Background
Osteosarcopenic obesity was recently described as a variant phenotype of obesity, mainly observed in old age. This nested case–control study was performed to detect the differences in body ...composition between young, healthy overweight/obese and healthy lean populations of both genders. Our null hypothesis was that except for the fat mass, there would be absence of body composition differences, namely skeletal muscle and bone masses, between the groups.
Methods
We used an advanced bio‐impedance device to determine the body composition and measured circulating CRP (hsCRP) and diurnal salivary cortisol concentrations, as indices of inflammation and chronic stress, respectively. Overall, 2551 subjects aged 18–21 years participated in the study.
Results
The healthy lean group included 1072 participants 900 males (84%) and 172 females (16%), and the healthy overweight/obese group included 1479 participants 74 males (5%) and 1405 females (95%). Healthy overweight/obese participants presented with an increased fat mass (P < 0·001), as expected, but lower muscle (P < 0·001) and bone (P < 0·001) masses than lean controls. These findings were accompanied by increased extracellular water compartments, circulating hsCRP levels and evening salivary cortisol concentrations in the healthy overweight/obese group.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that ‘osteosarcopenic’ elements exist even in very young populations. These may represent a ‘precursor’ or forme fruste of the osteosarcopenic obesity phenotype in young healthy overweight/obese subjects, who may progressively develop osteosarcopenia in its full form at an older age. Our study highlights the significance of body composition analysis in medical practice, improving prevention and alleviating later health‐related economic burden.
Recent studies have suggested that body composition is key to health and disease. First, fat tissue is a complex, essential, and highly active metabolic and endocrine organ that responds to afferent ...signals from traditional hormone systems and the central nervous system but also expresses and secretes factors with important endocrine, metabolic, and immune functions. Second, skeletal muscle mass is an important predictor of health in adult life, while severe mass loss has been associated with the frailty of old age. Studies have shown that skeletal muscle is also an important endocrine organ that secretes factors with autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine actions, which have been associated with inflammatory processes. Third, the bone is also a systemic endocrine regulator playing a pivotal role in health and disease. Finally, proper hydration in humans has been neglected as a health factor, especially in adults. Chronic stress and stress hormone hypersecretion alone or associated with distinct disorders, such as anxiety, depression, obesity, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disorders, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), have been associated with psychological and somatic manifestations, typically, increased fat mass, osteosarcopenia/frailty, cellular dehydration, and chronic systemic inflammation. This review aims to provide new insights into the newly developed concept of stress-related osteosarcopenic obesity and its prevention.
Purpose
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between disordered eating attitudes and emotional/behavioral adjustment in Greek adolescents as well as the moderating role of gender and ...body mass index (BMI) in this relationship.
Methods
Ninety adolescents, 11–18 years old, were assessed using anthropometric measurements; demographics, eating attitudes and level of emotional/behavioral adjustment were examined via self-reported questionnaires.
Results
Disordered eating attitudes were prevalent in 17.8% of the sample. A significant relationship was found between disordered eating attitudes and Youth Self-Report (YSR) anxiety score
(r
= .22,
p
< .05). Gender significantly moderated the relationship between YSR anxiety symptoms and Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) scores (
b
= .59,
p
= .01) and this effect held true for the EAT bulimia subscale (
b
= .20,
p
= .03), but not for the dieting or the oral control subscales. Contrary to our hypothesis, BMI did not moderate the relationship between EAT and YSR anxiety sub-scores (
b
= .13,
p
> .05).
Conclusion
Girls with elevated anxiety levels appear to be at risk for exhibiting disordered eating attitudes, especially bulimic behaviors. This finding highlights the importance of developing gender-based preventive interventions tailored to these specific emotional/behavioral aspects.
Level of evidence
Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.
Breast cancer continues to be the most common malignancy among women in the United States. Despite its high incidence, early detection and modern treatment have made long-term survival more common. ...One of the most important sequelae of the treatment of breast cancer is the development of lymphedema. There are many issues for women to deal with after treatment for breast cancer. Focusing on the quality of life after breast cancer means dealing with issues such as an altered body image, changes in relationships with partner and children, living with any ongoing side effects, and the fear of tumor recurrence. The objective of this paper is to elucidate these issues concerning lymphedema.
Walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), formerly known as pancreatic abscess is a late complication of acute pancreatitis. It can be lethal, even though it is rare. This critical review provides an ...overview of the continually expanding knowledge about WOPN, by review of current data from references identified in Medline and PubMed, to September 2009, using key words, such as WOPN, infected pseudocyst, severe pancreatitis, pancreatic abscess, acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP), pancreas, inflammation and al...
Scarce data exist on the body composition of lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on treatment with metformin and oral contraceptives (OCs). Thirty-four lean (body mass index 18.5-24.9 ...kg/m
) women (17 with PCOS on metformin and OCs treatment for six months and 17 controls) aged 18-40 years were assessed for body composition parameters (fat, muscle, glycogen, protein masses, bone masses, and body water compartments) and phase angles. PCOS patients demonstrated lower muscle, glycogen and protein masses (U = 60,
= 0.003), along with a lower bone mineral content and mass (U = 78,
= 0.021; U = 74,
= 0.014) than their healthy counterparts, while total and abdominal fat masses were similar between the two groups. PCOS patients also exhibited increased extracellular body water (U = 10,
< 0.001) and decreased intracellular water, compatible with low-grade inflammation and cellular dehydration. Key differences in body composition between women with PCOS and controls demonstrated an osteosarcopenic body composition phenotype in PCOS patients. A confirmation of these findings in larger studies may render osteosarcopenia management a targeted adjunct therapy in women with PCOS.
Sex has been universally acknowledged as a confounding factor in every type of biological study, while there are strong sex differences in morbidity along the lifespan. Humans have almost identical ...genomes (99.2%), yet minor variance in their DNA produces remarkable phenotypic diversity across the human population. On the other hand, metagenomic analysis of the human microbiome is more variable, depending on the sex, lifestyle, geography, and age of individuals under study. Immune responses in humans also exhibit variations, with an especially striking sexual dimorphism, which is at play in several other physiologic processes. Sex steroids have noticeable effects on the composition of the human microbiome along the lifespan, accompanied by parallel changes in immunity and the stress response. Gut microsex/genderome, a recently coined term, defines the sexually dimorphic gut microbiome. Apart from the sex steroids, the stress hormones are also at play in the proliferation of microbes. This review summarizes the concept of gut microsex/genderome under the prism of recent studies on the interrelations of the sexually dimorphic microbiome with immunity and stress.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to report on the menarcheal age in girls of Greek origin and assess its potential associations with their demographic and perinatal data, as well as their ...maternal menarcheal age. Methods: In this case–control study, adolescent girls were recruited between September 2021 and September 2022 from two Pediatric Endocrinology Units, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Eligible participants included Greek girls up to the age of 18 years, with menarche and the absence of chronic disease or chronic medication use. Participants were divided into two groups, the early menarche group and the control group (menarche before or after 11 years of age, respectively). Data included participants’ maternal menarcheal age, their chronological age, place of residence, anthropometric data (at recruitment) and perinatal data (birth order, gestational age, type of delivery, birth weight/length). Results: A total of 100 girls aged 7–17 years (mean age ± SD 12.51 ± 2.59 years) were included in this study. The mean ± SD menarcheal age of the total sample was 11.47 ± 1.55 years (median 11.20 years; range 7.50–16.25 years); 43% had early menarche (median menarcheal age 10.50 years; range 7.50–10.91 years), and 57% had menarche after age 11 (median menarcheal age 12.08 years; range 11.00–16.25 years). The caesarean section rate was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in girls with early menarche (83.7%) than controls, whereas other variables did not differ significantly between groups. Conclusions: This Greek sample demonstrated a relatively young age at menarche with a significant proportion of girls with early menarche; in the latter group, the rate of caesarian sections was significantly higher than controls.
To investigate the way that family stress influences glycemic control among patients with diabetes who are younger than 18 years of age.
PubMed and Scopus were searched for relevant studies published ...since 1990 using the following key words: diabetes type 1, glycemic control, family stress, family conflict, and family function.
In total, 1478 papers were identified in the initial search. The final review included 6 cohort studies, 3 cross-sectional studies, and 1 qualitative review in which family stress was assessed using specific diabetes-related conflict measurement instruments, and glycemic control was evaluated by glycosylated hemoglobin measurement.
In most studies family stress was negatively correlated with patients' glycemic control. Family function was strongly related to patients' glycemic control, while family conflict was adversely associated with glycemic control. Families of low socioeconomic status, those of adolescents with diabetes, and those of single parents were more prone to diabetes-related stress and thus more susceptible to worse glycemic control.
Therapeutic psychological interventions and educational programs can help alleviate family diabetes-related stress and will likely improve glycemic control.
Abstract Background Recent studies have demonstrated that a significant proportion of adolescents exhibit abdominal obesity in early–middle adolescence, and impaired glucose metabolism. Dysregulation ...of glucose metabolism is aggravated by the existing osteosarcopenia not only in obese but also in overweight youth. Biochemical inflammation, derived from glucose metabolism dysregulation, in combination with increased stress levels lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, also known as ROS, which seem to afflict the integrity of the gastrointestinal wall, gut mucosa, and commensal, intestinal gut microflora. The current scientific protocol aims to assess the administration of probiotics in prediabetic adolescents in relation with their glycemic control, body composition, and intestinal microbiome. Methods/Design This is a study protocol of a two-armed RCT, that recruits adolescents with prediabetes, who will receive either a 4-month, life-style intervention, or a life-style intervention along with a probiotic supplement. The primary outcome is the differences in gut microbiome synthesis, body composition analysis parameters, and concentrations of hormones, before and after the intervention. Discussion This study aims to halt the progression of obesity and diabetes and aspires to contribute new evidence for upgraded treatment of obesity and diabetes. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ACTRN12615000470594).
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