Spondylolisthesis in an Etruscan woman from Spina (Ferrara, Italy): an iron age case report.

Spondylolisthesis consists of the slippage of a vertebra in relation to the one beneath. It is caused by separation of the neural arch from the vertebral body (spondylolysis), and predominantly occurs at the isthmus (pars interarticularis). Originally thought to be a congenital anomaly, its strict correlation with certain activities that seem to exert stress on lower spine was later demonstrated. This paper describes a case of progression of spondylolysis to spondylolisthesis found on an adult female skeleton from the Etruscan necropolis of Spina (Ferrara, Italy). The case in question was identified among 209 skeletons exhumed at Spina. As spondylolisthesis is strictly connected with activities that exert stress on lower spine, the evidence suggests that this woman was engaged in stressful physical activity, perhaps related to the specific trade function of the site.

Biological characteristics and ageing in former elite volleyball players.

To date, there is very little information about the effects of ageing and sport selection on the characteristics of former athletes. The aim of this study was to analyse anthropometric and physiological characteristics of 146 former elite volleyball players in Italy. The possible effect of an active or inactive lifestyle on ageing was assessed by comparing the biological profiles of subsamples of former athletes with and without regular sport activity. All the former athletes underwent measurements of standard anthropometry (height, sitting height and body mass; skinfold thicknesses; bi-acromial and bi-cristal breadths; upper limb length; upper arm, calf and chest girths), cardio-respiratory function (vital capacity, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1s; systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate), muscle strength (handgrip strength), and cognitive function (visual and auditory simple reaction times; Digit-Symbol subtest). Body composition parameters were estimated from anthropometric measurements. Data on lifestyle were collected by questionnaires. The results show that the former players differ from current players in several anthropometric and physiological traits. Selection pressure seems to be more responsible for these differences than ageing. This study underlines the particular performance of former players in cognitive functions. Moreover, it confirms that an active lifestyle has beneficial effects on the biological age profiles of former athletes.

Anthropometric traits and aging: a cross-sectional survey in diabetic elderly women.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify the peculiar anthropometric changes in elderly diabetic women aged 70 years and above. The subjects were 91 women suffering from type-2 diabetes and 101 healthy female controls; all these 192 North-Italian women were aged 70 years or over. Eight anthropometric measurements were collected for each subject. We observed significant anthropometric differences between diabetic women and controls. The changes with aging were more evident in women suffering from type-2 diabetes than in controls of the same age groups. In conclusion, the diabetic women are more in overweight than the controls. Moreover, diabetes resulted associated with an accelerated process of aging in anthropometric traits.