As part of a comprehensive evaluation of lung function in Hong Kong-born Chinese children and adolescents, this study was conducted to determine updated prediction equations for spirometry, to ...evaluate the secular changes of lung function during the past decade, and to compare these results with other data sets. The results are based on 852 (392 male, 460 female) healthy students, age 7 to 19 yr, recruited from seven schools in Hong Kong. All were born and lived in Hong Kong, nonsmokers, free from past or present symptoms or diseases affecting the respiratory tract. A body plethysmograph was used to record lung function measurements. Natural logarithmic values of lung volumes and body height were used in the final regression model. Prediction equations for FVC, FEV(1), and maximal expiratory flow at 50% of the FVC (MEF(50)) for both sexes are presented, with standing height as the dependent variable. Compared with Hong Kong data from 1985, the results show a significant increase in height-corrected FVC and FEV(1) in both boys and girls, over the whole height range. Compared with recent data of whites, FVC in boys were 8 to 10% lower in the study population, and the difference increased to 12% above the 165 cm height ranges, while FVC in Chinese girls had similar or only slightly lower predicted values. FEV(1) values showed a similar pattern with lesser difference between the two ethnic groups. Compared with recent data from Chinese children in Singapore, a similar pattern with overall lesser difference of the two populations was present in boys, whereas there was no significant difference between girls in the two places. Our findings support the conclusion that exogenous factors may contribute significantly to the differences in lung function values among ethnic groups and that it is important to examine normative values of various populations for secular trends.
Exercise and relaxation decrease blood pressure. Qigong is a traditional Chinese exercise consisting of breathing and gentle movements. We conducted a randomised controlled trial to study the effect ...of Guolin qigong on blood pressure. In all, 88 patients with mild essential hypertension were recruited from the community and randomised to Goulin qigong or conventional exercise for 16 weeks. The main outcome measurements were blood pressure, health status (SF-36 scores), Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory scores. In the qigong group, blood pressure decreased significantly from 146.3+/-7.8/93.0+/-4.1 mmHg at baseline to 135.5+/-10.0/87.1+/-7.7 mmHg at week 16. In the exercise group, blood pressure also decreased significantly from 140.9+/-10.9/93.1+/-3.5 mmHg to 129.7+/-11.1/86.0+/-7.0 mmHg. Heart rate, weight, BMI, waist circumference, total cholesterol, renin and 24 h urinary albumin excretion significantly decreased in both groups after 16 weeks. General health, bodily pain, social functioning and depression also improved in both groups. No significant differences between qigong and conventional exercise were found. In conclusion, Guolin qigong and conventional exercise have similar effects on blood pressure in patients with mild hypertension. While no additional benefits were identified, it is nevertheless an alternative to conventional exercise in the nondrug treatment of hypertension.
As part of a comprehensive evaluation of lung function in Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents, over a thousand healthy subjects aged 7-19 yr from seven schools were recruited for lung function ...testing that included spirometry and, in many cases, lung subdivision measurements. Lung function tests were performed using SensorMedics Automated Body Plethysmograph according to published standards. Of these, 551 subjects (219 males), aged 8-19 yr, had satisfactory lung subdivision indices recorded. Analysis for the values of lung subdivisions including total lung capacity (TLC), residual volume (RV), and functional residual capacity (FRC) demonstrated that standing height and sitting height were the best predictors of lung volumes. After allowing for standing height or sitting height in the regression models for lung volumes, age at examination was the second best parameter, although its inclusion into the equations contributed to less than 1% of explained variance for boys and 3% for girls. These are the first reported data in international literature on reference values for lung subdivisions in Chinese children and adolescents.
This is the first study to examine the hypothesis that prolonged sitting is associated with procoagulant changes in the local lower-limb venous system. A comparison was made with upper-limb venous ...changes. Changes in markers of thrombin generation, fibrinolysis, endothelial perturbation and haemoconcentration were analysed as 10 healthy adult male participants sat for 8 h. The change in foot volume was estimated. Subjective venous thromboembolism assessment was undertaken hourly, along with 2-week and 4-week safety follow-up for clinical events. Expected increases in median prothrombin fragments 1 and 2, thrombin-antithrombin complex and D-dimer were not observed in either limb. An increase greater than 45% in the median tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator-1 molar ratio (t-PA/PAI-1), and a decrease greater than 15% in median soluble thrombomodulin were noted in both limbs. Median haematocrit decreased minimally (1%) in the lower limbs, while the foot volume increased by 4%. Subjects experienced vague symptoms after 6 h of sitting, but none developed symptomatic venous thromboembolism. Upper and lower-limb changes in biomarkers did not correlate, except those in t-PA/PAI-1 ratio and plasminogen activator-1. Significant correlation was found between changes in the lower-limb t-PA/PAI-1 ratio and right foot volume. This study originally reveals that even in the lower limbs, prolonged daytime cramped sitting is not associated with significant procoagulant changes in healthy adult male volunteers, and confirms a previous observation that local lower-limb venous changes are not identically reflected in the upper limbs.
An update of the Swedish reference standards for weight, length, and head circumference at birth, for each week of gestational age, is presented. It is based on the total Swedish cohorts of infants ...born 1977‐1981 (n= 475588). A “healthy population” (79%) was extracted, using prospectively collected data. Weekly (28‐42 weeks) grouped data for length and head circumference were well approximated by the normal distribution, but the distributions for birthweight were positively skewed. The original skewed distributions for birthweight were transformed, using the square root, resulting in distributions close to the Gaussian. For smoothing purposes, the weakly values for the mean and the standard deviation were both fitted by a third degree polynomial function. These functions also make possible the calculation of the continuous variable, standard deviation score, for individual newborn infants as well as a comparison of distributions between groups of infants. The reference values and charts presented here have two major advantages over the current Swedish ones: the sample size used is now sufficiently large at the lower gestational ages, so that empirically found variations can be used, and the skewness of the birth weight distribution has been taken into account. The use of the reference standards presented here improves and facilitates evaluation of sue deviation at birth.
Prolonged sitting and thrombophilia may compound the risk of venous thromboembolism. In order to investigate suspected local lower limb venous procoagulant changes associated with prolonged ...sitting-induced venous stasis in a man heterozygous for factor V Leiden (participant X), we qualitatively compared venous coagulability in lower and upper limb plasma in this participant and three other male Caucasians over 8 h of sitting. Of the four participants, participant X had the highest baseline values of prothrombin fragments 1 and 2, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, D-dimer and soluble thrombomodulin. Over time, in participant X, venous prothrombin fragments 1 and 2, thrombin-antithrombin III complexes, and soluble thrombomodulin decreased in both limbs; D-dimer decreased in the lower limbs but increased in the upper limbs; the tissue plasminogen activator/plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 molar ratio increased in both limbs; and minimal changes were noted in haematocrit. A foot volume increase was associated with vague symptoms towards the end of the study. Overall, these changes were similar to those observed in other participants. It is concluded from this case comparison that prolonged sitting of 8 h duration under normal atmospheric conditions did not result in local, as well as systemic, procoagulant haemostatic responses in a heterozygote for factor V Leiden when compared with other healthy volunteers. However, this observed, possibly adaptive, response is more likely to be compromised in factor V Leiden subjects during continued or increased venous endothelial stress or in the presence of other venous thromboembolism risk factors.
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