The association between erectile dysfunction, depressive symptoms and testosterone levels among middle-aged men.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between erectile dysfunction and depressive symptoms and testosterone levels among middle-aged men at the community level.

Methods: The study population consisted of 614 men born in 1945 and living in the city of Oulu, Finland. Erectile dysfunction was assessed by the erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire and depressive symptoms by the Beck Depression Inventory.

Reduction in metabolic syndrome among obese young men is associated with exercise-induced body composition changes during military service.

Aims: A population-based study of 1046 young Finnish men was performed to evaluate whether body composition changes observed during military service are associated with a reduction in prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS), and whether the effect is body mass index (BMI)-dependent.

Methods: A prospective study of 1046 men (mean age 19.2 years, SD 1.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome components among the elderly using three different definitions: a cohort study in Finland.

Objective: Limited data are available on the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in elderly people (aged 70 years and over) at population level in Northern Europe. A study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of MetS and its components in an aging population by using different definitions.

Design, Setting, And Subjects: A cross-sectional study of 539 inhabitants from Northern Finland (mean age 71.

Limited overlap between intermediate hyperglycemia as defined by A1C 5.7-6.4%, impaired fasting glucose, and impaired glucose tolerance.

Objective: We compared the prevalences and overlap between intermediate hyperglycemia (IH), defined by a hemoglobin A(1c) (A1C) 5.7-6.4%, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Ten-year natural course of habitual snoring and restless legs syndrome in a population aged 61-63 years at the baseline.

Purpose: We investigated the prevalence, natural course, and associated risk factors of habitual snoring (HS) and restless legs syndrome (RLS) over a period of 10 years among an aging population from their early sixties to their seventies.

Methods: A population-based follow-up study among all persons born in 1935 and living in the city of Oulu in northern Finland was conducted. In this study, we examined subjects who had participated in two subsequent surveys conducted in 1996-1998 and 2007-2008.

Exercise during military training improves cardiovascular risk factors in young men.

Objective: Physical activity is a key component of lifestyle intervention but its independent contribution to weight loss and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear. We conducted a population-level follow-up study among young healthy Finnish men undergoing an intensive exercise intervention to examine the independent contribution of exercise to common CVD risk factors.

Methods: A prospective study of 1112 young men with mean age of 19.

Postchallenge glucose, A1C, and fasting glucose as predictors of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease: a 10-year prospective cohort study.

Objective: A1C has been proposed as a new indicator for high risk of type 2 diabetes. The long-term predictive power and comparability of elevated A1C with the currently used high-risk indicators remain unclear. We assessed A1C, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) as predictors of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) at 10 years.

Physical activity and body composition changes during military service.

Purpose: To examine how body composition changes in different body mass index (BMI) categories among young Finnish men during military service, which is associated with marked changes in diet and physical activity. In addition, this study examined how reported previous physical activity affected the body composition changes.

Methods: Altogether 1003 men (19 yr) were followed throughout their military service (6-12 months).

Association of abnormal glucose tolerance with self-reported sleep apnea among a 57-year-old urban population in Northern Finland.

Aims: We examined the associations between glucose tolerance and sleep apnea in a 57-year-old unselected urban population in Northern Finland, taking into account some determinants of sleep apnea.

Methods: A population-based health survey was conducted in a population of 555 women and 438 men born in 1945 and living in the city of Oulu in 2001. Glucose status was determined with a standard 2-h oral glucose tolerance test.

Effect of lifestyle intervention on the occurrence of metabolic syndrome and its components in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study.

Objective: The aim of this secondary analysis of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study was to assess the effects of lifestyle intervention on metabolic syndrome and its components.

Research Design And Methods: A total of 522 middle-aged overweight men and women with impaired glucose tolerance were randomized into an individualized lifestyle intervention group or a standard care control group. National Cholesterol Education Program criteria were used for the definition of metabolic syndrome.

Insulin resistance and depressive symptoms in young adult males: findings from Finnish military conscripts.

Objective: To investigate whether the association between insulin resistance (IR) and depressive symptoms is present already in young adult males. The association between IR and depression has been poorly studied, although the existence of a connection of Type II diabetes with depression is well established. We previously demonstrated at epidemiological level in two groups of men aged 31 years and 61 to 63 years that IR is linked with depressive symptoms.

Sustained reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle intervention: follow-up of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study.

Background: Lifestyle interventions can prevent the deterioration of impaired glucose tolerance to manifest type 2 diabetes, at least as long as the intervention continues. In the extended follow-up of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, we assessed the extent to which the originally-achieved lifestyle changes and risk reduction remain after discontinuation of active counselling.

Methods: Overweight, middle-aged men (n=172) and women (n=350) with impaired glucose tolerance were randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention or control group.

Metabolic syndrome in connection with BMI in young Finnish male adults.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in relation to different Body Mass Index (BMI) categories in young Finnish males. Different components of MetS were assessed in 1099 healthy Finnish male military conscripts of about 19 years of age. Prevalence of MetS and its components, according to criteria given by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII), were calculated for different BMI categories.

Association of insulin resistance linked diseases and hair loss in elderly men. Finnish population-based study.

Previous investigations have shown an association of androgenetic alopecia (AGA) with insulin resistance related disorders such as ischemic heart disease. An association between AGA and anthropometric abnormalities linked with insulin resistance and heredity in women aged 63 years has also been shown. We therefore compared 63-year-old men with AGA and ones with normal hair status for insulin resistance linked parameters.

Health-related quality of life and physical well-being among a 63-year-old cohort of women with androgenetic alopecia; a Finnish population-based study.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the possible associations between female androgenetic alopecia (AGA), insulin resistance and health-related quality of life (HRQOL)-linked factors in women. We hypothesized that not only the mental aspects but also certain physical aspect of women's health, such as insulin resistance, have an important role in the determination of HRQOL among women with hair loss.

Methods: A population-based cohort of 330 healthy women aged 63 years, who participated in this study in the City of Oulu in Northern Finland, underwent a medical check-up including assessment of hair status on Ludwig's scale.

Associations of microalbuminuria and blood pressure with carotid, aortic and femoral atheromatous plaques in elderly Finns.

Aims: To evaluate the possible associations of microalbuminuria (MA) and blood pressure (BP) with the ultrasonographic manifestations of carotid, aortic and femoral atherosclerosis in 65-year-old Finns.

Methods: Ultrasonographic measurements were performed on 54 diabetic subjects, 97 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 57 normoglycemic subjects (NGT). Urinary albumin and creatinine concentrations were measured from an early morning spot urine sample, and the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) of > or = 2.

The relationship of glucose tolerance to sleep disorders and daytime sleepiness.

The purpose of the study was to find out if snoring, sleep apnea and daytime sleepiness are independent indices of obesity related to type two diabetes (T2D), and whether depression is independently associated with features of sleep apnea. A population-based cohort study was conducted among 593 subjects (245 men and 348 women) born in 1935 and living in Oulu in 1996-1998. Glucose status was determined with a standard 2h oral glucose tolerance test, and sleeping disorders were recorded on the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) and in a questionnaire of five questions about sleeping and snoring.

Physical activity in the prevention of type 2 diabetes: the Finnish diabetes prevention study.

Clinical trials have demonstrated that lifestyle changes can prevent type 2 diabetes, but the importance of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is still unclear. We carried out post hoc analyses on the role of LTPA in preventing type 2 diabetes in 487 men and women with impaired glucose tolerance who had completed 12-month LTPA questionnaires. The subjects were participants in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study, a randomized controlled trial of lifestyle changes including diet, weight loss, and LTPA.

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its components: findings from a Finnish general population sample and the Diabetes Prevention Study cohort.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in two independent Finnish study cohorts.

Research Design And Methods: The prevalence of the MetS by modified World Health Organization criteria was analyzed in different categories of glucose tolerance in a cross-sectional, population-based sample of 2,049 individuals (FINRISK) aged 45-64 years and in 522 participants of the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS) with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Results: In the FINRISK cohort, the MetS was present in 38.

Prevention of diabetes mellitus in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study: results from a randomized clinical trial.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide largely as a result from increasing obesity and sedentary lifestyle. The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study (DPS) is the first individually randomized controlled clinical trial to test the feasibility and efficacy of lifestyle modification in high-risk subjects. We randomly assigned 522 (172 men, 350 women) middle-aged (mean age 55 yr), overweight (mean body mass index 31 kg/m(2)) subjects with impaired glucose tolerance either to the lifestyle intervention or control group.

Hair loss, insulin resistance, and heredity in middle-aged women. A population-based study.

Context: The association of androgenic alopecia (AGA) with insulin resistance, coronary artery disease and hypercholesterolemia has been previously reported in men, but no such association has been reported in women with female androgenic alopecia (AGA). Female AGA has usually been linked with hyper-androgenism and hirsutism and, most recently, also with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), even though epidemiological documentation of the latter association is scanty. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is quite common among Caucasian women, and its association with insulin resistance is well documented.

Low insulin sensitivity measured by both quantitative insulin sensitivity check index and homeostasis model assessment method as a risk factor of increased intima-media thickness of the carotid artery.

The present study evaluated the association of ultrasonographic manifestations of carotid atherosclerosis with glucose status, various components of the insulin resistance syndrome, and insulin sensitivity measured by a novel quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI = 1/[log(I0) + log (G0)]). Carotid ultrasonographic measurements were performed on 54 diabetic subjects, 97 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance and 57 normoglycemic subjects. QUICKI and insulin resistance measured by a HOMA (homeostasis model assessment) method had a high negative correlation (r = -0.