title: Physical and physiological effectiveness of an overall health care program for middle-aged Japanese women with mild obesity: A pilot study.
abstract: This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of an overall health care program (OHCP) for middle-aged Japanese women through assessing physical and physiological changes. The OHCP consisted of diet modification with natural alternative foods, walking and stretching exercises, and body massage and cupping treatments. Sixty-seven participants were assigned to one of three groups during a 3-year study period (2011-2013). The OHCP was performed for 3 months in each year. After the OHCP, most participants had significant decreases in the blood levels of triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase, γ-glutamyl transferase, and cholinesterase; body weight; body fat percentage; and body-mass index. The oxidative stress markers varied among the study years; however, a significant decrease in blood reactive oxygen-derived metabolites and a significant increase in the relative antioxidative potential were observed in 2013. In 2013, participants who were randomly selected for autonomic nervous activity measurements immediately before and after body massage and cupping treatments showed a significant predominance in parasympathetic nervous activity after the treatments. These results indicate that the OHCP in the present study is an effective and prompt method as a complementary treatment to improve the pre-obese or mild obese status without any noticeable physiological stress in most middle-aged women. However, because of the limitations of this study, the findings of this study need to be confirmed.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Food Safety, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Food Safety, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan ; Nonprofit Organization-Science of Food Safety and Security, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsubone
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Food Safety, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanafusa
authors.affiliation: Nonprofit Organization-Science of Food Safety and Security, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.affiliation: Slim Beauty House Co., 2-9-8 Shibuya Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Saiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishizaka
authors.affiliation: Clinic Yanagisawa, 4-10-31-934 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0074, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
keywords: autonomic nervous function; blood examination; body-mass index; middle-aged women; physiological stress