Health football beats them all: subgroup analysis of the 3F (Fit&Fun with Football) study on white-coat hypertension, sustained hypertension, dippers, nondippers, and on pharmacologically un(treated) arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The 3F study (Fit&Fun with Football) demonstrated a significant reduction in blood pressure, antihypertensive medication, body weight, stress and depression through health football. Health football could be a popular tool to unleash the full preventive potential of physical activity. This work analyses the effect of health football on hypertensive subgroups: dipper, nondipper, white-coat hypertension (WCH), sustained hypertension, (un)treated hypertensive patients (UH, TH). METHODS: A prospective interventional study with 1-year follow-up. Football group (FG): n  = 103, 'health'-football training (1×/week, 90 min) led by licensed football coaches. Physical inactive, hypertensive patients older than 45 years were compared with a control group (CG) ( n  = 105). Subgroups were divided by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), casual blood pressure (CBP), medication schedule and compared by blood pressure (BP), laboratory results and weight. RESULTS: In all three subgroups (WCH vs. sustained hypertension, TH vs. UH, D vs. ND), health football reduced BP and weight significantly compared with the CG, and compared with the admission. An even greater effect in CBP was found in people with WCH than in sustained hypertension (FG: WCH: 141-127 mmHg, sustained Hypertension (SH): 142-132 mmHg; CG: WCH: 141-143 mmHg, SH: 140-141 mmHg). In contrast, the significant reduction in CBP and ABPM was comparable in treated and untreated patients, although antihypertensive drugs were reduced significantly more frequently in FG than in CG. BP reduction in nondippers and dippers was also comparable. In the nondipper group, nocturnal BP was significantly reduced in the FB (122.0-111.5 mmHg), but not in the CG or the dippers. CONCLUSION: All evaluated football subgroups achieved a significant BP reduction (compared with CG). This applied to dipper, nondipper, (un)treated hypertension, WCH and SH. All mentioned subgroups displayed a clear benefit. The even greater reduction in BP in WCH demonstrates the importance of physical activity before the additional prescription of antihypertensive medications, underscoring the recommendations of the ESC and ISH in WCH.

Plasma and urine amino acid pattern in preterm infants on enteral nutrition: impact of gestational age.

Plasma and urine amino acids were determined by ion-exchange chromatography in 80 healthy preterm infants divided into three groups: (1) 23 0/7-28 0/7, (2) 28 1/7-32 0/7 and (3) 32 1/7-35 0/7 weeks of gestation. Samples were collected from days 5 to 57 of life, when infants were exclusively orally fed. Infants with evidence of underlying diseases were excluded. Concentrations of most plasma amino acids increased with gestational and maturational age; urinary excretion followed an opposite course. Few amino acids depended on postnatal age. Plasma amino acids did not correlate inversely to their counterparts in urine indicating that plasma amino acids do not simply reflect kidney function. Some amino acids in blood and urine were linked to nutrient intake and body weight. Our data clearly indicate the heterogeneity of the preterm cohort; therefore, gestational age-matched reference values have to be used for diagnostic purposes in preterm infants.