Selected problems of medical qualification for physical fitness in postmenopausal women.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between sex hormones in blood and the occurrence of chest pain and degree of exercise capacity in postmenopausal women. METHODS: Fifty-two postmenopausal women with chest pain in retrosternal area in history (group A) and 52 asymptomatic (group B) were examined. Estradiol (E2), total testosterone (T), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations in blood were measured. The free testosterone (FT), bioavailable testosterone (BT), index of free testosterone (FTI) and the index of free estradiol (FE2I) were calculated. ECG exercise stress tests were performed by the treadmill stress test track. RESULTS: In group A compared with B there were higher: systolic blood pressure (SBP), (129.3±13.5 vs. 121.8±17.1 mmHg, P=0.04), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (80.8±11.8 vs. 78.6±12.1, P=0.04) at rest, maximum SBP post exercise (172.2±15.9 vs. 157.8±14.2 mmHg, P=0.0003) and lower DHEA-S (122.7±62.8 vs. 150.8±72.9 µg/100 mL, P=0.05) and T (1.5±0.6 vs. 1.7±0.6 nmol/l, P=0.04). T correlated with exercise duration (ED) (R=-0.251, P<0.05), FT with SBP increase during exercise (R=0.286, P<0.05) and ED (R=0.280, P<0.05), BT positively correlated with heart rate (HR) increase during exercise (R=0.285, P<0.05) and with ED (R=0.297, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: In postmenopausal women chest pain in history occurs regardless of exercise capacity and may be connected with arterial hypertension, deficiency of DHEA-S and androgenicity. Exercise capacity of postmenopausal women may be influenced by sex hormones, which levels in blood could be useful in the qualification for physical recreation plan.

Pulmonary function between 40 and 80 years of age.

Spirometry is the most frequently performed lung function test. To determine a normal range of spirometry results, reference formulas are used. Predicted values play an important role in establishing whether the volumes measured in an individual fall within a range to be expected in a healthy person of the same gender, height, and age. Such standards enable to assess the development of the respiratory system in the youth, the early recognition of the influence of a disease on the respiratory system and the influence of environmental factors on lung function. The objective of the present study was to estimate lung function prediction equations and to identify appropriate normal reference values for the Lublin Region local population of adults. We addressed the issue by analyzing the data from a lung function screening program conducted in the Lublin Region of Poland. Pulmonary function of adults aged 40-80 years was assessed from the measurements of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expired volume in the first second (FEV(1)) in 136 adults. Reference values of FVC and FEV(1) for females and males were calculated by linear multiple regressions with age and height used as predictors. Different equations were compared to show their reliability when applied to the local population. The results were as follows. In females, the mean FEV(1) was 2.856 +/-0.534 (L) (113.7 +/-14.3%) and the mean FVC was 3.517 +/-0.662 (L) (118.5 +/-14.1%), in males, 3.913 +/-0.773 (L) (110.9 +/-15.1%), 4.922 +/-0.941 (L) (112.1 +/-14.1%), respectively. The estimated prediction equations were: for the FVC - for females - FVC (L) = 0.0528 (height) - 0.0262 (age) - 3.676 and for males - FVC = 0.0756 (height) - 0.0649 (age) - 4.904; and for the FEV(1) - for females - FEV(1) (L) = 0.0378 (height) - 0.0282 (age) - 1.799 and for males - FEV(1) (L) = 0.0553 (height) - 0.0553 (age) - 2.874. Units are years for age and centimeters for height. In conclusion, the analysis of the lung function data showed that there were significant difficulties in determining the appropriate reference values of FEV(1) and FVC. The predicted FEV(1) and FVC values derived from equations based on the ECSC (1) reference populations are considerably lower than those calculated in the present study, re-emphasizing the need to be cautious when applying the ECSC reference values for the local Lublin population. There seems to be a need for a constant refinement of spirometric standards.