Nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Greek menopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: Nutritional guidelines for postmenopausal women differ. This study aimed to assess postmenopausal women's knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding nutrition during menopause and their dietary habits. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a menopause clinic, and data from 105 women were analyzed. A nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions (KAP) questionnaire was designed, structured, and piloted before implementation, based on the Hellenic dietary guidelines. International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Greek version, MedDietScore, and Menopause-specific Quality of Life questionnaires were administered. RESULTS: The mean ± SD age of the women was 56.9 ± 4.6 years. The mean ± SD KAP score was 12.2 ± 3.5. Those who lived in rural areas had lower KAP scores than those who lived in urban areas ( P = 0.004). Of all the women, 74.5% knew the Mediterranean diet pyramid, whereas 9.8% knew the Hellenic dietary guidelines. Women who had read the guidelines showed better knowledge of Mediterranean diet food groups (Pearson, 0.309; P = 0.039). Knowledge of dairy services was correlated with consumption of dairy products ( P = 0.002). Furthermore, 76.4% were willing to participate in nutrition education programs. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire score was positively correlated with years of smoking ( P = 0.002). Physical activity correlated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet ( P = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of postmenopausal Greek women in this study were unaware of the Hellenic dietary guidelines. In general, women's knowledge of nutrition during menopause was moderate. Greek postmenopausal women are willing to participate in nutrition education programs, which should raise awareness of healthy lifestyles through nutrition, exercise, and smoking cessation.

Linguistic translation and validation of the Menopause-specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire in Greek menopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to translate the Menopause-specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) questionnaire in Greek and validate it for usage in the Greek population both in written and electronic form. METHODS: The original English questionnaire MENQOL with 1-month recall period was translated by our team. According to instructions by Mapi Research Trust, the questionnaire was forward and back-translated, followed by patient testing and proofreading. Then it was transcripted electronically. Validation was performed with the following tests: internal consistency (reliability), stability (test-retest reliability) with Cronbach's alpha correlations, independent and paired t tests, and Pearson's correlation coefficients. RESULTS: A total of 105 women, the majority recently menopausal, participated in the study. Internal consistency using the Cronbach's alpha showed high reliability ranging between 0.833 (physical domain) and 0.896 (vasomotor domain) for the written, and 0.720 (physical domain) and 0.868 (vasomotor domain) for the online form. Test-retest reliability was also high for both forms. The sexual domain of MENQOL had the higher mean, indicating the highest impact on quality of life (3.80 ±â€Š2.35). CONCLUSIONS: The Greek version of MENQOL is a reliable instrument for evaluating menopausal women. Availability of an online form will allow wider dissemination of the questionnaire. Further use of the questionnaire in Greece may lead to better understanding of the bothersome symptoms of menopause; a prerequisite to develop intervention studies for amelioration of quality of life.

Impaired Metabolism of Selenomethionine in Graves' Disease: A Biokinetics Study of Soft Gel Capsule Formulation.

Patients with Graves' disease are known to have low selenium (Se) status, Se supplementation resulting in clinical and biochemical improvement. Selenomethionine (SeMet) in a new soft gel capsule formulation was used in a pilot study in 6 patients with acute Graves' disease and low selenium levels (61.3±12.9 µg/l) before and in 4/6 patients 3 months after combined treatment with methimazole and SeMet 200 µg/day (113.3±46.3 µg/l), as well as in 6 euthyroid controls (82±11.8 µg/l). The biokinetics were studied following ingestion of 200 µg SeMet (single dose) soft gel capsule, Se serum concentrations being measured at various time points within 24 h. Se levels rose variably in all patients and controls. While levels peaked in all subjects following 8 h of intake, the increase was somewhat slower in acute hyperthyroidism as compared to 3 months later when these patients had been rendered euthyroid, this possibly due to derangement of Se storage capacity by SEPP or increased requirements in the acute phase of the disease, leading to depletion of the trace element. The compound was shown to be bioavailable and safe and patients treated for 3 months exhibited higher Se levels at the different time points. These findings are of major importance for sufferers of GD since they indicate that early Se supplementation, with its beneficial antioxidant impact on inflammatory activity, could slow, or possibly even forestall, the clinical progression of the disease.

Diagnostic accuracy of ¹²³I-FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) in dementia with Lewy bodies: a meta-analysis of published studies.

PURPOSE: A systematic meta-analysis of published studies on the diagnostic accuracy of presynaptic dopaminergic imaging with ¹²³I-FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). METHODS: We included (a) studies in which DaTSCAN was performed in cases of diagnostic uncertainty to differentiate between DLB and non-DLB dementia and (b) studies of patients with already established diagnoses of DLB, non-DLB dementia, or normalcy, against which the diagnostic accuracy of DaTSCAN was tested. We applied fixed-effects Mantel-Haenszel and hierarchical logistic regression models for meta-analysis of the diagnostic test's accuracy. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were estimated. Heterogeneity among studies was estimated by calculating the corresponding I² statistic. We tested for publication or other bias by creating the respective funnel plot. RESULTS: Four studies, with a total of 419 subjects, were judged to be suitable for meta-analysis. According to hierarchical models, the estimated pooled sensitivity of DaTSCAN in differentiating DLB versus no DLB was 86.5% [95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 72-94.1%], the specificity was 93.6% (95% CI: 88.5-96.6%), and the DOR was 94.2 (95% CI: 25.7-345). The Mantel-Haenszel estimate of overall DOR was calculated at 48.95 (95% CI: 26.16-91.59). There was some heterogeneity among studies (I² = 45%), but this was not found statistically significant (χ² test for heterogeneity p value = 0.142). Funnel plot analysis showed no significant bias. CONCLUSION: Allowing for the small number of studies in the meta-analysis, our results showed high diagnostic accuracy of DaTSCAN in DLB diagnosis, especially in terms of specificity.

Constitutional advancement of growth is associated with early puberty in girls.

BACKGROUND: Constitutional advancement of growth (CAG) is the growth pattern of early growth acceleration that has been shown to be characteristic in girls with idiopathic precocious puberty (IPP). The aim of this study was to examine the growth pattern of girls with early puberty compared to girls with IPP. METHODS: We studied the growth pattern, from birth to presentation, of 61 girls with early puberty, of 40 girls with IPP and of 100 healthy girls with normal pubertal onset that served as controls. RESULTS: Height SDS (HSDS) at presentation was significantly different among the 3 groups (p < 0.001). Girls with early puberty were shorter than girls with IPP (HSDS 0.63 ± 1.09 vs. 0.98 ± 0.95, respectively, p < 0.001) and taller than control girls (HSDS 0.05 ± 0.94, p < 0.05). By comparing the linear growth pattern from birth to presentation, pairwise comparisons showed that it differed significantly between early puberty and control (p < 0.001) as well as between IPP and control girls (p < 0.001), whereas the difference between girls with IPP and early puberty was not significant (p = 0.09). CONCLUSION: Girls with early puberty present the pattern of CAG suggesting that IPP lies at the extreme of the distribution of the normal timing of puberty onset.

The role of adipocytokines in insulin resistance in normal pregnancy: visfatin concentrations in early pregnancy predict insulin sensitivity.

BACKGROUND: Throughout pregnancy maternal adipose tissue is metabolically active, producing adipocytokines involved in the process of insulin resistance. We explored the role of serum adipocytokines, including the newly identified adipocytokine visfatin, in the process of insulin resistance in normal pregnancy. METHODS: We examined 80 pregnant nonobese, nondiabetic white women during the 3 trimesters of pregnancy. All study participants underwent anthropometric measurements, adipocytokine evaluation, and a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. Homeostasis mathematical model assessment (HOMA-R), insulin sensitivity index (ISI), and indices of beta-cell secretion were calculated. RESULTS: Maternal weight, percentage total body fat, hip circumference, and indices of beta-cell secretion increased significantly during the 3 trimesters, and HOMA-R and ISI increased and decreased, respectively, in the 3rd trimester. During early pregnancy, insulin resistance, beta-cell secretion, and weight correlated positively with leptin. During the 1st trimester, visfatin correlated negatively with percentage body fat and was the best positive predictor of 2nd trimester ISI. In the 2nd trimester, serum visfatin was the best negative predictor of percentage body fat. CONCLUSIONS: During normal pregnancy of nonobese, nondiabetic women, adipose tissue increases, accompanied by a significant progressive increase of insulin resistance. Visfatin concentrations in the 1st trimester positively predict insulin sensitivity during the 2nd trimester. Body fat mass during 1st trimester of pregnancy is negatively associated with insulin sensitivity during the 2nd trimester and perhaps should be kept under control.