Effects of Armolipid Plus on small dense LDL particles in a sample of patients affected by familial combined hyperlipidemia.

Aim: The aim of this study was to test small dense LDL changes with Armolipid Plus treatment in patients with familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL).

Methods: After 4 weeks, 30 patients with FCHL were included in an 8-week, randomized, double-blind study and were taking, in addition to the standard diet, either placebo or Armolipid Plus.

Results: The placebo group showed no statistically significant differences in the studied parameters; instead, in the Armolipid Plus group, statistically significant reduction differences were detected in BMI (p = 0.

Low-lipid diet reduces frequency and severity of acute migraine attacks.

Background And Aim: There is uncertainty regarding the prevention of migraine crises by changing the lifestyle of patients. The aim of this randomized, crossover intervention trial was to evaluate the effects of a low lipid intake on the incidence and severity of migraine crises, in comparison to a diet with moderate lipid intake.

Methods And Results: After a 2-month run-in when patients received preventive medication but were left on their habitual diet, a low-lipid or a normal-lipid diet was randomly prescribed for 3 months and thereafter diets were crossed over for the following 3 months.

Lifestyle educational program strongly increases compliance to nonpharmacologic intervention in hypertensive patients: a 2-year follow-up study.

The authors investigated the efficacy of a lifestyle educational program, organized in small group meetings, in improving the outcome of a nonpharmacologic intervention. One hundred and eighty-eight hypertensive patients with stable blood pressure (BP) levels and drug therapy in the previous 6 months were randomly divided into educational care (EC) and usual care (UC) groups. They were followed at 3-month intervals up to 2 years.

Dietary pattern and blood pressure control in a hypertension outpatient clinic.

Although it is well known that some dietary measures are able to beneficially affect blood pressure (BP) levels, hypertensive patients find it very difficult to definitively change their nutritional habits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on BP of a return to the habitual diet following a dietary intervention period. Three hundred and seven hypertensive patients (149 females, 158 males) with a mean age of 52+/-12 years were included in the study.

A new analytical approach for humin determination in sediments and soils.

In this work a new analytical approach is proposed for the recovery of humin present in soil and sediments. The procedure is based on microwave oven treatment for humin deashing. In this way both the treatment time and the concentration of the HCl/HF mixture are significantly reduced (minutes rather than hours, 10% rather than concentrated).

Self-monitoring of plasma triglyceride levels to evaluate postprandial response to different nutrients.

Self-monitoring of plasma triglycerides (TG) may be a very useful tool to monitor, on a daily basis, the TG responses to different nutrients, particularly carbohydrates (CHO) and fat, whose influence on postprandial TG levels is not very well known. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the TG response of hypertriglyceridemic patients to a similar amount of calories deriving from different sources of CHO and fat. Thirty-nine hypertriglyceridemic patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental groups.

Effects of dietary cholesterol on plasma lipoproteins and their subclasses in IDDM patients.

To compare the effects of dietary cholesterol supplementation in insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients and normal subjects, 10 male IDDM patients in good glycaemic control (HbA1c 7.3+/-0.9%) (mean+/-SD) and normal plasma lipid levels, and 11 control male subjects of similar age, body mass index and lipid plasma levels underwent a double blind, cross-over, sequential study.

Increasing the dietary potassium intake reduces the need for antihypertensive medication.

Objective: To determine whether an increase in dietary potassium intake from natural foods reduces the need for antihypertensive medication in patients with essential hypertension.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial with 1-year follow-up.

Setting: Hypertension outpatient clinic of a university hospital.

Evaluation of new computerized method for recording 7-day food intake in IDDM patients.

Objective: To evaluate a new computerized method for recording 7-day food intake.

Research Design And Methods: Randomized crossover trial was conducted with patients recording the amount and type of every food and drink consumed during a week by either a computerized device (Food-meter) or recording the data in a diary. Each method was applied twice.

Effects of changing amount of carbohydrate in diet on plasma lipoproteins and apolipoproteins in type II diabetic patients.

Eight type II (non-insulin-dependent) normolipidemic diabetic patients (aged 45 +/- 15 yr, body mass index 22 +/- 2 kg/m2, means +/- SD) treated with diet alone or diet plus oral hypoglycemic agents were given, in random order for periods of 15 days, two diets with different carbohydrate (CHO) (40 vs. 60% of total calories) and fat (20 vs. 40%) levels.

Metabolic consequences of feeding a high-carbohydrate, high-fiber diet to diabetic patients with chronic kidney failure.

The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic effects of a high-carbohydrate (CHO), high-fiber diet with only moderate protein restriction with those of a low-CHO, low-fiber diet with a low protein content in six diabetic patients with moderate chronic renal failure. The high-CHO, high-fiber diet induced a significant improvement in blood glucose control, a significant decrease in serum cholesterol, and a significant increase in fecal nitrogen losses. Other variables evaluated were not significantly different between the two diets, except for a significant increase in serum phosphorus during the high-CHO, high-fiber diet.

Controlled trial of low calcium versus high calcium intake in mild hypertension.

A controlled trial of the effect of low versus high calcium intake on blood pressure was performed in 15 patients with mild essential hypertension (supine blood pressure after a 1-month run-in period: 145.7 +/- 2.6/97.

Different glycaemic responses to pasta, bread, and potatoes in diabetic patients.

To evaluate whether the same amount of carbohydrate (CHO) in different foods gives different glycaemic responses when consumed in the context of a real meal, seven diabetic patients were given in a random order and on alternate days three test meals of identical composition. Each meal consisted of a fixed part to which a 50 g CHO portion of either bread (90 g) or spaghetti (65 g) or potatoes (285 g) was added. The glycaemic response was significantly higher after ingestion of bread than after the spaghetti meal both at 2 (5.

Separate influence of dietary carbohydrate and fibre on the metabolic control in diabetes.

To clarify the separate influences of digestible carbohydrate and of dietary fibre on blood glucose control and serum lipoproteins, 14 diabetic patients (six Type 1 and eight Type 2) were submitted to three weight-maintaining diets for 10 days each: (1) low carbohydrate/low fibre diet with 42% carbohydrate and 20 g fibre; (2) high carbohydrate/low fibre diet (carbohydrate 53%, fibre 16 g); (3) high carbohydrate/ high fibre diet (carbohydrate 53%, fibre 54 g). In comparison with the low carbohydrate/low fibre diet, the 2-h post-prandial blood glucose and the daily blood glucose profile decreased significantly on the high carbohydrate/high fibre diet, without significant changes during the high carbohydrate/low fibre diet. The diet-induced modifications of blood glucose control were similar in both types of diabetic patients (two-way analysis of variance: F = 5.

Evaluation of the hypocholesterolemic effect of vegetable proteins.

The hypocholesterolemic effect of dietary vegetable proteins was studied by comparing egg-white protein and fava bean protein concentrate in one normal and seven hypercholesterolemic (six type II A, one II B) persons; five completed the crossover design. To maintain stable body weight, subjects were kept on an isocaloric diet (20% protein, 48% carbohydrate (CH), 32% fat, P/S = 2) for 1 month and then hospitalized for two consecutive 18-day periods while receiving an isocaloric diet of different composition (15% protein, 50% CH, 26% fat, P/S = 2). Women were provided 50 g and men 70 g daily of egg-white or fava bean protein concentrate during the two crossover periods.

Effect of dietary fibre on glucose control and serum lipoproteins in diabetic patients.

To evaluate the effects of a fibre-rich diet on blood glucose and serum lipoproteins, eight diabetic patients, four on insulin and four on oral hypoglycaemic drugs, were put on three different diets, a different one for each consecutive 10-day period: diet A (carbohydrate 53%, fibre 16 g), diet B (carbohydrate 53%, fibre 54 g), and diet C (carbohydrate 42%, fibre 20 g). All diets had identical polyunsaturated/saturated fat ratios. Both 2 h post-prandial glucose and mean daily glucose levels were significantly lower after diet B than after either of the two other diets, as were total and LDL cholesterol levels.