Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Karolinski Institute, PLoS / 26.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maléne Lindholm, PhD Karolinska Institutet Dept. of Physiology & Pharmacology Stockholm Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is well known that exercise training provides marked health benefits and can prevent and treat a broad set of diseases. Therefore, a deeper understanding and characterization of the molecular processes behind training adaptation is essential for human health. This study aimed at exploring the effects of endurance training on the human skeletal muscle transcriptome (activity of all genes) and investigate the possible presence of a muscle memory of training. To do this, the healthy volunteers in this study first trained only one leg, 4 times per week for 3 months. After 9 months of detraining, the subjects then came back and trained both legs in the same way as during the first training period, thus one leg was then previously well-trained and one previously untrained. This meant that each individual was their own control, as both legs have the same genome, experience the same stress, diet etc. Only the training status differed. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Richard Moon, MD Professor of Anesthesiology Professor of Medicine Medical Director, Center for Hyperbaric Medicine & Environmental Physiology Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For several years we have been investigating the causes of immersion pulmonary edema (IPE, also known as swimming-induced pulmonary edema or SIPE). We determined that during exercise while immersed in cold water pulmonary artery and wedge pressures of individuals who are SIPE-susceptible are higher than normal. This demonstrated that SIPE is a form of hemodynamic pulmonary edema. It is certainly plausible that SIPE could cause death, and indeed a few fatal cases had been reported in the medical literature, mostly in scuba divers. After reading of deaths in young, apparently fit and healthy triathletes we hypothesized that some of these deaths were probably due to  swimming-induced pulmonary edema . It is easy to diagnose SIPE in a living individual, using a stethoscope or chest x-ray/CT. However, since almost anyone who dies from any cause, particularly if attempted resuscitation has occurred, will have pulmonary edema at autopsy. Before concluding that death has occurred due to SIPE, other clues are therefore necessary. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, OBGYNE / 29.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katrine M. Owe, PhD Domain for Mental and Physical Health Norwegian Institute of Public Health OSLO, Norway Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet Oso, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The rising cesarean delivery rates in developed countries are of great concern. Given the many adverse consequences of repeated cesarean deliveries for both mother and child, identifying factors associated with the decision to perform the first cesarean is important. Growing evidence show that regular exercise during pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and excessive birth weight, all of which are highly correlated with having a cesarean delivery. Results from previous studies examining the relationship between pregnancy exercise and mode of delivery, are inconsistent. Small sample size, not population-based, reporting crude estimates, and not powered to study cesarean delivery, are common methodological limitations in previous studies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC / 19.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Antonio Pelliccia, MD, FESC Chief of Cardiology Institute of Sport Medicine and Science Rome MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The awareness of the relevant role of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) as cause of athletic field events and the refined Task Force (TF) criteria for the diagnosis of the disease have prompted a large scientific interest and triggered a vast scientific literature on this issue. Indeed, the recent observations by Heidbuchel and La Gerche based on data from a selected group of ultra-endurance athletes, suggesting that strenuous, chronic endurance exercise may ultimately cause, per se, RV dysfunction have further stimulated the need to define the characteristics and limits of training-induced RV remodelling. At present, however, no studies have assessed the characteristic of physiologic right ventricular remodelling as derived from a large population of highly-trained athletes, including a sizeable number of women and comprising a broad spectrum of summer and winter Olympic sport disciplines. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Pain Research / 15.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Romy Lauche, PhD Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM) Faculty of Health | University of Technology Sydney MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Many people are affected by persistent or recurrent neck pain. So far the only intervention with real benefit is exercise therapy, independent of the type of exercise used. Despite the fact that musculoskeletal disorders including back and neck pain have been found predictive of Tai Chi use, no study to date has investigated its potential in the treatment of chronic non-specific neck pain. Our study found that 12 weeks of Tai Chi significantly reduced neck pain intensity, and improved quality of life, however no differences were found between Tai Chi and conventional neck exercises. Both interventions were well tolerated, and participants were satisfied with either intervention. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Orthopedics / 13.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Marcos Muñoz Jimenez University of Jaén MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Barefoot running has become very popular in recent years and remains a hotly debated topic among runners. The debate about the pros and cons of barefoot running is current. Many coaches consider barefoot training to have an effect on muscle strength and to be important for performance and for preventing injuries. The main objective of this study is to determine what changes in foot strike, inversion-eversion and foot rotation are produced after a 12-week programme of barefoot running with progressive volume at the end of the athletes daily training session. Our data support that a 12-week programme of barefoot running training, applied by progressively increasing the volume of barefoot running, causes significant changes to foot strike patterns with a tendency towards midfoot strike, regardless of running speed. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Exercise - Fitness, Occupational Health / 03.07.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, DO, PhD MPH, CPH Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Environment & Public Health Associate Director, Miami Occupational Research Group Director, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Occupational Health Lab University of Miami MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Obesity remains one the largest public health burdens in the United States. Strategies that support healthy nutrition, physical activity and well-being are needed to achieve our national goals of Healthy People 2020. Opportunities for physical activity in the workplace are limited. As our U.S. economy moves from a blue-collar manufacturing enterprise to an increasingly service and information producing workforce, sedentary behavior at the worksite has unfortunately increased. Long work hours seated, short paths to printing or conference room meetings can be leading to increased overweight and obesity workforce trends documented in the U.S. population. Our University of Miami, occupational health and safety research team(www.CabanMartinezLAB.com) developed and evaluated a Walking Meeting (WaM) protocol for white-collar job site using input from thought leaders, key stakeholders, and the scientific and grey literature. We pilot tested the feasibility, acceptability and implementation of the WaM protocol in small group of white collar workers at a large university center. We found that converting just one seated meeting per week at work into a walking meeting increased the work-related physical activity levels of workers by 10 minutes. This increase in physical activity also supports the American Heart Association's recommendations of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults, or about 30 minutes each weekday. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Exercise - Fitness / 28.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Peter Krustrup PhD Professor of Team Sport and Health Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health University of Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. Krustrup discusses ideas formulated in the Copenhagen Consensus Conference 2016: children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A desire to improve children’s and youth’s health, well-being and social inclusion motivated researchers at University of Copenhagen, Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports to gather 24 international top level researchers from a variety of academic disciplines at a consensus conference in Denmark on 4-7 April 2016. The aim of the Copenhagen Consensus Conference in 2016 was to reach an evidence-based consensus within the four themes: 1) Physical activity in children and youth: Fitness and health. 2) Physical activity in children and youth: Cognitive functioning 3) Physical activity in children and youth: Engagement, motivation and psychological well-being 4) Physical activity in children and youth: Social inclusion and physical activity implementation strategies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Diabetes, Exercise - Fitness, University of Pittsburgh / 21.06.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr-Andrea-M-KriskaDr. Andrea M. Kriska PhD MS Professor, Department of Epidemiology Graduate School of Public Health Pittsburgh, PA 15261 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Kriska:  The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was a well administered national research study primarily supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) that demonstrated that lifestyle intervention with weight loss and physical activity goals can prevent type 2 diabetes in diverse, high risk US adults. The importance of physical activity in preventing diabetes development in the DPP until now was thought to be due to its role in achieving weight loss and weight maintenance but activity was not considered a strong key factor alone. The lifestyle group had a significantly greater increase in physical activity and decrease in weight than the other two groups. They also had a 58% decrease in diabetes incidence compared to the control group. The successful decrease in T2D held across all age, sex, baseline BMI and ethnicity/race subgroups. Despite the fact that the lifestyle intervention was then offered to all participants, in the follow-up years, the lifestyle participants still maintained a lower cumulative diabetes incidence that could not be explained by differences in weight loss. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 27.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gregory Garrett, BS. MA. Doctoral Research Assistant School of Public Health Texas A&M Health Science Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Sedentary behavior in office environments is greatly contributing to obesity, increased body discomfort, and possible reductions in employee productivity. Sit-stand desks have been implemented to aid in reducing sedentary behavior, however employers are concerned that benefits may not offset the initial cost of implementation. In this study, employees with stand-capable workstations were compared to traditional seated employees on an objective measurement of productivity in a call center. The employees were monitored for 6 months and those with the stand-capable workstations were ~46% more productive per hour than their seated counterparts. Additionally, 75% of those with the stand-capable desks reported a significant decrease in body discomfort. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Colon Cancer, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA / 26.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: NaNa Keum, ScD| Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Nutrition Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, MA 02115 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: While general health benefits of physical activity are well-known, evidence on its specific benefits on cancer endpoints is limited and physical activity guidelines for cancer prevention lack details in terms of the optimal dose, type and intensity of physical activity. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Response: We found that the optimal exercise regime to prevent overall digestive system cancers may be to accumulate 30 MET-hours/week of physical activity primarily through aerobic exercise and regardless of its intensity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 24.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Deborah A. Cohen, MD, MPH RAND Corporation Santa Monica, CA 90407 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Cohen: An extensive infrastructure of neighborhood parks supports leisure time physical activity in most U.S. cities; yet, most Americans do not meet national guidelines for physical activity. Neighborhood parks have never been assessed nationally to identify their role in physical activity. We visited a representative sample of 174 parks in 25 cities across the United States and assessed their use as well as local park management policies. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings? Dr. Cohen: We found that nationwide, the average neighborhood park of 8.8 acres averaged 20 users/hour or an estimated 1,533 person hours of weekly use. Park use was higher in parks that were larger and had more facilities and that were in neighborhoods with a higher population density and lower percentage of households in poverty. Walking loops and gymnasia each generated 221 hours/week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Seniors represented 4% of park users, but 20% of the general population. Programming and marketing were associated with 37% and 63% more hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity/week in parks, respectively. The lower use of parks in low-income than in high-income neighborhoods was largely explained by fewer supervised activities and marketing/outreach efforts. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness / 02.05.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Thijs M.H. Eijsvogels, PhD Department of Physiology Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen, The Netherlands  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Dr. Eijsvogels: Regular exercise training is known to reduce the risk for future morbidity and mortality in the general and athletic population. For this purpose, national guidelines recommend to exercise 150 min/week at a moderate intensity or 75 min/week at a high intensity. Recent studies explored the dose-response relationship between weekly exercise volume and cardiovascular health and reported a potential U-shaped association, suggesting that high exercise volumes may attenuate the beneficial health effects. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between lifelong exercise dose and the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity in a physically active population. Therefore, we collected data in 21,266  participants of the Nijmegen Exercise Study. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 14.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pei-JieChen, Ph.D. Professor of Exercise Science, President of Shanghai University of Sport MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Pei-JieChen: Traditional Chinese exercises (such as Tai Chi, Qigong, Baduanjin) have been used for 2000 years with great contributions to human health, which are increasingly popular around the world. And traditional Chinese exercise is a low-risk, promising intervention that could be helpful for improving quality of life and depression in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).However, there appears to be no consensus agreement that traditional Chinese exercises (TCEs) could be effective for CVDs. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese exercise for patients with CVDs. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Pei-JieChen: The pooling revealed that TCEs could decrease systolic blood pressure by 9.12 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 5.12 mmHg. Patients performing traditional Chinese exercises were also found superior compared with those in the control group in terms of triglyceride, six-minute walk test, Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire results, SF-36 physical function, and Profile of Mood States depression. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease / 02.03.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dafna Merom, PhD School of Science and Health University of Western Sydney Penrith New South Wales Australia Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Merom: It is well established that moderate-intensity physical activity can reduced the risk of having cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet we know very little about the CVD benefits  that is associated with specific activity type. Considering that different types of physical activity challenge muscular-skeletal, neurological and cardio-respiratory systems differently, and that they involves different levels of psychosocial or cognitive demands, one may expect that different types of PA/sport may have differential relationships with health. Previous research found that frequent dancing protected against dementia, to a larger extent than walking. Since  cardiovascular disease and dementia share similar risk factors we hypothesised that dancing will also protect against CVD, even more than walking given the multi-dimensional nature of dance; Dance integrate physical, cognitive, emotional and social elements in its execution. We found that light-intensity dancing as well as light-intensity walking were not protective against  cardiovascular disease mortality. However, dancers who were at least slightly out of breath or sweaty had 46% lower risk of Cardiovascular death. Compared to fast walkers, dancing further reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 21%.” (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Orthopedics / 15.02.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pamela S. Hinton, Ph.D. Associate Professor Director of Graduate Studies, Nutritional Sciences Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology University of Missouri, Columbia MO 65211 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Hinton: Because bone mass declines with age, maximization of peak bone mass is recommended as the most effective way to prevent osteoporosis. Acquisition of at least 90% of peak bone mass occurs by the age of 18 years, with additional gains of 5% to 10% during young adulthood. Because mechanical loading induces a greater adaptive response in young, compared with old, bone, adolescence and young adulthood constitute a unique window of opportunity to increase bone mass via physical activity. Although physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood is a key determinant of peak bone mass and, therefore, of future bone health, exercise after skeletal maturation can also reduce the risk of osteoporosis and related fractures. Therefore, the objective of the present study was threefold: (a) to examine the relationships between current BMD of the whole body, hip, and lumbar spine and physical activity–associated bone loading during adolescence (13-18 years), young adulthood (19-29 years), and current physical activity–associated bone loading; (b) to investigate the effects of current participation in a high-impact physical activity and/or resistance training on BMD of the whole body, total hip, and lumbar spine in apparently healthy, physically active men; and, (c) to evaluate the effects of continuous participation in high-impact activity throughout the life span on BMD of the whole body, total hip, and lumbar spine. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC / 13.02.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Kim-Shapiro, PhD Professor and Associate Chair of Physics Harbert Family Distinguished Chair Director, Translational Science Center Wake Forest University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Kim-Shapiro: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HDPEF) is the most common form of heart failure.  It is characterized by poor perfusion to active muscles which results in poor exercise capacity and a poor quality of life.  Currently, the only effective treatment for this condition is aerobic exercise. Several studies have shown that dietary nitrate, usually in the form of beet root juice, increases nitric oxide bioavaiability in a way that targets areas of low oxygen so that perfusion increases where it is needed.  This action relies on conversion of nitrate to nitrite by oral bacteria with subsequent conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide.  Nitrite from the blood is taken up by salivary glands so that dosing with dietary nitrate can be long-lasting. The main finding of this study was that daily intake of high nitrate containing beet root juice improved exercise endurance in patients with HFPEF. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition, Protein, Weight Research / 29.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Stuart M. Phillips Ph.D., FACSM, FACN Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Canada Exercise Metabolism Research Group – Protein Metabolism Research Lab Director, Physical Activity Centre for Excellence Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Prof. Phillips: During weight loss with diet only people lose both muscle and fat and muscle. The long-term health consequences of losing metabolically active muscle versus fat are not likely to be beneficial. In the context of this study we thought perhaps the preservation of muscle would also be important in very active young men. We wanted to see whether when men were in a very large energy deficit (40% less energy than they required) higher protein (2.4 g/kg/d) could preserve muscle mass and still result in increased function (strength) and fitness. Our results show that during a marked energy deficit that consumption of 2.4 g protein/kg/d was more effective than consumption of a diet containing 1.2 g protein/kg/d in promoting increases in LBM (1.2 vs 0.1kg increase) and losses of fat mass (-4.8kg vs. -3.5kg) when combined with a high volume of resistance and anaerobic exercise. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, JAMA, Orthopedics, Pain Research / 11.01.2016

Daniel Steffens, Ph.D. The George Institute for Global Health The University of SydneyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Steffens, Ph.D. The George Institute for Global Health The University of Sydney Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Steffens: Back pain is a leading cause of disease burden globally. At present, a variety of interventions, such as getting a mattress that can help with back pain, exercise, education, back belts and shoe insoles, are commonly prescribed to prevent an episode of low back pain. Guidelines lack clear recommendations for prevention of low back pain and the effectiveness of the range of possible prevention strategies for low back pain is not clear. Our study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of these interventions for prevention of low back pain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JAMA, Nutrition / 08.01.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dalane W. Kitzman, M.D. Professor, Cardiology Sticht Center on Aging Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine Translational Science Institute Wake-Forest Baptist Health Winston-Salem, NC Medical Research: What is the background of the research? Dr. Kitzman: Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFPEF) is a relatively recently recognized disorder.  It used to be thought that it was rare.  However, we now realize that HFPEF is the dominant form of heart failure in America.  It is also the fastest growing cardiovascular disorder.  Interestingly, this disorder occurs almost exclusively among older persons, particularly women.  The need is great because outcomes in persons with HFPEF (death, rehospitalization, health care costs) are worsening.  This stands in contrast to most other cardiovascular disorders which are on the decline and / or are experiencing greatly improved outcomes.  Remarkably, all of the large studies that have used medications in HFPEF that seemed they should be ‘sure bets’ showed no benefit for their primary outcomes.  Thus, this is also the only major cardiovascular disorder where there is no proven medication treatment.  That means physicians take ‘educated guesses’ in choosing treatment for this large group of patients. The main symptom in patients with chronic HFPEF is shortness of breath and and fatigue with exertion.  We showed in 2002 in JAMA that when we objectively measured this symptom with expired gas analysis (Peak VO2), this was as severely decreased in HFPEF as in patients with HFREF (severely reduced EF), the classic, well accepted form of heart failure.  That and other studies helped lead to acceptance of HFPEF as a true Heart Failure disorder. We first showed 5 years ago that 4 months of exercise training improves peak VO2 and quality of life in patients with HFPEF.  In fact, exercise remains the only proven means to improve these patients’ chronic symptoms. The goal of our study was to determine if weight loss diet also improved peak VO2 and quality of life in HFPEF patients, alone and in combination with exercise training.  This was based on the under-recognized fact that over 80% of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction patients are overweight or obese.  It was already known that weight loss diet in other groups of older persons improves peak VO2 and quality of life.  And small studies of weight loss surgery in the other form of HF (HFREF) suggested that weight loss can improves symptoms, peak VO2, and quality of life.  However, there had never been a study of weight loss, by diet or other means, in HFPEF.  In fact, it had been thought, based on observational data, that weight loss diet might be contraindicated in HFPEF. So we recruited 100 overweight / obese patients age 60 years and older with this disorder from our community; 80% were women.  The exercise was standard exercise training that we’d previously shown was effective.  The meals for the weight loss diet were prepared in our metabolic kitchen by a regisered dietition.  Patients made out menus selecting preferred foods.  Well balanced, healthy, nutritious, but very palatable.  The portions were controlled so that there was a 350 caloric deficit per day deficit, on average.  Pateints made their own breakfast with guidance, unlimited of certain fruits and vegetables, and occasional “free days”, such as for holidays.  Patients loved the meals and wanted to continue after the 5 month study. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 28.12.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Rebold, PhD, CSCS Assistant Professor Department of Exercise Science Bloomsburg University Bloomsburg, PA 17815 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Rebold: The obesity epidemic seen in children.  If we can make children at a young age physically active then maybe they will be more likely to be physically active into their adult years.  Since parents are the primary role models for younger children we must find ways to get the parents involved in physical activity as well, because children will model their parent's behaviors. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Rebold: The main findings from this study are that when parents are actively participating in activities with their children, their children spend more time in physical activities and less time in sedentary activities. When parents are not present and children are alone, then they spend more time engaging in sedentary activities and less time in physical activities.  When parents are actively watching their children, children still engaged in a significant more amount of time in physical activities than sedentary activities when compared to the alone condition but still not as great as with parents participating. Children also liked and were motivated to engage in additional physical activity time when parents were participating with them. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, PNAS / 22.12.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ekaterina Subbotina, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Research Scholar University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Iowa City, IA 52242  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Subbotina: Exercises represent the most natural and effective way to maintain physical and metabolic well-being. Lack of physical activity can contribute to many preventable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity. It is known that moderate exercise is beneficial for health but the mechanism of this effect is only partially understood. It becomes more and more evident that skeletal muscles function as an organ that produces and secretes biologically active molecules called myokines. Studies of the biological role and mechanism of action of myokines are important for understanding of muscle function under sedentary and exercise conditions. (more…)
Antioxidants, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Nutrition / 14.12.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Néstor Vicente Salar, PhD. Profesor Asociado UMH/ UMH Part-time Assistant Professor Doctor en Biología Diplomado en Nutrición Humana y Dietética (CV00195) Miembro del GE-NuDAFD (AEDN)  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Nowadays, the practising of endurance sport is increasing, running being the sport chosen by many people who decide to start doing exercise. Distances and time are important factors to take in account in amateur as well as in professional runners. Among others, these factors are directly related to the risk of oxidative damage. In fact, oxidative stress has two faces: beneficial and deleterious. Helpful effects include the defence against infectious agents or the function as intracellular signaling molecules in many processes. On the other hand, high and persistent levels of oxidative stress can produce harmful effects if the antioxidant defences are overwhelmed, resulting in structural damage. Antioxidants from diet, for example pomegranate juice, seem to control oxidative stress disorders. However, the studies about the role of pomegranate juice in oxidative stress modulation in athletes are scarce. We have demonstrated that the intake of this kind of juice during 22 days in endurance athletes is capable to modulate the structural damage in macromolecules as proteins and lipids. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Duke, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, Social Issues / 18.11.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lauren Cooper, MD Fellow in Cardiovascular Diseases Duke University Medical Center Duke Clinical Research Institute Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Cooper: The HF-ACTION study, published in 2009, showed that exercise training is associated with reduced risk of death or hospitalization, and is a safe and effective therapy for patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction. Subsequently, Medicare began to cover cardiac rehabilitation for patients with heart failure. However, many patients referred to an exercise training program are not fully adherent to the program. Our study looked at psychosocial reasons that may impact participation in an exercise program. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Cooper: We found that patients with higher levels of social support and fewer barriers to exercise exercised more than patients with lower levels of social support and more barriers to exercise. And patients who exercised less had a higher risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization compared to patients who exercised more. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, PAD / 09.11.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Farzin Fakhry, MD PhD Candidate Depts. of Epidemiology & Radiology Erasmus MC Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Myriam Hunink MD, PhD Professor Professor of Radiology and Clinical Epidemiology Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam Adjunct Professor of Health Decision Science Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Intermittent claudication is the classical symptomatic form of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and affects approximately 20-40 million people worldwide. These patients experience significant functional disability resulting in a sedentary lifestyle and reduced quality of life. In the Endovascular Revascularization And Supervised Exercise (ERASE) study we compared a combination therapy of endovascular revascularization plus supervised exercise versus the recommended care of supervised exercise only as first-line treatment for patients with intermittent claudication. Results from the ERASE study showed that after one year follow up patients in both groups showed significant improvements in their treadmill walking distance and disease specific quality of life. Yet, patients receiving the combination therapy had more rapid and significantly greater improvement in their walking performance and disease specific quality of life compared to the patients following a supervised exercise program only. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, Vitamin D / 03.11.2015

Dr Emad Al-Dujaili Reader in Biochemistry and Nutrition, Queen Margaret University Department of Health Science Queen Margaret UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Emad Al-Dujaili Reader in Biochemistry and Nutrition, Queen Margaret University Department of Health Science Queen Margaret University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Al-Dujaili: Recent studies have implicated vitamin D deficiency as a risk factor for Cardiovascular disease and its deficiency is a potential biological predictor of increased rates of CVD. We have done 2 earlier studies investigating the effects of Vitamin D intake on Blood pressure and the stress hormone level cortisol and found that people taking the supplement of Vitamin D had reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to those who took the placebo. Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus and oxidative stress and reduced exercise performance. For instance, the Framingham offspring study proved that low levels of vitamin D are independently related to Cardiovascular disease incidence. In this placebo-controlled study, We have observed that people given 50ug of Vitamin D daily for 2 weeks showed a significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reduced urinary free cortisol (the hormone that produces stress and high blood pressure if its levels are high. Moreover, the distance cycled in 20 minutes significantly increased by 30% with slightly less efforts compared with that before Vitamin D supplement. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Exercise - Fitness, OBGYNE / 12.10.2015

Katrine M. Owe PhD Department of Psychosomatics and Health Behaviour Norwegian Institute of Public Health Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet OSLO, NorwayMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katrine M. Owe PhD Department of Psychosomatics and Health Behaviour Norwegian Institute of Public Health Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet OSLO, Norway  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Owe: Pelvic girdle pain affects 20-45% of all pregnancies and may lead to functional disability, higher levels of depression, reduced quality of life and higher prevalence of sick leave during pregnancy. Many women with pelvic girdle pain often have difficulties performing daily life activities such as walking, standing, sitting and turning over in bed. The aetiology and pathogenesis of pelvic girdle pain are still unknown but some modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors have been identified. Our results showed that women who exercised before they became pregnant with their first child, had the lowest risk of developing pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy. Even those women who reported low frequencies of exercise had a reduced risk of pelvic girdle pain compared with non-exercisers. Exercising up to five times weekly before pregnancy was protective against pelvic girdle pain and no further benefits were reached with higher frequencies of exercise. It seems that women who are running, jogging, playing ballgames/netball, doing high impact aerobics or orienteering before pregnancy, has the lowest risk of pelvic girdle pain. (more…)
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC, University Texas, UT Southwestern / 07.10.2015

Ambarish Pandey, MD Cardiology Fellow, PGY5 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ambarish Pandey, MD Cardiology Fellow, PGY5 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Berry: Physical inactivity is considered a major modifiable risk factor for coronary artery disease and the current guidelines recommend atleast 150 min/week (~ 500 MET-min/week) of moderate intensity physical activity to reduce the burden of coronary artery disease. In contrast, the role of physical activity in reducing risk of heart failure is not emphasized in the current guidelines. This is particularly relevant considering the increasing burden of heart failure in the community. Against this background, we performed this study to the dose-response relationship between physical activity levels and risk of heart failure. We observed a dose dependent inverse association between physical activity levels and heart failure risk. Furthermore, we observed that the current guideline recommended physical activity levels (500 MET-min/week) are associated with only modest reduction in HF risk (< 10%). In contrast, a substantial reduction in heart failure risk was observed at twice and four times the recommended physical activity levels (19% and 35% risk reduction respectively) (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Rheumatology / 06.10.2015

Anja Bye, PhD, Senior Researcher Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG) K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine National Council of Cardiovascular Disease Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging Medical Faculty Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anja Bye, PhD, Senior Researcher Cardiac Exercise Research Group (CERG) K.G. Jebsen Center of Exercise in Medicine National Council of Cardiovascular Disease Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging Medical Faculty Norwegian University of Science and Technology Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Bye: The background was that we know that this type of training is superior to exercise at lower intensities in cardiovascular risk reduction in several patients groups. As it was not tested in patients with rheumatic disease, we set out to determine if this type of exercise would be tolerated in these patients, and of they would experience the same benefits on the cardiovascular system as other patients groups, and healthy young and elderly individuals. Hence the main goal was not to treat the rheumatic disease, but to study whether the exercise training would be tolerated, as we assumed they would have equal benefits from this type of exercise as everyone else. I think the most interesting findings were that all of the participants were capable of participating in this type of high-intensity exercise program, without reporting any negative side-effects. Of course the great increase in VO2max, and  the trend towards a reduction in the inflammation after the exercise intervention was very interesting. (more…)