scholarly journals Vascular Health in American Football Players: Cardiovascular Risk Increased in Division III Players

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Feairheller ◽  
Kristin R. Aichele ◽  
Joyann E. Oakman ◽  
Michael P. Neal ◽  
Christina M. Cromwell ◽  
...  

Studies report that football players have high blood pressure (BP) and increased cardiovascular risk. There are over 70,000 NCAA football players and 450 Division III schools sponsor football programs, yet limited research exists on vascular health of athletes. This study aimed to compare vascular and cardiovascular health measures between football players and nonathlete controls. Twenty-three athletes and 19 nonathletes participated. Vascular health measures included flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT). Cardiovascular measures included clinic and 24 hr BP levels, body composition,VO2 max, and fasting glucose/cholesterol levels. Compared to controls, football players had a worse vascular and cardiovascular profile. Football players had thicker carotid artery IMT (0.49 ± 0.06 mm versus 0.46 ± 0.07 mm) and larger brachial artery diameter during FMD (4.3±0.5 mm versus3.7±0.6 mm), but no difference in percent FMD. Systolic BP was significantly higher in football players at all measurements: resting (128.2±6.4 mmHg versus122.4±6.8 mmHg), submaximal exercise (150.4±18.8 mmHg versus137.3±9.5 mmHg), maximal exercise (211.3±25.9 mmHg versus191.4±19.2 mmHg), and 24-hour BP (124.9±6.3 mmHg versus109.8±3.7 mmHg). Football players also had higher fasting glucose (91.6±6.5 mg/dL versus86.6±5.8 mg/dL), lower HDL (36.5±11.2 mg/dL versus47.1±14.8 mg/dL), and higher body fat percentage (29.2±7.9% versus23.2±7.0%). Division III collegiate football players remain an understudied population and may be at increased cardiovascular risk.

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1745-1754
Author(s):  
Ashley R. Kildow ◽  
Glenn Wright ◽  
Ryan M. Reh ◽  
Salvador Jaime ◽  
Scott Doberstein

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Jagim ◽  
Glenn A. Wright ◽  
Jacob Kisiolek ◽  
Margaret T. Jones ◽  
Jonathan M. Oliver

Background: To what extent pre-season training camp may impact body composition and metabolism in collegiate football players is unknown. Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in body composition, dietary habits and metabolism following pre-season training in Division III American football players. Methods: Seventeen Division III football players (Ht: 1.80±0.6 m; BM: 99.1±60.1 kg; FFM: 79.7±8.6 kg; BF%: 19.3±8.6%) had their body composition and resting energy expenditure (REE) assessed in a fasted state (>12 hr.) before and upon completion of pre-season training. Pre-season training consisted of 14 days of intense training. Results: Linemen had a higher body mass, fat-free mass (FFM), and fat mass likely contributing to the higher REE (p < 0.01). A main effect for time was observed regarding changes in FFM (p<0.001) and body fat % (p = 0.024). A significant interaction was observed for FFM with linemen experiencing a greater reduction in FFM (-1.73±0.37 vs. -0.43±0.74 kg; p<0.001). Linemen (L) experienced a greater reduction in REE compared to non-linemen (NL) (L: -223.0±308.4 vs. NL: 3.27±200.1 kcals; p=0.085) albeit not statistically significant. Non-linemen consumed a higher amount of daily calories (p=0.036), carbohydrates (p=0.046), and protein (p=0.024) when expressed relative to body mass. Conclusion: The greater size in linemen prior to pre-season likely contributed to their higher REE. However, the multiple training bouts appeared to reduce REE in linemen, which may have been driven by the observed losses in FFM and low protein intake. Further, pre-season training increased body fat % in all players.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly D. Lloyd ◽  
Emma Barinas-Mitchell ◽  
Lewis H. Kuller ◽  
Rachel H. Mackey ◽  
Eric A. Wong ◽  
...  

Arterial diameter is an underutilized indicator of vascular health. We hypothesized that interadventitial and lumen diameter of the common carotid artery would be better indicators of vascular health than carotid plaque or intima media thickness (IMT). Participants were 491 overweight or obese, postmenopausal women who were former or current hormone therapy (HT) users, 52–62 years, with waist circumference>80 cm. We evaluated cross-sectional associations of cardiovascular risk factors with carotid measures, by HT status. Former HT users had a worse cardiovascular profile than current HT users: larger adventitial (6.94 mm versus 6.79 mm) and lumen diameter (5.44 mm versus 5.31 mm, bothP<0.01) independent of cardiovascular risk factors; IMT and plaque were similar. Larger diameters were best explained by former HT use, higher pulse pressure, and greater weight. Independent of potential confounders, overweight and obese postmenopausal former HT users had larger carotid diameters than current HT users. Carotid diameter should be considered in studies of HT.


VASA ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giannoukas ◽  
Sfyroeras ◽  
Griffin ◽  
Saleptsis ◽  
Antoniou ◽  
...  

Background: Severity of stenosis remains the main factor for assessing risk of stroke in patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) disease. This study was conducted to investigate the association of plaque echostructure and other established and emerging cardiovascular risk factors with symptomatic ICA disease. Design: Cross-sectional study of consecutive patients with significant (> 50 %) ICA stenosis. Patients and methods: Carotid plaque echostructure, smoking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, serum lipoprotein (a), homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein ratio, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and the Framingham risk score were assessed in 124 consecutive patients (70 asymptomatic; 54 symptomatic) with significant (> 50 %) ICA stenosis. Results: The asymptomatic and symptomatic groups did not differ in terms of gender distribution (p = 0.76) and severity of stenosis (p = 0.62). Echolucent plaques (type 1 and 2) were more predominant in patients with symptomatic disease (p = 0.004, OR = 2.13, 95 % CI = 1.26-3.6). Patients with plaques type 1 were relatively younger than those with type 4 (p = 0.02). None of the other factors assessed had any significant association with symptomatic disease and any type of carotid plaque. Conclusions: Besides the severity of carotid stenosis, the presence of an echolucent plaque appears as an important factor associated with symptomatic ICA disease. Also, young patients are more likely to have an echolucent plaque suggesting an age-related association with plaque maturation.


2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse A. Steinfeldt ◽  
Courtney Reed ◽  
Clint M. Steinfeldt

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Rotheudt ◽  
E Moritz ◽  
M Markus ◽  
H Voelzke ◽  
N Friedrich ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Introduction  Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a lipid mediator of the immune system and vascular bed. However, cross-sectional analyses of S1P and parameters of vascular health in the population are sparse. Purpose  We explored the relation between S1P concentrations and several parameters of vascular health, i.e. ankle-brachial index (ABI), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), presence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques/stenosis, brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) as well as aortic wall thickness (AWT). Methods S1P was measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-TREND-0). ABI was calculated as the ratio of systolic blood pressure in arms and ankles. For cIMT, the distance between the lumen-intima and media-adventitia interfaces in longitudinal scans were measured. Carotid plaques were defined as a focal protrusion of the carotid vessel wall. Carotid stenosis was assessed with Doppler ultrasonography. FMD was evaluated by measuring the increase in brachial artery diameter after transient forearm ischemia. AWT was assessed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  Subjects with cancer, severe renal insufficiency, previous myocardial infarction and extreme values for S1P (&lt; 1st and &gt; 99th percentile) were excluded. Sex stratified linear regression models adjusted for age, smoking, waist-to-hip ratio and platelets were used to assess the relation between S1P and vascular disease parameters. Results A total of n = 3,643 participants (48% male, median age 51, 25th and 75th percentile 39 and 63 years) could be included in the analyses. The median S1P concentration was 0.788 µM (25th and 75th percentile 0.679 and 0.906, respectively). In men a 1 standard deviation higher S1P was associated with a significantly greater cIMT (β: 0.0057 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.00027 to 0.0112 mm; p = 0.0396) and a lower ABI (β: -0.0090 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.0153 to -0.0029; p = 0.0038. In women S1P was significantly associated with cIMT (β: 0.0044 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.0001 to 0.0086 mm; p = 0.0445) while no significant association was found for the relation of S1P with ABI. For both men and women S1P was not associated with FMD, the presence of carotid plaques/stenosis and AWT. Conclusions We found that S1P concentrations were positively related to a thicker cIMT in both sexes and lower ABI values in men. There was no association of S1P with any of the other vascular markers of interest. Future studies need to validate our results in other populations.


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