Tyrimo objiektas – Keturių Kauno universitetų bakalauro studijų (18 – 25 m.) studentai. Tyrimo tikslas - nustatyti mitybos bei žalingų įpročių ir socialinio aktyvumo sąsajas su fiziniu aktyvumu tarp Kauno aukštųjų mokyklų studentų. Hipotezė: gyvensenos ir fizinio aktyvumo analizė turėtų patvirtinti, kad pasyvesni studentai yra mažiau sveikesni ir turi daugiau žalingų įpročių, maitinasi nesveikai bei patiria didesnį stresą ir yra socialiai pasyvesni negu fiziškai aktyvūs studentai. Uždaviniai: 1. Įvertinti aukštųjų mokyklų studentų gyvensenos įpročius. 2. Įvertinti aukštųjų mokyklų studentų socialinį aktyvumą. 3. Įvertinti Kauno aukštųjų mokyklų studentų fizinį aktyvumą ir apžvelgti sveikatos aspektus. 4. Įvertinti Kauno aukštųjų mokyklų studentu fizinio aktyvumo, gyvensenos ir socialinio aktyvumo sąsajas. Tyrimo imtis ir organizavimas. Tyrime dalyvavo 200 Kauno keturių aukštųjų universitetų bakalauro studijų studentai, 99 vaikinai ir 101 mergina 18 – 25 metų amžiaus, tiriamųjų amžiaus vidurkis buvo 21,4 ± 2,3 m. Dalyvavo įvairaus profilio būsimų specialistų: LKKA Biomedicinos fakulteto studentai, VDU Socialinių mokslų fakulteto studentai, KTU Humanitarinių mokslų fakulteto studentai ir ASU Agronomijos fakulteto studentai.Anketinės apklausos metodu tirti keturi Kauno universitetų bakalauro studijų studentų gyvensenos ir fizinio aktyvumo aspektai. Pirmoji anketos dalis, skirta išsiaiškinti studentų gyvensenos veiksnius. Antrąja anketos dalimi siekiama įvertinti studentų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of investigation – Undergraduate studies (18 – 25 ages) students of four Kaunas university. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between dietary habbits, risky behaviour, social participation and physical activity among students of four universities in Kaunas. Hypothesis – physical activity and lifestyle analysis should confirm that passive students are less healthy, they have more habits, eating unhealthy food, more socially passive and get more stress than active students. Objectives: 1. To evaluate lifestyle habbits of students of four universities in Kaunas. . 2. To evaluate students social participation of four universities in Kaunas. 3. To evaluate students physical activity of four Kaunas universities and overview their health aspects. 4. To evaluate students physical activity, lifestyle and social activity interfaces of four Kaunas universities The sample of the organization: The study included 200 undergraduate students from four universities in Kaunas: 99 guys and 101 girls aged 18-25 took part in the reseach. The average age of subjects was 21.4 ± 2.3. The studies included future specialists of various fields: LAPE – Faculty of Biomedical Sciences students, VMU – Faculty of Social Sciences students, KTU Faculty of Humanities students and ASU – Faculty of Agronomy students. Using the questionnaire survey method the aspects of physical activity and lifestyles of the undergraduate students of four Kaunas universities were... [to full text]

Disertacijoje sveikos gyvensenos fenomenas konceptualizuojamas kaip visuomeninė ir edukacinė vertybė bei ugdymo tikslas, kurio įgyvendinimui modernioje visuomenėje kyla nauji iššūkiai. Remiantis kiekybine socialinių tyrimų paradigma, laikomasi požiūrio, kad edukacinė diagnostika leidžia įvertinti ugdymo tikslų įgyvendinimą realybėje. Disertaciniame tyrime edukacinė diagnostika pasitelkiama įvertinti studentų sveikos gyvensenos (kaip ugdymo rezultato) priklausomybę nuo edukacinių, socialinių, aplinkos faktorių bei ištirti jos sąsajas su subjektyviu savo kūno vertinimu. Taikant matematinės statistikos metodus, atskleidžiamas įvairių sveikos gyvensenos komponentų paplitimas studentų populiacijoje ir jo edukaciniai veiksniai. Analizuojant ir pateikiant tyrimo rezultatus, išryškinami lyčių skirtumai. Empirinio tyrimo duomenys rodo nemažą rizikingos sveikatai elgsenos paplitimą tarp studentų. Ryškiausios studentų gyvensenos problemos – neracionali mityba, psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimas, patiriamas stresas, nepakankamas fizinis aktyvumas. Šie ir kiti studentų gyvensenos rodikliai bei atrastos jų sąsajos su ankstesne ugdymo/si patirtimi leidžia kelti prielaidas apie nepakankamą formaliosios švietimo sistemos veiksmingumą ugdant sveikos gyvensenos įgūdžius, konstatuoti, kad ugdymą reglamentuojančiuose dokumentuose deklaruojami tikslai nėra sėkmingai įgyvendinami. Remiantis literatūros analize bei empirinio tyrimo duomenimis, pateikiamos rekomendacijos sveikos gyvensenos įgūdžių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the doctoral dissertation the phenomenon of healthy lifestyle is conceptualized as a social, educational value and the objective of education that poses new challenges in the modern society. On the basis of quantitative social research paradigm, educational diagnostics allows the measuring of achieving educational objectives in reality. In the dissertation research educational diagnostics helps to assess students' health behavior (as a result of education) and its dependence on the educational, social and environmental factors, and to investigate its relationship with subjective evaluation of own body. An application of mathematical statistical methods allows revealing the prevalence of various components of health behavior in the students’ population and its educational factors. In the analysis and presentation of research results gender differences are highlighted. Empirical study shows considerable risky health behavior prevalence among students. The principal students’ lifestyle issues - irrational nutrition, psychoactive substance use, stress, lack of physical activity. These and other indicators of students health behavior, and the discovered link with the previous educational experience lead to assumptions about the lack of formal educational system effectiveness in developing healthy lifestyle habits, and state that objectives declared in the documents regulating education have not been successfully implemented. Based on literature analysis and empirical study... [to full text]

Disertacijoje sveikos gyvensenos fenomenas konceptualizuojamas kaip visuomeninė ir edukacinė vertybė bei ugdymo tikslas, kurio įgyvendinimui modernioje visuomenėje kyla nauji iššūkiai. Remiantis kiekybine socialinių tyrimų paradigma, laikomasi požiūrio, kad edukacinė diagnostika leidžia įvertinti ugdymo tikslų įgyvendinimą realybėje. Disertaciniame tyrime edukacinė diagnostika pasitelkiama įvertinti studentų sveikos gyvensenos (kaip ugdymo rezultato) priklausomybę nuo edukacinių, socialinių, aplinkos faktorių bei ištirti jos sąsajas su subjektyviu savo kūno vertinimu. Taikant matematinės statistikos metodus, atskleidžiamas įvairių sveikos gyvensenos komponentų paplitimas studentų populiacijoje ir jo edukaciniai veiksniai. Analizuojant ir pateikiant tyrimo rezultatus, išryškinami lyčių skirtumai. Empirinio tyrimo duomenys rodo nemažą rizikingos sveikatai elgsenos paplitimą tarp studentų. Ryškiausios studentų gyvensenos problemos – neracionali mityba, psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimas, patiriamas stresas, nepakankamas fizinis aktyvumas. Šie ir kiti studentų gyvensenos rodikliai bei atrastos jų sąsajos su ankstesne ugdymo/si patirtimi leidžia kelti prielaidas apie nepakankamą formaliosios švietimo sistemos veiksmingumą ugdant sveikos gyvensenos įgūdžius, konstatuoti, kad ugdymą reglamentuojančiuose dokumentuose deklaruojami tikslai nėra sėkmingai įgyvendinami. Remiantis literatūros analize bei empirinio tyrimo duomenimis, pateikiamos rekomendacijos sveikos gyvensenos įgūdžių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the doctoral dissertation the phenomenon of healthy lifestyle is conceptualized as a social, educational value and the objective of education that poses new challenges in the modern society. On the basis of quantitative social research paradigm, educational diagnostics allows the measuring of achieving educational objectives in reality. In the dissertation research educational diagnostics helps to assess students' health behavior (as a result of education) and its dependence on the educational, social and environmental factors, and to investigate its relationship with subjective evaluation of own body. An application of mathematical statistical methods allows revealing the prevalence of various components of health behavior in the students’ population and its educational factors. In the analysis and presentation of research results gender differences are highlighted. Empirical study shows considerable risky health behavior prevalence among students. The principal students’ lifestyle issues - irrational nutrition, psychoactive substance use, stress, lack of physical activity. These and other indicators of students health behavior, and the discovered link with the previous educational experience lead to assumptions about the lack of formal educational system effectiveness in developing healthy lifestyle habits, and state that objectives declared in the documents regulating education have not been successfully implemented. Based on literature analysis and empirical study... [to full text]

Health and fitness are two controversial and not easily defined topics that affect people in our modern society every day. We believe that we can find a link between individualism, globalization and the stress concerning weight and appearance ideals. Our bodies have turned into a popular subject for the media, and there is no indication that the interest will decline. As the world gets more artificial, "natural" ideals are getting more attention, such as the concept of a strong and healthy body. But there is also a downside, for example with health issues such as cardiovascular disease increasing following the birth of high-fat diets. The potential risks with these ideals and diets may be great and even be counterproductive. In this essay, we seek out to learn how newspaper and periodicals Aftonbladet, Tara and Iform defines the concept of health and in which way it is described. Our results indicate that health to a large extent is described in terms of sickness and disease, rather than ideals. The results contradicts our hypothesis and we discuss why this might be the case.

Bakgrund: Den medicinska och ekonomiska kostnaden för hjärt- kärlsjukdomar är idagmycket omfattande. Största delen av dessa sjukdomar liksom andra kroniska, ickesmittsamma sjukdomar som cancer, lungsjukdom och diabetes, hör ihop med påverkbara,livsstilsrelaterade riskfaktorer. Genom att göra hälsosamma val när det gäller mat, rökning,alkohol och motion kan livsstilssjukdomar förhindras eller fördröjas. Livsstilsfrågor är enav distriktssköterskans huvuduppgifter och efter vårdvalet är det få distriktssköterskor somverkligen får arbeta med detta. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hurdistriktssköterskan arbetar med sjukdomsförebyggande metoder inom primärvården.Metod: Studien är baserad på en kvalitativ metod med en induktiv ansats. Genomintervjuer samlades data in från sex distriktssköterskor och analyserades med hjälp avinnehållsanalys. Resultat: I resultatet framkom två huvudteman som benämndes; Att finnavägar till förändring och Att utgå från tillgängliga resurser. Konklusion:Livsstilsförändringar är ett svårt område att arbeta med, livsstilen är något som är starktförankrat hos alla. Det krävs att patienten har förmåga till egenvård samt är beroende avdistriktssköterskans kompetens för att resultatet skall bli lyckat. Detta arbete underlättasinte av att resurserna blivit färre inom primärvården. Vårdvalet tros vara den störstaorsaken till att arbete med diagnosrelaterade sjukdomar prioriteras. / Background: The medical and economic cost of cardiovascular disease is now very extensive. Most of these diseases as well as other chronic, non-communicable diseases such as cancer, lung disease and diabetes, is associated with modifiable lifestyle -related risk factors. By making healthy choices when it comes to food, smoking, alcohol and exercise lifestyle diseases can be prevented or delayed. Lifestyle issues are one of the main tasks of the district nurse but after the health care election, few district nurses really get to work on this. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the work of the district nurse with disease prevention methods in primary care. Method: The study is based on a qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Through interviews, data were collected from six district nurses and analyzed using content analysis. Results: The results revealed two main themes called: Finding ways to change and Using available resources. Conclusions:Lifestyle modification is a difficult area to work with, the lifestyle is something that is deeply rooted in all of us.It requires that the patient is capable of self-care and dependent on district nursing skills for the result to be successful. This work is not being helped by the fact that resources are cut down in primary care. The health care election is believed to be the largest cause that diagnosis related work is prioritized.

Erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular disease share etiologies, and commonly coexist. One unifying concept is that the arterial insufficiency in hypertension is also the primary basis for blunted sexual responses. The objective of these studies was to characterize the age-related changes in the structure and function of the pudendal artery (the main resistance vessel) in young and old normotensive and hypertensive animals in relation to erectile function. In addition, we assessed the impact of antihypertensive treatments and lifestyle modifications, such as exercise and/or caloric restriction, on erectile responses and the structure and function of the pudendal artery. In 30 week old hypertensive rats or following re-challenges at 50 and 70 weeks, antihypertensive treatment (enalapril or hydralazine) did not prevent the age-related decline in erectile function. Experiments involving cross-over kidney transplantations between treated and untreated young hypertensive rats revealed that changes in penile vasculature and not the level of arterial pressure were important for normalizing erectile responses. In addition, intervention with exercise and caloric restriction showed that these treatments substantially improved erectile responses in normotensive and hypertensive rats. The pudendal artery in young normotensive rats was found to have a thick medial layer but a relatively small lumen. With age, the pudendal lumen didn’t change, but all components of the medial layer were markedly increased. Of interest, the smooth muscle cells within the pudendal medial layer became more disorganized with aging, although iii contractions were similar. In contrast, endothelium-dependent relaxation decreased with age. Young hypertensive rats also had an increased wall thickness, but not lumen diameter or extracellular matrix. Antihypertensive therapy significantly decreased the pudendal wall thickness. In aging hypertensive rats, the pudendal artery walls were even thicker, lumen decreased and extracellular matrix greatly enhanced compared to younger rats. In addition, there were numerous regions of intimal thickening associated with marked disruptions of the internal elastic lamina. Moreover, pudendal smooth muscle cells bordering the intima and in the neointima were round in shape, and electron microscopy confirmed their synthetic state. Taken together, these findings provide key evidence of the importance of the structure and function of the pudendal artery in facilitating erectile responses. / Thesis (Ph.D, Pharmacology & Toxicology) -- Queen's University, 2009-05-19 12:55:30.469

<p>Aggressive fiscal and monetary policies by governments of countries and central banks in developed markets could somehow push inflation to some very high level in the long run. Due to the decreasing of pension fund benefits and increasing inflation rate, pension companies are selling inflation-linked products to hedge against inflation risk. Such companies are seriously considering the possible effects of inflation volatility on their investment, and some of them tend to include inflationary allowances in the pension payment plan. In this dissertation we study the management of pension funds of the defined contribution type in the presence of inflation-recession. We study how the fund manager maximizes his fund&rsquo / s wealth when the salaries and stocks are affected by inflation. In this regard, we consider the case of a pension company which invests in a stock, inflation-linked bonds and a money market account, while basing its investment on the contribution of the plan member. We use a benchmarking approach and martingale methods to compute an optimal strategy which maximizes the fund wealth.</p>

<p>Hypertension is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and it is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, death and disability worldwide, especially in developing countries. Physical activity has been regarded as a commonly accepted modality for preventing and treating hypertension. However, despite its known benefits, this modality of treatment and prevention of&nbsp / hypertension continues to be underused. The present study aimed to determine the demographic, social and health-related factors that are associated with levels of physical activity participation among adults with hypertension in Kigali, Rwanda. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 252 adults with hypertension and 87 healthcare professionals through the Godin Leisure-Time&nbsp / Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) and Physical Activity Exit Interview (PAEI). Two thirds of the participants (69.44%) were classified as sedentary. The following factors were found to be significantly&nbsp / (P&lt / 0.05) associated with the levels of physical activity: age, marital status, and level of education, residence, tobacco / past and current users, alcohol / current user, diabetes mellitus, BMI, perceived health status, self-efficacy, and blood pressure. None of the healthcare professionals were considered good physical activity counsellor. The findings of the present study highlight the need for the implementation of health promotion strategies aimed at promoting physical activity lifestyle among individuals with hypertension in Rwanda. Efforts should be made in educating people with hypertension on the benefits of integrating regular physical&nbsp / activity in their daily lives. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should be educated concerning how to promote physical&nbsp / activity to all patients especially those with hypertension.</p>

<p>Chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDL) are on a raising trend in the world regardless of age, economic class or geographical location of a population. The mortality rate associated with CDL is alarmingly among the highest globally. Tanzania is not exempted from this development. Literature indicates that physical activity is a health practice that can prevent CDL. It is recommended that medical practitioners should hold the responsibility of counselling patients on physical activity. Some studies outside Africa found an association between doctors&rsquo / physical activity patterns and their counselling practices on the same. This study therefore sought to establish whether physical inactivity among medical&nbsp / doctors in Tanzania significantly influenced their counselling practices on physical activity. A cross sectional quantitative survey at the Muhimbili National Hospital and Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute was conducted to derive the required information. A self administered structured questionnaire was voluntarily answered by 144 medical doctors. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize data and was expressed as means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. The students&rsquo / t-test was used to compare mean physical activity between different groups. Furthermore students&rsquo / t-test and analysis of variance tests were used to examine association between different variables. Chisquare tests were used to test for associations between categorical variables. Alpha level was set at p&lt / 0.05. Most of the participants in this study were sedentary in their leisure time and only active at work. When their quality of&nbsp / physical activity counselling was assessed, the majority of them were found to be poor physical activity counsellors. A significant association was found between physical activity and age, as well as physical activity and counselling practice (p&lt / 0.05). Participants mostly informed their patients about the intensity and duration of exercising more than any other idea of physical activity such as types of exercises, issuing of a written prescription and planning for a follow up. Lack of knowledge and experience about details of physical activity were reasons offered for failure to counsel. Participants also reported the inconvenience of physical activity facility&rsquo / s schedules, fatigue and tiredness to be their&nbsp / barriers to physical activity participation. Doctors in Tanzania lacked personal initiative to participate in physical activity and consequently lacked the motivation to counsel.&nbsp / Measures around enhancing this health practice should be enhanced by all stakeholders including medical doctors, physiotherapists and patients. The need for short term and&nbsp / long term training in matters related to physical activity are therefore necessary among the practicing doctors and those undergoing training in medical schools. Physiotherapists who are trained in movement science can offer valuable advice/information to medical doctors to ensure that medical doctors acquire physical activity prescription and&nbsp / counselling knowledge. Collaboration between stakeholders in campaigning against sedentary lifestyles should be enhanced. Further reasons for failure to counsel, hindrances to physical activity participation and modern approaches to counselling should be explored.<br /> &nbsp / </p>

Increasing criticism by a number of professional fields, including planning, indicates that there is a decline in public health because of poor urban planning practices cannot be ignored. This research examines to what extent urban planning has contributed to the current health level of citizens, and explores how development policies address the criticism that urban planners are encouraging developments with limited opportunities that promote an inactive lifestyle. The findings show policy tools currently available for planners in Winnipeg to use are inadequate to ensure that all new developments conform to the healthy communities philosophy, and despite the limited guidance from planning legislation, the community of Seven Oaks has succeeded in implementing several healthy community initiatives. These initiatives are successful because of partnerships created between agencies, communication with the public, and most importantly, the passion by the stakeholders to develop healthier living opportunities within their community…