Sedentary lifestyle and body composition in type 2 diabetes

Background Body composition alterations may participate in the pathophysiological processes of type 2 diabetes (T2D). A sedentary lifestyle may be responsible for alterations of body composition and adverse consequences, but on which body composition of patients with T2D and to what extent the sedentary lifestyle has an effect have been poorly investigated. Methods We recruited 402 patients with T2D for this cross-sectional study. All patients received questionnaires to evaluate sedentary time and were further divided into three subgroups: low sedentary time (LST, < 4 h, n = 109), middle sedentary time (MST, 4–8 h, n = 129) and high sedentary time (HST, > 8 h, n = 164). Each patient underwent a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan to detect body composition, which included body fat percentage (B-FAT), trunk fat percentage (T-FAT), appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI), lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) (LS-BMD), femoral neck BMD (FN-BMD), hip BMD (H-BMD) and total BMD (T-BMD). Other relevant clinical data were also collected. Results With increasing sedentary time (from the LST to HST group), B-FAT and T-FAT were notably increased, while ASMI, LS-BMD, FN-BMD, H-BMD and T-BMD were decreased (p for trend < 0.01). After adjustment for other relevant clinical factors and with the LST group as the reference, the adjusted mean changes [B (95% CI)] in B-FAT, T-FAT, ASMI, LS-BMD, FN-BMD, H-BMD and T-BMD in the HST group were 2.011(1.014 to 3.008)%, 1.951(0.705 to 3.197)%, − 0.377(− 0.531 to − 0.223) kg/m2, − 0.083(− 0.124 to − 0.042) g/cm2, − 0.051(− 0.079 to − 0.024) g/cm2, − 0.059(− 0.087 to − 0.031) g/cm2 and − 0.060(− 0.088 to − 0.033) g/cm2, p < 0.01, respectively. Conclusions A sedentary lifestyle may independently account for increases in trunk and body fat percentage and decreases in appendicular skeletal muscle mass and BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, hip and total body in patients with T2D.

Dynamic of Glucose Homeostasis in Virtual Patients: A Comparison between Different Behaviors

This work presents a mathematical model of homeostasis dynamics in healthy individuals, focusing on the generation of conductive data on glucose homeostasis throughout the day under dietary and physical activity factors. Two case studies on glucose dynamics for populations under conditions of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle were developed. For this purpose, two types of virtual populations were generated, the first population was developed according to the data of a total of 89 physical persons between 20 and 75 years old and the second was developed using the Monte Carlo approach, obtaining a total of 200 virtual patients. In both populations, each participant was classified as an active or sedentary person depending on the physical activity performed. The results obtained demonstrate the capacity of virtual populations in the generation of in-silico approximations similar to those obtained from in-vivo studies. Obtaining information that is only achievable through specific in-vivo experiments. Being a tool that generates information for the approach of alternatives in the prevention of the development of type 2 Diabetes.

Bone Health in Children With Risk Factors for Low Bone Mass

Purpose: To describe clinical and biological characteristics of pediatric patients with at least one risk factor (RF) for low bone mass for chronological age (LBMca)/childhood osteoporosis (cOP) and to assess its influence on bone mineral density (BMD).Methods: Patients between 2 and 20 years of age with at least 1 RF were recruited. Daily calcium intake, number of previous fractures and other RFs and their distribution among different groups were assessed. Spine and whole body DXA and vertebral morphometry were performed.Results: 103 patients were included. Mean age was 9.8 years old. 52.4% were female. Of the RFs, 84.5% presented insufficient calcium intake, 38.8% were receiving or had received corticosteroids, 31.1% were receiving other treatments with osteotoxic potential, 13.6% led a sedentary lifestyle, 12.6% presented history of fractures, and up to 8.1% had hypovitaminosis D. 38% of the cohort had 2 RFs, 31% had 3 RFs, 15% had 4 RFs, and 12% associated 5 or more RFs. 10.5% met LBMca criteria and 4.8% met cOP criteria. 73% of vertebral BMD was justified by age and hypovitaminosis D (positive effect), and male sex and Hispanic ethnicity (negative effect). 82% of total body less head BMD was justified by age (positive effect), and Hispanic ethnicity and sedentary lifestyle (negative effect).Conclusions: Pediatric populations with risk of LBM/cOP have 2 or more risk factors. Up to 10.5% of children with RFs present LBM and 4.8% have an unknown cOP. RFs related to changes in BMD are age, sex, sedentary lifestyle, ethnicity, and hypovitaminosis D.

Sedentary lifestyle and precocious puberty in girls during COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian experience

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate children observed for suspected precocious puberty in 5 Italian centers of Pediatric Endocrinology during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic (March- September 2020), compared to subjects observed in the same period of the previous year. Design: The study population (490 children) was divided according to year of observation and final diagnosis: transient thelarche (TT), non-progressive precocious puberty (NPP), central precocious puberty (CPP), or early puberty (EP). Results: Between March and September 2020, 338 subjects were referred for suspected precocious puberty, compared to 152 subjects in the same period of 2019 (+222%). The increase was observed in girls (328 subjects in 2020 versus 140 in 2019, p<0.05), especially during the second half of the period considered (92 girls from March to May versus 236 girls from June to September); while no difference was observed in boys (10 subjects in 2020 versus 12 in 2019). The percentage of girls with confirmed CPP was higher in 2020, compared to 2019 (135/328 girls [41%] versus 37/140 [26%], p<0.01). Anthropometric and hormonal parameters in 2019 and 2020 CPP girls were not different; 2020 CPP girls showed a more prolonged use of electronic devices and a more sedentary lifestyle both before and during the pandemic, compared to the rest of the 2020 population. Conclusions: The present findings corroborate the recently reported association between the complex lifestyle changes related to the lockdown and a higher incidence of central precocious puberty in Italian girls.

Mitochondrial Dysfunction as a Hallmark of Environmental Injury

Environmental factors including diet, sedentary lifestyle and exposure to pollutants largely influence human health throughout life. Cellular and molecular events triggered by an exposure to environmental pollutants are extremely variable and depend on the age, the chronicity and the doses of exposure. Only a fraction of all relevant mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of pathologies in response to toxicants has probably been identified. Mitochondria are central hubs of metabolic and cell signaling responsible for a large variety of biochemical processes, including oxidative stress, metabolite production, energy transduction, hormone synthesis, and apoptosis. Growing evidence highlights mitochondrial dysfunction as a major hallmark of environmental insults. Here, we present mitochondria as crucial organelles for healthy metabolic homeostasis and whose dysfunction induces critical adverse effects. Then, we review the multiple mechanisms of action of pollutants causing mitochondrial toxicity in link with chronic diseases. We propose the Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) as a model of “exposome receptor”, whose activation by environmental pollutants leads to various toxic events through mitochondrial dysfunction. Finally, we provide some remarks related to mitotoxicity and risk assessment.

Physical Activity Classification with Wearable Sensor Data in an eCoach Recommendation System (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Leading a sedentary lifestyle may cause numerous health problems. Therefore, sedentary lifestyle changes should be given priority to avoid severe damage. Research in eHealth can provide methods to enrich personal healthcare with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). An eCoach system may allow people to manage a healthy lifestyle with health state monitoring and personalized recommendations. Using machine learning (ML) techniques, this study investigated the possibility of classifying daily physical activity for adults into the following classes - sedentary, low active, active, active, highly active, and rigorous active. The daily total step count, total daily minutes of sedentary time, low physical activity (LPA), medium physical activity (MPA), and vigorous physical activity (VPA) served as input for the classification models. We first used publicly available Fitbit data to build the classification models. Second, using the transfer learning approach, we re-used the top five best-performing models on a real dataset as collected from the MOX2-5 wearable medical-grade activity sensor. We found that ensemble ExtraTreesClassifier with an estimator value of 150 outperformed other classifiers with a mean accuracy score of 99.72% for single feature and support vector classifier (SVC) with “linear” kernel outpaced other classifiers with a mean accuracy score of 99.14% for five features, for the public Fitbit datasets. To demonstrate the practical usefulness of the classifiers, we conceptualized how the classifier model can be used in an eCoach prototype system to attain personalized activity goals (e.g., stay active for the entire week). After transfer learning, K-Nearest-Neighbor (KNN) outpaced the other four classifiers for a single feature, and SVC with a “linear” kernel outdid the other four classifiers for multiple features.

AVALIAÇÃO DO PERFIL HEPÁTICO, DO CONSUMO ALIMENTAR E DE ÁLCOOL EM ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOS

Hepatic steatosis is a condition that affects the liver by increasing the visceral fat causing hepatic damage. The disease development might be associated with sedentary lifestyle; unhealthy eating habits; as well as use of tobacco, medications, and alcoholic beverages especially in college students due to change in their routine. In this sense, the goal of this study was to evaluate the hepatic profile of such students throughout the TGO, TGP and Gamma GT enzymes and to correlate this information with data obtained by a questionnaire regarding food consumption, alcohol intake, tobacco use and physical activity. In order to do so, an analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in individuals of both genders, male and female, aged between 18 and 30 years old and from different graduation courses in which such students filled out a questionnaire form and underwent venous collection for the laboratory analyzes. Forty-six students from different graduation courses were evaluated. Most of them were female (67.40%), single (93.5%), sedentary (73.91%) and making use of alcoholic beverages (63.04%) at least 3 times a week. From all the subjects analyzed, were 22% of them that presented alterations in the serum dosage of liver enzymes, a fact that is relevant and raises our concern because it refers to such a young community with strong negative indications regarding their own health care.

Special Issue “Wearable and BAN Sensors for Physical Rehabilitation and eHealth Architectures”

The demographic shift of the population toward an increased number of elder citizens, together with the sedentary lifestyle we are adopting, is reflected in the increasingly debilitated physical health of the population [...]

Association between sedentary behavior and low back pain; A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Sedentariness is a substantial risk for many chronic diseases. We aimed to investigate the correlation of sedentary behavior and its indicators with low back pain (LBP) among adults and children. Methods: Original articles published up to April 28, 2020, using PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus were evaluated. Odds ratio (OR, 95% CI) was considered the overall effect size for desired associations. Results: We reviewed 49 English articles with analytical observational study design, of which, 27 studies with cross sectional/survey design were retained in the meta-analysis. Among adults, sedentary lifestyle was a considerable risk factor for LBP (OR=1.24, 1.02-1.5); prolonged sitting time (OR=1.42, 1.09-1.85) and driving time (OR=2.03, 1.22-3.36) were the significant risk factors. Sedentary behavior was associated with LBP in office workers (OR=1.23). Moreover, excess weight (OR=1.35, 1.14-1.59) and smoking (OR=1.28, 1.03-1.60) were associated with LBP. Among children, sedentary lifestyle was a remarkable risk factor for LBP (OR=1.41, 1.24- 1.60); prolonged TV watching (OR=1.23, 1.08-1.41) and computer/mobile using and console playing time (OR=1.63, 1.36-1.95) were significant risk factors for LBP. Consumption of coffee, however, has yield conflicting results to be considered as a risk factor. Moreover, the researches on the correlation between sedentariness and high-intensity LBP are scarce and inconclusive. Conclusion: Sedentary behavior, whether in work or leisure time, associates with a moderate increase in the risk of LBP in adults, children and adolescents.

Fatalism and stigma amongst cancer patients in south western Punjab

The ideology and beliefs have a profound impact upon once lifestyle. Economic status, level of knowledge and awareness, beliefs and notions, social support system available, constitutes important determinants impacting to copeup strategies for cancer victims. The present study was conducted to assess the fatalism and stigma amongst cancer patients in south western Punjab. Two districts i.e. Bathinda and Sri Muktsar Sahib were randomly selected. Majority (87.5%) of the respondents believe that in cancer patients attributed cancer has caused due to their karmas. Forty six per cent of the respondents believed that cancer is contagious. One third (34.3%) of the respondents and their family members used the term ‘cancer’ as they believed that taking the name of disease had nothing to do with its curability versus non-curability or to describe the dreaded disease from which they were suffering. One third of the male respondents perceived imbalanced diet and sedentary lifestyle behind as a reasoning causing cancer and half of the male respondents and significantly majority of the female respondents (93.3%) perceived substance abuse as a reason behind causing cancer in the region. The study suggests that NGOs, religious bodies and philanthropists can contribute significantly towards treatment, management and rehabilitation of cancer victims. The use of recommended doses of pesticides/ insecticides and fertilizers and unprecedented use of chemicals should be monitored through government agencies and guilty should be punished.