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Objectives: Human milk content varies across mother-child dyads, environments, and populations. Among the hormones in milk is cortisol, a glucocorticoid; its impact on the breastfeeding child is unknown. Milk cortisol may constitute a signal to the child's developing physiology which can shape characteristics (e.g., growth, temperament) to prevailing environmental conditions. This exploratory study evaluated the maternal, breastfeeding, and infant characteristics associated with milk cortisol., Methods: We evaluated archived milk specimens for cortisol using enzyme immunoassay and employed an information-theoretic approach to assess associations between milk cortisol and participant characteristics with linear regression modeling. Because we employed secondary data, information for some variables likely to impact milk cortisol variation (e.g., time of day, socioeconomic status, maternal or infant body mass index, milk energy density) was unavailable., Results: Participants were 48 lactating mothers from upstate New York, aged 21-40 years. Milk cortisol ranged from 0.098 to 1.007 μg/dL. Child age ranged from 1 to 26 months. In linear regression employing best fit modeling criteria, milk cortisol increased with child age (B: 0.069; p: .000; a 7.1% increase in milk cortisol for each month of child age), while child symptoms of illness (B: -0.398; p: .057; a 33% decrease) and consumption of complementary foods (B: -.525; p: .020; a 41% decrease) were associated with lower milk cortisol., Conclusions: We speculate that increasing milk cortisol with child age plays a role in signaling development (e.g., as increasing independence increases risk for injury and other negative health outcomes), independent of the maternal stressors we could capture., (© 2023 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consistency of the circadian patterns of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) variation over a three-month time frame in women employed outside the home., Methods: The subjects were 157 healthy women of varying ethnicity (age = 38.2 ± 8.9) who all worked in similar positions at two major medical centers in New York City. Each wore an ambulatory BP monitor during the course of three mid-week work days approximately one month apart. Hourly BPs and HRs were calculated from 9 am to 6 am the following morning and compared among the three days using anova and t tests., Results: The results indicate that there were virtually no differences in the mean hourly levels of any parameter during the waking period across the three days of assessment. However, mean hourly levels of systolic BP significantly declined from 12 pm to 4 am (P < .04, P = .001, P < .001, P = .001, P = .009, respectively) on the third assessment day compared to the first., Conclusions: Because BP and HR respond to environmental demands in an allostatic fashion, the consistency in the waking patterns of BP and HR variation suggest that the patterns of demands on a workday are reasonably stable in this sample of women. The decline in systolic pressures from 12 pm to 4 am over the three assessments may indicate an improving ability to sleep with the monitor over time., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Human biologists have been examining arterial blood pressure since they began studying the effects of the environment and culture on the health of diverse populations. The Korotkoff auscultatory technique with a trained observer and aneroid sphygmomanometer is the method of choice for blood pressure measurement in many bioanthropological field contexts. Korotkoff sounds (the first and fifth phases) are the preferred determinants of systolic and diastolic pressure, even in infants, children, pregnant women, and the elderly. Training of observers, positioning of individuals, and selection of cuff size are all essential for obtaining standardized measurements. Automatic electronic devices are increasingly being used for blood pressure measurement in human biological studies. The automatic monitors often use the oscillometric method for measuring pressure, but must be validated before use. The emergence of automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitors has opened another avenue of research on blood pressure in human biology, where allostasis and circadian responses to environmental change and real life behavioral challenges can be defined and evaluated, largely because there is now the ability to make multiple measurements over time and in varying contexts. Stand-alone automatic monitors can also be substituted for manual auscultated readings in field contexts, although in studies where participants measure their own pressure, education about how the devices work and protocol specifics are necessary. Finally, computer-driven plethysmographic devices that measure pressure in the finger are available to evaluate short-term reactivity to specific challenges., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the daily inter- and intra-situational ambulatory blood pressure (BP) variation by ethnicity in women., Methods: The African-American (N = 82; Age = 39.7 + 8.9), Hispanic-American (N = 25; age = 37.5 + 9.4), Asian-American (N = 22; Age = 35.2 + 8.6), and European-American (N = 122; Age = 37.2+ 9.4) women in this study all worked in similar positions at two major medical centers in NYC. Each wore an ambulatory monitor during the course of one mid-week workday. Proportional BP changes from work or home to sleep, intra-situational BP variation (standard deviation [SD]) and mean situational BP levels were compared among the groups using ANOVA models., Results: African-American and Asian-American women had significantly smaller proportional work-sleep systolic changes than either European- (P < 0.05) or Hispanic-American (P < 0.05) women, but the Asian-American women's changes tended to be smallest. The variability (SD) of diastolic BP at work was significantly greater among African- and Hispanic-American women compared to Asian- and European-American women (all P < 0.05). African-American women had greater sleep variability than European-American women (P < 0.05). Asian-American women had the highest level of sleep diastolic pressure (all comparisons P < 0.05)., Conclusions: African-American and Asian-American women have an attenuated proportional BP decline from waking environments to sleep compared to European-American and Hispanic-American women. Asian-American nocturnal BP may be elevated relative to all other groups. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:932-935, 2016. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Competing Interests: None., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: As daily environments change, behavior and activity also change and as blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) are allostatically tied to these factors, one might expect that environments that elicit the greatest behavioral/activity variation should also evince the highest BP and HR variability [standard deviation (SD) or coefficient of variation (CV)]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this premise., Methods: Two hundred and six women (age = 37.6 ± 9.1 years) wore an ambulatory BP monitor on a midweek workday. All worked in clerical, technical, or professional positions. Ambulatory BP and HR Means, SDs and CVs at work (11 AM-3 PM), home (∼6-10 PM) and during sleep (∼10 PM-6 AM) were compared using repeated measures ANCOVA., Results: Mean BP and HR decreased from work and home to sleep [121 ± 11, 120 ± 11 vs. 107 ± 12 systolic; 82 ± 10, 80 ± 11 vs. 66 ± 11 diastolic; 79 ± 12, 80 ± 12 vs. 68 ± 11 HR (all P < 0.001)], while the CV of systolic and diastolic BP increased [0.06 ± 0.02, 0.07 ± 0.02 vs. 0.08 ± 0.03 systolic; 0.09 ± 0.03, 0.10 ± 0.04 vs. 0.12 ± 0.05 diastolic (P < 0.001)]. The HR SD decreased during sleep [8.1 ± 3.8, 8.2 ± 3.8 vs. 6.9 ± 3.2 (P < 0.001)]., Conclusions: HR variability follows the expected variability pattern with behavior and activity, whereas BP does not., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: Previous studies suggest that otherwise healthy individuals who have a parental history of hypertension (PH+) have an accentuated reactive rise in catecholamines and cortisol to laboratory stressors as well as elevated plasma levels when compared with those with no parental history (PH-); however, few, if any, studies have evaluated whether parental history affects the responses of these hormones to changing environmental circumstances in everyday life. The purpose of this study was to compare urinary catecholamine (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and cortisol excretion and ambulatory blood pressures (BPs) across three daily microenvironments between women with and without a parental history of hypertension., Methods: The women in the study (PH+, N = 62, age = 35.2 ± 9.1; PH-, N = 72, age = 33.8 ± 10.0) worked in clerical, technical, or professional positions at a major medical center in New York City. Urinary hormone excretion rates and ambulatory BP were measured across three daily microenvironments: work (11 am to 3 p.m.), home (approximately 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), and during sleep (approximately 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). History group comparisons by microenvironment were made using repeated-measures ANCOVA and ANOVA analyses., Results: The results show that epinephrine excretion among PH+ women was 36% higher than PH- women (P < 0.008) over the entire day and that nocturnal cortisol excretion was also greater among PH+ women (P < 0.045). PH+ women also had statistically significantly higher systolic (4 mm Hg higher; P < 0.01) and diastolic (2 mm Hg higher, P < 0.03) BP when compared with PH- women across all daily microenvironments., Conclusion: These findings suggest that there may be genetically linked mechanisms which elevate tonic epinephrine levels and nocturnal cortisol levels that contribute to elevating circadian BP., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: Elevated blood pressure (BP), elevated serum cholesterol, and aberrant lipoprotein fractions (low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and high levels of low-density lipoprotein fractions and triglycerides) have all been used as measures that assess the "metabolic syndrome" and more recently in indexes of allostatic load, which are designed to assess the degree of integrated metabolic pathology. While there are ample data regarding the interrelationships of these measures in various pathophysiological settings, there are limited data regarding the interrelationship of ambulatory BP (ABP) and blood lipids in healthy subjects. The present study evaluates ABP-blood lipid relationships in a multiethnic sample of healthy adults., Methods: The subjects were 37 men (age = 40.9 ± 10.7 years) and 42 women (age = 35.8 ± 10.4 years) who were employed as hotel workers in Hawaii. Each wore an ABP monitor for one midweek workday and had pressures averaged in three daily microenvironments (work, home, and during sleep). They also had fasting blood samples taken for lipid profiling., Results: Multivariate analysis of covariance shows that there was a strong inverse relationship between HDL and both systolic (P < 0.006) and diastolic (P < 0.006) BP, overall and in each microenvironment, but no statistically significant relationships with other lipid measures., Conclusion: These results suggest lipids and BP do not act as a group in healthy adults but that higher HDL is associated with lower BP. This latter finding is consistent with research that shows that HDL promotes vasodilation via its effect on endothelial nitric oxide synthase., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: Studies show that diurnal blood pressure (BP) sensitivity to epinephrine (EPI) in African-American women is significantly greater than that of European-American (EA) women. Few if any studies have examined diurnal catecholamine-BP relationships in women of other ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of diurnal changes in EPI and norepinephrine (NE) on the diurnal changes in BP between Filipino-American (FA) and EA women., Methods: The subjects included 31 FA and 27 EA nurses and nurses aides and eight FA and 19 EA hotel workers from Hawaii who wore an ambulatory BP monitor and collected timed urine specimens (4 h at work, approx.4 h at home and approx. 8 h overnight) for assay of EPI and NE. Proportional changes in systolic and diastolic BP from sleep to work and sleep to home were examined using ANCOVA models including fixed effect-covariate interactions, with ethnicity as a fixed factor, and BMI and the appropriate proportional change in EPI or NE as covariates., Results: The results show that there was no association between changes in EPI and BP, either overall or by ethnic group; however, overall changes in diastolic BP from sleep to work tended to be smaller among the FAs (P < 0.06). There was also an interactive effect of NE and ethnic group on diastolic BP such that among FAs, as diastolic BP increased, the corresponding NE change decreased (P < 0.039)., Conclusion: The relationships between diurnal BP and catecholamine variations differ by ethnicity. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the differences and to evaluate whether this vascular tonic relationship has been the focus of natural selective processes., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

A growing body of evidence indicates that African Americans (AA), on average, have a smaller proportional decline in blood pressure (BP) from waking to sleep than European Americans (EA), but this difference is largely based on correlational data from a single assessment day. The persistence of this difference over repeated sampling is not well established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether ethnic differences in the awake-sleep BP decline between AA and EA persisted over three monthly assessments. The subjects were 47 AA (age = 39.7 +/- 8.7) and 92 EA (age = 37.4 +/- 9.2) normotensive women. Subjects had 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring done on midweek workdays at 1-month intervals for three consecutive months. The proportional decline in BP was calculated as follows: (average awake - average sleep)/average sleep. The persistence of ethnic differences was evaluated using repeated-measures ANCOVA and by examining Bland-Altman plots. The ANCOVA results revealed that overall, the proportional decline of AA women was less than that of EA women for both SBP (P < 0.038) and DBP (P < 0.083), consistent with previous research, and that there were also no significant ethnic differences by monthly assessment. Bland-Altman plots revealed that overall and by ethnicity, the proportional decline in BP among individual subjects over the 3 months was also reproducible. These results suggest that the ethnic difference in awake-sleep BP between AA and EA women persists over time and that the awake-sleep decline in BP among individuals, whether AA or EA, is also reproducible.

During the 20th century, infectious disease morbidity and mortality generally waned whereas chronic degenerative diseases posed a growing burden at the global level. The population on Saba, Netherlands Antilles has recently experienced such an epidemiologic transition, and hypertension was reported to be extraordinarily high, although no prevalences have been reported and relationships with lifestyle factors associated with rapid modernization have not been explored. In this study, a medical and demographic questionnaires, as well as body composition and blood pressure measures were collected from 278 Saban men and women aged 18-91 years. When age and sex adjusted, 48% of the population was hypertensive. Age, BMI, and Afro-Caribbean descent were all associated with higher blood pressures. In a second phase, 124 individuals of the 278 were invited to receive a longer questionnaire on individual exposure to modernizing influences such as travel and education. Higher blood pressure was associated with having lived in fewer different places in the past; those who stayed only on Saba or Statia had higher blood pressures than those who had also lived in more modernized areas. However, this was no longer statistically significant after adjustment for age and BMI. Lifestyle incongruity was positively associated with higher blood pressure in that those with more discord between material wealth and income were more likely to be hypertensive, and this remained statistically significant after adjustment for age and adiposity. In summary, hypertension is highly prevalent on Saba and tended to be associated with greater age, adiposity, Afro-Caribbean ancestry, and lifestyle incongruity., ((c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

We recently reported that healthy women at familial risk for breast cancer (FH+) have higher urinary cortisol levels at work than women without familial risk (FH-). The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether this group difference persisted over a 1-month period. Subjects were healthy women (FH+, N = 42, age = 37.6 +/- 9.3, FH-, N = 93, age 38.4 +/- 9.0) employed primarily in clerical or technical positions at three medical centers in New York City who collected timed urine samples in three contrasting daily environments, at work ( approximately 11AM-3PM), home (approximately 6PM-10PM) and during sleep (approximately 10PM-6AM) on 2 mid-week workdays approximately 1 month apart. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed that cortisol excretion differed across the environments (P < 0.001), and that there was also a significant interaction between daily environment and family history group (P < 0.049), such that FH+ women maintained higher cortisol excretion at work over the 2 days than FH- women. A Bland-Altman plot showed that both overall and by family history group, the rate of cortisol excretion at work was generally reproducible, although there was a heteroscadasticity in the relationship that likely reflected excessive stressfulness on one of the study days in a small minority of subjects. These results suggest that the presence of a potent background stressor (familial breast cancer risk) can influence more acute cortisol responses in daily life over time., (Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Research strongly suggests that lower overall adiposity and higher central adiposity are independent risk factors for premenopausal breast cancer in the general population. We aimed to test the possibility that these factors may contribute to familial risk of premenopausal breast cancer. A convenience sample of healthy women, ages 25-49, was recruited to yield three study groups: (1) Women with first-degree family histories of premenopausal breast cancer, operationally defined as being diagnosed prior to age 50 (Group FH < 50, n = 39); (2) Women with first-degree family histories of postmenopausal breast cancer, operationally defined as being diagnosed at age 50 or after (Group FH > or = 50, n = 33); and (3) Women without a history of breast cancer in first-degree relatives (Group FH-, n = 132). Multinomial logistic regression analyses, including possible confounders, waist circumference, and BMI, revealed a lower BMI among FH < 50 compared to either FH- (OR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.59-0.87), or FH > or = 50 women (OR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.60-0.95), and higher waist circumferences in FH < 50 compared to either FH- (OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.06-1.25), or FH > or = 50 women (OR = 1.16; 95% CI = 1.05-1.28). No group differences were seen for waist skinfold measures. These results support the possibility that differences in patterns of adiposity may contribute to familial risk of premenopausal breast cancer, and suggest the importance of conducting large scale, population-based studies of the link between body size characteristics and familial breast cancer risk.

Originally incorporated as the Human Biology Council in 1974, the Human Biology Association, as it has been known since 1994, has matured in the intervening 30 years to become a society that represents broadly the interests of human biologists in the U.S. and throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of the Association from its foundation to the present in the context of changes in the organization of the Association and in its By-Laws, officers, committees, and membership; the history of the two journals that served as the Association's official organs (Human Biology and American Journal of Human Biology); and how the annual meetings have evolved from a modest one-day plenary session to meetings that last more than two days and include a variety of scientific contributions. Highlights of the national meetings include the Raymond Pearl Memorial Lecture, the Franz Boas Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Edward E. Hunt, Jr. Student Prize., (Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This overview discusses how aspects of behavior and stressors inherent in the lifestyles of contemporary women affect their cardiovascular health. Three main issues are addressed. The first is the applicability of cardiovascular risk data collected on prior generations of working women in predicting the health outcomes of the current generation of women. It is argued that the earlier data may not adequately describe the health risk of the current generation because of changes in the nature of women's paid employment in recent decades, and because the compartmentalization of economic, leisure, and domestic activities may have affected how stress associated with each influences cardiovascular measures such as blood pressure. Second, the influence of the environment on lifestyle is briefly discussed in the context that differences in the results of studies examining lifestyle stressors may occur as a consequence of local physical and cultural environmental differences which influence lifestyle. Third, the effects of daily microenvironmental changes on blood pressure are discussed and it is argued that perceived socioeconomic roles may influence the cardiovascular response to the stressors inherent in each microenvironment. Because the lifestyles of women change over the lifespan, it is concluded that the impact of lifestyle on cardiovascular risk must be studied at all stages of life. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc., (Copyright © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This study examined the effect of large changes in dietary sodium on the average ambulatory blood pressure and its variability in 19 patients with uncomplicated borderline hypertension. Each patient participated in a 16-week protocol that consisted of four 4-week periods of different sodium intake (medium (120-160 mEq/day) during periods 1 and 3 and low (< 40 mEq/day) or high (> 225 mEq/day) during either period 2 or 4. The 24-hour urine sodium during the low and high periods averaged 18 and 327 mEq/day, respectively. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was done at the end of the fourth week of the low and high diet periods. During monitoring, pressures were recorded every 15 minutes while awake; in addition, patients kept diaries noting activities, posture, and situation at each measurement. The results show that there was a decline of 16/7 mmHg in the average ambulatory awake systolic and diastolic pressures from the high sodium to low sodium diets. Corresponding casual pressures decreased an average of 15 and 8 mmHg, respectively. In examining the factors associated with ambulatory pressure variability, systolic pressure showed greater variation by activity on a low sodium diet than on the high. The findings suggest that sodium restriction has a variable, but in some cases marked, effect on lowering the ambulatory blood pressure in borderline mildly hypertensive patients and that sodium balance may be important to consider when examining ambulatory blood pressure variability. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc., (Copyright © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company.)

The lifestyles and social environments of Pacific Islanders have changed profoundly as a result of local development and migration to urban, cosmopolitan centers. These changes have often been accompanied by an increase in chronic diseases, alcoholism, and suicide. As a result, the health effects of psychological and physiological stress have become an increasing concern in Pacific Island nations and in countries with significant Pacific migrant communities. Several studies in the Samoan Studies Project have examined catecholamine excretion rates in order to understand how the behavioral, psychological, and environmental changes of modernization affect the physiological stress responses of young Samoan adults. The results of studies in rural and urban Western Samoa, American Samoa, and Honolulu, Hawaii show that several complex factors associated with urban, more cosmopolitan lifestyles tend to increase stress hormone levels. Specifically, lifestyle differences in physical activity, diet, and social interaction have significant independent and interactive contributions. These behavioral factors can lead to a high degree of day-to-day variability in catecholamine excretion. The implications of these findings for future research designs are discussed. However, the data suggest that it is a complex interaction of lifestyle factors, not any specific single factor, that determines the physiological stress responses of Samoans in different environments. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc., (Copyright © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company.)