Mental health needs and barriers to service in the Chinese American community: insights gained from focus groups.

Objectives: Mental health remains an unmet need among Chinese Americans. This study aims to identify specific needs and strategies that may address the needs.

Design: A total of 55 Chinese Americans consented and participated in online focus groups conducted in either Chinese or English using nominal group technique.

Metabolic Response to Androgen Deprivation Therapy of Prostate Cancer.

Prostate cancer (PC) stands as the most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer and ranks as the second highest cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States. For those facing non-metastatic PC necessitating intervention, solely local treatments may not suffice, leading to a possible transition toward systemic therapies, including androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), chemotherapy, and therapies targeting androgen. Yet, these systemic treatments often bring about considerable adverse effects.

Longitudinal Pilot Evaluation of the Gut Microbiota Comparing Patients With and Without Chronic Kidney Disease.

Objective: The gut microbiota contributes to metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, but is poorly characterized in chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Design And Methods: We enrolled 24 adults within household pairs, in which at least one member had self-reported kidney disease, diabetes, or hypertension. CKD was classified based on estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.

Effects of Chinese heart-healthy diet on blood lipids, glucose, and estimated 10-y cardiovascular disease risk among Chinese adults: results on secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Healthy diet is essential for cardiovascular disease risk management, but its effects among Chinese patients, whose diets differ from Western diets, remain largely unknown.

Methods: In this multicenter, patient- and outcome assessor-blind, randomized controlled feeding trial, 265 Chinese adults with baseline systolic blood pressure 130 to 159 mmHg were randomly assigned into Chinese heart-healthy (CHH) diet or usual diet for a 28-d intervention after a 7-d run-in period on usual diet. Blood lipids and glucose were measured from overnight fasting blood samples before and after the intervention.

Diversity of plant DNA in stool is linked to dietary quality, age, and household income.

Eating a varied diet is a central tenet of good nutrition. Here, we develop a molecular tool to quantify human dietary plant diversity by applying DNA metabarcoding with the chloroplast -P6 marker to 1,029 fecal samples from 324 participants across two interventional feeding studies and three observational cohorts. The number of plant taxa per sample (plant metabarcoding richness or pMR) correlated with recorded intakes in interventional diets and with indices calculated from a food frequency questionnaire in typical diets (ρ = 0.

Supplement use and gastric cancer risk in the Southern Community Cohort Study.

Purpose: Gastric cancer remains a racial health disparity in the US, but few studies have examined supplements as a potential protective factor. We examined associations between regular supplement use and gastric cancer risk among the predominantly Black participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS).

Methods: Of the 84,508 individuals recruited in the SCCS from 2002 to 2009, 81,884 responded to the baseline question: any vitamin or supplement taken at least once per month in the past year.

Effects of Lifestyle Modification on Psychosocial Function in Patients With Resistant Hypertension: SECONDARY OUTCOMES FROM THE TRIUMPH RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL.

Purpose: In a secondary analysis of the TRIUMPH clinical trial, psychological outcomes in patients with resistant hypertension (RH) receiving a diet and exercise intervention delivered in a cardiac rehabilitation setting were compared with those receiving a similar prescription of diet and exercise provided in a single counseling session by a health educator.

Methods: One hundred forty patients with RH were randomly assigned to a 4-mo program of dietary counseling, behavioral weight management, and exercise (C-LIFE) or a single counseling session providing standardized education and physician advice (SEPA). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires to assess psychological functioning before and after the intervention.

The Streaming Web-Based Exercise at Home Study for Breast and Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Feasibility Study Protocol.

Background: Despite the known benefits of physical activity in cancer survivors, adherence to exercise guidelines remains low. Known barriers to adhering to guidelines include a lack of time and an unwillingness to return to treatment facilities. Virtual exercise programming could assist in mitigating these barriers.

Identifying the behavior change techniques used in obesity interventions: An example from the EARLY trials.

Objective: The dissemination of effective obesity interventions requires the documentation of key elements of the intervention. But outcome papers and other published manuscripts often lack detail that allow the replication of the intervention. The Behavior Change Technique (BCT) Taxonomy (BCTTv1) is a widely used approach to identify key elements of an intervention study.

Inflammation moderates the effects of lifestyle modification on neurocognition among individuals with resistant hypertension.

Individuals with resistant hypertension (RH) have the greatest risk of cerebrovascular disease and cognitive impairment among individuals with hypertension. Elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines may represent a critical yet unexamined factor influencing the impact of healthy lifestyle changes on cognitive function. We explored the influence of inflammation on changes in cognition following lifestyle modification among individuals with RH participating in the TRIUMPH clinical trial.

Microbiota responses to different prebiotics are conserved within individuals and associated with habitual fiber intake.

Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) derived from gut bacteria are associated with protective roles in diseases ranging from obesity to colorectal cancers. Intake of microbially accessible dietary fibers (prebiotics) lead to varying effects on SCFA production in human studies, and gut microbial responses to nutritional interventions vary by individual. It is therefore possible that prebiotic therapies will require customizing to individuals.

Effects of Cuisine-Based Chinese Heart-Healthy Diet in Lowering Blood Pressure Among Adults in China: Multicenter, Single-Blind, Randomized, Parallel Controlled Feeding Trial.

Background: More than one-fifth of the world's population consumes Chinese cuisines regularly, but no evidence-based healthy diets fitting the Chinese food culture are available for implementation.

Methods: A multicenter, patient- and outcome assessor-blind, randomized feeding trial was conducted among 265 participants with 130 to 159 mm Hg baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) for 4 major Chinese cuisines (Shangdong, Huaiyang, Cantonese, Szechuan). After a 7-day run-in period on a control diet matching the usual local diets, participants were randomized to continue with the control diet or the cuisine-based Chinese heart-healthy diet for another 28 days.

Lifestyle modification and cognitive function among individuals with resistant hypertension: cognitive outcomes from the TRIUMPH trial.

Background: Resistant hypertension is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline, stroke, and dementia. Lifestyle modification has been suggested to improve cognitive function through its salutary effects on vascular function.

Methods: Participants included 140 patients with resistant hypertension participating in the TRIUMPH trial.

Self-Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet Adherence Among Black Americans With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan improves hypertension in Black individuals and is associated with favorable chronic kidney disease (CKD) outcomes. Yet, adherence to DASH is low among US adults in general, particularly among Black Americans. We assessed perceptions about DASH, its cultural compatibility, and barriers and facilitators to DASH adherence in Black adults with CKD.

Geriatric Assessment Reveals Actionable Impairments in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Candidates Age 18 to 80 Years.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) is a potentially curative treatment for both malignant and nonmalignant hematologic diseases; however, reported rates of treatment-related mortality approach 30%. Outcomes are worse in patients who begin HCT with functional impairments. To detect such impairments, a geriatric assessment (GA) is recommended in adults age ≥65 years.

Bioavailability of phosphorus and kidney function in the Jackson Heart Study.

Background: High phosphorus (P) exposure may have negative effects on kidney function. Nutrient databases provide total P, but bioavailability varies by source.

Objectives: We aimed to assess natural, added, and bioavailable P intake, and to relate these to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the Jackson Heart Study (JHS).

Weight loss via a low-carbohydrate diet improved the intestinal permeability marker, zonulin, in prostate cancer patients.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggest that gut microbiota may impact urologic health including prostate cancer (PC), potentially affecting intestinal permeability (IP). Studies have indicated that disrupted IP may be improved by healthy diets and weight loss. In the Carbohydrate and Prostate Study 2 (CAPS2) clinical trial, which showed that a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) reduced weight significantly in men with PC and suggestively slowed PC disease progression, we explored the impact of LCD on an IP marker, zonulin and an inflammation marker, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).

Serum metabolomic analysis of men on a low-carbohydrate diet for biochemically recurrent prostate cancer reveals the potential role of ketogenesis to slow tumor growth: a secondary analysis of the CAPS2 diet trial.

Background: Systemic treatments for prostate cancer (PC) have significant side effects. Thus, newer alternatives with fewer side effects are urgently needed. Animal and human studies suggest the therapeutic potential of low carbohydrate diet (LCD) for PC.

Cerebrovascular Function, Vascular Risk, and Lifestyle Patterns in Resistant Hypertension.

Background: Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and blunted cerebral hemodynamic recruitment are thought to be important mechanisms linking hypertension to cerebrovascular and cognitive outcomes. Few studies have examined cardiovascular or dietary correlates of CVR among hypertensives.

Objective: To delineate associations between cardiometabolic risk, diet, and cerebrovascular functioning among individuals with resistant hypertension from the TRIUMPH trial (n = 140).

Effects of Lifestyle Modification on Patients With Resistant Hypertension: Results of the TRIUMPH Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Although lifestyle modifications generally are effective in lowering blood pressure (BP) among patients with unmedicated hypertension and in those treated with 1 or 2 antihypertensive agents, the value of exercise and diet for lowering BP in patients with resistant hypertension is unknown.

Methods: One hundred forty patients with resistant hypertension (mean age, 63 years; 48% female; 59% Black; 31% with diabetes; 21% with chronic kidney disease) were randomly assigned to a 4-month program of lifestyle modification (C-LIFE [Center-Based Lifestyle Intervention]) including dietary counseling, behavioral weight management, and exercise, or a single counseling session providing SEPA (Standardized Education and Physician Advice). The primary end point was clinic systolic BP; secondary end points included 24-hour ambulatory BP and select cardiovascular disease biomarkers including baroreflex sensitivity to quantify the influence of the baroreflex on heart rate, high-frequency heart rate variability to assess vagally mediated modulation of heart rate, flow-mediated dilation to evaluate endothelial function, pulse wave velocity to assess arterial stiffness, and left ventricular mass to characterize left ventricular structure.

Low Carbohydrate Diets and Estimated Cardiovascular and Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Prostate Cancer.

Purpose: A low carbohydrate diet (LCD) was shown to suggestively slow prostate cancer (PC) growth. In noncancer patients, LCDs improve metabolic syndrome (MetS) without weight loss. However, concerns about negative impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk remain.