Biomedical subjects

H Cena

Publications and source records attributed to H Cena.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

[Nutritional management of patients suffering of chronic renal failure].

Nutritional support constitutes a fundamental approach to favour the management of chronic renal failure and to postpone the need of kidney dialysis. The specific goals of the nutrition intervention are: control of protein intake, control of phosphate and of calcium intake, control of potassium intake, control of energy intake, control of lipid intake with clear identification of the polyunsaturated vs monounsaturated vs saturated fatty acid rate, control of vitamin intake, prevention of malnutrition and intervention with oral supplements or artificial nutrition (even if for short time) if malnutrition occurs. The proper management of the nutritional problems of patients with chronic renal failure slows the disease progression, prevents or controls symptoms associated with uremia and postpones the beginning of substitutive treatment that is of hemodialysis or of peritoneal dialysis, thus allowing a better quality of life either in the short or long term for patients suffering of chronic renal failure.

Caloric Restriction↗

PubMed2004

Validation of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire parent version (DEBQ-P) in the Italian population: a screening tool to detect differences in eating behaviour among obese, overweight and normal-weight preadolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To validate the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire Parent version (DEBQ-P) in the Italian population and investigate the differences in eating behaviour among Italian normal-weight, overweight and obese preadolescents. DESIGN: A cross-sectional validation study. Participants were measured and the approved translation of the questionnaire was administered to their parents. SETTING: : Three school communities in the province of Bergamo, Northern Italy. SUBJECTS: A total of 312 preadolescents (mean age 12.9 y; s.d. 0.8, both sexes) from three secondary schools of the province of Bergamo, Northern Italy, and their parents were invited to participate to the study. Informed written consent was obtained from each subject and their parents. Students were measured and their parents filled in the approved translation of the DEBQ-P. Recruitment was opportunistic and school based. RESULTS: Factor and internal consistency analysis confirmed the factor structure of the DEBQ-P and the high internal consistency of its three scales. Variance analysis showed that eating behaviour of Italian normal-weight, overweight and obese preadolescents differs significantly only in regards to the 'restrained eating' scale (F 19.29, P < 0.001), with overweight and obese scoring higher. CONCLUSIONS: The DEBQ-P can be used for screening projects regarding eating behaviour in the Italian population. The association between restrained eating and weight status was confirmed for both sexes, but the relationship between external eating and emotional overeating and overweight requires further exploration.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Is a modest weight loss significant in the improvement of dyslipidemic patients lipid profile.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate serum lipid abnormalities and the relationship with various factors in overweight and obese patients and to assess lipid profile modifications subsequent to weight loss in a subgroup of patients. METHODS: A sample of 110 obese out-patients first and a subgroup of 34 subjects afterwards, was selected at the Human Nutrition Research Centre of the University of Pavia for a retrospective analysis. The subjects recruited were all dyslipidemic, according to the American Clinical Guidelines for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. Differences in lipid profiles in subjects with different life habits were evaluated and in a subgroup of 34 subjects compared before and after a short-term moderate hypocaloric diet. RESULTS: Sample's mean age was 46.8+/-12.6 with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 32.1+/-4.8 kg/m2 (no difference with gender). The correlation analyses showed that total cholesterol (TC) concentrations were highly correlated with age (p<0.001); no correlation was found between TC and BMI, waist hip ratio (WHR), % body fat (BF%). Triglycerides (TG) concentrations were not related to age or BMI, however there was a significant correlation between TG and WHR and with waist circumference (WC) (p<0.001). The 34 subjects selected to take part in a dietary regimen, without significant changes in life habits, lost 5.1% of their initial weight and presented a significant improvement (p<0.001) in lipid profile. CONCLUSIONS: The high correlation between lipid profile and anthropometric measurements implies further longitudinal evaluation of the validity of the anthropometric indexes in the dyslipidemic patient management. Indeed, the results suggest that modest weight loss is sufficient to obtain a significant improvement in fasting serum lipid profile of dyslipidemic overweight patients.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Body uneasiness in overweight and obese Italian women seeking weight-loss treatment.

OBJECTIVE: It is known that the psychopathology of eating disorders is associated with body image disturbances, but little is known concerning the body image of obese subjects. The aim of this study was to assess body uneasiness in overweight and obese women in relation to their age, degree of obesity, the percentage and distribution of body fat mass, and eating disordered behaviours. METHOD: The study population consisted of 99 overweight and obese women with a mean age of 34.3 +/- 10.1 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 31.3 +/- 5.4 kg/m2, who completed two self-report questionnaires: the Bulimic Investigation Test Edinburgh (BITE) to assess disordered eating behaviours and the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) to assess body image uneasiness. Pearson correlations were used to determine the associations between the BUT scores and age, anthropometric measures (BMI, waist and hip circumferences, waist/hip ratio, percentage of body fat mass) and the BITE scores. The most significant determinants of the BUT scores were also determined using a multiple linear regression model. RESULTS: Disordered eating behaviours were found in 7.1% of the patients. Neither BUT nor BITE scores correlated with age, but BITE scores correlated with BMI and hip circumference (p < 0.05). The overall BUT score increased with increasing BITE scores and higher indices of all of the anthropometric measures (p < 0.001) except for the percentage of body fat mass. Multiple linear regression analyses showed that, among the considered parameters, the only significant determinants of body uneasiness were disordered eating behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that body uneasiness in an obese clinical population is closely associated with disordered eating behaviours, and suggest that it is not dependent on age, the degree of obesity, or the percentage or distribution of body fat mass.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

[Obesity etiology: role of leptin].

A huge interest in the scientific community has been aroused since leptin's discovery (from greek leptos=thin), due to its important role in the body energetic balance regulation. This protein is synthesized from ob gene and secreted by the adipose tissue when fat mass increases, decreasing hunger and increasing energy expenditure in order to restore energetic balance. In the latest years many human genetic studies have been conducted showing that sometimes obesity may be due to mutations of genes involved in energetic balance mediated by leptin. These findings amplified the knowledge of obesity etiopathogenesis, thus arousing hopes and expectations for new therapeutic horizons in this disease. Latest researches also outlined many other functions of leptin, some of which are presented in this review. In this paper we collected the most significant data about leptin's physiology and its role in body energetic homeostasis, looking also to the effects on hypothalamus-hypophysis-endocrine axes regulation, on body thermoregulation, on the reproductive function and on foetus and child growth. A wide section is thus reserved to the most recent findings about the role of leptin in obesity and about its therapeutic applications in this field.

English Abstract↗

PubMed2001

[Epidemiology of obesity].

Overweight and obesity are conditions characterized by weight levels higher than the normal limits for age, sex, and height. Because people stratified for sex and age vary in stature and this influences weight, criteria for being overweight must take height into account: this is defined and set out in WHO guidelines on the basis of Body Mass Index (BMI): weight (kg)/height2 (m2). Obese and overweight individuals are at a greater risk of developing chronic metabolic conditions and general ill health, than those whose weights are within the recommended guidelines. Besides these chronic related conditions for which obesity is a major risk factor incur enormous expenditure. The health hazards of obesity are compounded by the influence of central fat distribution. The disease associations of central fat are present even in people who are not overweight. Waist circumference is a simple measure that gives a very reasonable estimate of the amount of central fat. Data collected in the USA and Europe show a common trend: the increase of obesity and overweight among the adult and children population. Obesity appears to be the result of several factors that interact among them such as: genetic, environment, and behaviour. Current strategies, such as reducing food intake, seem to lead to poor long term outcomes. Management has tended to neglect the unavoidable need to consider obese subjects as chronically ill patients, requiring continuous assistance for active steps to maintain weight loss. Treatments should be multidisciplinary aiming at the achievement of radical changes in the individual's lifestyle. The planning and management of preventive programs for young people such as pubertal children have been disregarded up to now. They require not only attention, but also organization, clear goals and standardized methods. Moreover, a correct education is a key-element of these issues. Our unit has designed for this purpose an observational study aimed to reach a better comprehension of the proportion of ''weight problems'' and eating behavioural patterns in a population of adolescents.

English Abstract↗

PubMed1996

Comparative study of the relationship between multi-frequency impedence and body water compartments in two European populations.

To investigate possible differences in the relationship between multi-frequency impedance and body-water compartments (total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW)) measured by dilution techniques in two European populations, we studied forty Italian (twenty male and twenty female) and forty-three Dutch (twenty-three male and twenty female) healthy subjects aged 19-41 years. The main differences in body build between the two groups were height, trunk length and the two ratios TBW/height and ECW/height. Population-specific prediction formulas for ECW (at 1 kHz) and TBW (at 100 kHz) were developed. The prediction errors for ECW and TBW were about 0.6 and 1.5 kg respectively, (CV 4%) in both groups. Cross-validation analysis showed no significant error in the prediction of TBW but a slight error (range -4.9 to +2.8%) in the ECW prediction. The biases in both TBW and ECW were correlated with ECW/TBW (r -0.44, P < 0.0005 and r +0.52, P < 0.0005 respectively) in the two groups; the biases in ECW were also related to ECW/height (r 0.51, P < 0.001), TBW/height (r 0.25, P < 0.05), trunk length (r 0.36, P < 0.001) and Z1/Z100 (r 0.32, P < 0.01). In conclusion, the water distribution between the extra- and intracellular compartments emerged in the present study as the major cause of error in the prediction of body water, and in particular of ECW from impedance measurements with a population-specific equation. Moreover, body build, expressed as TBW/height and ECW/height, had an impact on the bias.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Coffee induced thermogenesis and skin temperature.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the changes in mean skin temperature and the energy expenditure induced by drinking coffee containing 4 mg of caffeine/kg body weight. Twelve healthy, weight-stable subjects were studied (five males, seven females; mean age +/- s.d., 25.3 +/- 3.3 years; BMI 22.5 +/- 3.1). Energy expenditure (EE) was measured by open-circuit indirect calorimetry, and skin temperature was determined with thermometric probes applied to the four body regions indicated by Ramanathan (chest, arm, thigh, calf). The calorimetric and thermometric measurements were carried out for 120 min with the participants lying down quietly. A significant correlation was found between the total thermogenic responses (net responses) and the temperature changes between 90 and 120 min from the coffee intake. Multiple regression analysis using mean EE after coffee intake as the dependent variable, and mean skin temperature and body weight as the independent variables yields the following equation: EE (kcal/min/m2) = -1.44 + 0.052 (mean skin temperature) + 0.004 (body weight). (r = 0.71 and P = 0.01) Our results indicate that small interindividual differences in mean skin temperature could explain energy expenditure differences in subjects with the same body weight, body composition and physical activity. This, in turn, could help explain variations in proneness to obesity.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

How reliable is bio-electrical impedance analysis for individual patients?

We performed bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA) on 38 healthy adults with an initial body mass index (+/- s.d.) of 30 kg/m2 (+/- 5) before and after a low calorie diet. Five weeks later a mean weight loss of 4.2 +/- 2.3 kg was observed. According to BIA, fat-free mass (FFM) decreased in 28 subjects and increased in ten. In four cases the reduction was greater than the weight loss. At the end of the ten week diet regimen all 27 subjects followed up demonstrated a further weight reduction. According to BIA, FFM decreased in 22 subjects, increased in four and did not change in one case. In one case the reduction was greater than the weight loss. Although mean FFM values assessed by skinfolds and BIA were not significantly different before and after the weight loss period, no correlations were found among the individual changes in FFM evaluated by the two methods. Our results suggest that single frequency (50 KHz) impedance must be used with care in clinical conditions.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Skin temperature and energy expenditure.

The value of mean skin temperature as an estimate of energy expenditure was verified in a sample of 10 normal-weight adult male subjects. Measurements were carried out with thermometric probes under conditions of rest and environmental thermoneutrality. Total heat losses were then calculated through a computerized complex mathematical formula. The value for mean energy expenditure obtained in this manner (100.2 +/- 7.02 kcal/h) is extremely close to the value for theoretical metabolism derived from the predictive equations in the literature (95.01 +/- 6.14). This verification of the validity of transforming cutaneous temperature data into energy expenditure, in accurately standardized experimental conditions, confirms the importance that the value of mean skin temperature, in the area of variability among individuals, can have in conditioning the energy balance at different levels, for a given caloric intake and with all other parameters being equal (age, sex, physical activity). In this connection, these results suggest that skin temperature may play a role in the pathogenesis of obesity.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Adolescent Body Mass Index data: what differences result using different reference standard curves?].

Childhood and adolescent obesity prevalence rates have steadily increased both in industrialised and developing countries in the last years. Data from literature show that BMI is an acceptable indicator to assess overweight and obesity also in children and adolescents. Different reference standard curves for BMI exist: the percentiles of Rolland-Chacherà, Luciano, the National Center for Health Statistics, Cole and Cacciari. Nevertheless, different cut off points are used by the authors to identify underweight, overweight and obesity. The aim of the present study was to investigate what differences can emerge when comparing adolescent BMI using different references standard curves. Five hundreds and thirty-five adolescent subjects, aged 15.4 +/- 0.7 years, were recruited in Aosta Valley (Northen Italy). BMI was calculated according to the following equation: BMI = weight/height2 (kg/m2). The data obtained were distributed according to BMI percentiles and than compared with references standard curves. The comparison shows different results especially when underweight, overweight and obesity are identified. In conclusion, it can be asserted that BMI is an useful indicator to assess adiposity (overweight and obesity) in adolescent, but one should be cautious when comparing results based on different references.

Adolescent↗