Effects of Forest Therapy on Health Promotion among Middle-Aged Women: Focusing on Physiological Indicators.

Women experience more stress in middle age than in other life stages, and health in middle age is vital, because it influences the quality of life in old age. In this study, the effects of a forest therapy program on physiological changes in 53 middle-aged women (divided into two groups) who lived in the city were examined. One group participated in a three-day program in the forest, followed by three days in the city; the other group participated in a three-day program in the city, followed by three days in the forest. Forest experiments were conducted in a "healing forest," and urban experiments were conducted near a university campus. Blood tests were performed to evaluate the physiological effects of forest therapy. Differences in serotonin levels and vitamin D levels were verified before and after the forest (experimental group) and urban (control group) programs through paired t-tests. Statistically significant increases in serotonin levels were noted for participants in the forest program; vitamin D levels also increased, but not by statistically significant values. The findings of this study verify that forest therapy programs promote health among middle-aged women, and may prevent disease and improve quality of life.

Changing from a Western to a Mediterranean-style diet does not affect iron or selenium status: results of the New Dietary Strategies Addressing the Specific Needs of the Elderly Population for Healthy Aging in Europe (NU-AGE) 1-year randomized clinical trial in elderly Europeans.

BACKGROUND: Mediterranean diets limit red meat consumption and increase intakes of high-phytate foods, a combination that could reduce iron status. Conversely, higher intakes of fish, a good source of selenium, could increase selenium status. OBJECTIVES: A 1-y randomized controlled trial [New Dietary Strategies Addressing the Specific Needs of the Elderly Population for Healthy Aging in Europe (NU-AGE)] was carried out in older Europeans to investigate the effects of consuming a Mediterranean-style diet on indices of inflammation and changes in nutritional status. METHODS: Selenium and iron intakes and status biomarkers were measured at baseline and after 1 y in 1294 people aged 65-79 y from 5 European countries (France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom) who had been randomly allocated either to a Mediterranean-style diet or to remain on their habitual, Western diet. RESULTS: Estimated selenium intakes increased significantly with the intervention group (P < 0.01), but were not accompanied by changes in serum selenium concentrations. Iron intakes also increased (P < 0.001), but there was no change in iron status. However, when stratified by study center, there were positive effects of the intervention on iron status for serum ferritin for participants in Italy (P = 0.04) and France (P = 0.04) and on soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) for participants in Poland (P < 0.01). Meat intake decreased and fish intake increased to a greater degree in the intervention group, relative to the controls (P < 0.01 for both), but the overall effects of the intervention on meat and fish intakes were mainly driven by data from Poland and France. Changes in serum selenium in the intervention group were associated with greater changes in serum ferritin (P = 0.01) and body iron (P = 0.01), but not sTfR (P = 0.73); there were no study center × selenium status interactions for the iron biomarkers. CONCLUSIONS: Consuming a Mediterranean-style diet for 1 y had no overall effect on iron or selenium status, although there were positive effects on biomarkers of iron status in some countries. The NU-AGE trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01754012.

Vitamin D status is associated with executive function a decade later: Data from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project.

OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. However, there is a paucity of studies assessing whether this association manifests from midlife. Given the long prodromal stage of dementia, we investigated the association between midlife vitamin D and cognition 10 years later. STUDY DESIGN: 252 participants (aged 55-67 years) from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project had baseline (2002) vitamin D and neuropsychological measures assessed. Of these, 170 (aged 65-77 years) had follow-up neuropsychological testing (2012). OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) was measured using an automated chemiluminescence system. The neuropsychological tests used were: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), California Verbal Learning Test Second Edition (CVLT-II), verbal fluency and Trail Making Test-B (TMT-B). Composite scores for verbal episodic memory (CERAD and CVLT-II) and executive function (verbal fluency and TMT-B) were obtained by summating standardized scores for each test. RESULTS: Analyses were adjusted for age, education and body mass index (BMI). Further adjustment for physical activity, depression, vascular risk factors, supplementation and APOE4-genotype did not materially change the results. At baseline, those with vitamin D>25nmol/L performed better on verbal fluency (ß=2.46, 95%CI=0.53,4.40) and TMT-B time (ß=-18.23, 95%CI=-32.86,-3.61), with higher executive function (ß=1.40, 95%CI=0.44,2.37). These relationships persisted 10 years later for TMT-B (ß=-15.38, 95%CI=-30.82,0.07) and executive function (ß=1.05, 95%CI=0.14,1.95). There were no associations with tests of verbal episodic memory. CONCLUSION: Midlife vitamin D>25nmol/L is associated with improved aspects of executive function in ageing. Findings highlight a potential therapeutic age window where midlife vitamin D repletion could be neuroprotective against cognitive decline.

Changes in pro-inflammatory markers and leucine concentrations in response to Nordic Walking training combined with vitamin D supplementation in elderly women.

Mechanisms underpinning age-related decreases in muscle strength and muscle mass relate to chronic inflammation. Physical activity induces an anti-inflammatory effect, but it is modulated by additional factors. We hypothesized that vitamin D, which has also anti-inflammatory activity will modify adaptation to exercise and reduce inflammation in elderly women. Twenty-seven women aged 67 ± 8 years were included and divided into groups with baseline vitamin D concentration more than 20 ng mL-1 (MVD) and less than 20 ng mL-1 (LVD). Both groups performed 1 h Nordic Walking (NW) training combined with vitamin D supplementation for 12 weeks. Serum concentrations of inflammation markers, branched amino acids, vitamin D, muscle strength and balance were assessed at the baseline and three days after intervention. The training caused the significant decrease in concentration of pro-inflammatory proteins HMGB1 (30 ± 156%; 90% CI) and IL-6 (-10 ± 66%; 90% CI) in MVD group. This effects in group MVD were moderate, indicating vitamin D as one of the modifiers of these exercise-induced changes. Rise of myokine irisin induced by exercise correlated inversely with HMGB1 and the correlation was more pronounced at the baseline as well as after training among MVD participants. Although the intervention caused the leucine level to rise, a comparison of the recorded response between groups and the adjusted effect indicated that the effect was 20% lower in the LVD group. Overall the applied training program was effective in reducing HMGB1 concentration. This drop was accompanied by the rise of myokine irisin and better uptake of leucine among women with higher baseline vitamin D.