Maintenance of Gains, Morbidity, and Mortality at 1 Year Following Cardiac Rehabilitation in a Middle-Income Country: A Wait-List Control Crossover Trial.

Background Despite the epidemic of cardiovascular diseases in middle-income countries, few trials are testing the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation ( CR ). This trial assessed (1) maintenance of functional capacity, risk factor control, knowledge, and heart-health behaviors and (2) mortality and morbidity at 6 months following CR in a middle-income country. Methods and Results Eligible Brazilian coronary patients were initially randomized (1:1:1 concealed) to 1 of 3 parallel arms (comprehensive CR [exercise plus education], exercise-only CR , or wait-list control).

Regulation of the autophagy system during chronic contractile activity-induced muscle adaptations.

Skeletal muscle is adaptable to exercise stimuli via the upregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis, and recent studies have suggested that autophagy also plays a role in exercise-induced muscle adaptations. However, it is still obscure how muscle regulates autophagy over the time course of training adaptations. This study examined the expression of autophagic proteins in skeletal muscle of rats exposed to chronic contractile activity (CCA; 6 h/day, 9V, 10 Hz continuous, 0.

Differences in weight change trajectory patterns in a publicly funded adult weight management centre.

Objective: To describe differences in weight loss (WL) trajectory patterns at a publicly funded clinical weight management centre.

Methods: Groups with differences in the attainment of a 5% total body WL and percentage WL patterns over time were identified in 7,121 patients who attended a physician lead multi-disciplinary clinical lifestyle weight management that predominantly focused on education and diet counselling. Resultant health differences were examined.

Heart rate variability is enhanced in controls but not maladaptive perfectionists during brief mindfulness meditation following stress-induction: A stratified-randomized trial.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a vagal nerve-mediated biomarker of cardiac function used to investigate chronic illness, psychopathology, stress and, more recently, attention-regulation processes such as meditation. This study investigated HRV in relation to maladaptive perfectionism, a stress-related personality factor, and mindfulness meditation, a stress coping practice expected to elevate HRV, and thereby promote relaxation. Maladaptive perfectionists (n=21) and Controls (n=39) were exposed to a lab-based assessment in which HRV was measured during (1) a 5-minute baseline resting phase, (2) a 5-minute cognitive stress-induction phase, and (3) a post-stress phase.

Your fate is in your hands? Handedness, digit ratio (2D:4D), and selection to a national talent development system.

Over the past decade a small evidence base has highlighted the potential importance of seemingly innocuous variables related to one's hands, such as hand dominance and the relative length of the second and fourth digits (2D:4D ratio), to success in sport. This study compared 2D:4D digit ratio and handedness among handball players selected to advance in a national talent development system with those not selected. Participants included 480 youth handball players (240 females and 240 males) being considered as part of the talent selection programme for the German Youth National team.