Relationship between daily physical activity and aerobic fitness in adults with cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: The best clinical practice to investigate aerobic fitness includes measurements obtained during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), however it remains an underutilised clinical measure in cystic fibrosis (CF). To investigate this further, different methods of quantifying exercise capacity in CF are required. The possibility that measuring physical activity (PA) by a portable accelerometer could be used to assess the CF aerobic state and could be added among the CPET surrogates has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between PA and exercise fitness both at submaximal and maximal levels in clinically stable adults with CF. METHODS: Thirty CF patients (FEV1 71 ± 19% predicted) and fifteen healthy controls undertook an incremental CPET on a cycle ergometer. CPET-related measurements included: oxygen uptake (V'O2), carbon dioxide production (V'CO2), ventilatory profile, heart rate (HR) and oxygen pulse (V'O2/HR) throughout exercise and at lactic threshold (LT) and peak. LT measures represent submaximal exercise related data. PA was assessed using the accelerometer SenseWear Pro3 Armband. RESULTS: Moderate (>4.8 metabolic equivalents (METS)) and moderate + vigorous (>7.2 METS) PA was related to V'O2 (p = 0.005 and p = 0.009, respectively) and work rate (p = 0.004 and p = 0.002, respectively) at LT. Moderate PA or greater was positively related to peak V'O2 (p = 0.005 and p = 0.003, respectively). Daily PA levels were similar in CF and healthy controls. Except for peak values, V'O2 profile and the V'O2 at LT were comparable between CF and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: In adult CF patients daily PA positively correlated with aerobic capacity. PA measurements are a valuable tool in the assessment of exercise performance in an adult CF population and could be used for interventional exercise trials to optimize exercise performance and health status. PA levels and parameters obtained at submaximal exercise are similar in CF and in healthy controls.

Characteristics of the Chinese subjects entered the hypertension in the very elderly trial / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The baseline characteristics of patients in a multinational trial are possibly related to cardiovascular outcome. This study compared the baseline characteristics of patients recruited in China with those recruited in other countries.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 508 Chinese hypertensive men and 728 women over the age of 80 years who entered the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) were compared with those in 860 men and 1348 women who entered the trial in other countries.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The Chinese subjects were slightly younger, had less previous hypertension but more previous strokes than the subjects from other countries. The Chinese subjects smoked more than those from other countries, but drank less alcohol. They had less previous episodes of myocardial infarction and were, on average, lighter and shorter. The Chinese had lower mean concentrations of blood urea, uric acid and creatinine as well as higher concentrations of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The concentration of total cholesterol was, on average, lower in the Chinese subjects as was blood glucose. The levels of serum sodium and potassium, blood hematocrit and hemoglobin were all, on average, lower in the Chinese subjects.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Calorie restriction, compared with the rest of the world, may have resulted in lower stature and weight, and recent increases in calorie intake have not changed the metabolic profile of the very elderly hypertensive patients in China. Some of these biochemical differences may reflect different dietary lifestyle in the Chinese.</p>

Romanian subjects entered in the hypertension in the very elderly trial (HYVET).

The baseline characteristics, possibly related to cardiovascular outcome, in 94 Romanian hypertensive men and 168 women over the age of 80 entered into the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) were compared with those in 725 men and 1128 women entered into the trial in the rest of Western and Eastern Europe (mainly Russia and Bulgaria). There was a tendency for more women in the Romanian subjects (66.7% versus 60.9% (P = 0.08)) and therefore all comparisons were adjusted for this non significant difference. The Romanian subjects were slightly younger, had more previous hypertension, but more previous strokes than the rest of Europe, and consumed a similar amount of alcohol. The Romanian subjects were, on average, lighter and shorter. Romanians had higher mean concentrations of blood urea and glucose and higher concentrations of HDL cholesterol. Total cholesterol was, on average, lower in Romanian subjects than was serum creatinine. Serum sodium, blood hematocrit and hemoglobin were all, on average, lower in Romanian subjects. The Romanian subjects were recruited from predominantly rural areas and it is hypothesised that their diet may have contained less salt, iron and other haematinics. Calorie restriction, compared to the rest of Europe, may have resulted in lower stature and weight but recent increases in calorie intake may have resulted in the increasing average blood glucose in both sexes. DDT is known to block the uptake of HDL cholesterol by the liver and may explain the increased HDL concentrations in Romania. Some of these biochemical differences may reflect different methodologies employed in Romanian laboratories, but we could not confirm this possibility.