HFE genotypes and dietary heme iron: no evidence of strong gene-nutrient interaction on serum ferritin concentrations in middle-aged women.

Background And Aim: Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a disorder characterized by inappropriately high intestinal iron absorption. In populations of Northern European descent, HH is most commonly caused by mutations (C282Y/H63D) in the HFE gene.

Methods And Results: We investigated the effects of dietary heme iron intake and HFE mutations on serum ferritin concentrations in a population-based random sample of 1611 women aged >50 years using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

Alcohol consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes among older women.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relation between alcohol consumption and type 2 diabetes among older women.

Research Design And Methods: Between 1993 and 1997, 16,330 women aged 49-70 years and free from diabetes were enrolled in one of the Dutch Prospect-EPIC (European Prospective Study Into Cancer and Nutrition) cohorts and followed for 6.2 years (range 0.

Best reproducibility of the ankle-arm index was calculated using Doppler and dividing highest ankle pressure by highest arm pressure.

Background And Objective: To investigate which method of ankle-arm index (AAI) measurement in terms of selected arteries and blood pressure devices yields the highest reproducibility.

Study Design And Setting: In this cross-sectional study, duplicate AAI measurements were obtained at the right and left side in 320 postmenopausal women. Analyses were done as proposed by Bland and Altman and intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated.

Use of hormones in the menopausal transition period in the Netherlands between 1993 and 1997.

Objectives: To describe the patterns and to assess the indicators of hormone use during the menopausal transition period in a Dutch population.

Methods: Between 1993 and 1997, 17,357 women aged 49-70 years participated in the Prospect-EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) cohort and filled out an extensive questionnaire, which included information about hormone use during menopausal transition and other medical and lifestyle characteristics. Patterns of hormone use were described and various characteristics were evaluated as indicators of current hormone use by logistic regression.

Soy isoflavones, body composition, and physical performance.

Objectives: Physiologic changes, occurring during the process of aging, can have serious health consequences, such as increased risk of chronic disease and disability. Decline in estradiol levels after menopause is hypothesized to contribute to this risk. Thus, hormone therapy (HT) might prevent or delay those changes.

Alcohol and arterial wave reflections in middle aged and elderly men.

Background: Augmentation index (AIx) is a measure of arterial wave reflection, providing information on the workload of the heart. and is a possible marker for cardiovascular disease risk. The relation of alcohol consumption with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is U-shaped with a protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption.

Non-invasively measured structural and functional arterial characteristics and coronary heart disease risk in middle aged and elderly men.

Background: In cardiovascular (CV) epidemiology, interest increases in studying etiologic and prognostic implications of early structural or functional changes of the large arteries. Examples of such measurements are pulse wave velocity (PWV), carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and augmentation index (AIx). PWV and CIMT are established markers of CV risk whereas the role of AIx as indicator of risk has not fully been established.

Effect size estimates of lifestyle and dietary changes on all-cause mortality in coronary artery disease patients: a systematic review.

Background: Guidelines for lifestyle and dietary modification in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are mainly supported by evidence from general population studies. CAD patients, however, differ from the general population in age (older) and treatment with preventive drugs. This review seeks to provide evidence for a prognostic benefit of lifestyle and dietary recommendations from studies in CAD patients.

Genetic studies to identify genes underlying menopausal age.

Menopausal age is important as a retrospective marker for ovarian senescence, an early menopausal age is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis, whereas a later menopausal age has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The worldwide average for age at natural menopause is approximately 51 years and is more or less normally distributed with a range roughly between 40 and 60 years. Environmental factors explain only a small part of the variance and it has been proposed that genetic factors are the main source of variation.

Serum ferritin is a risk factor for stroke in postmenopausal women.

Background And Purpose: Iron is an essential element for the human body. It has, however, been suggested that excessive iron stores may increase the risk of vascular disease. So far, epidemiologic studies on stroke are sparse.

Endogenous oestrogens are related to cognition in healthy elderly women.

Objective: To investigate whether levels of endogenous hormones, in particular circulating oestrogens and SHBG, are associated with cognition in healthy postmenopausal women.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Patients: Four hundred and two healthy postmenopausal women aged 50-74 years between 8 and 30 years after menopause, none taking oestrogen.

Age at menopause, cause-specific mortality and total life expectancy.

Background: A later menopause has been associated with a decreased cardiovascular risk but with an increased risk for breast and endometrial cancer. The net effect on mortality is unclear. We determined the association of age at menopause with longevity and with the balance between cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

Higher dietary intake of lignans is associated with better cognitive performance in postmenopausal women.

Data on the relation between phytoestrogens and cognitive function are still sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between the dietary intake of phytoestrogens and cognitive function in healthy postmenopausal women consuming a Western diet. We conducted a community-based survey among 394 postmenopausal women.

Menopausal complaints, oestrogens, and heart disease risk: an explanation for discrepant findings on the benefits of post-menopausal hormone therapy.

There is a large discrepancy between the findings of observational and experimental studies on the effects of post-menopausal hormone therapy (HT) and coronary heart disease risk. Observational studies, mainly comprising peri-menopausal women, report risk reductions up to 30-50%, whereas the experimental studies, comprising elderly women, do not show coronary protection. Suggested explanations are methodological differences, such as confounding or healthy user bias, incomplete capture of early events, the stage of atherosclerosis at the start of HT, formulation or dose of HT, or early susceptibility to thrombotic events.

Postmenopausal breast cancer risk and cumulative number of menstrual cycles.

Objective: To explore whether the lifetime cumulative number of menstrual cycles, as an index for total exposure to endogenous estrogens, and the number of menstrual cycles until a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP), are associated with breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Methods: Population-based study with data from the Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Naturally menopausal participants were eligible (n = 6,718).

Modified Mediterranean diet and survival: EPIC-elderly prospective cohort study.

Objective: To examine whether adherence to the modified Mediterranean diet, in which unsaturates were substituted for monounsaturates, is associated with longer life expectancy among elderly Europeans.

Design: Multicentre, prospective cohort study.

Setting: Nine European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom).

Serum levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) are not associated with lower levels of non-SHBG-bound testosterone in male newborns and healthy adult men.

Objective: It is generally accepted that SHBG decreases the bioavailability and activity of testosterone (T). In in vitro experiments increased levels of SHBG will be associated with decreased levels of non-SHBG bound testosterone (non-SHBG-T). However, in vivo SHBG can alter both production and clearance rates and thus plasma levels of T.

Endogenous sex hormone levels and cognitive function in aging men: is there an optimal level?

Objective: To determine whether endogenous sex hormone levels are associated with cognitive functioning in men.

Methods: Cognitive performance was assessed in 400 independently living men between ages 40 and 80 in a population-based cross-sectional study. Compound scores were calculated for memory function, processing capacity/speed, and executive function.

Average blood pressure and cardiovascular disease-related mortality in middle-aged women.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess which average blood pressure (BP) component (ie, systolic BP [SBP], diastolic BP [DBP], pulse pressure [PP], or mean arterial pressure [MAP]), is most strongly related to cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality and to evaluate whether the strength of the relation varies with follow-up time.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. The studied cohort comprised a population of postmenopausal women (n = 7813) between the ages of 49 and 66 years of age, of whom four BP measurements were available, obtained at four different time points.

Endogenous sex hormones and metabolic syndrome in aging men.

Background: Sex hormone levels in men change during aging. These changes may be associated with insulin sensitivity and the metabolic syndrome.

Methods: We studied the association between endogenous sex hormones and characteristics of the metabolic syndrome in 400 independently living men between 40 and 80 yr of age in a cross-sectional study.

Prospective study on usual dietary phytoestrogen intake and cardiovascular disease risk in Western women.

Background: Phytoestrogens have been suggested to lower cardiovascular disease risk, but existing research focused on non-Western high intake levels and on risk factors. We investigated whether habitual low phytoestrogen intake is associated with manifest cardiovascular disease risk.

Methods And Results: Between 1993 and 1997, 16,165 women 49 to 70 years old and free from cardiovascular disease were enrolled in the Dutch Prospect-EPIC cohort (European Prospective study Into Cancer and nutrition) and followed up for a median period of 75 months.

The usual intake of lignans but not that of isoflavones may be related to cardiovascular risk factors in U.S. men.

Isoflavone supplementation in the form of soy protein-containing isoflavones is associated with beneficial lipid changes. Information on usual isoflavone and lignan intakes in the diet of Western men and their associations with cardiovascular risk factors is not available. From the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, we selected 468 men, aged 47-83 y, who were free of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, and who had provided a blood sample in 1994.

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial on the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on quality of life in postmenopausal women.

Objective: Postmenopausal estrogen decline is implicated in several age-related physical and psychological changes in women, including decreases in perceived quality of life (QoL). A number of trials with hormone therapy showed beneficial effects of the intervention on parameters of quality of life. However, because of known or suspected serious side-effects of conventional hormone therapy there is a need for alternatives.

Vascular risk factors and cognitive function in a sample of independently living men.

Decline of cognitive function with age may be due, in part, to atherosclerotic changes. The aim of the present study was to determine the relative contribution of vascular risk factors to cognitive functioning in a non-clinical sample of men. Cognitive tests were administered to 400 independently living men aged 40-80 years.

Randomized controlled trial of the effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on vascular function in postmenopausal women.

Background: The incidence of cardiovascular disease increases after menopause, possibly because of the decline in estrogen. Soy protein, a rich source of estrogen-like isoflavones, is hypothesized to improve vascular function.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether supplementation with soy protein, a rich source of estrogen-like isoflavones, improves vascular function.