Intervention Effect of Baduanjin Exercise on the Fatigue State in People with Fatigue-Predominant Subhealth: A Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: To observe the effect of a Baduanjin exercise intervention on fatigue in people with fatigue-predominant subhealth (FPSH). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 131 participants were included in this cohort study. Those who met the inclusion criteria were grouped into the Baduanjin cohort (n=64) or the control cohort (n=67). INTERVENTION: The Baduanjin cohort exercised for 30 minutes twice a day for 6 weeks; the control cohort received no treatments. The study period was 18 weeks. OUTCOME MEASURES: The fatigue states of all participants were evaluated by using the Fatigue Self-Assessment Scale (FSAS) at baseline, the fourth and sixth weeks of treatment, and during post-treatment follow-ups at the end of the 12th and 18th weeks. RESULTS: The scores for the six factors on the FSAS at baseline did not significantly differ between the two groups. In the Baduanjin cohort, the total score on the FSAS (TSF) and scores for physical fatigue (PF), mental fatigue (MF), consequence of fatigue (CF), and response of fatigue to sleep and rest (RFSAR) were significantly decreased at the end of the sixth week. These patients also had significantly decreased scores for TSF, PF, MF, and CF at baseline, at the end of the fourth and sixth weeks of the intervention, and during post-treatment follow-ups at the end of the 12th and 18th weeks. No adverse effects of treatment were reported. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that Baduanjin exercise has an effect on relieving fatigue in patients with FPSH.

Tea consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis update.

OBJECTIVE: Tea has been suggested to decrease blood glucose levels and protect pancreatic ß cells in diabetic mice. However, human epidemiological studies showed inconsistent results for the association between tea consumption and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to further explore the association between tea consumption and incidence of T2DM. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search up to 30 August 2013 in PubMed, EMBASE, Chinese Wanfang Database and CNKI database. Pooling relative risks (RRs) were estimated by random-effect models. Two kinds of subgroup analyses (according to sex and regions) were performed. Sensitive analyses were performed according to types of tea. RESULTS: Overall, no statistically significant relationship between tea consumption and risk of T2DM was found based on 12 eligible studies (pooling RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.03). Compared with the lowest/non-tea group, daily tea consumption (≥3 cups/day) was associated with a lower T2DM risk (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.97). Subgroup analyses showed a difference between men and women. Overall, the RRs (95% CI) were 0.92 (0.84 to 1.00) for men, and 1.00 (0.96 to 1.05) for women, respectively. Tea consumption of ≥3 cups/day was associated with decreased T2DM risk in women (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.00). Overall, the RRs (95% CIs) were 0.84 (0.71 to 1.00) for Asians, and 1.00 (0.97 to 1.04) for Americans and Europeans, respectively. No obvious change was found in sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that daily tea consumption (≥3 cups/day) is associated with a lower T2DM risk. However, further studies are needed to enrich related evidence, especially with regard to types of tea or sex.

Influence of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-supplementation on platelet aggregation in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

OBJECTIVE: Increased platelet activity predicts adverse cardiovascular events. The objective was to assess the effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA)-supplementation on platelet aggregation. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials identified using PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Fifteen studies were included. In comparison to placebo using the random-effect model, n-3 PUFA-supplementation significantly reduced adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation (standard mean difference [SMD] = -1.23 with 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.24 to -0.23, p = 0.02) and platelet aggregation units, determined using the VerifyNow(®) rapid platelet-function assay system (SMD = -6.78 with 95% CI -12.58 to -0.98, p = 0.02). There was a trend toward decreased collagen-induced (SMD = -0.70 with 95% CI -0.72 to 0.33, p = 0.18) and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation (SMD = -0.43 with 95% CI -2.26 to 1.40, p = 0.64) compared with controls; however, statistical significance was not reached. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis demonstrates that n-3 PUFA-supplementation is associated with a significant reduction in platelet aggregation when the participants were at poor health status, but not in healthy persons. High-risk patients with cardiovascular disease and even diabetics may potentially benefit from n-3 PUFAs therapy. However, n-3 PUFAs may not be effective in primary prevention. Larger trials need to be carried out to confirm the present findings.

Fluoro jade-C staining in the assessment of brain injury after deep hypothermia circulatory arrest.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of Fluoro Jade-C staining (FJC) in the assessment of brain injury after deep hypothermia circulatory arrest (DHCA). METHODS: Six healthy adult miniature male pigs underwent DHCA, the rectal temperature was down to 18°C, circulation was stopped , circulatory arrest was maintained for 60 minutes. On postoperative day 1, perfusion-fixation was performed on brain tissue. Cerebral cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum were taken for sampling. FJC, hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE), nissl staining (NISSL), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase biotin-dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) were performed to detect the histological and pathological changes. Histological scores of all slices were ranked. Comparison between the FJC and other techniques was done by analysis of variance (ANOVA) according to histological scores. RESULTS: All animals survived the operation. On the cerebral cortex, in comparison of FJC between HE, NISSL and TUNEL, the p value was 0.90, 0.40, 0.16 respectively (p>0.05). On the hippocampus, the comparison of FJC with HE, NISSL and TUNEL had a p value of 0.12, 0.23, 0.62 respectively (p>0.05). On the cerebellum, in comparing FJC with HE, NISSL and TUNEL, the p value was 0.96, 0.77, 0.96 respectively (p>0.05). On representative regions, the results of FJC were in accordance with that of TUNEL, NISSL and HE. Furthermore, ascertainment of brain injury is easier with FJC. CONCLUSION: FJC is a reliable and convenient method to assess brain injury after DHCA.

[Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method of multiple imputation for longitudinal data with missing values in the survey of maternal and children health].

OBJECTIVE: To deal with arbitrary missing pattern in longitudinal data of the Survey of Maternal and Child Health and make the most appropriate inferences with multiple imputation (MI) for further analysis. METHODS: SAS 9.0 was used for Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method of MI procedure to impute missing values and combine inferences. RESULTS: The result is acceptable as the data set was imputed 5 times. CONCLUSION: MI is able to solve a variety of problems in missing data sets and to improve the statistical power, especially with the use of MCMC method, for complicated missing data sets.