Biomedical subjects

H P Hopp

Publications and source records attributed to H P Hopp.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

The influence of a low-fat diet on incidence and severity of migraine headaches.

Migraine headaches are a common, debilitating syndrome causing untold suffering and loss of productivity. A review of the literature indicates that high levels of blood lipids and high levels of free fatty acids are among the important factors involved in triggering migraine headaches. Under these conditions, platelet aggregability, which is associated with decreased serotonin and heightened prostaglandin levels, is increased. This leads to vasodilation, the immediate precursor of migraine headache. A high-fat diet is one factor that may directly affect this process. This study, undertaken to evaluate the impact of dietary fat intake on incidence and severity of migraine headache, was conducted over a 12-week period on 54 previously diagnosed migraine headache patients. During the first 28 days, the study subjects recorded all food consumption in a diet diary and maintained a headache diary. At the conclusion of this 28-day baseline period, subjects were individually counseled to limit fat intake to no more than 20 g/day. A 28-day run-in period was allowed for adaptation to the low-fat diet. Results are reported on the final 28-day postintervention period. Subjects significantly decreased the ingestion of dietary fat in grams between baseline (mean 65.9 g/day, p < 0.0001) and the postintervention period (mean 27.8 g/day). The decreased dietary fat intervention was associated with statistically significant decreases in headache frequency, intensity, duration, and medication intake (all p < 0.0001). There was a significant positive correlation between baseline dietary fat intake and headache frequency (r = .44, p = 0.02). This study indicates that a low-fat diet can reduce headache frequency, intensity, and duration and medication intake.

Counseling↗

PubMed1998

In search of the ideal treatment for migraine headache.

Migraine headache is a common syndrome, afflicting millions, that has so far defied a definitive cure. Experimental research studies of the syndrome tend to describe the triggering factors separately. We propose a common denominator--namely, high levels of blood lipids and free fatty acids--as underlying factor in the development of migraine headaches. Biological states that may cause increases in free fatty acids and blood lipids include: high dietary fat intake, obesity, insulin resistance, vigorous exercise, hunger, consumption of alcohol, coffee, and other caffeinated beverages, oral contraceptives, smoking, and stress. Elevated blood lipids and free fatty acids are associated with increased platelet aggregability, decreased serotonin, and heightened prostaglandin levels. These changes lead to the vasodilatation that precedes migraine headache. We suggest that migraine headache should not be seen as an isolated symptom, but as a first signal of potential biochemical imbalances in the body, which can lead to development of chronic disease.

Alcohol Drinking↗

PubMed1998

Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular disease risk factors in postmenopausal women.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to determine if individuals with high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have better levels of the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors of total cholesterol (TC), HDL cholesterol (HDL), total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratio (TC/HDL), triglycerides (TG), and fibrinogen (FIB) when compared with those with low fitness, in 283 nonsmoking, postmenopausal women. Second, we examined the relation between fitness and CVD risk after controlling for use of hormones and other possible confounding factors. METHODS: These analyses were done on a subset of nonsmoking, postmenopausal women in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS). Records of postmenopausal women who completed a preventive medicine physical examination between 1987 and 1995 were examined. Cardiorespiratory fitness level was determined by total treadmill time to exhaustion on a graded exercise test; CVD risk factors were assessed via blood analysis. RESULTS: On cross-sectional regression analysis, fitness was significantly associated (P < or = 0.005) with TC (r2 = 0.08), TC/HDL (r2 = 0.12), TG (r2 = 0.09), and FIB (r2 = 0.06), and an increase in HDL (r2 = 0.04). After controlling for hormone status, age, year of testing, and blood glucose, each outcome variable remained significantly associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (P < 0.05). TC/HDL and TG continued to be significantly related to cardiorespiratory fitness after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) as a control variable (P < 0.01). The lack of significance between TC, HDL, and FIB with cardiorespiratory fitness after adjusting for BMI is likely due to the biological relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI (r2 = 0.19). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that cardiorespiratory fitness is an important independent determinant of blood lipid and FIB levels in nonsmoking postmenopausal women, with or without HRT.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed1997

Psychological effects of dietary fat analysis and feedback: a randomized feedback design.

Excess consumption of dietary fat promotes chronic disease such as heart disease and cancer. Dietary analysis and feedback are often used to motivate dietary change; however, little is known about how people process, react to, and use this feedback to change behavior. This study used a randomized feedback design to examine psychological reactions to dietary fat feedback. Subjects were assessed for fat consumption and then randomly assigned to a high, moderate, or low percentage of calories from fat feedback group. Findings indicate that there are strong emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to providing high-fat dietary feedback. Subjects that were told their diets were high in fat reported stronger negative emotional reactions and also reported they had stronger intentions to change than the other two feedback categories. These results are compared with studies providing nonrandomly assigned risk factor feedback.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

The feasibility of a proactive stepped care model for worksite smoking cessation.

Worksite smoking cessation interventions have achieved some success, but until recently have only intervened on those smokers at a stage of readiness to volunteer to participate in cessation programs. The present study assesses whether a sustained, proactive smoking cessation program based on a stepped care model that targets all smoking employees in the worksite can actually be delivered. In one worksite in Seattle (N = 273), a worksite-wide survey with a 99.3% response rate identified 53 smokers; subsequent new-hires added an additional 14 smokers to the worksite. This study delivered increasingly intensive intervention to those smoking employees who failed to quit smoking during the study period of 1.5 years. Telephone contacts (every 3 months) provided motivational messages tailored to the smokers' stage of cessation. Subsequent more intensive steps included self-help manuals and referrals to formal programs. The intervention also used community organization strategies, such as employee guided worksite activities to complement the individual and stepped strategies. In the study period, 18% of the smokers quit smoking. Participation rates in activities were good and on average worksite smokers moved over one stage of change from baseline toward quitting smoking.

Feasibility Studies↗

PubMed1994

Effects of dietary fat feedback on behavioral and psychological variables.

This paper reports on the immediate and delayed reactions to dietary fat consumption feedback. Subjects in our study received (1) personalized dietary fat feedback and (2) information about how to alter their fat consumption. Fat consumption was measured using a brief fat assessment instrument. Subjects were categorized into three risk groups: at or below, above, and significantly above the recommended level. Emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions were measured immediately after receiving feedback and at 1 month postfeedback. Subjects who received high fat feedback showed greater negative emotional distress in response to the feedback and stated that they knew less about high-fat foods than subjects receiving lower feedback. By the 1-month follow-up, subjects in the highest feedback condition were least likely to report intentions to lower their dietary fat. Interventions designed to alter dietary fat consumption should take into account the emotional and cognitive consequences of risk factor feedback.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Consistency in nervous systems: trial-to-trial and animal-to-animal variations in the responses to repeated applications of a sensory stimulus in Aplysia.

What is the internal noise in a nervous system? We studied this question by determining the trial-to-trial consistency of the neuronal response in the abdominal ganglion of Aplysia californica. Because our voltage-sensitive dye recordings detected the spike activity from a large fraction of the neurons in the ganglion, these results provide a reasonably complete characterization of the consistency of the response to a sensory stimulus. The consistency of each neuron was evaluated by the number and timing of spikes in the response. The variability in the spike count was described using the coefficient of variation. The spike count variations follow a Poisson distribution, indicating that most of these variations were the result of a random process. For each neuron the reliability of the response to touch was measured in two ways; both measures indicated a broad distribution of reliabilities within the neuron population. The time of the maximum response also varied substantially in some animals. These timing variations were in part due to random processes and in part due to systematic effects (changes in activity of many neurons that were highly correlated). The time course of the activity of individual neurons was compared with the time course of the gill withdrawal. In some animals the activity of individual neurons was only poorly correlated with the behavior; in contrast, the summed activity of groups of neurons matched the behavior quite well. This implies that the behavioral output of the system may be a distributed combination of the activity of many neurons. The differences between animals were substantially larger than the trial-to-trial differences in one animal. The responses made by different preparations differed along many dimensions.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed1991

Community-based programs for smoking cessation.

Overall, there is a wide range of programs offered at the community level. Most of the group cessation clinics, both nonprofit and commercial, typically offer group support, behavior modification, and stress and weight management, with similar emphases in their companion self-help manuals. It often is difficult to distinguish between the various methods employed by the diverse programs, with those that offer maintenance and relapse prevention components faring the best. In general, the multiple-component programs, whether group or self-help packages, seem to hold the most promise for achieving and maintaining abstinence; however, there is some evidence that overwhelming the smoker with too many new behaviors and skills lowers the effectiveness of otherwise successful components. The challenges for community-based programs will be to modify and adapt their materials and sessions to address the needs uncovered in the recent emphasis on the process of smoking cessation. Specifically, program content must address the issue of recycling and relapse prevention. Smokers who have made unsuccessful quit attempts must be able to reframe those attempts in a positive manner, so that they are motivated to try again. Similarly, recent quitters need the skills and motivation to remain abstinent. Although some cessation programs allow clients to participate in future sessions or meetings for little or no extra cost, few have any strategies for dealing with long-term maintenance. As community-based programs incorporate these elements of cessation, quit rates are likely to increase. An additional challenge is found in the difficulty of reaching the hard-core, heavy smoker. There is little doubt that light-to-moderate smokers find it easier to achieve long-term cessation. Cessation programs that motivate heavy smokers to attempt to quit or that include adjunct therapies to assist the heavy smoker (i.e., nicotine gum) to quit smoking are likely to be positively received. Currently, however, efforts specifically designed to assist heavy smokers are experimental. A final challenge is to adapt materials and sessions to motivate and assist the hard-to-reach smokers. Increasingly, smoking is becoming a habit of individuals in lower socioeconomic groups, including minorities, non-high school graduates, and young women. Avenues that have been used to reach white middle-class Americans are not easily transferred to such groups. Some attention is already being paid to development of more culturally appropriate materials (e.g., the ALA Manual oriented to blue collar workers and the ACS focus on pregnant women); however, it remains a challenge to motivate members of these groups to participate in smoking cessation activities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Community Health Services↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Maximizing worksite survey response rates through community organization strategies and multiple contacts.

BACKGROUND: Worksites are natural settings for health promotion. In many cases, the effectiveness of such interventions is appraised by surveying employees to assess worksite-wide changes in the targeted behavior. Little attention has been paid to increasing worksite survey response rates. One way is to utilize community organization strategies, which involve enlisting the individuals within a group to work together with researchers to affect the social environment. METHODS: Community organization strategies and multiple contacts were used to obtain responses from employees in five worksites involved in a smoking cessation project. Employee Advisory Board members in each worksite reviewed, adapted, and revised the survey distribution method, the messages that accompanied the survey, and the survey content. Three major survey waves were undertaken: a worksite effort, a home mailing (in the pilot worksite only), and a telephone call to nonrespondents. RESULTS: Response rates to a worksite-wide survey in one worksite the first year and four additional worksites the next year yielded 99.3% and 98.4% response rates, respectively. In the pilot worksite, 273 employees were eligible for the survey with 366 eligible employees in the four other worksites. Chi-square or analysis of variance computations were used, as appropriate, to test for differences in characteristics of respondents in the various data collection waves. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that there may be merit in adapting such community organization intervention methods for research applications.

Adult↗