Background: A chronic low-grade infammatory profle (CLIP) is associated with sarcopenia in older adults. Protein and Vitamin (Vit)D have immune-modulatory potential, but evidence for efects of nutritional supplementation on CLIP is limited. Aim To investigate whether 13 weeks of nutritional supplementation of VitD and leucine-enriched whey protein afected CLIP in subjects enrolled in the PROVIDE-study, as a secondary analysis. Methods: Sarcopenic adults (low skeletal muscle mass) aged ≥ 65 years with mobility limitations (Short Physical Performance Battery 4–9) and a body mass index of 20–30 kg/m2 were randomly allocated to two daily servings of active (n=137, including 20 g of whey protein, 3 g of leucine and 800 IU VitD) or isocaloric control product (n=151) for a double-blind period of 13 weeks. At baseline and after 13 weeks, circulating interleukin (IL)-8, IL-1 receptor antagonist (RA), soluble tumor-necrosis-factor receptor (sTNFR)1, IL-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, pre-albumin and 25-hydroxyvitamin(OH) D were measured. Data-analysis included repeated measures analysis of covariance (corrected for dietary VitD intake) and linear regression. Results: IL-6 and IL-1Ra serum levels showed overall increases after 13 weeks (p=0.006 and p<0.001, respectively). For IL-6 a signifcant time × treatment interaction (p=0.046) was observed, with no signifcant change over time in the active group (p=0.155) compared to control (signifcant increase p=0.012). IL-8 showed an overall signifcant decrease (p=0.03). The change in pre-albumin was a signifcant predictor for changes in IL-6 after 13 weeks. Conclusions: We conclude that 13 weeks of nutritional supplementation with VitD and leucine-enriched whey protein may attenuate the progression of CLIP in older sarcopenic persons with mobility limitations
Background: The emergence of smartphones and wearable sensor technologies enables easy and unobtrusive monitoring of physiological and psychological data related to an individual’s resilience. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a promising biomarker for resilience based on between-subject population studies, but observational studies that apply a within-subject design and use wearable sensors in order to observe HRV in a naturalistic real-life context are needed. Objective: This study aims to explore whether resting HRV and total sleep time (TST) are indicative and predictive of the within-day accumulation of the negative consequences of stress and mental exhaustion. The tested hypotheses are that demands are positively associated with stress and resting HRV buffers against this association, stress is positively associated with mental exhaustion and resting HRV buffers against this association, stress negatively impacts subsequent-night TST, and previous-evening mental exhaustion negatively impacts resting HRV, while previous-night TST buffers against this association. Methods: In total, 26 interns used consumer-available wearables (Fitbit Charge 2 and Polar H7), a consumer-available smartphone app (Elite HRV), and an ecological momentary assessment smartphone app to collect resilience-related data on resting HRV, TST, and perceived demands, stress, and mental exhaustion on a daily basis for 15 weeks. Results: Multiple linear regression analysis of within-subject standardized data collected on 2379 unique person-days showed that having a high resting HRV buffered against the positive association between demands and stress (hypothesis 1) and between stress and mental exhaustion (hypothesis 2). Stress did not affect TST (hypothesis 3). Finally, mental exhaustion negatively predicted resting HRV in the subsequent morning but TST did not buffer against this (hypothesis 4). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this study provides first evidence that having a low within-subject resting HRV may be both indicative and predictive of the short-term accumulation of the negative effects of stress and mental exhaustion, potentially forming a negative feedback loop. If these findings can be replicated and expanded upon in future studies, they may contribute to the development of automated resilience interventions that monitor daily resting HRV and aim to provide users with an early warning signal when a negative feedback loop forms, to prevent the negative impact of stress on long-term health outcomes.
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The imbalance between demand and supply in Dutch healthcare led to the introduction of task redistribution at the beginning of the 21st century. Some new occupations arrived, and many, especially occupations in allied healthcare, underwent major changes in scope of practice and authorization. One example is dental hygiene, which is the field of study chosen for this thesis.
