Independent relations of left ventricular structure with the 24-hour urinary excretion of sodium and aldosterone.

Previous studies reported on the association of left ventricular mass index (LVMI) with urinary sodium or with circulating or urinary aldosterone. We investigated the independent associations of LVMI with the urinary excretion of both sodium and aldosterone. We randomly recruited 317 untreated subjects from a white population (45.1% women; mean age 48.2 years). Measurements included echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) properties, the 24-hour urinary excretion of sodium and aldosterone, plasma renin activity (PRA), and proximal (RNa(prox)) and distal (RNa(dist)) renal sodium reabsorption, assessed from the endogenous lithium clearance. In multivariable-adjusted models, we expressed changes in LVMI per 1-SD increase in the explanatory variables, while accounting for sex, age, systolic blood pressure, and the waist-to-hip ratio. LVMI increased independently with the urinary excretion of both sodium (+2.48 g/m(2); P=0.005) and aldosterone (+2.63 g/m(2); P=0.004). Higher sodium excretion was associated with increased mean wall thickness (MWT: +0.126 mm, P=0.054), but with no change in LV end-diastolic diameter (LVID: +0.12 mm, P=0.64). In contrast, higher aldosterone excretion was associated with higher LVID (+0.54 mm; P=0.017), but with no change in MWT (+0.070 mm; P=0.28). Higher RNa(dist) was associated with lower relative wall thickness (-0.81x10(-2), P=0.017), because of opposite trends in LVID (+0.33 mm; P=0.13) and MWT (-0.130 mm; P=0.040). LVMI was not associated with PRA or RNa(prox.) In conclusion, LVMI independently increased with both urinary sodium and aldosterone excretion. Increased MWT explained the association of LVMI with urinary sodium and increased LVID the association of LVMI with urinary aldosterone.

What Price Salvation? The Exchange of Salvation goods between India and the West

Does Weber's notion of salvation goods, along with the connected one of the religious market, apply to the modern history of yoga? The case study chosen here (the yoga of Pattabhi Jois) clearly shows that these notions highlight many aspects of the expansion of yoga into a global market product. However, the notion of salvation goods resists the new hermeneutical situation of encounter and has to be adapted to the present situation of religious "patchwork". The notion of religious market lacks depth to describe the various understandings and appropriations of yoga in precise historical situations. Other aspects of the current global status of yoga may be highlighted by applying the concept of pilgrimage. La notion de bien de salut que nous lègue Max Weber et la notion de marché religieux qui en découle peuvent-elles s'appliquer à l'histoire moderne du yoga? L'étude de cas que nous consacrons au yoga de Pattabhi Jois montre que ces notions éclairent bien certains aspects de l'expansion du yoga en tant que produit d'un marché globalisé. Cependant la notion de bien de salut résiste à une réflexion de type herméneutique sur les processus de rencontres et doit être adaptée à la situation contemporaine, ou` les religions se présentent comme des ensembles composites. La notion de marché religieux ne permet pas d'expliquer les diverses compréhensions et appropriations du yoga dans des situations historiques précises. D'autres aspects de la situation du yoga sont mieux explicités si on prend le concept de pèlerinage comme point de référence.