Exercise research studies for chronic conditions

A routine of regular exercise is highly effective for prevention and treatment of many common chronic s and improves cardiovascular (CV) health and longevity. However, long-term excessive endurance exercise may induce pathologic structural remodeling of the heart and large arteries. Emerging data suggest that chronic training for and competing in extreme endurance events such as marathons, ultramarathons, ironman distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races, can cause transient acute volume overload of the atria and right ventricle, with transient reductions in right ventricular ejection fraction and elevations of cardiac biomarkers, all of which return to normal within 1 week. Over months to years of repetitive injury, this process, in some individuals, may lead to patchy myocardial fibrosis, particularly in the atria, interventricular septum, and right ventricle, creating a substrate for atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. Additionally, long-term excessive sustained exercise may be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, and large-artery wall stiffening. However, this concept is still hypothetical and there is some inconsistency in the reported findings. Furthermore, lifelong vigorous exercisers generally have low mortality rates and excellent functional capacity. Notwithstanding, the hypothesis that long-term excessive endurance exercise may induce adverse CV remodeling warrants further investigation to identify at-risk individuals and formulate physical fitness regimens for conferring optimal CV health and longevity.

RATIONALE: Clinical control is difficult to achieve in obese patients with asthma. Bariatric surgery has been recommended for weight-loss and to improve asthma control; however, the benefits of nonsurgical interventions have been poorly investigated. OBJECTIVE:
To examine the effect of exercise training in a weight-loss program on asthma control, quality of life, inflammatory biomarkers and lung function.
METHODS:
Fifty-five obese patients with asthma were randomly assigned to either a weight-loss program + exercise (WL+E group, n=28) or a weight-loss program + sham (WL+S group, n=27) group, where the weight-loss program included diet therapy (caloric restriction) and psychological therapies. The WL+E group incorporated aerobic and resistance muscle training, whereas the WL+S group incorporated breathing and stretching exercises. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was clinical improvement in asthma control over 3 months. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, lung function, body composition, aerobic capacity, muscle strength and inflammatory/anti-inflammatory biomarkers. MAIN
Results:
After 3 months, 51 patients were analyzed. Compared with the WL+S group, the WL+E group demonstrated improved clinical control scores (-0.7 [-1.3, -0.3] vs. -0.3 [-0.9, 0.4]; P=0.01) and greater weight-loss (-6.8%±3.5 vs. -3.1%±2.6; P

Physical activity has been positively associated with gray-matter integrity. In contrast, pro-inflammatory cytokines seem to have negative effects on the aging brain and have been related to dementia. It was investigated whether an inactive lifestyle and high levels of inflammation resulted in smaller gray-matter volumes and predicted cognitive decline across 6 years in a population-based study of older adults (n?=?414). Self-reported physical activity (fitness-enhancing, health-enhancing, inadequate) was linked to gray-matter volume, such that individuals with inadequate physical activity had the least gray matter. There were no overall associations between different pro-and anti-inflammatory markers (IL-1?, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, G-CSF, and TNF-?) and gray-matter integrity. However, persons with inadequate activity and high levels of the pro-inflammatory marker IL-12p40 had smaller volumes of lateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus and declined more on the Mini-Mental-State Examination test over 6 years compared with physically inactive individuals with low levels of IL-12p40 and to more physically active persons, irrespective of their levels of IL-12p40. These patterns of data suggested that inflammation was particularly detrimental in inactive older adults and may exacerbate the negative effects of physical inactivity on brain and cognition in old age. Hum Brain Mapp, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Aerobic exercise has been suggested to ameliorate aging-related decline in humans. Recently, evidence has indicated chronological aging is associated with decreases in measures of interhemispheric inhibition during unimanual movements, but that such decreases may be mitigated by long-term physical fitness. The present study investigated measures of ipsilateral (right) primary motor cortex activity during right-hand movements using functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Healthy, right-handed participant groups were comprised of 12 sedentary older adults, 12 physically active older adults, and 12 young adults. Active older adults and younger adults evidenced longer ipsilateral silent periods (iSP) and less positive BOLD of ipsilateral motor cortex (iM1) as compared to sedentary older adults. Across groups, duration of iSP from TMS was inversely correlated with BOLD activity in iM1 during unimanual movement. These findings suggest that increased physical activity may have a role in decreasing aging-related losses of interhemispheric inhibition.

This randomized study evaluated the impact of different exercise training modalities on blood pressure and body fat responses in apparently healthy older men. Forty-eight elderly men (aged 65-75 years) were randomly assigned to an aerobic training group (ATG, n=15), a combined aerobic and resistance training group (CTG, n=16), or a control group (n=17). Both exercise training programs were moderate-to-vigorous intensity, three days/week for 9-months. Strength, aerobic endurance, body fat and blood pressure were measured on five different occasions. The data were analyzed using a mixed-model ANOVA, and the independence between systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and group was tested. A significant main effect of group (p

Background:
Aging is associated with loss in both muscle mass and the metabolic quality of skeletal muscle. A major part of these changes is associated with an age-related decrease in the level of physical activity and may be counteracted by endurance training (ET) and resistance training (RT). OBJECTIVE:
Since both muscle strength and aerobic power decrease with age, we investigated what form of training might be best for improvements in physical performance in the elderly. In detail, we wanted to know whether systematic ET can augment muscle strength and/or whether systematic RT can augment the aerobic power of healthy elderly adults.
METHODS:
Forty-two volunteers (32 women, 10 men) were recruited for the study and randomized into three groups: 13 persons undertook a continuous 6-month ET program, 15 undertook a continuous 6-month RT program and 14 served as a control group. All persons performed a cycling test to measure aerobic power (VO(2max)) and maximum workload (W(max)) before and after the training period. Maximum strength was determined from one repetition maximum (1-RM).
Results:
After 6 months of RT, maximum strength increased by an average of 15% for leg press (P