Subjective health perception in healthy young men changes in response to experimentally restricted sleep and subsequent recovery sleep.

Sleep and subjective health are both prospectively related to objective indices of health and health care use. Here, we tested whether five days with restricted sleep and subsequent recovery days affect subjective health and is related to increased levels of circulating IL-6 and TNF-α and fatigue. Nine healthy men (23-28 ears) went through a 6-week sleep protocol with subjects as their own controls in a repeated measures design with a total of 11 nights in a sleep laboratory.

Leptin and adiponectin: distribution and associations with cardiovascular risk factors in men and women of the general population.

Objective: In view of the increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide, understanding the role of the recently discovered adipokines leptin and adiponectin is of high clinical relevance. The aim of the present study was to assess the association between levels of leptin and adiponectin with age, known cardiovascular risk factors and to establish whether there are differences between men and women of the general population.

Methods: A total of 98 men and 107 women of the general population, aged between 20 and 74 years, underwent a medical examination at a clinical research center and fasting morning blood samples were also taken.

Inflammation and positive affect are associated with subjective health in women of the general population.

Poor subjective health has been associated with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines. We investigated whether such an association would apply to women of the general population. Levels of cytokines, affect and subjective health were assessed in 347 women of the general population aged 45 to 90 years.

Prevalence of colonic neoplasia and advanced lesions in the normal population: a prospective population-based colonoscopy study.

Objective: There are few prospective studies of the prevalence of colonic neoplasia in the normal population. In order to properly evaluate screening-protocols for colorectal cancer in risk groups (e.g.

Association of TNFSF15 polymorphism with irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder, affecting more than 10% of the general population worldwide. Although a genetic component is suspected, unambiguous susceptibility genes have so far not been identified. This study tested the hypothesis that genes contributing to epithelial barrier integrity, control of mucosal immune responses and interactions with bacteria in the gut are associated with IBS.

Cytokines and memory across the mature life span of women.

Increasing evidence suggests a role of the immune system in modulation of cognition, but details on affected memory systems are largely lacking. We therefore aimed to study the relation between selected cytokines and subsets of memory, and the impact of age in these relations. From a random population-based sample (the Betula Prospective Cohort Study), 298 women (age 45-90) were studied in terms of episodic recall and recognition, semantic fluency and knowledge, and prospective memory.

Prospective diary evaluation of unexplained abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction: a population-based colonoscopy study.

Introduction: Diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have not been validated by prospective symptom diary. We investigated the bowel patterns in community subjects with and without non-organic abdominal pain, and compared the symptoms with subjects fulfilling the Rome II criteria (IBS).

Methods: From the Swedish population register, a random sample completed an abdominal symptom questionnaire.

Associations between leptin and self-rated health in men and women.

Background: As an important mediator by which the brain receives information about the body's energy state, leptin may be associated with subjectively perceived health.

Objective: The main aim of the present study was to investigate concurrent and prospective associations between leptin and self-rated health (SRH), a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality, in a random population sample. An additional aim was to examine whether sick leave was associated with leptin and poor SRH.