this diabetic complication. However, the contribution of circulating cells in maintenance, repair, and dysfunction of the vasculature is now becoming appreciated. Diabetic individuals have fewer endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in their circulation and these cells have diminished migratory potential, which contributes to their decreased reparative capacity. Using a rat model of type 2 diabetes, we show that the decrease in EPC release from diabetic bone marrow is caused by bone marrow neuropathy and that these changes precede the development of diabetic retinopathy. In rats that had diabetes for 4 mo, we observed a dramatic reduction in the number of nerve terminal endings in the bone marrow. Denervation was accompanied by increased numbers of EPCs within the bone marrow but decreased numbers in circulation. Furthermore, denervation was accompanied by a loss of circadian release of EPCs and a marked reduction in clock gene expression in the retina and in EPCs themselves. This reduction in the circadian peak of EPC release led to diminished reparative capacity, resulting in the development of the hallmark feature of diabetic retinopathy, acellular retinal capillaries. Thus, for the first time, diabetic retinopathy is related to neuropathy of the bone marrow. This novel finding shows that bone marrow denervation represents a new therapeutic target for treatment of diabetic vascular complications.