Physical performance in relation to menopause status and physical activity

High Physical Activity Level May Reduce Menopausal Symptoms

Background and Objectives: Menopause is a normal physiological change occurring at a woman's mid-life. During this time, women experience vasomotor, physical and physiological problems, which reduce their quality of life. Many women are searching for different, alternative methods to reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms. Physical activity (PA) is one of the recommended methods to reduce menopausal symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between specific domains (physical activity during leisure time, at work, during transportation and household activities) and the menopausal symptoms. Materials and Methods: We included 305 women aged 40-65 in the study. All participants were divided into three groups according to menopausal status. The research tools used were the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to assess physical activity level in four domains and the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) to assess the severity of menopausal symptoms. The data analysis was performed by Chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post hoc Tuckey test. Results: Menopausal stage was significantly associated with the total MRS score (p < 0.001) and specifically the urogenital and somato-vegetative subscores (p < 0.001). Physical activity was significantly associated (p < 0.001) with leisure time (according to IPAQ domains). Most postmenopausal women had high PA level (59.66%). Significantly less women with high PA levels had severe urogenital symptoms: 10.82% of participant with a low PA level, 11.15% with a moderate PA level and 4.26% with a high PA level (p = 0.046). Conclusions: Physical activity during leisure time is associated to menopausal symptoms in Polish women. Women with high and moderate PA levels have less severe menopausal symptoms compared to inactive women. Middle-aged women with low PA levels at work suffer from more severe somato-vegetative symptoms.

Aging of the musculoskeletal system: How the loss of estrogen impacts muscle strength

Skeletal muscle weakness occurs with aging and in females this is compounded by the loss of estrogen with ovarian failure. Estrogen deficiency mediates decrements in muscle strength from both inadequate preservation of skeletal muscle mass and decrements in the quality of the remaining skeletal muscle. Processes and components of skeletal muscle that are affected by estrogens are beginning to be identified. This review focuses on mechanisms that contribute to the loss of muscle force generation when estrogen is low in females, and conversely the maintenance of strength by estrogen. Evidence is accumulating that estrogen deficiency induces apoptosis in skeletal muscle contributing to loss of mass and thus strength. Estrogen sensitive processes that affect quality, i.e., force generating capacity of muscle, include myosin phosphorylation and satellite cell function. Further detailing these mechanisms and identifying additional mechanisms that underlie estrogenic effects on skeletal muscle is important foundation for the design of therapeutic strategies to minimize skeletal muscle pathologies, such as sarcopenia and dynapenia.

Tea Seed Oil Prevents Obesity, Reduces Physical Fatigue, and Improves Exercise Performance in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Obese Ovariectomized Mice

Menopause is associated with changes in body composition (a decline in lean body mass and an increase in total fat mass), leading to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and heart disease. A healthy diet to control body weight is an effective strategy for preventing and treating menopause-related metabolic syndromes. In the present study, we investigated the effect of long-term feeding of edible oils (soybean oil (SO), tea seed oil (TO), and lard oil (LO)) on female ovariectomized (OVX) mice. SO, TO, and LO comprise mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), and saturated fatty acids (SFA), respectively. However, there have been quite limited studies to investigate the effects of different fatty acids (PUFA, MUFA, and SFA) on physiological adaption and metabolic homeostasis in a menopausal population. In this study, 7-week-old female Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice underwent either bilateral laparotomy (sham group, n = 8) or bilateral oophorectomy (OVX groups, n = 24). The OVX mice given a high-fat diet (HFD) were randomly divided into three groups: OVX+SO, OVX+TO, and OVX+LO. An HFD rich in SO, TO, or LO was given to the OVX mice for 12 weeks. Our findings revealed that the body weight and relative tissues of UFP (uterus fatty peripheral) and total fat (TF) were significantly decreased in the OVX+TO group compared with those in the OVX+SO and OVX+LO groups. However, no significant difference in body weight or in the relative tissues of UFP and TF was noted among the OVX+SO and OVX+LO groups. Furthermore, mice given an HFD rich in TO exhibited significantly decreased accumulation of liver lipid droplets and adipocyte sizes of UFP and brown adipose tissue (BAT) compared with those given an HFD rich in SO or LO. Moreover, replacing SO or LO with TO significantly increased oral glucose tolerance. Additionally, TO improved endurance performance and exhibited antifatigue activity by lowering ammonia, blood urea nitrogen, and creatine kinase levels. Thus, tea seed oil (TO) rich in MUFA could prevent obesity, reduce physical fatigue, and improve exercise performance compared with either SO (PUFA)- or LO(SFA)-rich diets in this HFD-induced obese OVX mice model.

Weight Management Module for Perimenopausal Women: A Practical Guide for Gynecologists

Menopause has been identified as a high-risk stage for weight gain in a woman's lifecycle. Menopause-related weight gain is a consequence of low circulating estrogen levels due to progressive loss of ovarian function. Moreover, the changes in the hormonal milieu, chronological aging, decline in physical activity coupled with westernized dietary pattern, and recurrent emotional eating episodes associated with psychological distress also contribute to the increase in total body fat and waist circumference. Higher waist circumference is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic disease in menopausal women. These obesity-related cardiometabolic risk factors and menopausal symptoms can be effectively managed by achieving clinically significant weight loss through lifestyle modification. Behavioral lifestyle intervention uses behavioral techniques for counseling corrective dietary and physical activity practices in achieving sustainable weight loss outcomes. Majority of menopausal women seek this counseling from gynecologist, especially in primary care settings due to nonavailability of multidisciplinary teams. Thus, the aim of the review is to understand the menopause-obesity link, associated risk factors, and its health-related burden in perimenopausal women to devise a practical women-centric weight management module based on lifestyle modification techniques to address the burden of menopausal obesity in regular gynecological practice.

Age at natural menopause and physical function in older women from Albania, Brazil, Colombia and Canada: A life-course perspective

OBJECTIVE

Grip strength and gait speed are objective measures of physical function, which in turn is an indicator of biological aging. We evaluate the association between age at natural menopause (ANM) and physical functioning in a sample of postmenopausal women drawn from the International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS).

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study of 775 women aged 65-74, from Albania, Brazil, Colombia and Canada, who had experienced natural menopause.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Gait speed and grip strength were obtained following standardized protocols. The association between self-reported ANM (<40, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54 and ≥55) and gait speed (m/s) and grip strength (kg) was assessed by linear regression analyses adjusting for several life-course economic and reproductive exposures, height, BMI and smoking.

RESULTS

Overall, women with ANM ≥ 55 had higher gait speed than those with ANM 50-54 (β = 0.05; 95%CI: 0.01, 0.10). Women with ANM < 40 had significantly lower grip strength compared with all other groups (β= -2.58; 95%CI: -4.43, -0.74). In region-specific analyses, ANM was associated with grip strength in Albania and Latin America and with gait speed in Albania only. No associations were observed in Canada.

CONCLUSIONS

ANM is associated with markers of physical functioning. Differences across study sites suggest that women in socially disadvantaged areas may reach menopause with different physiological reserves than those from more advantaged settings, leading to greater losses in muscle strength in postmenopausal years. More work comparing distinct populations is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms.