Trace elements levels in centenarian ‘dodgers’
Trace element bioavailability can play a role in several metabolic and physiological pathways known to be altered during the aging process. We aimed to explore the association of trace elements with increased lifespan by analyzing the circulating levels of seven trace elements (Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Se and Zn) in a cohort of healthy centenarians or ‘dodgers’ (≥100 years, free of major age-related diseases) in comparison with sex-matched younger elderly controls. Centenarians showed significant lower Cu (783.7 (76.7, 1608.9) vs 962.5 (676.3, 2064.4) μg/mL, P < 0.001), but higher Fe (1.3 (0.4, 4.7) vs 1.1 (0.5, 8.4) μg/mL, P = 0.003) and Se (85.7 (43.0, 256.7) vs 77.8 (24.3, 143.8) ng/mL, P = 0…
Implications of obesity in exceptional longevity.
Except for the world’s poorest regions, it is estimated that global obesity [body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m 2 ] prevalence will reach 18% (men) and >21% (women) by 2025 (1). Recent nationally representative surveys in the US for the 2013–2014 period indicate age-adjusted obesity prevalence of 35.0% and 40.4% among adult men and women, respectively (2) and of 17.0% for children and adolescents aged 2–19 years (3).
Benefits of skeletal-muscle exercise training in pulmonary arterial hypertension: The WHOLEi + 12 trial
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is often associated with skeletal-muscle weakness. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to determine the effects of an 8-week intervention combining muscle resistance, aerobic and inspiratory pressure-load exercises on upper/lower-body muscle power and other functional variables in patients with this disease. Participants were allocated to a control (standard care) or intervention (exercise) group (n = 20 each, 45 ± 12 and 46 ± 11 years, 60% women and 10% patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension per group). The intervention included five, three and six supervised (inhospital) sessions/week of aerobic, resistance and inspirato…
No evidence of adverse cardiac remodeling in former elite endurance athletes
Background: The impact of high exercise loads on a previously healthy heart remains controversial. We examined the consequences of decades of strenuous endurance exercise at the highest competition level on heart dimensions and volumes as well as on serum biomarkers of cardiac fibrosis/remodeling. Methods and results: We compared echocardiographic measurements and serum biomarkers of cardiac fibrosis/remodeling [troponin I, galectin-3, matrix metallopeptidase-2 and -9, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, carboxy-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen, and soluble suppressor of tumorigenicity-2 (sST-2)/interleukin(IL)-1R4] in 53 male athletes [11 former professional ('elite') and 42…
Physical inactivity and low fitness deserve more attention to alter cancer risk and prognosis.
Abstract Sedentary lifestyle is associated with elevated cancer risk whereas regular physical activity (PA) and high cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) have the opposite effect, with several biologic mechanisms mediating such associations. There is a need for lifestyle interventions aimed at increasing the PA levels and CRF of the general population and particularly cancer survivors. Furthermore, provocative data suggest a dose-dependent benefit of increasing levels of PA and/or CRF against cancer risk or mortality. Thus, current PA guidelines (≥150 min/wk of moderate-to-vigorous PA) may not be sufficiently rigorous for preventing cancer nor for extending cancer survivorship. Research targetin…
Strenuous exercise and the heart: are we not seeing the wood for the trees?
The health benefits of regular moderate-intensity physical activity (e.g. brisk walking, jogging) are well established and include, among others, a lower risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet whether such benefits, especially with regard to CVD, are also conferred by higher exercise levels is a matter of growing controversy in the medical literature. For instance, Guash and Mont recently expressed understandable concern about the link between regular strenuous endurance exercise. 4.036 JCR (2014) Q1, 29/123 Cardiac and cardiovascular systems UEM
Effects of Exercise on the Immune Function of Pediatric Patients With Solid Tumors
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of an in-hospital exercise intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the inflammatory profile and immune cell subpopulation in 20 children with solid tumors (control [n = 11] and exercise group [n = 9]). Although no significant interaction (group × time) effect was found with an analysis of variance test, we found a trend toward an interaction effect for natural killer cells expressing the immunoglobulin-like receptor KIR2DS4, with their numbers remaining stable in the exercise group but increasing in controls. Our data support that exercise interventions are safe in pediatric cancer patients with solid tumors during chemotherapy tre…
PTK2 rs7460 and rs7843014 polymorphisms and exceptional longevity: a functional replication study
Focal adhesion is critical for cell survival. The focal adhesion kinase (FAK, or PTK2) is an important component of the human interactome and thus is a potential longevity-related protein. Here we studied the association between two PTK2 gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs7843014, rs7460) and exceptional longevity (EL). In addition to gaining insight into their functionality by determining luciferase gene reporter activity, we studied the genotype/allele frequency of these two SNPs among three different cohorts: (1) Spanish centenarians (n=175, 100–111 years, 144 women) and healthy controls (n=355, 20–50 years, 284 women); (2) Italian centenarians (n=79, 100–104 years, 40 women)…
Elite athletes live longer than the general population: a meta-analysis
OBJECTIVE: To perform a meta-analysis of cohort studies aimed at providing an accurate overview of mortality in elite athletes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed English-language scientific articles available in Medline and Web of Science databases following the recommendations of the Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology group. We searched for publications on longevity and professional or elite athletes (with no restriction on the starting date and up to March 31, 2014). RESULTS: Ten studies, including data from a total of 42,807 athletes (707 women), met all inclusion criteria. The all-cause pooled standard mortality ratio (SMR) was 0.67 (95% CI, 0.55-0.81; P<.001) with n…