Influence of alternative lifestyles on self-reported body weight and health characteristics in women.

Background: Alternative lifestyles are often associated with distinct practices with respect to nutrition, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use and usage of complementary medicine. Evidence concerning effects of these lifestyle-related practices on health status is still fragmentary.

Objective: To describe maternal health characteristics related to alternative lifestyles, with emphasis on body-weight status, during pregnancy and maternity periods.

Integration of complementary and alternative medicine in primary care: what do patients want?

Objective: To explore patients' perspectives towards integration of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in primary care.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used. This included a survey on use, attitudes and disclosure of CAM, an e-panel consultation and focus group among patients with joint diseases.

Health effects of an organic diet--consumer experiences in the Netherlands.

Background: Health is one of the main reasons for consumers to buy organic; however, scientific evidence for a health effect is still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived health effects experienced by consumers of organic food using a free access online questionnaire.

Results: A total of 566 respondents participated, of whom 30% reported no health effects.

Methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci on pig farms as a reservoir of heterogeneous staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec elements.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) likely originated by acquisition of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) from coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). However, it is unknown whether the same SCCmec types are present in MRSA and CNS that reside in the same niche. Here we describe a study to determine the presence of a potential mecA reservoir among CNS recovered from 10 pig farms.

Effect of organically and conventionally produced diets on jejunal gene expression in chickens.

Using a nutrigenomics approach we studied the response of second-generation chickens at a transcriptional level to organically grown feed ingredients compared with conventionally grown feed ingredients. Both diets consisted of the same amounts of ingredients, the only difference was the production method. Gene expression was analysed in jejuni using whole genome chicken cDNA arrays.

Effects of organically and conventionally produced feed on biomarkers of health in a chicken model.

Consumers expect organic products to be healthier. However, limited research has been performed to study the effect of organic food on health. The present study aimed to identify biomarkers of health to enable future studies in human subjects.

Consumption of organic foods and risk of atopic disease during the first 2 years of life in the Netherlands.

We prospectively investigated whether organic food consumption by infants was associated with developing atopic manifestations in the first 2 years of life. The KOALA Birth Cohort Study in the Netherlands (n 2764) measured organic food consumption, eczema and wheeze in infants until age 2 years using repeated questionnaires. Diet was defined as conventional ( 90 % organic).

Plasma annexin A5 level relates inversely to the severity of coronary stenosis.

Exogenous radiolabeled annexin A5 is taken up by atherosclerotic tissue. We measured endogenous plasma annexin A5 and circulating oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), a biochemical marker of atherosclerosis, in men with either severe angiographically determined coronary stenosis (n=90) or no or only minor stenosis (n=96). Men without history of cardiac disease or treatment and free of plaques in the carotid artery (by ultrasonography) were taken as controls (n=87).

Human skin condition and its associations with nutrient concentrations in serum and diet.

Background: Nutritional factors exert promising actions on the skin, but only scant information is available on the modulating effects of physiologic concentrations of nutrients on the skin condition of humans.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate whether nutrient concentrations in serum and diet are associated with the skin condition of humans.

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which data on serum concentrations of nutrients, dietary intake of nutrients, and the hydration, sebum content, and surface pH of skin were obtained from 302 healthy men and women.