Effects of Acute Aquatic High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise on Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness in Postmenopausal Women with Different ACE Genotypes.

The present study investigated the effects of acute aquatic high-intensity intermittent jumping (HIIJ) on blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness in postmenopausal women with different angiotensin-converting enzyme genotypes (ACE). We recruited 12 postmenopausal women carrying the ACE deletion/deletion (DD) genotype and 61 carrying the insertion/insertion or insertion/deletion (II/ID) genotype. The participants performed 12 trials of 30 s, 75% heart rate reserve (HRR) jumping, and 60 s, 50% HRR recovery, and 3 trials of 40 s upper limb resistance exercises were performed as fast as possible. The heart rate (HR) and BP were measured before exercise, immediately, 10 min, and 45 min after exercise. The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was measured before and after exercise. The systolic blood pressure (SBP) of the DD genotype increased more significantly than those with the II/ID genotype post-exercise (30.8 ± 4.48 vs. 20.4 ± 2.00 mmHg, p = 0.038). The left and right sides of baPWV increased significantly after exercise (1444.8 ± 29.54 vs. 1473.4 ± 32.36 cm/s, p = 0.020; 1442.1 ± 30.34 vs. 1472.0 ± 33.09, p = 0.011), and there was no significant difference between the two groups. The HIIJ increased baPWV. The postmenopausal women with the DD genotype have a higher SBP increased post-exercise than those with II/ID genotype. These findings suggest that the aquatic exercise program has better effects in decreasing blood pressure in postmenopausal women with the II/ID genotype. Those with the DD genotype should pay attention to the risk of increasing blood pressure after aquatic HIIJ exercise.

The Effectiveness of a Group Kickboxing Training Program on Sarcopenia and Osteoporosis Parameters in Community-Dwelling Adults Aged 50-85 Years.

Background: Sarcopenia and osteoporosis are important health issues faced by older people. These are often associated with each other and share common risk factors and pathologic mechanisms. In the recently revised consensus of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People, low muscle strength has been defined as the first characteristic of sarcopenia rather than a loss in muscle mass, and walking speed has been stated as an indicator of the severity of sarcopenia. It is believed that these markers of muscle function can be potentially reversed via exercise-based interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of kickboxing exercise training on the parameters of sarcopenia and osteoporosis in community-dwelling adults. Methods: In total, one hundred eligible subjects were randomized into an intervention group (n = 50) with 76% women and control group (n = 50) with 86% women. Both the intervention and control groups were provided with classroom lectures and personal consultations pertaining to sarcopenia and osteoporosis, whereas a 12-week kickboxing exercise training was arranged only for the intervention group. All anthropometric, physical performance, body composition, and bone mineral density measurements along with participant completed questionnaires were conducted before and after the training period. Results: After 12 weeks, 41 participants in the intervention group and 34 participants in the control group completed the final assessments. There was no difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of basic demographic data. The BMI (+1.14%) of the control group increased significantly during the study period. The waist circumference (-6.54%), waist-to-height ratio (-6.57%), waist-to-hip ratio (-4.36%), total body fat (-1.09%), and visceral fat area (-4.6%) decreased significantly in the intervention group. Handgrip strength (+5.46%) and gait speed (+5.71%) improved significantly in the intervention group. The lean body mass increased by 0.35% in the intervention group and by 0.9% in the control group. The femoral neck bone mineral density (-1.45%) and T score (-3.72%) of the control group decreased significantly. The intervention group had more improvement in the status of sarcopenia (OR 1.91) and osteoporosis over the control group. Finally, the intervention group had less deterioration in the status of sarcopenia (OR 0.2) and osteoporosis (OR 0.86) compared with the control group. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that a 12-week kickboxing exercise training program is effective for improving sarcopenic parameters of muscle strength and function, but not muscle mass in adults, aged 50-85 years. Furthermore, markers of osteoporosis also showed improvement. These findings suggest that a 12-week kickboxing program is effective for muscle and bone health among community-dwelling older individuals.

Correlation between Sleep Quality and Frailty Status among Middle-Aged and Older Taiwanese People: A Community-Based, Cross-Sectional Study.

Poor sleep quality and frailty are common problems among aged people. However, the association between sleep quality and frailty in middle-aged and older people is seldom discussed in Asia, especially in Taiwan. This study investigated this association hopefully to provide pertinent knowledge for the prevention of frailty. We conducted a cross-sectional study and enrolled 828 subjects, 237 male and 591 female, aged 50-85 years old, from a community in Northern Taiwan. Poor sleep quality was defined as the Chinese version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (CPSQI) > 5. Prefrailty and frailty were defined as fulfillment of one or two and three, respectively, of five phenotypic criteria: exhaustion, weakness, slowness, weight loss, and low physical activity. Our univariate analysis showed that the incidence of prefrailty/frailty in the group of poor sleep quality was higher than that in the group of CPSQI ≤ 5 (p < 0.001). Further multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that poor sleep quality was an independent factor for prefrailty and frailty status (odds ratio = 1.95, 95% confidence interval = 1.38-2.77), after adjustment for confounding factors. We concluded that poor sleep quality is independently associated with prefrailty and frailty status in our study population.

A community-based approach to lean body mass and appendicular skeletal muscle mass prediction using body circumferences in community-dwelling elderly in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate the prediction equations for lean body mass (LBM) and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) using body circumference measurements of community-dwelling adults older than 50 years old. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Four hundred and ninety-eight community-dwelling adults older than 50 years old were recruited for this study. Participants were randomly assigned to a development group (DG, n=332) and validation group (VG, n=166). Lean body mass and ASM were assessed using dualenergy x-ray absorptiometry along with the anthropometric parameters. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the associations between ASM, LBM and anthropometric parameters in the DG. Prediction equations for LBM and ASM were established from DG data using multiple regression analyses. Paired t-test and Bland-Altman test were used to validate the equations in the VG. RESULTS: Forearm circumference had the highest correlation with LBM and ASM. The developed prediction models were: LBM (kg) = 27.479 + 0.726 * weight (kg) - 3.383 * gender (male = 1, female = 2) - 0.672 * BMI + 0.514 * forearm circumference (cm) - 0.245 * hip circumference (cm)(r2=0.90); ASM (kg) = -4.287 + 0.202 * weight (kg) - 0.166 * hip circumference (cm) - 1.484 * gender (male = 1, female = 2) + 0.173 * calf circumference (cm) + 0.096 * height + 0.243 * forearm circumference (cm)(r2=0.85). CONCLUSIONS: Prediction equations using only a measuring tape provide accurate, inexpensive, practical methods to assess LBM and ASM in Asians older than 50 years old.