Age and Gender-Related Differences in Physical Functions of the Elderly Following One-Year Regular Exercise Therapy

Reports on physical functions during maintenance period of the elderly with cardiac and other serious diseases are limited. This study aims to clarify age and gender-related differences in their physical functions. Participants included 167 elderly individuals (males, 78;mean age, 76.5 years;SD = 6.0 years;females, 89;mean age, 75.5 years;SD = 4.5 years) who participated in a 1-year regular exercise therapy twice a week. The following eight physical function tests were selected: grip strength, 10-m obstacle walking time, one-legged balance with eyes open, sit-ups, sitting trunk flexion, 6-min walk, stepping by sitting position, and a timed up & go (TUG). Two-way analysis of variance was used to examine mean differences by gender and age: young elderly group (aged 65 - 74 years) and old elderly group (aged ≥ 75 years). In the grip strength, sit-ups, 6-min walk, 10-m obstacle walking time, stepping by sitting position, and sitting trunk flexion tests, males were superior in the former four tests, and females were superior in the latter two tests. The young elderly group was superior in all tests except for sit-ups compared with the old elderly group. The balance during one-legged with eyes open test was superior in males compared with females in the young elderly group, but decreased in males in the old elderly group. In conclusion, physical functions of the elderly during maintenance period are different between genders. Muscle strength, muscle endurance, whole-body endurance, and walking ability are superior in males, whereas flexibility and agility are superior in females. The old elderly group was inferior in all the elements of physical function except muscle endurance.

The Effect of Brief, Low-Intensity Stretching Gymnastics on Autonomic Nervous System Activity and Cognitive Function

Purpose: Stretching exercise and gymnastics both have beneficial effects, such as improvement of autonomic nervous system activity and mood. Additionally, studies on the effects of exercise on cognitive function have been conducted covering a wide range of age groups and have attracted much attention. However, conventional studies have set up programs with implementation times of 20 to 30 minutes. Therefore, shorter stretching programs are needed in order to fit them more easily into one’s free time. We examined the effects of a short 7-minute stretching gymnastics regime on the autonomic nervous system activity and cognitive function in 21 healthy participants. Methods: In this study, the participants performed a 10-minute cognitive task, followed by either Stretch Well Gymnastics, Stretch Band Gymnastics, or Radio Gymnastics sessions on different days. The participants then performed the cognitive task again. Heart rate was measured continuously throughout the experiment and we analyzed the heart rate variability. The cognitive tasks completed by all of the participants were evaluated for inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Results: A significant increase was shown in the sympathetic nerve activity during the Stretch Well Gymnastics, compared to the Radio Gymnastics and Stretch Band Gymnastics. Parasympathetic nerve levels were significantly increased after the gymnastics, compared to during the gymnastics, although there were no significant differences between any of the tasks. Additionally, in both the Stroop task and the number-Letter task, reaction times were faster in all of the sessions. In particular, the Stroop task showed the highest values for the Radio Gymnastics sessions, with marginally significantly lower scores for the Stretch Well Gymnastics sessions. Conclusion: The results showed that these heart rate variability responses supported the effects of autonomic activity associated with conventional low-intensity exercise. Additionally, stretching gymnastics for less than 10 minutes showed a positive effect on inhibitory function and cognitive flexibility.

Relationship between Extent of Coffee Intake and Recognition of Its Effects and Ingredients

This study examined the relationship between number of cups of coffee intake and recognition of the effects of coffee intake and its ingredients in young males and females. The subjects included 624 young people (ages 15 - 24;359 males, 265 females), who drank coffee habitually. They were classified into three groups on the basis of the number of cups of coffee consumed per day: “one cup,” “two cups,” and “over three cups.” In males, about 25% of the “over three cups” group expected “resolution of stress” from coffee, and this percentage was higher than that in the other groups. In females, about 18% of the same group had similar expectations;however, no significant group difference was found among the three groups. Few persons expected protective effects of diabetes mellitus and cancer in both genders (about 5% answer rate). About 20% of males and 18% of females in the “over three cups” group recognized the “laxative property” of coffee intake, and a significant group difference was found only in males. Even in the “one cup” group, over 77% knew that “caffeine” is an ingredient of coffee;however, few persons (under 15%) knew “poly-phenol,” which has protective effects of diabetes mellitus and cancer. In addition, no significant group difference was found in both genders. In conclusion, regardless of the coffee intake cup-number in both genders, recognition of the effects of coffee intake was low in both males and females and the recognition of effects differs by the intake cup-number in males. Only few persons knew the other ingredients in coffee apart from “caffeine.”

Relationship between arterial stiffness and cognitive function in outpatients with dementia and mild cognitive impairment compared with community residents without dementia

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether the dementia patients with Alzheimer’s disease(AD)and vascular dementia(VaD)and mixed dementia(MIX,including AD and VaD)would have more developed arterial stiffness as compared with local residents without dementia.The aim of this study was to assess arterial stiffness and cognitive function in different types of dementia pa-tients[AD,VaD,MIX and mild cognitive impairment(MCI)]and community residents without dementia.METHODS This was a single-center,cross-sectional observational study.We studied a cohort of 600 elderly outpatients with a complaint of memory loss,who were divided into four groups(AD,VaD,MIX and MCI).In addition,they were compared with 55 age-matched local residents without dementia(Controls).We assessed arterial stiffness by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(baPWV)and the global cognitive function by the Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE).RESULTS The baPWV was higher in AD,VaD and MIX than in MCI and in Controls(P<0.05).The baPWV was higher in MCI than in Controls(P=0.021),while MMSE were compatible between them(P=0.119).The higher baPWV predicted the presence of AD,VaD,MIX and MCI with the odds ratio of 6.46,8.74,6.16 and 6.19,respectively.In contrast,there were no difference in baPWV among three different types of dementia(P=0.191).The linear relationship between baPWV and MMSE was observed in the elderly with MMSE≥23(R=0.452,P=0.033),while it was not in dementia patients(MMSE<23).CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that MCI and dementia patients have stiffer arteries as compared with age-matched local residents,although global cognitive function may be comparable between MCI and the local residents.

The Influence of Sampling Site on Blood Lactate Response to Steady State Exercise

In sports sciences, blood lactate is commonly measured for performance testing or setting exercise intensity. Differences in measuring lactate concentration over time and across sampling sites during constant exercise are unknown. We aimed to compare blood lactate concentration across sampling sites during constant exercise. Eight participants performed three bouts of 20-min steady-state cycle exercise, consisting of 45, 60, and 75% of peak oxygen uptake (V . O2peak). Blood lactate levels were measured simultaneously from the fingertip and earlobe every 5 min during exercise. The time course analysis revealed that lactate level in the fingertip was significantly higher than in the earlobe at either work intensity (P < 0.05). A significant interaction effect (site x time) was observed at 60% V O2peak (P < 0.001), which indicated that the difference in samples across sampling sites decreased over time. The levels in the fingertip samples were higher at 5 min (P < 0.05);this difference was not noted after 10 min. Similarly, the fingertip values were significantly higher until 10 min (P < 0.05), but not after 15 min at 75% V O2peak. These findings suggest that the sampling site may affect the time course of change in lactate value under a constant workload.

Parkin promotes proteasomal degradation of p62： implication of selective vulnerability of neuronal cells in the pathogenesis of Parkinson＇s disease

Mutations or inactivation of parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, are associated with familial form or sporadic Parkinson＇s disease （PD）, respectively, which manifested with the selective vulnerability of neuronal ceils in substantia nigra （SN） and striatum （STR） regions. However, the underlying molecular mechanism linking parkin with the etiology of PD remains elusive. Here we report that p62, a critical regulator for protein quality control, inclusion body formation, selective autophagy and diverse signaling pathways, is a new substrate of parkin. P62 levels were increased in the SN and STR regions, but not in other brain regions in parkin knockout mice. Parkin directly interacts with and ubiquitinates p62 at the K13 to promote proteasomal degradation of p62 even in the absence of ATG5. Pathogenic mutations, knockdown of parkin or mutation of p62 at K13 prevented the degradation of p62. We further showed that parkin deficiency mice have pronounced loss of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neurons and have worse performance in motor test when treated with 6-hydroxydopamine hydrochloride in aged mice. These results suggest that, in addition to their critical role in regulating autophagy, p62 are subjected to parkin mediated proteasomal degradation and implicate that the dysregulation of parkin/p62 axis may involve in the selective vulnerability of neuronal cells during the onset of PD pathogenesis.