Effect of the Health Tourism weight loss programme on body composition and health outcomes in healthy and excess-weight adults.

Excess weight loss while minimising fat-free mass (FFM) loss is important for health. Travel is a particular period at risk for weight gain and for which the effects of a short-term intensive weight loss programme have not been studied. Therefore, we studied the effect of a novel, 1-week supervised health travel programme combining high volume, low-to-moderate intensity exercise and energy intake restriction on weight, body composition and health outcomes in adults. Weight was also monitored for 12 weeks after the programme. In all, thirty-six subjects (nineteen men, seventeen women) consisting of sixteen excess-weight (BMI: 27·1 (sd 1·7) kg/m2) and twenty healthy-weight (BMI: 22·3 (sd 1·8) kg/m2) individuals participated. Subjects performed 1 h of slow-paced intermittent jogging three times per d and other leisure activities, whereas consuming only provided foods without water restriction. Body mass significantly decreased from pre- to post-intervention in excess-weight and healthy-weight individuals (-3·5 (sd 1·5) and -3·5 (sd 1·3) %, respectively; P<0·001 for both), and losses were maintained at 12 weeks post-intervention in both groups (-6·3 (sd 3·8) and -1·7 (sd 4·0) %, respectively; P<0·01 for both). Fat mass also significantly decreased in both groups (excess weight: -9·2 (sd 4·6) %: healthy weight: -13·4 (sd 9·0) %; P<0·01 for both), whereas FFM was maintained. Similar improvements were observed for blood biochemistry and pressure in both groups. This short-term weight loss intervention yielded favourable outcomes in both excess- and healthy-weight adults, particularly a 3·5 % weight loss with no significant change to FFM. In addition, participants maintained weight loss for at least 12 weeks. Of multiple programme choices, the Health Tourism weight loss programme's results indicate that it is a viable option.

[Usefulness of monitoring forehead deep-tissue temperature as an index of core temperature in adult patients undergoing laparotomies under general anesthesia--investigation in operating rooms with air-movement control system using vertical flow].

BACKGROUND: Acute changes in air temperature in the vicinity of the patents' forehead may impair clinical usefulness of the forehead deep-tissue thermometry. We thus investigated usefulness of monitoring the forehead deep-tissue temperature as an index of core temperature in 12 adult patients undergoing laparotomies in operating rooms with air-movement control system using vertical flow. METHODS: Nasopharyngeal, forehead deep-tissue, palm deep-tissue, and fingertip skin-surface temperatures were recorded during surgery every 5 minutes in operating rooms where room temperature was thermostatically controlled at approximately 25 degrees C. The patients were not actively warmed with forced-air warmers, but covered with cotton blankets where possible. The deep-tissue and fingertip skin-surface temperatures were compared with the nasopharyngeal temperature using regression and Bland and Altman's analyses. RESULTS: The four temperatures continued decreasing during surgery, and the nasopharyngeal temperature decreased to below 36 degrees C 2 hours after induction of anesthesia. Only the forehead deep-tissue temperature satisfactorily correlated with the nasopharyngeal temperature (r = 0.76, n = 300, P < 0.0001). The difference between nasopharyngeal and forehead temperatures was +0.26 degree C, and its standard deviation was 0.34 degree C. CONCLUSIONS: The forehead deep-tissue temperature has sufficient accuracy and precision for clinical use in operating rooms with air-movement control system using vertical flow. However, the core temperature appears to be slightly underestimated with the forehead deep-tissue thermometry.