| 1. |
- Bauer, Ilena, et al.
(författare)
-
Acute relaxation during pregnancy leads to a reduction in maternal electrodermal activity and self-reported stress levels
- 2021
-
Ingår i: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2393 .- 1471-2393. ; 21:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Prenatal maternal stress can have adverse effects on birth outcomes and fetal development. Relaxation techniques have been examined as potential countermeasures. This study investigates different relaxation techniques and their effect on self-reported stress levels and physiological stress levels in pregnant women. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 38 pregnant women in their 30th to 40th gestational week were assigned to one of three, 20-min lasting relaxation groups: listening to music (N = 12), following a guided imagery (N = 12) or resting (N = 12). The intervention, i.e., acute relaxation (music, guided imagery or resting) took place once for each study participant. Study inclusion criteria were age over 18 years, German speaking, singleton and uncomplicated pregnancy during the 30th and 40th week of gestation. The stress levels were determined during the study. Current stress level during the study was assessed by a visual analogue scale. Chronic stress levels were assessed by the Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress and the Pregnancy Distress questionnaire. Multivariate analyses of covariance were performed and dependent measures included stress levels as well as physiological measures, i.e., cardiovascular activity (electrocardiogram) and skin conductance levels. Results All three forms of relaxation led to reduced maternal stress which manifested itself in significantly decreased skin conductance, F(3,94) = 18.011, p = .001, eta(2)(p) = .365, and subjective stress levels after the interventions with no significant group difference. Post-intervention stress ratings were further affected by gestational age, with less subjective relaxation in women later in gestation, F (1, 34)=4.971, p = .032, eta(2)(p) = .128. Conclusion Independent of relaxation technique, single, 20-min relaxation intervention (music, guided imagery or resting) can significantly reduce maternal stress. Notably, women at an earlier stage in their pregnancy reported higher relaxation after the intervention than women later in gestation. Hence, gestational age may influence perceived stress levels and should be considered when evaluating relaxation or stress management interventions during pregnancy.
|
|
| 2. |
- Dietz, Benedikt, et al.
(författare)
-
Detection of diabetes from whole-body MRI using deep learning
- 2021
-
Ingår i: JCI Insight. - : American Society for Clinical Investigation. - 2379-3708. ; 6:21
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Obesity is one of the main drivers of type 2 diabetes, but it is not uniformly associated with the disease. The location of fat accumulation is critical for metabolic health. Specific patterns of body fat distribution, such as visceral fat, are closely related to insulin resistance. There might be further, hitherto unknown, features of body fat distribution that could additionally contribute to the disease. We used machine learning with dense convolutional neural networks to detect diabetes-related variables from 2371 T1-weighted whole-body MRI data sets. MRI was performed in participants undergoing metabolic screening with oral glucose tolerance tests. Models were trained for sex, age, BMI, insulin sensitivity, HbA1c, and prediabetes or incident diabetes. The results were compared with those of conventional models. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 87% for the type 2 diabetes discrimination and 68% for prediabetes, both superior to conventional models. Mean absolute regression errors were comparable to those of conventional models. Heatmaps showed that lower visceral abdominal regions were critical in diabetes classification. Subphenotyping revealed a group with high future diabetes and microalbuminuria risk. Our results show that diabetes is detectable from whole-body MRI without additional data. Our technique of heatmap visualization identifies plausible anatomical regions and highlights the leading role of fat accumulation in the lower abdomen in diabetes pathogenesis.
|
|
| 3. |
- Valdimarsdottir, Ragnheidur, et al.
(författare)
-
Pregnancy outcome in women with polycystic ovary syndrome in relation to second-trimester testosterone levels
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Reproductive BioMedicine Online. - : Elsevier BV. - 1472-6483 .- 1472-6491. ; 42:1, s. 217-225
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- RESEARCH QUESTION: Do women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have higher testosterone levels during pregnancy and what role does high testosterone play in the development of obstetric complications?DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study from Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden. The study population consisted of women with PCOS (n = 159) and a comparison group of women without PCOS matched for body mass index (n = 320). Plasma testosterone levels were measured in the early second trimester by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, and women with PCOS were grouped into tertiles according to their testosterone levels. Possible associations with obstetric complications, maternal metabolic factors and offspring birth weight were explored by multivariable logistic and linear regression models.RESULTS: Compared with women who do not have PCOS, women with PCOS had higher total testosterone (median 1.94, interquartile range [IQR] 1.21-2.64 versus 1.41, IQR 0.89-1.97; P < 0.001), and free androgen index (median 0.25, IQR 0.15-0.36 versus 0.18, IQR 0.11-0.28; P < 0.001). Women with PCOS who had the highest levels of testosterone had increased risk for preeclampsia, even when adjusted for age, parity, country of birth and smoking (adjusted OR 6.16, 95% CI 1.82 to 20.91). No association was found between high testosterone in women with PCOS and other obstetric complications.CONCLUSIONS: Women with PCOS have higher levels of total testosterone and free androgen index during pregnancy than women without PCOS matched for body mass index. Preliminary evidence shows that women with PCOS and the highest maternal testosterone levels in early second trimester had the highest risk of developing preeclampsia. This finding, however, is driven by a limited number of cases and should be interpreted with caution.
|
|
