(Press-News.org) New research reveals that metabolic syndrome—risk factors that can lead to heart disease and/or stroke—is common in liver transplant recipients, with rates highest at one year following the procedure. Findings published in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society, indicate that exercise could reduce complications from metabolic disease in patients post-transplantation.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute suggests that obesity, physical inactivity, and insulin resistance increase risk of metabolic syndrome. According to the NHLBI, patients who have three or more of the following metabolic clinical features would be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome:
high triglyceride level
abdominal obesity
low HDL (good) cholesterol level
high blood pressure
high fasting blood sugar
While liver transplantation extends life for those with liver failure and liver cancer, studies show that transplant recipients are at increased risk for heart disease and metabolic abnormalities. In fact, experts suggest that up to 58% of liver transplant patients have metabolic syndrome.
"Metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent among liver transplant recipients who also tend to be more physically inactive than other patient groups," explains lead author, Dr. Eric Kallwitz from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. "For this reason, our study evaluated physical activity and metabolic syndrome in patients following liver transplantation."
Researchers recruited 204 liver transplant recipients to evaluate their metabolic abnormalities, and exercise intensity and duration following transplantation. There were 112 male and 92 female participants with a mean age of 57 years. Ethnic composition of the group was 45% Caucasian, 27% Hispanic, 24% African-American, and 5% Asian or other background.
Analysis shows metabolic syndrome in 59% of all subjects and in 64% of recipients more than one year after transplant. Liver transplant patients exercised an average of 90 minutes with a mean metabolic equivalent (METS) at 3.6. In all subjects, metabolic syndrome was significantly higher and was associated with lower exercise intensity, older age, and pre-transplant diabetes in patients more than one year following transplant.
Dr. Kallwitz concludes, "Our findings suggest that exercise could help reduce metabolic syndrome complications in liver transplant recipients. Given the early onset of metabolic abnormalities following transplant, an effective intervention such as a structured exercise program during the first year after surgery, may benefit liver transplant patients."
###
This study is published in Liver Transplantation. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the article may contact sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
Full citation: "Physical Activity and Metabolic Syndrome in Liver Transplant Recipients." Eric R Kallwitz, Veronica Loy, Praveen Mettu, Natasha Von Roenn, Jamie Berkes and Scott J Cotler. Liver Transplantation; (DOI: 10.1002/lt.23710) Online Publication: July 25, 2013.
URL: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1022/lt.23710
Author Contact: Media wishing to speak with Dr. Kallwitz may contact Jim Ritter with Loyola University Medical Center at JRITTER@lumc.edu or at +1-708-216-2445.
About the Journal
Liver Transplantation is published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. Since the first application of liver transplantation in a clinical situation was reported more than twenty years ago, there has been a great deal of growth in this field and more is anticipated. As an official publication of the AASLD and the ILTS, Liver Transplantation delivers current, peer-reviewed articles on surgical techniques, clinical investigations and drug research — the information necessary to keep abreast of this evolving specialty. For more information, please visit http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/lt.
About Wiley
Wiley is a global provider of content-enabled solutions that improve outcomes in research, education, and professional practice. Our core businesses produce scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, reference works, books, database services, and advertising; professional books, subscription products, certification and training services and online applications; and education content and services including integrated online teaching and learning resources for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE: JWa, JWb), has been a valued source of information and understanding for more than 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 450 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Wiley's global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company's website can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.
Exercise may reduce heart disease risk in liver transplant recipients
2013-08-06
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Altering organic molecules' interaction with light
2013-08-06
Enhancing and manipulating the light emission of organic molecules is at heart of many important technological and scientific advances, including in the fields of organic light emitting devices, bio-imaging, bio-molecular detection. Researchers at MIT have now discovered a new platform that enables dramatic manipulation of the emission of organic molecules when simply suspended on top of a carefully designed planar slab with a periodic array of holes: so-called photonic crystal surface.
Influenced by the fast and directional emission channels (called 'resonances') provided ...
Scientists discover key to easing aquaculture's reliance on wild-caught fish
2013-08-06
BALTIMORE, MD (August 6, 2013)— For the first time scientists have been able to develop a completely vegetarian diet that works for marine fish raised in aquaculture, the key to making aquaculture a sustainable industry as the world's need for protein increases. The findings led by Aaron Watson and Allen Place at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology, are published in the August issue of the journal Lipids.
"Aquaculture isn't sustainable because it takes more fish to feed fish than are being produced," ...
A layer of tiny grains can slow sound waves
2013-08-06
In some ways, granular material — such as a pile of sand — can behave much like a crystal, with its close-packed grains mimicking the precise, orderly arrangement of crystalline atoms. Now researchers at MIT have pushed that similarity to a new limit, creating two-dimensional arrays of micrograins that can funnel acoustic waves, much as specially designed crystals can control the passage of light or other waves.
The researchers say the findings could lead to a new way of controlling frequencies in electronic devices such as cellphones, but with components that are only ...
Does physician verbal abuse create a bad working environment -- or the reverse?
2013-08-06
A recent study by the RN Work Project found that newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) who were verbally abused by nursing colleagues reported lower job satisfaction, unfavorable perceptions of their work environment, and greater intent to leave their current jobs. Now, a new study by the same research team finds that high levels of physician verbal abuse are closely associated with more negative work environments. The RN Work Project is a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The study found that nurses who experienced high (more than five times in the last ...
High-speed camera captures dancing droplets for scientific 'photo album,' study
2013-08-06
ITHACA, N.Y. – The splash from rain hitting a windowpane or printer ink hitting paper all comes down to tiny droplets hitting a surface, and what each of those droplets does. Cornell University researchers have produced a high-resolution "photo album" of more than 30 shapes an oscillated drop of water can take. The results, a fundamental insight into how droplets behave, could have applications in everything from inkjet printing to microfluidics.
Susan Daniel, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, led the study, to be published in Physical Review ...
Celiac disease patients with ongoing intestine damage at lymphoma risk
2013-08-06
NEW YORK—Patients with celiac disease who had persistent intestine damage (identified with repeat biopsy) had a higher risk of lymphoma than patients whose intestines healed, according to findings published in the August 6, 2013, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
Celiac disease is a common autoimmune disease, affecting approximately one percent of individuals in Western nations. It is characterized by damage to the lining of the small intestine that over time reduces the body's ability to absorb components of common foods. The damage is due to a reaction to eating ...
Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for Aug. 6, 2013
2013-08-06
1. Poorly Controlled Celiac Disease Linked to Higher Risk for Lymphoma
Patients with Celiac disease and persistent intestinal damage have a higher risk for lymphoproliferative malignancy (LPM) than patients whose intestines have healed. Celiac is an autoimmune disease in which a reaction to gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye) causes symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, and iron-deficiency anemia. Several studies have found an increased risk for LMP in patients with Celiac disease. The risk for LMP decreases over time after diagnosis, presumably from ...
More intestinal cells than thought can absorb larger particles
2013-08-06
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The small intestine employs more cells and mechanisms than scientists previously thought to absorb relatively large particles, such as those that could encapsulate protein-based therapeutics like insulin, according to a new study. The findings, published the week of Aug. 5, 2013, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, open another window for drug makers to increase absorption of medicines taken by mouth.
Scientists at Brown University and Wayne State University worked with rats to quantify the intestinal absorption ...
How a cancer drug unties knots in the chromosome that causes Angelman and Prader-Willi syndromes
2013-08-06
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- UC Davis researchers have identified how and where in the genome a cancer chemotherapy agent acts on and 'un-silences' the epigenetically silenced gene that causes Angelman syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe intellectual disability, seizures, motor impairments, and laughing and smiling.
The agent, Topotecan, is a topoisomerase inhibitor, part of a class of drugs that in earlier research has been found to un-silence the Angelman gene, suggesting that it might be therapeutic for the condition, which affects approximately ...
Great Recession onset spurs harsh parenting, researchers find
2013-08-06
The onset of the Great Recession and, more generally, deteriorating economic conditions lead mothers to engage in harsh parenting, such as hitting or shouting at children, a team of researchers has found. But the effect is only found in mothers who carry a gene variation that makes them more likely to react to their environment.
The study, conducted by scholars at New York University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"It's ...