Osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and dementia associated with aging were drastically increased after menopause due to the rapid decrease in estrogen. We tried to find out what kind of diet or food elements could retard aging, and prolong healthy life expectancy, and obtain higher quality of life effectively from recent researches.

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【Purpose】 The present study was conducted to examine the relationships among the status of postpartum females who lost weight to the level prior to pregnancy, weight increase during pregnancy, body fat percentage, autonomic nervous activity, and self-management ability. 【Method】 The subjects were 49 females (mean 33.7 (SD±4.8) years old) who gave birth within one year and whose BMI prior to pregnancy was at the standard level (18.5 to less than 25). (1) Measurements (of the body weight and fat percentage using a dual-frequency body composition measuring device, and the autonomic nervous activity using the heart-rate variability) and (2) a questionnaire survey (on the weight increase during pregnancy and their self-management skills) were conducted involving the 49 females. 【Results】 The number of females who were able to lose weight within six months of childbirth to the level prior to pregnancy was 27(55.1%), and 22 females(44.9%)could not. In a comparison of the two groups, (1) females in the body-weight-loss group had gained body weight during pregnancy by 9.3 (SD±3.9) kg, whereas females in the non-body-weight-loss group gained body weight during pregnancy by 12.2 (SD±2.9) kg, which was more marked compared to the body-weight-loss group (p<0.01). (2) There were 20 females (74.1%) in the body-weight-loss group whose percentage body fat was higher than 25, and 19 females (86.4%) in the non-body-weight-loss group. (3) Whereas sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activity measurements for the body-weight-loss group were 2.4 (SE±0.44) and 0.4 (SE±0.03), respectively, those for the non-body-weight-loss group were 3.2 (SE±1.07) and 0.4 (SE±0.03), respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups. The score for self-management skills received by the body-weight-loss group (30.3 (SD±3.2) points) was significantly higher than that of the non-body-weight-loss group (28.1 (SD±4.0) points) (p<0.05). 【Discussion】 To prevent obesity due to pregnancy and childbirth, it is important to continue to control the body weight and fat from the initial stage of pregnancy through to the postpartum period, and improve self-management skills related to health.

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Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a condition characterized with a dysphoric episode occurring in the late luteral phase and disappearing within a few days of the menstruation. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of and to evaluate factors associated with PMDD in Japanese college students. We conducted a questionnaire survey in a women's university located in a middle-sized city of Japan. We informed students attending psychology classes of the detailed study procedure and asked them to participate in the study. Finally out of 900 students, 833 (mean age 20.1 years) consented to the participation and completed the questionnaire, which consisted of DSM-IV-TR criteria for PMDD, socio-demographic variables, and questions asking information about life style and gynecological, psychiatric and stress-related factors. The prevalence of PMDD in the present study was 5.4%. A univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that 1 lifestyle, 2 gynecological, 5 psychiatric and 8 stress-related factors (total 16) were significantly associated with PMDD. Multiple logistic regression analysis to control for the confounding effects of the 16 factors showed that PMDD was independently associated with neurotic character, elevated consciousness to physical symptoms, psychological problems to family members, and drinking alcohol for stress-coping. These results suggest that psychological factors play important roles in the genesis of PMDD.

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