Effects Of Intensive Exercise Research Articles

Effects of Intensive Exercise on Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients With Pure Cerebellar Degeneration: A Single-Arm Pilot Study.

To clarify the profile of cognitive dysfunction and the effects of intensive exercise in spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD). We enrolled 60 healthy controls and 16 patients with purely cerebellar type SCD without gait disturbance or organic changes other than cerebellar changes. To assess cognitive function, we evaluated the participants using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Japanese (MoCA-J) at admission and after intensive exercise. Compared to the controls, SCD patients showed significant cognitive decline. As a result of intensive exercise, significant improvements in motor and cognitive functions were observed: the MMSE score improved from 27.7±1.9 to 29.0±1.3 points (p<0.001); the FAB score improved from 14.8±2.2 to 15.8±2.0 points (p=0.002); and the MoCA-J score improved from 24.6±2.2 to 26.7±1.9 points (p<0.001). For sub-scores, significant improvements were noted in serial 7, lexical fluency, motor series, and delayed recall. Our study indicates that intensive exercise can be effective not only for motor dysfunction but also for cognitive dysfunction (Clinical Trial Registration No. UMIN-CTR: UMIN000040079).

Assessment of myocardial deformation with CMR: a comparison with ultrasound speckle tracking in a cohort of highly trained endurance athletes

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Plan Nacional I.D., Del Programa Estatal de Fomento De La Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, Subprograma De Generación Del Conocimiento, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad 2013. Background Myocardial deformation integrated with cardiac dimensions provides a comprehensive assessment of the ventricular remodelling patterns induced by cumulative effects of intensive exercise. Feature tracking(FT) can measure myocardial deformation from cardiac magnetic resonance(CMR) cine sequences; however, its accuracy is still scarcely validated. Purpose Our aim was to compare FT’s accuracy and reproducibility to speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) in highly trained endurance athletes (EAs). Methods 93 EAs (&amp;gt;12 hours training/week during the last 5 years, 52% male, 35 ± 5.1 years) and 72 age-matched controls underwent a resting CMR and a transthoracic echocardiography to assess biventricular exercise-induced remodelling and biventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS) by CMR-FT and STE. Results High endurance training load was associated with larger bi-ventricular and bi-atrial sizes and mildly reduced systolic function of both ventricles (p &amp;lt; 0,05). Strain values (both by CMR-FT and STE) proportionally decreased with increasing ventricular volumes potentially depicting the increased volume and functional biventricular reserve that characterize EAs heart. Strain values were lower when assessed by CMR-FT as compared to STE (p &amp;lt; 0.001), with good reproducibility for the LV (bias = 3.94%, LOA= ± 4.27%) but wider variability for RV strains (Figure 2). Conclusions Biventricular longitudinal strain values were lower when assessed by FT compared to STE. Both methods were comparable when measuring LV strain but not RV strain. These differences might be justified by FT’s lower in-plane spatial and temporal resolution, which is particularly relevant for the complex anatomy of the RV. Abstract Figure. Fig 1. Bland-Altman plots; FT vs STE.

Intensive Exercise Training Improves Cardiac Electrical Stability in Myocardial-Infarcted Rats.

BackgroundModerate exercise training has been shown to decrease sudden cardiac death post myocardial infarction. However, the effects of intensive exercise are still controversial.Methods and ResultsFourteen myocardial‐infarcted rats were divided into sedentary (n=8) and intensive training groups (n=6) and 18 sham control rats to sedentary (n=10) and intensive training groups (n=8). Heart rate variability was obtained at weeks 1 and 8. The inducibility of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation was assessed in a Langendorff system. Fast Fourier transforms were applied on the recorded ventricular tachycardia/fibrillations. Training reduces low to high frequency ratio of heart rate variability at week 8 compared with that at week 1 (P<0.05). In isolated hearts, the probability for ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation was decreased from 4.5±0.8% in sedentary controls to 1.56±0.2% in intensive training controls (P<0.05) and from 13.5±2.1% in the sedentary group to 5.4±1.2% in the intensive training group (P<0.01). Moreover, the pacing current required for ventricular fibrillation induction in the trained groups was increased following exercise (P<0.05). Fast Fourier transform analysis of ECG findings revealed an exercise‐induced ventricular fibrillation transition from a narrow, single‐peak spectrum at 17 Hz in sedentary controls to a broader range of peaks ranging from 13 to 22 Hz in the intensive training controls.ConclusionsIntensive exercise in infarcted rats leads to reduced ventricular fibrillation propensity and is associated with normalization of refractoriness and intrinsic spatiotemporal electrical variations.

OP026: Intensive Exercise Hampers the Postprandial Citrulline Bioavailability Following Casein Bolus Feeding

Rationale: Metabolic stress like surgery and intensive exercise have been reported to increase intestinal permeability. It is not known whether intensive exercise also influences gut metabolic functioning. The effects of intensive exercise on intestinal permeability, postprandial amino acid (AA) bioavailability and intestinal enterocyte metabolic mass were determined in the human intervention study Protege.

The Beneficial Role of Intensive Exercise on Parkinson Disease Progression

In the last decade, a considerable number of articles has shown that exercise is effective in improving motor performance in Parkinson disease. In particular, recent studies have focused on the efficacy of intensive exercise in achieving optimal results in the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson disease. The effects of intensive exercise in promoting cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation in animal models are reported in a large cohort of studies, and these neuroplastic effects are probably related to increased expression of a variety of neurotrophic factors. The authors outline the relation between intensive exercises and neuroplastic activity on animal models of Parkinson disease and discuss the clinical results of different intensive strategies on motor performance and disease progression in patients with Parkinson disease.

The effects of intensive, long-term treadmill running on reproductive hormones, hypothalamus-pituitary-testis axis, and semen quality: a randomized controlled study.

Effects of intensive exercise on hypothalamus-pituitary-testis (HPT) axis remain controversial. Our aim was to determine the effects of intensive, long-term treadmill running on reproductive hormones, HPT axis, and semen quality. A total of 286 subjects were randomly assigned to moderate-intensity exercise (approximately 60% maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)); group 1, n=143) and high-intensity exercise (approximately 80% VO(2max); group 2, n=143) groups. The two groups exercised for 60 weeks in five sessions per week, each session lasting 120 min. This was followed by a 36-week low-intensity exercise recovery period. All subjects underwent routine semen analysis. Blood samples were drawn for the determination of the levels of the following hormones: LH, FSH, prolactin, testosterone (T), free testosterone (fT), inhibin B, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). The HPT axis was assessed using GnRH and human chorionic gonadotropin tests. After 24 weeks of exercise, the subjects exercising with high intensity demonstrated significantly declined semen parameters compared with those exercising with moderate intensity (P=0.03). Serum T and fT began to decrease, and serum SHBG began to increase at the end of 12 weeks with both moderate- and high-intensity exercises. The serum LH and FSH concentrations decreased below the baseline level at 12 weeks in both groups (P=0.07 in group 1 and 0.03 in group 2). Both groups had blunted LH and FSH responses to GnRH. These parameters improved to their pre-exercise level during the recovery period. Long-term strenuous treadmill exercises (overtraining syndrome) have a deleterious effect on reproduction.

Immunity in athletes.

There is a general perception among athletes, coaches and sports physicians that athletes are susceptible to infectious illness, such as upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), during intensive training and major competition; recent epidemiological evidence is consistent with this perception. Recent studies have focused on the effects of exercise on immune parameters in order to better understand mechanisms by which exercise training may influence resistance to infection. Intensive exercise has been shown to transiently alter a number of immune parameters including circulating leukocyte and subset numbers, plasma cytokine concentrations, natural killer cell activity, secretory immunoglobulin A secretion rate, and neutrophil and macrophage phagocytic activity. Many of these changes persist for several hours or even days after intensive exercise. Some athletes have been shown to exhibit low resting or postexercise values on some nonspecific immune parameters compared with clinical norms, such as complement, acute phase proteins, and neutrophil activation. In addition, extended periods of intensive exercise training have been associated with progressive decreases in some immune parameters such as neutrophil function and certain subclasses of serum and secretory immunoglobulin. These data suggest the possibility of clinically relevant immune suppression in well-trained athletes. Psychological stress associated with training and competition at the elite level may be an additive factor to the effects of intensive exercise on immune function.

Menstrual State and Exercise as Determinants of Spinal Trabecular Bone Density in Female Athletes

OBJECTIVE--To study the effects of amenorrhoea and intensive back exercise on the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine in female athletes. DESIGN--Cross sectional study comparing amenorrhoeic with eumenorrhoeic athletes and rowers with non-rowers. SETTING--The British Olympic Medical Centre, Northwick Park Hospital. PATIENTS--46 Elite female athletes comprising 19 rowers, 18 runners, and nine dancers, of whom 25 were amenorrhoeic and 21 eumenorrhoeic. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Trabecular bone mineral density of the lumbar spine measured by computed tomography. RESULTS--Mean trabecular bone mineral density was 42 mg/cm3 (95% confidence interval 22 to 62 mg/cm3) lower in the amenorrhoeic than the eumenorrhoeic athletes; this difference was highly significant (p = 0.0002). Mean trabecular bone mineral density was 21 mg/cm3 (1 to 41 mg/cm3) lower in the non-rowers than the rowers; this was also significant (p = 0.05). There was no interaction between these two effects (p = 0.28). CONCLUSION--The effect of intensive exercise on the lumbar spine partially compensates for the adverse effect of amenorrhoea on spinal trabecular bone density.

Menstrual state and exercise as determinants of spinal trabecular bone density in female athletes.

To study the effects of amenorrhoea and intensive back exercise on the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine in female athletes. Cross sectional study comparing amenorrhoeic with eumenorrhoeic athletes and rowers with non-rowers. The British Olympic Medical Centre, Northwick Park Hospital. 46 Elite female athletes comprising 19 rowers, 18 runners, and nine dancers, of whom 25 were amenorrhoeic and 21 eumenorrhoeic. Trabecular bone mineral density of the lumbar spine measured by computed tomography. Mean trabecular bone mineral density was 42 mg/cm3 (95% confidence interval 22 to 62 mg/cm3) lower in the amenorrhoeic than the eumenorrhoeic athletes; this difference was highly significant (p = 0.0002). Mean trabecular bone mineral density was 21 mg/cm3 (1 to 41 mg/cm3) lower in the non-rowers than the rowers; this was also significant (p = 0.05). There was no interaction between these two effects (p = 0.28). The effect of intensive exercise on the lumbar spine partially compensates for the adverse effect of amenorrhoea on spinal trabecular bone density.

Will Exercise Help Keep Women Away From Oncologists—or Obstetricians?

DELAYING MENARCHE in American adolescents might bring about unsuspected societal, as well as personal, benefits if the conclusions of some recent widely reported studies on exercise and women's health are accepted. On the other hand, it might be best not to try to fool Mother Nature. Speaking in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Rose E. Frisch, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Population Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, presented some provocative data that seem to suggest reasons for seriously slimming the average teenage girl's figure while also temporarily repressing her libido. But another speaker at a symposium on "Effects of Intensive Exercise on Female and Male Reproduction" weighed in in favor of the status quo. David C. Cumming, MB, associate professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Medicine (Division of Endocrinology), University of Alberta Faculty