Investigating the role of natural phyto-oestrogens on bone health in postmenopausal women

Research on the bone effects of natural phyto-oestrogens after menopause is at a relatively early stage. Published studies are few, difficult to compare and often inconclusive, due in part to design weaknesses. Currently, many questions remain to be answered including to what extent a safe daily intake may prevent postmenopausal bone loss. These...

Gezondheidsvoorlichting en bewegingsstimulering voor ouderen: Ontwikkeling en evaluatie van het programma "Gezond & Vitaal" [Health education and exercise stimulation for older people: Development and evaluation of "Healthy & Vital"]

In order to promote health in people of 65 years and older, TNO Prevention and Health developed, evaluated, and implemented "Healthy & Vital" (also known as "Ageing Well and Healthily"). Healthy & Vital consists of six sessions of health education and low-intensity exercises. This paper reports on the theoretical basis of the intervention, the...

Dissemination and implementation of "Aging Well and Healthily": A health-education and exercise program for older adults

The article describes the dissemination and implementation of the Aging Well and Healthily (AWH) program in the Netherlands. In the period 1997-1999 this process was monitored by means of telephone interviews with 263 participants, 28 peer educators, and 13 organizers. The program participants were mainly physically active and relatively healthy...

Development and evaluation of "Aging Well and Healthily": A health-education and exercise program for community-living older adults

The Aging Well and Healthily (AWH) program consists of health education by peers and low-intensity exercise. It was evaluated via a small randomized controlled trial and a community intervention trial involving older adults in the Netherlands. Reasons stated for participation were to exercise (35%), to acquire information about health (28%), and...

Maximal oxygen uptake during cycling is reduced in moving environments: Consequencies for motion-induced fatigue

In previous studies on physical fatigue during simulated ship movements, the apparent exhaustion of subjects after experimentation suggested that the traditional index of physical workload, oxygen consumption expressed as the percentage of peak oxygen consumption (VO2-peak) measured in a separate graded exercise test (GXT), underestimates...

Circadian and age-related modulation of thermoreception and temperature regulation: Mechanisms and functional implications

At older ages, the circadian rhythm of body temperature shows a decreased amplitude, an advanced phase, and decreased stability. The present review evaluates to what extent these changes may result from age-related deficiencies at several levels of the thermoregulatory system, including thermoreception, thermogenesis and conservation, heat loss,...

Biochemical development of subchondral bone from birth until age eleven months and the influence of physical activity

Subchondral bone provides structural support to the overlying articular cartilage, and plays an important role in osteochondral diseases. There is growing insight that the mechanical features of bone are related to the biochemistry of the collagen network and the mineral content. In the present study, part of the normal developmental process and...

Duration of computer use and mouse use in relation to musculoskeletal disorders of neck or upper limb

The objectives of this study were to examine the association between work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) and duration of computer and mouse use, to investigate differences in these associations between men and women, and to examine whether a possible relationship between duration of computer use and WRULDs was explained by physical or...

Effectiveness of physical activity programs at worksites with respect to work-related outcomes

This paper systematically reviews the literature on the effectiveness of physical activity programs at worksites with respect to work-related outcomes. A computerized literature search, a reference search, and a manual search of personal databases were performed using the following inclusion criteria: randomized controlled or controlled trial,...

Are neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting at work risk factors for neck pain? Results of a prospective cohort study

Objective: To study the relation between neck pain and work related neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed with a follow up of 3 years among 1334 workers from 34 companies. Work related physical load was assessed by analysing objectively measured exposure data (video recordings) of neck...

The relationship between leisure time, physical activities and musculoskeletal symptoms and disability in worker populations

Objectives: To assess the association between leisure time physical activity and musculoskeletal morbidity, as well as possible interactions with physical activity at work. Methods: A literature search was performed to collect all studies on musculoskeletal disorders in which physical activity was involved as a variable. Next, an analysis was...

Vragen naar de mate van lichamelijke activiteit: Onderzoek naar de test-hertest betrouwbaarheid en congruente validiteit van een vragenlijst [Questions on the amount of physical activity]

This article describes a new, short questionnaire on the amount of physical activity and its reliability and concurrent validity. The questions distinguish three parts- sports, other physical leisure activities and physical activities at work or at school. 111 volunteers filled in the questionnaire twice and afterwards they participated in an...

Determinants of bone mass and bone geometry in adolescent and young adult women

Bone mass and bone geometry are considered to have independent effects on bone strength. The purpose of this study was to obtain data on bone mass and geometry in young female populations and how they are influenced by body size and lifestyle factors. In a cross-sectional, observational study in six European countries, 1116 healthy Caucasian...

Towards implementing physical activity programmes: The health promotion approach [Vers la realisation de programmes d'activite physique: Approche de la promotion de la sante]

Objective. - During the last ten years a lot of scientific effort has been put into the development and evaluation of effective physical activity programmes for older adults. Many of these new and innovative programmes have been presented at national and international conferences on ageing and physical activity, but less is known about their...

The effects of a psychomotor activation programme for use in groups of cognitively impaired people in homes for the elderly

Objectives. To test the effects of the Psychomotor Activation Programme (PAP) on the behaviour and cognition of demented elderly people. Design. Randomized controlled trial with an experimental group and a control group. Post-test after 6 months. Setting. Group care projects for demented elderly people living in 11 different homes for the...

Interactions between lifestyle-related factors and the ApoE polymorphism on plasma lipids and apolipoproteins: The ears study

To elucidate how the apolipoprotein (apo)E polymorphism and modifiable factors interact in explaining plasma lipid and apolipoprotein levels, we studied 1448 young adults (18 to 26 years old), participating in the European Atherosclerosis Research Study (EARS). Venous blood was collected after an overnight fast. Modifiable factors, eg, body mass...