Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have been developed for diabetic patients for estimating and controlling plasma glucose changes throughout the day. However, elevated postprandial glucose concentrations may also be detrimental for non-diabetic subjects by increasing the risk of developing vascular complications and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, CGMs may also be valuable in clinical research and we hypothesized that diet-induced differences in estimated plasma glucose concentrations in healthy, non-diabetic adults could be detected by the Abbott FreeStyle Libre Pro CGM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lower post-prandial glucose (PPG) and insulin (PPI) responses to foods are associated with reduced diabetes risk and progression. Several plant extracts have been proposed to reduce PPG or PPI by inhibiting enzymes or transporters involved in carbohydrate digestion and uptake. This study evaluates a range of such extracts, consumed with a carbohydrate load, for their effects on PPG, PPI and indicators of (gastrointestinal) tolerance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The brain plays an important regulatory role in directing energy homeostasis and eating behavior. The increased ingestion of sugars and sweeteners over the last decades makes investigating the effects of these substances on the regulatory function of the brain of particular interest. We investigated whole brain functional response to the ingestion of nutrient shakes sweetened with either the nutritive natural sugars glucose and fructose, the low- nutritive natural sugar replacement allulose or the non-nutritive artificial sweetener sucralose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Aims: Black tea is a main source of flavonoids in the Western diet and has been associated with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, possibly through lowering blood pressure. These effects may be mediated through improving endothelial function of resistance arteries. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the acute impact of black tea on forearm resistance artery endothelial function in healthy, normotensive middle-aged subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGraefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol
March 2017
The capacity for functional restitution after brain damage is quite different in the sensory and motor systems. This series of presentations highlights the potential for adaptation, plasticity, and perceptual learning from an interdisciplinary perspective. The chances for restitution in the primary visual cortex are limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutrients
November 2016
(1) Background: Endothelial dysfunction predicts cardiovascular events. Circulating angiogenic cells (CACs) maintain and repair the endothelium regulating its function. Tea flavonoids reduce cardiovascular risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Insulin-stimulated muscle blood flow facilitates plasma glucose disposal after a meal, a mechanism that is impaired in obese, insulin-resistant volunteers. Nitrate- or flavonoid-rich products, through their proposed effects on nitric oxide, may improve postprandial blood flow and, subsequently, glucose disposal. To investigate whether a single dose of nitrate-rich beetroot juice or flavonoid-rich black tea lowers postprandial muscle vascular resistance in obese volunteers and alters postprandial glucose or insulin concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is evidence for health benefits from 'Palaeolithic' diets; however, there are a few data on the acute effects of rationally designed Palaeolithic-type meals. In the present study, we used Palaeolithic diet principles to construct meals comprising readily available ingredients: fish and a variety of plants, selected to be rich in fibre and phyto-nutrients. We investigated the acute effects of two Palaeolithic-type meals (PAL 1 and PAL 2) and a reference meal based on WHO guidelines (REF), on blood glucose control, gut hormone responses and appetite regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypertension and arterial stiffening are independent predictors of cardiovascular mortality. Flavonoids may exert some vascular protection. We investigated the effects of black tea on blood pressure (BP) and wave reflections before and after fat load in hypertensives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: There is increasing evidence that tea and its non-caffeine components (primarily flavonoids) contribute to cardiovascular health. Randomized controlled trials have shown that tea can improve cardiovascular disease risk factors. We have previously reported a non-caffeine associated beneficial effect of regular black tea consumption on blood pressure and its variation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe acute effects of green tea extract (GTE) on plasma metabolites in vivo are largely unknown. In this parallel, double-blind study, the transient changes in total and free concentrations of catechins were measured in plasma from healthy males following the consumption of a single GTE dose (559.2 mg total catechins, 120.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is increasing evidence that black tea polyphenols contribute to vascular health. We have recently shown that regular ingestion of polyphenol-rich black tea over 6 months results in lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. However, the time course of these effects remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective. To investigate whether motor imagery ability recovers in stroke patients and to see what the relationship is between different types of imagery and motor functioning after stroke. Methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the present study was to determine whether force plate variables in single- and dual-task situations are able to predict the risk of multiple falls in a community-dwelling elderly population. Two hundred and seventy elderly persons (225 females, 45 males; age, 73+/-7 years) performed balance assessment with and without vision. Seven force plate variables were assessed to predict the risk of multiple falls; maximum displacement in the anteroposterior and medial-lateral directions (Max-AP, Max-ML), mean displacement in the medial-lateral direction (MML), the root mean square amplitude in anteroposterior and medial-lateral directions (RMS-AP, RMS-ML), the average speed of displacement (V), and the area of the 95th percentile ellipse (AoE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Flavonoids may protect against cardiovascular disease. Tea is a major source of dietary flavonoids. Studies indicate black tea improves endothelial function but data on arterial haemodynamics, blood pressure (BP) and insulin resistance are equivocal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Additional tasks that are assumed to disturb standing postural control can be divided in added motor or added cognitive tasks. It is unknown which type of task causes the most disturbances of postural control in elderly.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the dual tasking disturbance of postural control in elderly is caused by vocal articulation or by limited attentional resources.
Objective: To determine whether motor imagery during the immobilization period after flexor tendon injury results in a faster recovery of central mechanisms of hand function.
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Tertiary referral hospital.
Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of a forceplate postural balance protocol in a group of elderly fallers and non-fallers. The measurements were tested in single and dual-task conditions, with and without vision.
Methods: 37 elderly (mean age 73 +/- 6 years) community-dwellers were included in this study.
Motor imagery and action-based rehearsal were compared during motor sequence-learning by young adults (M = 25 yr., SD = 3) and aged adults (M = 63 yr., SD = 7).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Although several hand outcome tests exist to judge skill level after hand injury, currently none give insight into how tasks are performed by looking at kinematic parameters. In this article, the clinical value of analyzing kinematic parameters related to the drawing of a triangle on a graphics tablet by healthy subjects and patients with hand injury is discussed.
Design: In a first experiment 10 healthy subjects drew the triangles as accurately as possible at various speeds.
The premotor and parietal mirror neuron system (MNS) is thought to contribute to the understanding of observed actions by mapping them onto "corresponding" motor programs of the observer [1-24], but how would the MNS respond to the observation of hand actions if the observer never had hands? Would it not show changes of blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal, because the observer lacks motor programs that can resonate [12, 25, 26], or would it show significant changes because the observer has motor programs for the foot or mouth with corresponding goals [15, 17, 19, 27, 28]? We scanned two aplasic subjects, born without arms or hands, while they watched hand actions and compared their brain activity with that of 16 control subjects. All subjects additionally executed actions with different effectors (feet, mouth, and, for controls, hands). The BOLD signal of aplasic individuals within the putative MNS was augmented when they watched hand actions, demonstrating the brain's capacity to mirror actions that deviate from the embodiment of the observer by recruiting voxels involved in the execution of actions that achieve corresponding goals by different effectors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare the effect of calcium/vitamin D supplements with a combination of calcium/vitamin D supplements and exercise/protein on risk of falling and postural balance.
Design: Randomized clinical trial.
Setting: University hospital physiotherapy department.
The brain adapts to changes that take place in the body. Deprivation of input results in size reduction of cortical representations, whereas an increase in input results in an increase of representational space. Amputation forms one of the most dramatic disturbances of the integrity of the body.
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