Exercise: The ultimate treatment to all ailments?

Blood, sweat, and fears: Athletes' perceptions of blood donation and engagement in physical activity

BACKGROUND

Athletes are a key group from which likely eligible donors could be sourced. While blood donation has been popularized as detrimental to athletic performance, little is known about how athletes perceive blood donation. The aim of this study was to investigate athletes' perceptions of the impacts of donating blood on their athletic performance and whether these influence their engagement with blood donation.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

A total of 175 athletes (78 donors; 97 non-donors) prescreened as eligible to donate blood in Australia completed an online survey assessing the perceived impact of (i) donating blood on engagement and performance in physical activity (type of impact, direction, and duration) and (ii) engaging in physical activity on blood donation (magnitude of impact and modification of behavior).

RESULTS

We found that 37%-39% of our sample indicated that they had considered the impact of donating blood on their engagement or performance in physical activity, with the impact seen as negative but short term. Fatigue was the most commonly identified impact of donation on performance in physical activity. While the impact of donating did not account for athletes' non-donor status, many donors noted changing their engagement in physical activity pre- and post-donation to allow recovery, and aligning blood donation with their training schedule.

DISCUSSION

Athletes are a key community from which likely eligible donors could be sourced, however a significant proportion of athletes perceive that donating will negatively impact their athletic performance. Strategies to engage athletes with donation should acknowledge and facilitate athletes need to align their training with donating.

Endothelial dysfunction as a factor leading to arterial hypertension

Hypertension remains the main cause of cardiovascular complications leading to increased mortality. The discoveries of recent years underline the important role of endothelial dysfunction (ED) in initiating the development of arterial hypertension. The endothelium lines the interior of the entire vascular system in the body and acts as a physical barrier between blood and tissues. Substances and mediators produced by the endothelium exhibit antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory properties. Oxidative stress and inflammation are conditions that damage the endothelium and shift endothelial function from vasoprotective to vasoconstrictive, prothrombotic, and pro-apoptotic functions. A dysfunctional endothelium contributes to the development of hypertension and further cardiovascular complications. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability plays an essential role in the pathophysiology of ED-associated hypertension. New technologies provide tools to identify pathological changes in the structure and function of the endothelium. Endothelial dysfunction (ED) contributes to the development of arterial hypertension and should be considered in therapeutic strategies for children with hypertension.

Short and mid-term characteristics of COVID-19 disease course in athletes: A high-volume, single-center study

INTRODUCTION

At the pandemic's beginning, significant concern has risen about the prevalence of myocardial involvement after SARS-CoV-2 infection. We assessed the cardiovascular burden of SARS-CoV-2 in a large cohort of athletes and identified factors that might affect the disease course. We included 633 athletes in our study on whom we performed extensive cardiology examinations after recovering from SARS-CoV-2 infection. More than half of the athletes (n = 322) returned for a follow-up examination median of 107 days after the commencement of their infection.

RESULTS

Troponin T positivity was as low as 1.4% of the athletes, where the subsequently performed examinations did not show definitive, ongoing myocardial injury. Altogether, 31% of the athletes' rapid training rebuild was hindered by persistent or reoccurring symptoms. Female athletes reported a higher prevalence of return to play (RTP) symptoms than their male counterparts (34% vs. 19%, p = 0.005). The development of long COVID symptoms was independently predicted by increasing age and acute symptoms' severity in a multiple regression model (AUC 0.75, CI 0.685-0.801). Athletes presenting with either or both cough and ferritin levels higher than >150 μg/L had a 4.1x (CI 1.78-9.6, p = 0.001) higher odds ratio of developing persistent symptoms.

CONCLUSION

While SARS-CoV-2 rarely affects the myocardium in athletes, about one in three of them experience symptoms beyond the acute phase. Identifying those athletes with a predisposition to developing long-standing symptoms may aid clinicians and trainers in finding the optimal return-to-play timing and training load rebuild pace.

CARDIOPULMONARY RESISTANCE IN OBESE INDIVIDUALS DURING DIFFERENT AEROBIC EXERCISES

ABSTRACT Introduction: Obesity is a major cause of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Recent studies have reported that combined aerobic and anaerobic exercise effects are more effective for fat reduction. However, aerobic and anaerobic exercise have different fat reduction mechanisms. Comparing the intervention effects of different combinations of these exercises could provide an experimental basis for establishing an optimal protocol for weight loss. Objective: To study the effect of different aerobic exercise intensities on cardiorespiratory endurance in obese patients and its impact on fat loss. Methods: 18 obese female college students (BMI≥25) were randomly divided into two groups with different proportions of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Bioimpedance data and BMI were collected for analysis. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistics, with mean and standard deviation expressed for each index. Significance level at p<0.05 and highly significant set at P<0.01. Results: The weight, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and body fat content of the two exercise methods were positively changed before and after the experiment. This change had a very significant difference. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in the interventions for the six weeks. Aerobic exercise can effectively improve cardiopulmonary function, and the benefits are directly proportional to the period practiced. Evidence Level II; Therapeutic Studies – Investigating the results.

Arrhythmogenesis of Sports: Myth or Reality?

Regular exercise confers health benefits with cardiovascular mortality risk reduction through a variety of mechanisms. At a population level, evidence suggests that undertaking more exercise has greater benefits. In the modern era of sport, there has been an exponential rise in professional and amateur athletes participating in endurance events, with a progressively better understanding of the associated cardiac adaptations, collectively termed ‘athletes heart’. However, emerging data raise questions regarding the risk of potential harm from endurance exercise, with an increased risk of arrhythmia from adverse cardiac remodelling. Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that athletes may exhibit a higher burden of AF, conduction tissue disease, ventricular arrhythmias, a cardiomyopathy-like phenotype and coronary artery disease. In an attempt to separate myth from reality, this review reports on the evidence supporting the notion of ‘too much exercise’, the purported mechanisms of exercise-induced cardiac arrhythmia and complex interplay with sporting discipline, demographics, genetics and acquired factors.

Exercise-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs in Heart Failure Patients

Exercise training is recommended for patients with heart failure by major societies' guidelines. It improves exercise capacity and quality of life, reduces symptoms of depression, can improve survival, and reduce the risk for hospitalizations. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation can be offered with different modalities, such as continuous or interval aerobic training, resistance, and inspiratory muscle training. The intervention must follow an accurate evaluation of the patient's cardiovascular conditions and functional capacity. Despite the multiple benefits of exercise training, there is a lack of adherence to exercise-based programs, due to socioeconomic factors, patients' characteristics, and lack of referral.

120 min/week of neuromotor multicomponent training are enough to improve executive function and functional fitness in older women

PURPOSE

The study aimed at comparing the effects of a neuromotor multicomponent training program (MCTP) on executive function, functional fitness, blood pressure, body composition and health-related quality of life (HRQOL), compared with a concurrent strength and endurance exercise training program (CONTROL-EXE) and a cognitive training program (CONTROL-COG).

METHODS

56 older women (73 ± 6 years) completed the 30-weeks intervention. The three groups attended two 60-min sessions per week and they were assessed before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

MCTP showed a moderate improvement in Stroop C condition (28 ± 7 vs 32 ± 8 correct items; p = 0.001; d = 0.53) and Stroop interference score (-7.4 ± 7.3 vs -3.7 ± 6.1; p = 0.035; d = 0.55), while no changes were observed among control groups. MCTP showed a small to moderate improvement in Timed Up and Go test (TUGT) (5.85 ± 0.58 vs 5.46 ± 0.56 s; p < 0.001; d = 0.71) and Chair-Stand test (CST) (18 ± 4 vs 19 ± 4 repetitions; p < 0.001; d = 0.47); while CONTROL-EXE only improved moderately at TUGT (7.02 ± 1.1 vs 6.44 ± 0.91 s; p = 0.005; d = 0.59) and CONTROL-COG showed a moderate to small worsening in TUGT, CST and handgrip strength. Additionally, MCTP enhanced body composition and HRQOL. Lastly, both exercise groups showed lowered blood pressure values.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that a neuromotor MCTP could be considered as a highly suitable training to enhance executive function, functional fitness, HRQOL and body composition in older women.

Effectiveness of a Physical Therapeutic Exercise Programme for Caregivers of Dependent Patients: A Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial from Spanish Primary Care

Female family caregivers (FFCs) constitute one of the basic supports of socio-health care for dependence in developed countries. The care provided by FFCs may impact their physical and mental health, negatively affecting their quality of life. In order to alleviate the consequences of providing care on FFCs, the Spanish Public Health System has developed the family caregiver care programme (FCCP) to be applied in primary care (PC) centres. The effectiveness of this programme is limited. To date, the addition of a physical therapeutic exercise (PTE) programme to FCCP has not been evaluated. A randomised multicentre clinical trial was carried out in two PC centres of the Spanish Public Health System. In total, 68 FFCs were recruited. The experimental group (EG) performed the usual FCCP (4 sessions, 6 h) added to a PTE programme (36 sessions in 12 weeks) whereas the control group performed the usual FCCP performed in PC. The experimental treatment improved quality of life (d = 1.17 in physical component summary), subjective burden (d = 2.38), anxiety (d = 1.52), depression (d = 1.37) and health-related physical condition (d = 2.44 in endurance). Differences between the groups (p < 0.05) were clinically relevant in favour of the EG. The experimental treatment generates high levels of satisfaction.

Exercise: The ultimate treatment to all ailments?

Extensive clinical research has provided robust evidence that exercise is a cost‐effective measure to substantially alleviate the burden of a large number of diseases, many of which belong to the cardiovascular (CV) spectrum. In terms of cardiac benefit, the positive effects of exercise are attributed to improvements in standard risk factors for atherosclerosis, as well as to its positive impact on several pathophysiological mechanisms for CV diseases. For secondary prevention, exercise, optimally in the context of a cardiac rehabilitation program, has been shown to improve functional capacity and survival. Clinicians should encourage physical activity and provide exercise recommendations for all patients, taking into consideration any underlying pathology. In the present review, the benefits of exercise for the prevention and treatment of major CV risk factors and heart conditions are analyzed.