Purpose: Although ACTH is considered a secondary regulator of aldosterone production, patients with apparent essential hypertension have been treated with mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs). In this study, we aimed to identify potentially damaging variants that might be implicated in the phenotype of a well-characterized cohort of 21 hypertensive patients without PA but with stress-induced aldosterone hypersecretion. The patients' blood pressure was normalized though MRA administration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) comprises the vast majority of all diabetes cases in adults, with alarmingly increasing prevalence over the past few decades worldwide. A particularly heavy healthcare burden of diabetes is noted in Europe, where 8.8% of the population aged 20-79 years is estimated to have diabetes according to the International Diabetes Federation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: The lipid accumulation product (LAP) is an index describing lipid over-accumulation based on waist circumference (WC) and fasting triglycerides, and can outperform the body mass index (BMI) in recognizing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. We aimed to explore the association of LAP with long-term CVD risk and compare its CVD-predictive value against common anthropometric indices/ratios of obesity.
Methods: ATTICA is a prospective, population-based cohort that recruited 3042 adults without pre-existing CVD from the Greek general population (age 18-89 years; 1514 men).
Background/objectives: Low/moderate alcohol consumption seems to be protective against cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study aimed to investigate the association of wine/beer consumption with the 10-year CVD incidence.
Subjects/methods: During 2001-2002, 3042 CVD-free adults consented to participate in the ATTICA study; of them 2583 completed the 10-year follow-up (85% participation rate), but precise information about fatal/nonfatal CVD incidence (myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, cardiac ischemia, heart failure, chronic arrhythmias, and stroke) was available in 2020 participants (overall retention rate 66%).
Purpose: Olive oil, being rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids and anti-inflammatory compounds, may have protective effects against cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of the present work was to examine the association of olive oil consumption with the 10-year CVD incidence in adults without pre-existing CVD.
Methods: The ATTICA Study is a prospective, population-based study conducted in the greater metropolitan area of Athens (Attica, Greece).
Purpose: Adiponectin is an adipokine with anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular-protective properties. Existing epidemiological evidence is conflicting on the exact relationship between adiponectin and long-term cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Our aim was to prospectively assess whether circulating adiponectin is associated with long-term incident CVD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHormones (Athens)
April 2017
Objective: The Humulus lupulus L. plant (hops) is used as a herbal medicinal product for anxiety/mood disorders. Our aim was to study the effects of a hops dry extract on self-reported depression, anxiety and stress levels in young adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Nutr
September 2017
Diabetes Metab Syndr
December 2017
Aims: Body fat accumulation is implicated in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Our objective was to explore potential associations between anthropometric indices and the 10-year CVD incidence in Greek adults without previous CVD.
Methods: During 2001-2, we enrolled 3042 adults without CVD from the general population of Attica, Greece.
Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the association between coffee consumption and 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence in the ATTICA study, and whether this is modified by the presence or absence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) at baseline.
Methods: During 2001-2002, 3042 healthy adults (1514 men and 1528 women) living in the greater area of Athens were voluntarily recruited to the ATTICA study. In 2011-2012, the 10-year follow-up was performed in 2583 participants (15% of the participants were lost to follow-up).
Background Chronic stress frequently manifests with anxiety and/or depressive symptomatology and may have detrimental cardiometabolic effects over time. As such, recognising the potential links between stress-related psychological disorders and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming increasingly important in cardiovascular epidemiology research. The primary aim of this study was to explore prospectively potential associations between clinically relevant depressive symptomatology and anxiety levels and the 10-year CVD incidence among apparently healthy Greek adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objectives: The aim of the present work was to evaluate the association between the inflammatory potential of the diet and the 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence in the ATTICA Study, and whether this is modified by the baseline presence or absence of metabolic syndrome (MetS).
Methods: During 2001-2002, 3042 healthy adults (1514 men and 1528 women) living in the greater area of Athens were voluntarily recruited to the ATTICA study. In 2011-2012, the 10-year follow-up was performed in 2583 participants (15% of the participants were lost to follow-up).
Obesity is a chronic metabolic disease characterised by an increase of body fat stores. It is a gateway to ill health, and it has become one of the leading causes of disability and death, affecting not only adults but also children and adolescents worldwide. In clinical practice, the body fatness is estimated by BMI, and the accumulation of intra-abdominal fat (marker for higher metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk) can be assessed by waist circumference.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This large cross-sectional, multi-centre study evaluated the association of body composition measurements by a novel dual frequency bioimpedance device (BIA-ACC) with chronic stress/inflammation biomarkers and the presence of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS).
Materials And Methods: Participants were adult Caucasians of both sexes and included 10,416 lean subjects with no MUS (Group A), 58,710 lean subjects with MUS (Group B) and 30,445 overweight/obese subjects with no MUS and excessive fat mass (FM) (Group C).
Results: Total body extracellular water (ECW) was higher, while intracellular water (ICW) was lower in Group B than both other groups (P < 0.
Obesity is recognised as a global epidemic and the most prevalent metabolic disease world-wide. Specialised obesity services, however, are not widely available in Europe, and obesity care can vary enormously across European regions. The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO, www.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Opin Pharmacol
December 2009
Stress, defined as a state of threatened homeostasis, mobilizes a complex spectrum of adaptive physiologic and behavioral responses that aim to re-establish the challenged body homeostasis. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) constitute the main effector pathways of the stress system, mediating its adaptive functions. In western societies, indices of stress correlate with increasing rates of both obesity and metabolic syndrome which have reached epidemic proportions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResistin has been shown to cause insulin resistance and to impair glucose tolerance in rodents, but in humans its physiological role still remains elusive. The aim of this study was to examine whether resistin mRNA expression in human peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and its corresponding plasma levels are altered in type 2 diabetes. Resistin mRNA levels were easily detectable in human PBMC, and found to be higher in DM2 compared to healthy women (P = .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic stress represents a prolonged state of dyshomeostasis caused by intense and frequently imposed stressors. Obesity constitutes a chronic dysmetabolic state, leading progressively to a spectrum of metabolic complications, such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Alpha growing body of evidence supports the existence of significant interactions between stress and obesity, with chronic stress promoting weight gain, and consequently excessive fat accumulation especially visceral, all these factors contributing to the development of a chronic stressful state.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of consensus guidelines for obesity is complex. It involves recommending both treatment interventions and interventions related to screening and prevention. With so many publications and claims, and with the awareness that success for the individual is short-lived, many find it difficult to know what action is appropriate in the management of obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2005, for the first time in European history, an extraordinary expert panel named BSCG (Bariatric Scientific Collaborative Group), was appointed through joint effort of the major European scientific societies which are active in the field of obesity management. Societies that constituted this panel were: IFSO - International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity, IFSO-EC - International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity - European Chapter, EASO - European Association for Study of Obesity, ECOG - European Childhood Obesity Group, together with the IOTF (International Obesity Task Force) which was represented during the completion process by its representative. The BSCG was composed not only of the top officers representing the respective scientific societies (four acting presidents, two past presidents, one honorary president, two executive directors), but was balanced with the presence of many other key opinion leaders in the field of obesity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF