BACKGROUND Functional MRI (fMRI) basic cognitive paradigms such as the n-back have been shown to detect cognitive impairment (CI) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The immediate memory task/delayed memory task (IMT/DMT) detects varying degrees of working memory (WM) by alternating three levels of complexity and two levels of WM delay. This paradigm has not been evaluated in MS nor validated against s...

BACKGROUND Smoking-induced damage to the cardiovascular system has been shown in many studies; however, the degree of damage varies from individual to individual. We hypothesized that the -930A/G CYBA gene polymorphism in the NADPH oxidase influences the association between cigarette smoking and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young healthy adults. METHODS Cross-sectional data obtaine...

The intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid arteries is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis associated with risk factors for atherosclerosis and a predictor of vascular disease. The aim of the research was to determine the correlation of IMT and age, and above normal IMT values in healthy adults in Slavonia (eastern Croatia). The study included 275 subjects of both sexes, aged between 20 an...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to determine the effects of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on exercise tolerance, inspiratory muscle fatigue, and the perception of dyspnea in asthmatic individuals. METHODS Using a matched double-blind placebo-controlled design, 15 clinically diagnosed asthmatic individuals underwent either 6 wk of IMT (n = 7) consisting of 30 breaths twice daily at 50% m...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have confirmed inflammatory factors and metabolic syndrome (MetS) as important cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Recently measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) has been used for evaluation of early atherosclerosis. This study was designed to assess the correlation between IMT with some inflammatory biomarkers, ghrelin and adiponectin in people wi...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Atherosclerosis is a complex disorder with hereditary and environmental causes. Carotid artery intima-media wall thickness (IMT) is a useful measure of atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to determine the association between carotid IMT and functional promoter variants of stromelysin-1 (MMP3: -1612 5A>6A), interleukin-6 (IL6: -174G>C), and hepatic lipase (HL:...

BACKGROUND Carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) is a reliable predictor of cardiovascular events. We Investigated the relationship between markers of glycemia and C-IMT in intermediate-risk cardiovascular patients. METHODS This study analyzed 427 subjects, aged 35 to 74 years (mean, 60.3 ± 8.5 years), 55 % women, enrolled into the MARK study. Including 231 subjects defined as normal glucose...

BACKGROUND Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) can be measured either by hand or with an automated edge detector. We performed a direct comparison of these 2 approaches and studied their respective associations with coronary heart disease outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS We studied 5468 participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, composed of white, Chinese, Hispanic...

PURPOSE Although inconsistent, reports have shown fibrinogen levels to be associated with atherosclerosis. Accordingly, since cigarette smoking is associated with increased levels of fibrinogen and atherosclerosis, it may also affect the association between fibrinogen and atherosclerosis. We investigated the associations between fibrinogen and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) according to s...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery (CCA) is well correlated with the degree of arteriosclerosis and is a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The (hemodynamic) resistive index (RI) of the internal carotid artery (ICA) correlates with the degree of arteriosclerosis just as well as IMT. The aim of the study was to compare the predi...