BACKGROUND There have been no human prospective randomized studies of the amount of alcohol that can induce hepatic steatosis. METHODS Thirty-two healthy women and twelve healthy men (34 ± 9 years of age) were randomized to consume 150 ml of red wine/day for women (16 g ethanol/day) or double that amount for men (33 g ethanol/day), or to alcohol abstention for 90 days. Participants underwent ...

The distribution of total plasma homocysteine concentrations in relation to the sex and age is described, in a population of Shiraz, South West of Iran and compared to those reported in other populations.  Two hundred and one healthy males and 201 healthy females aged >15 y were randomly selected.  Total Plasma homocysteine concentrations were measured using high performance liquid chromatograp...

BACKGROUND Reasons for attrition in studies vary, but may be a major concern in long-term studies if those who drop out differ systematically from those who continue to participate. Factors associated with dropout were evaluated in a twelve-year community-based, prospective cohort study of urologic disease in men. METHODS During 1989-1991, 2,115 randomly selected Caucasian men, ages 40-79 yea...

OBJECTIVE Malnutrition, defined as low or excessive body weight, is associated with increased hospital length of stay and cost of care. The purpose of this study was to determine if fat-free mass (FFM) and body fat (BF) differed between patients at hospital admission in Geneva and Berlin and healthy volunteers, and if there is a difference in the prevalence of low FFM (percentile P<10) and high...

BACKGROUND There is rapidly growing interest in applying measures of myocardial strain and synchrony in clinical investigations and in practice; data are limited regarding their reference ranges in healthy individuals. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed speckle-tracking-based echocardiographic measures of left ventricular myocardial strain and synchrony in healthy adults (n=739, mean age 63 yea...

CONTEXT The lifetime risk of heart failure at age 40 years is approximately 1 in 5 in the general population; however, little is known about the association between modifiable lifestyle factors and the remaining lifetime risk of heart failure. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between modifiable lifestyle factors and the lifetime risk of heart failure in a large cohort of men. DESIGN, SE...

BACKGROUND Aging is accompanied by progression of depressive symptoms, which significantly impair the prognosis and quality of life of elderly men. Currently, there are no Polish reference values reflecting age-related changes in the intensity of depressive symptoms in healthy men. AIM An assessment of the severity of depressive symptoms in a population of healthy Polish men, and an evaluatio...

Although dual-task interference has previously been demonstrated to have a significant effect on postural control among individuals with Parkinson's disease, the impact of speech complexity on postural control has not been demonstrated using quantitative biomechanical measures. The postural stability of twelve participants with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and twelve healthy age-matched contr...

BACKGROUND We tested the hypothesis that the nonactive limb vasoconstriction evoked during large-muscle dynamic exercise becomes augmented with aging in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS Sixteen young control subjects (age, 26 +/- 1 year) and twelve older (65 +/- 1 year) healthy men with similar chronic physical activity levels were studied during supine leg cycling exercise. Both peak work load (1...

Swallowing disorders are common in the elderly, and aging is a factor that affects swallowing function. The elevation of the hyoid bone is important for swallowing and is controlled by the suprahyoid muscles. The hyoid and laryngeal elevation allows the bolus to enter the esophagus. The suprahyoid muscles, therefore, play an important role in swallowing. The effects of aging on suprahyoid muscl...