Stroke symptoms impact on mental and physical health: A Lebanese population based study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Stroke symptoms in the absence of diagnosed stroke are common worldwide and associated with stroke risk factors and great impact on the physical and mental health functioning. The aim of this study was to assess, at the national level, the association of stroke symptoms with mental and physical health. METHODS: Quality of life was assessed using physical and mental component summary scores (PCS and MCS) of the Short Form 12v2 Health Survey in the Lebanese population. We assessed the differences in the mean PCS and MCS scores among asymptomatic individuals with no stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) history (n=1167), symptomatic individuals with no stroke/TIA history (n=125) and those with stroke/TIA history (n=46). Psychometric properties of the Lebanese version of the SF- 12v2 were evaluated using principal component analysis. RESULTS: Symptomatic individuals had an average PCS scores of 2.31 (95%CI: 0.75-3.88) points lower and those with stroke/TIA history had 3.26 (95%CI: 1.01-5.51) points lower when compared with asymptomatic individuals with no stroke/TIA history. Similarly, MCS scores for symptomatic individuals were 2.58 (95%CI: 1.02-4.13) points lower and those with stroke/TIA history had 3.28 (95%CI: 1.06-5.50) points lower than asymptomatic individuals. CONCLUSION: Physical and mental health functioning declined among symptomatic individuals and those with stroke/TIA history. Thus, frequent monitoring for the early detection of stroke symptoms may be recommended.

Bioavailability of alpha-linolenic acid from flaxseed diets as a function of the age of the subject.

BACKGROUND: Dietary flaxseed may have beneficial cardiovascular effects. An aged population has a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, but they may react differently to flaxseed in the diet. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the response, over a period of 4 weeks, of subjects aged 18-29 or 45-69 years to a diet containing the same amount of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) (6 g) introduced in the form of ground flaxseed (30 g) or flaxseed oil. RESULTS: All subjects who received flaxseed oil showed a significant increase in plasma ALA and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) concentrations over the course of this study. Subjects who received ground flaxseed in the 18-29-year-old group showed a statistically significant increase in their plasma ALA levels, and although there was a trend in the same direction for the 45-69-year-old subjects, this did not achieve statistical significance. The diets induced no major changes in platelet aggregation, plasma total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in any of the groups. Younger subjects showed a decrease in triglyceride (TG) values compared with older subjects. There were no significant side effects that caused compliancy issues. CONCLUSION: Subject age does not seem to be a major determining factor in influencing ALA absorption from a flaxseed-supplemented diet nor in the metabolism of ALA to EPA in the groups fed flaxseed oil. Concerns about side effects in older subjects administered a higher fiber load in a flaxseed-supplemented diet are not justified. However, younger but not older subjects showed a beneficial decrease in circulating TGs due to flaxseed supplementation.

Effect of dietary hempseed intake on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have significant, cardioprotective effects against ischemia. Hempseed contains a high proportion of the PUFAs linoleic acid (LA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which may have opposing effects on postischemic heart performance. There are no reported data concerning the cardiovascular effects of dietary hempseed intake. A group of 40 male Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed evenly into four groups that were fed for 12 wk a normal rat chow supplemented with hempseed (5% and 10%), palm oil (1%), or a 10% partially delipidated hempseed that served as a control. Plasma ALA and gamma-linolenic acid levels were significantly elevated in the rats that were fed a 5% or 10% hempseed-supplemented diet, but in heart tissue only ALA levels were significantly elevated in the rats fed these diets compared with control. After the dietary interventions were completed, postischemic heart performance was evaluated by measuring developed tension, resting tension, the rates of tension development and relaxation, and the number of extrasystoles. Hearts from rats fed a hempseed-supplemented diet exhibited significantly better postischemic recovery of maximal contractile function and enhanced rates of tension development and relaxation during reperfusion than hearts from the other groups. These hearts, however, were not protected from the occurrence of extrasystoles, nor were the increases in resting tension altered during ischemia or reperfusion as a function of any dietary intervention. Our data demonstrate that dietary hempseed can provide significant cardioprotective effects during postischemic reperfusion. This appears to be due to its highly enriched PUFA content.