Background/objectives
Alternate day fasting (ADF) is a subtype of intermittent fasting and is defined as a continuous sequence of a fast day (100% energy restriction, zero calories) and a feed day ...(ad libitum food consumption), resulting in roughly 36-h fasting periods. Previous studies demonstrated weight reductions and improvements of cardiovascular risk factors with ADF in obese subjects. However, rigorous data on potential endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular effects, besides weight loss, are lacking. Therefore we aim to investigate the short- and mid- to long-term clinical and molecular effects of ADF in healthy non-obese subjects.
Methods
We will perform a prospective cohort study with an embedded randomized controlled trial (RCT) including 90 healthy subjects. Thirty of them will have performed ADF for at least 6 months (mid-term group). Sixty healthy subjects without a particular diet before enrolment will serve as the control group. These subjects will be 1:1 randomized to either continuing their current diet or performing ADF for 4 weeks. All subjects will undergo study procedures that will be repeated in RCT participants after 4 weeks. These procedures will include assessment of outcome parameters, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, measurement of endothelial function, an oral glucose tolerance test, 24-h blood pressure measurement, retinal vessel analysis, echocardiography and physical activity measurement by an accelerometer. Blood, sputum, buccal mucosa and faeces will be collected for laboratory analyses. Participants in the RCT will wear a continuous glucose monitor to verify adherence to the study intervention.
Planned outcomes
The aim of this project is to investigate the effects of ADF on human physiology and molecular cellular processes. This investigation should gain in-depth mechanistic insights into the concept of ADF and form the basis for larger subsequent cohort recruitment and consecutive intervention studies.
Trial registration
NCT02673515; registered 24 November 2015. Current protocol date/version: 7 February 2017/version 1.8.
Elevated blood pressure remains a major cause of cardiovascular disease, disability, and premature death in Austria, with suboptimal rates of detection, treatment and control also in recent years. ...Management of hypertension is a common challenge for physicians with different spezializations. In an attempt to standardize diagnostic and therapeutic strategies and, ultimately, to increase the rate of patients with controlled blood pressure and to decrease the burden of cardiovascular disease, 13 Austrian medical societies reviewed the evidence regarding prevention, detection, workup, treatment and consequences of high blood pressure in general and in various clinical scenarios. The result is presented as the first national consensus on blood pressure. The authors and societies involved are convinced that a joint national effort is needed to decrease hypertension-related morbidity and mortality in our country.
This article describes an interdisciplinary unit in which students explore biological "ice nucleation"--by particles that cause water to freeze at temperatures above -38°C--through the lens of the ...microbial ice nucleator "Pseudomonas syringae." Such This activity, which aligns with the "Next Generation Science Standards", exposes students to the global water cycle, highlighting the importance of critical and ethical thinking at the intersection of biology and engineering. Furthermore, the activity is designed to: (1) introduce students to principles of ice nucleation and allow them to recognize the diversity of ice-nucleating particles; (2) allow students to recognize how interdisciplinary research can address complex problems across multiple fields of study, using ice nucleation and its relationship to atmospheric processes as an example; (3) have students consider principles of experimental design, including the formulation of testable hypotheses and the inclusion of appropriate positive and negative controls in developing an ice nucleation test; (4) have students design and conduct an ice nucleation experiment with known and unknown samples of undetermined ice nucleation activity; and (5) highlight connections between systems of different scale such as microbiology (ice nucleation) and the global water cycle (bioprecipitation).
Zusammenfassung
Erhöhter Blutdruck bleibt eine Hauptursache von kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen, Behinderung und frühzeitiger Sterblichkeit in Österreich, wobei die Raten an Diagnose, Behandlung und ...Kontrolle auch in rezenten Studien suboptimal sind. Das Management von Bluthochdruck ist eine häufige Herausforderung für Ärztinnen und Ärzte vieler Fachrichtungen. In einem Versuch, diagnostische und therapeutische Strategien zu standardisieren und letztendlich die Rate an gut kontrollierten Hypertoniker/innen zu erhöhen und dadurch kardiovaskuläre Erkrankungen zu verhindern, haben 13 österreichische medizinische Fachgesellschaften die vorhandene Evidenz zur Prävention, Diagnose, Abklärung, Therapie und Konsequenzen erhöhten Blutdrucks gesichtet. Das hier vorgestellte Ergebnis ist der erste Österreichische Blutdruckkonsens. Die Autoren und die beteiligten Fachgesellschaften sind davon überzeugt, daß es einer gemeinsamen nationalen Anstrengung bedarf, die Blutdruck-assoziierte Morbidität und Mortalität in unserem Land zu verringern.
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