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Published on Leave a comment on Light Physical Activity Is Beneficial to the Brain

Great news for those who don't exercise at government recommended guideline levels of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week. Which may be most of us, perhaps? Hmmm? A recent study found that even light intensity exercise is beneficial to the brain.

The study of 2354 persons (average age 53 years) in Framingham, Massachusetts, found that each additional hour spent in light-intensity physical activity was associated with a larger brain volume - equivalent to approximately 1.1 years less brain aging. Thus, the more activity, the more beneficial. In general, total cerebral brain volume declines at a rate of 0.2% per year after age 60 years - so slowing this process down is desirable.

Both physical activity levels and steps per day was looked at, and both were beneficial to brain volume. The study found that walking 10 ,000 or more steps per day was associated with higher brain volume when compared with persons who walked fewer than 5000 steps per day. But even 7500 steps was better for the brain than 5000 steps. How did they measure brain volume? With brain MRI imaging. 

This study found that light exercise is beneficial to the brain, specifically the brain volume - but note that these benefits are from levels below official recommended guidelines. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that 150 or more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week is recommended for substantial health benefits (but they also said that "some physical activity is better than none"). In other words, get off your butt and move - any activity and exercise is better than none!

From Science News: Light, physical activity reduces brain aging

Incremental physical activity, even at light intensity, is associated with larger brain volume and healthy brain aging.  ...continue reading "Light Physical Activity Is Beneficial to the Brain"

Published on Leave a comment on Could Physical Activity Reduce Stroke Severity?

The results of a recent study suggested that walking 4 hours or more a week or 2 to 3 hours of moderate physical activity may have a (slight) protective effect of reducing stroke severity in persons who get a stroke. The study, which was conducted in Sweden, found that persons who were physically more active before their stroke and were younger in age were more likely to have a mild stroke (rather than a moderate or severe stroke). This finding was an association (didn't prove it).

But ...the majority of persons participating in the study - whether they exercised or not before the stroke - had mild strokes, and a minority in all of the groups had moderate or severe strokes. 73% of physically inactive people, 85% of those with light physical activity, and 89% of  those who had engaged in moderate physical activity before their strokes had mild strokes. Researchers found that light (walking or a similar activity for at least 4 hours per week) and moderate physical activity (2 to 3 hours per week) were equally beneficial. From Medical Xpress:

People who walk just 35 minutes a day may have less severe strokes

People who participate in light to moderate physical activity, such as walking at least four hours a week or swimming two to three hours a week, may have less severe strokes than people who are physically inactive, according to a study published in the September 19, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. 

...continue reading "Could Physical Activity Reduce Stroke Severity?"

Published on Leave a comment on Vigorous Physical Activity Linked To Lower Death Risk In Older Women

The message is clear from a recent study: older adults should get out and move, move , move (brisk walking is fine) - to lower the risk of early death. The older women engaging in the most moderate to vigorous activity had a 65% lower risk of early death during an average follow-up period of 2.3 years (when compared to the women with the least exercise).

How much exercise did the groups get? The least active had 6.8 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise, and the most active had about 68 minutes/day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The women wore a Fitbit type of device (an accelerometer) that measured their movements. Moderate to vigorous exercise was any movement that got the heart rate up a bit, made them sweat a little - and which could be brisk walking.

The study was done with older women (in their 70s), but one would think it also applies to men. Note: all-cause mortality means death from any cause (death in general). From Medscape:

Intense Exercise Tied to 65% Lower Death Risk in Older Women

Older women who engaged in the greatest amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity, such as brisk walking, were found to have a 65% lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with women who performed the least amount of such exercise, a new study reports. The researchers examined women in their early 70s in the Women's Health Study (WHS) who wore a triaxial accelerometer for 7 days to measure physical activity. The findings, by Dr I-Min Lee (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA) and colleagues, were published November 6, 2017 in Circulation.

It's been known for a long time that physical activity is associated with lower mortality rates, Dr Lee told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.... Now that physical activity can be better measured using a research-grade triaxial accelerometer, the magnitude of the reduced risk of short-term death with recommended amounts of moderate to vigorous physical activity can be seen to be as strong as not smoking, Lee said. ... This study "reinforces the message that adults should strive to meet physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week," Dr Alpa Patel (American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia) who recently published a related article that showed benefits from walking told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology.

From 2011 to 2015, 18,289 of 29,494 living women (63%) in the Women's Health Study agreed to participate in the current study.... The remaining 17,708 women were mailed a research-grade triaxial accelerometer (ActiGraph GT3X+, ActiGraph Corp) and asked to wear it on their hips for 7 days (but to take it off when sleeping or swimming) and then mail it back. 

The women spent a median of 8.4, 5.8, and 0.5 hours/day being sedentary, doing light physical activity, and doing moderate to vigorous physical activity, respectively. "The least active quartile were doing 8 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous . . . physical activity," Lee said, which was typically "brisk walking, anything that gets your heart rate up a little bit, gets you to sweat a little bit." The most active quartile did about 68 minutes/day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. During an average follow-up of 2.3 years, 207 women died. The total amount of physical activity was inversely related to the risk of all-cause mortality during follow-up, after adjustment for age and time spent wearing the device. 

Published on Leave a comment on Exercise Alters Gut Microbes In A Beneficial Way

Two studies (one in mice and one in humans) from researchers at the University of Illinois found that no matter what your diet - exercise changes the gut bacteria in a beneficial way. And when you go back to a sedentary lifestyle, your gut microbes change again and beneficial microbes such as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyrates, decline. The effect was more pronounced in lean sedentary adults (as compared to obese sedentary adults).

Beneficial microbes that increased with exercise in humans were species of Faecalibacterium, Roseburia, Lachnospira, Lachnospiraceae, and Clostridiales. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii has been discussed in earlier posts as a beneficial keystone species in the gut (here, here, and here). What kind of exercises did they do? They did three supervised 30 to 60 minute moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic/endurance exercise sessions per week for 6 weeks, and they could use a cycle ergometer (stationary bicycle) or treadmill each session.

Besides beneficial microbial changes, 6 weeks of exercising resulted in improved body composition (total lean body mass, decreased body fat, increased bone mineral density), and an improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness. These changes reversed in everyone when they went back to 6 weeks of a sedentary lifestyle. Bottom line: get out and move, move, move. Your gut microbes and your body will thank you. From Science Daily:

Exercise changes gut microbial composition independent of diet, team reports

Two studies -- one in mice and the other in human subjects -- offer the first definitive evidence that exercise alone can change the composition of microbes in the gut. The studies were designed to isolate exercise-induced changes from other factors -- such as diet or antibiotic use -- that might alter the intestinal microbiota.

In the first study, scientists transplanted fecal material from exercised and sedentary mice into the colons of sedentary germ-free mice, which had been raised in a sterile facility and had no microbiota of their own. In the second study, the team tracked changes in the composition of gut microbiota in human participants as they transitioned from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active one -- and back again.

Recipients of the exercised mouse microbiota also had a higher proportion of microbes that produce butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that promotes healthy intestinal cells, reduces inflammation and generates energy for the host. They also appeared to be more resistant to experimental ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.

In the human study, the team recruited 18 lean and 14 obese sedentary adults, sampled their gut microbiomes, and started them on an exercise program during which they performed supervised cardiovascular exercise for 30-60 minutes three times a week for six weeks. The researchers sampled participants' gut microbiomes again at the end of the exercise program and after another six weeks of sedentary behavior. Participants maintained their usual diets throughout the course of the study. Fecal concentrations of SCFAs, in particular butyrate, went up in the human gut as a result of exercise. These levels declined again after the participants reverted to a sedentary lifestyle.

The most dramatic increases were seen in lean participants, who had significantly lower levels of SCFA-producing microbes in their guts to begin with. Obese participants saw only modest increases in the proportion of SCFA-producing microbes. The ratios of different microbes in the gut also differed between lean and obese participants at every stage of the study, the researchers said. "The bottom line is that there are clear differences in how the microbiome of somebody who is obese versus somebody who is lean responds to exercise," Woods said. " [Original study in humans.]

Published on Leave a comment on Health Benefits of Dog Ownership

There are health benefits to having a dog, based on results from studies and testimonials from dog owners. Now a study of millions of Swedes found  that dog ownership is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in single-person households and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular or other causes ("all cause mortality") in general. Owning a hunting dog breed had the strongest association with cardiovascular health. Some of these health benefits are due to dogs providing companionship, affection, and increased physical activity (all those walks) of their owners. And of course there's sharing of microbes. From Science Daily:

Dog ownership linked to lower mortality rate

A team of Swedish scientists have used national registries of more than 3.4 million Swedes aged 40 to 80 to study the association between dog ownership and cardiovascular health. Their study shows that dog owners had a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease or to other causes during the 12-year follow-up. A total of more than 3.4 million individuals without any prior cardiovascular disease in 2001 were included in the researchers' study linking together seven different national data sources, including two dog ownership registers. 

"A very interesting finding in our study was that dog ownership was especially prominent as a protective factor in persons living alone, which is a group reported previously to be at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death than those living in a multi-person household. Perhaps a dog may stand in as an important family member in the single households. The results showed that single dog owners had a 33 percent reduction in risk of death and 11 percent reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease during follow-up compared to single non-owners. Another interesting finding was that owners to dogs from breed groups originally bred for hunting were most protected," says Mwenya Mubanga, lead junior author of the study and PhD student at the Department of Medical Sciences and the Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University.

"These kind of epidemiological studies look for associations in large populations but do not provide answers on whether and how dogs could protect from cardiovascular disease. We know that dog owners in general have a higher level of physical activity, which could be one explanation to the observed results. Other explanations include an increased well-being and social contacts or effects of the dog on the bacterial microbiome in the owner," says Tove Fall, senior author of the study and Associate Professor in Epidemiology at the Department of Medical Sciences and the Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University. "There might also be differences between owners and non-owners already before buying a dog, which could have influenced our results, such as those people choosing to get a dog tending to be more active and of better health." [Original study.]

Published on Leave a comment on Exercise, Exercise, Exercise To Keep From Regaining Weight

So you finally lost weight by diligently dieting, but now the issue is how to keep the weight from creeping back up again. Keeping strict watch over what you eat (basically continuing to diet)? Or exercising? Or...? Another issue muddying the waters is that a big weight loss also lowers the metabolism rate - something that occurred to former participants of the reality TV show The Biggest Loser. They lost enormous amounts of weight during the 30 week competition (over 100 pounds on average), but 6 years later much of the weight was regained, and they were burning hundreds fewer calories each day at rest. So they had become metabolically much slower over time.

A study looking at 14 former participants of The Biggest Loser 6 years after the show found that a large persistent increase in physical activity was essential for long-term maintenance of weight loss. Those who regained the least weight were the most active, and vice versa. On the other hand, food intake (keeping calorie intake low) wasn't the most important. How much of an increase in physical activity was needed to maintain the weight loss? Researchers found that an increase of about 80 minutes of daily moderate activity (such as brisk walking) or 35 minutes of daily vigorous activity was needed. From Medscape:

The Biggest Loser: Physical Exertion Is Key to Keeping Weight Off

Persistent increased physical activity is likely essential for long-term maintenance of weight loss, new research from participants in the US TV reality show The Biggest Loser suggests.... Using objective measures for both energy intake and physical activity in 14 former Biggest Loser contestants 6 years after they participated in the competition, Dr Kerns and colleagues found that those who had regained the least weight were the most active, and vice versa. Food intake, on the other hand, had very little effect on long-term weight-loss maintenance.

Asked to comment, Eric Ravussin, PhD, Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and coeditor of Obesity, told Medscape Medical News that the data align with those of follow-ups to major trials — including the Diabetes Prevention Program and the Action for Health Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study as well as with the National Weight Control Registry — of thousands of people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year. "The successful losers…all report high levels of physical activity" for weight maintenance, in contrast to weight loss, for which caloric deficit plays a far greater role, Dr Ravussin noted.

The reason for the difference between what works for weight loss vs maintenance, he said, probably has a lot to do with metabolic adaptation. This was the subject of another Biggest Loser paper published in Obesity in 2016, in which a person's metabolism slows down in response to a large drop in weight, making weight-loss maintenance difficult without an extra "push" from exercise, he explained.

The subjects in the new study were 14 participants with class III obesity who participated in a single season of The Biggest Loser, during which they underwent an intensive 30-week diet and exercise program and lost an average of 60 kg. Most regained weight after the program ended, although the degree of regain was highly variable. The median weight loss after 6 years was 13%. Seven subjects above the median weighed 24.9% less than baseline (maintainers) while the seven below the line (regainers) weighed 1.1% above their baseline. The maintainers had significantly greater increases in physical activity from baseline compared with the regainers..... that 35 minutes a day of intensive exercise, or 80 minutes of moderate activity, would roughly approximate the calorie expenditures among the maintainers.

Published on Leave a comment on Exercise and Lower Rates of Depression

A newly published study suggests that exercising an hour or more per week could lower the incidence of depression. The study followed 33,000 adults in Norway  for 11 years, and found that an hour or more of weekly exercise was associated with 12% fewer cases of developing depression. But note that it didn't prevent anxiety. Interestingly, the researchers found that "regular leisure-time exercise of any intensity" had these positive effects - it doesn't have to be aerobic or incredibly strenuous exercise. Exercise is associated with a number of biological changes that could have an impact on mental health. From Science Daily:

One hour of exercise a week can prevent depression

A landmark study led by the Black Dog Institute has revealed that regular exercise of any intensity can prevent future depression -- and just one hour can help. Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the results show even small amounts of exercise can protect against depression, with mental health benefits seen regardless of age or gender.

In the largest and most extensive study of its kind, the analysis involved 33,908 Norwegian adults who had their levels of exercise and symptoms of depression and anxiety monitored over 11 years. The international research team found that 12 percent of cases of depression could have been prevented if participants undertook just one hour of physical activity each week.

A healthy cohort of participants was asked at baseline to report the frequency of exercise they participated in and at what intensity: without becoming breathless or sweating, becoming breathless and sweating, or exhausting themselves. At follow-up stage, they completed a self-report questionnaire (the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) to indicate any emerging anxiety or depression.

Results showed that people who reported doing no exercise at all at baseline had a 44% increased chance of developing depression compared to those who were exercising one to two hours a week. However, these benefits did not carry through to protecting against anxiety, with no association identified between level and intensity of exercise and the chances of developing the disorder. [Original article.]

Published on Leave a comment on Physical Activity In Midlife Not Linked to Later Cognitive Health

Surprised...is how I felt after reading this study. According to the study, activity levels and exercise in mid-life are not linked to cognitive fitness and dementia later on in life. Instead, higher levels of physical activity and exercise has a beneficial effect on the brain in the short term (e.g., within 2 years or so). This finding of no long-term benefits, but only short-term benefits to the brain from exercise, is contrary to some other (cross-sectional) studies, but is supported by another recent study ("no evidence of a neuroprotective effect of physical activity").

The beauty of this study is that it followed 646 people for 30 years (from a median age of 46 years in 1978 and 77 years in 2008). The negative is that according to this study, physical exercise in mid-life does not seem to delay or prevent the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's later on in life. Eh... From Medical Xpress:

Physical activity in midlife not linked to cognitive fitness in later years, long-term study shows

A study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers that tracked activity levels of 646 adults over 30 years found that, contrary to previous research, exercise in mid-life was not linked to cognitive fitness in later years. The finding suggests that physical activity may not help maintain cognitive function, or help avoid or delay the onset of the debilitating conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's. 

The study, which appears online in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, did find that activity levels among study participants in the later years were associated with high cognitive function two years later. This supports earlier research findings that exercise may help to maintain cognitive fitness in the short term.

There is no known treatment or cure for Alzheimer's or dementia, syndromes that involves declining memory, confusion and eventually limited ability to perform daily tasks. To date, there are no preventive measures, such as physical exercise, brain games or a diet regimen, that have been proven to help delay or altogether prevent its onset. The researchers undertook the study because of a growing consensus that physical activity levels helps prevent Alzheimer's, however much of the evidence for this thinking is based on cross-sectional studies that compare responses from one group of participants with another at a given point in time or within a very short duration, typically several years..... That's where longitudinal studies, which look at the same group of participants over a long time, are more helpful.

The researchers used data from the Johns Hopkins Precursors study.... The researchers used responses from 1978 through 2008 from 646 participants (598 men, 48 women) to calculate so-called metabolic equivalents, which quantify physical activity levels. Participants were also asked whether they regularly exercise to a sweat. The team administered cognitive tests in 2008, and, using participants' medical records, scored for dementia through 2011. The researchers identified 28, or 4.5 percent of the cohort, to have Alzheimer's.

No physical activity measure in mid-life was associated with late-life cognitive fitness or onset of dementia. The study confirmed findings of other cross-sectional studies, that higher levels of physical activity and exercise measured close in time to the cognitive testing were associated with better cognitive functioning. The authors also looked at whether patterns of change in physical activity levels over the life span were associated with cognitive health and found no relationships.

The idea that exercise might play a role in preventing or limiting Alzheimer's makes sense, the researchers say, because physical activity, at least in mouse models, has shown less accumulation of B-amyloid plaques, which are thought to play a role in dementia, including Alzheimer's. In addition, physical activity improves blood flow to the brain, which is linked to better cognitive performance. This may explain why studies find that exercise may contribute to cognitive fitness in the short term.

Published on Leave a comment on Is Exercise the Fountain of Youth?

 Once again a great reason to exercise - a study found that adults with the highest levels of weekly physical activity had the longest telomeres, which are markers of overall health and aging. Think of it this way: we all age, but some people seem young for their age, while others seem old for their age. This study looked at differences among groups of people at the cellular level.

The multi-year study looked at both physical activity levels of 5,823 adults and their telomeres. The adults provided DNA samples, from which the researchers measured telomere length. Telomeres are "protein caps positioned at the end of chromosomes". Aging causes telomeres to shorten and results in gradual cell deterioration - thus they are good markers of our biological age, that is, how we're aging (rather than just our chronological age). Study author Larry A. Tucker said “We know that, in general, people with shorter telomeres die sooner and are more likely to develop many of our chronic diseases. It's not perfect, but it's a very good index of biological aging.”

What causes telomeres to shrink faster?  Telomere shortening  can be hastened by things that result in inflammation and oxidative stress, such as obesity, smoking, poor diet, type 2 diabetes, and low socioeconomic levels. On the other hand, this study found that adults with high levels of physical activity had significantly longer telomeres. The longer telomeres found in the active adults reduced cellular aging by about 9 years, as compared to those adults who were sedentary or had low to medium levels of physical activity. Nine years less of biological aging is a lot! The shortest telomeres were in sedentary people.

How much physical activity should one aim for? The study found that activity levels in the study were measured in MET-minutes (metabolic equivalent minutes) - which can sound confusing, but can be achieved by incorporating exercise into daily routines, as well as also doing vigorous activities or exercises. In the present study, men had to attain >1887 MET-minutes per week and women >1375 to be included in the category with the highest activity levels (longest telomeres). It does mean several hours a week of physical activity, which can include gardening, bicycling, walking, vacuuming, exercising, running, etc. From Science Daily:

High levels of exercise linked to nine years of less aging at the cellular level

Despite their best efforts, no scientist has ever come close to stopping humans from aging. But new research from Brigham Young University reveals you may be able to slow one type of aging -- the kind that happens inside your cells. As long as you're willing to sweat. "Just because you're 40, doesn't mean you're 40 years old biologically," Tucker said. "We all know people that seem younger than their actual age. The more physically active we are, the less biological aging takes place in our bodies."

The study, published in the medical journal Preventive Medicine, finds that people who have consistently high levels of physical activity have significantly longer telomeres than those who have sedentary lifestyles, as well as those who are moderately active. Telomeres are the protein endcaps of our chromosomes. They're like our biological clock and they're extremely correlated with age; each time a cell replicates, we lose a tiny bit of the endcaps. Therefore, the older we get, the shorter our telomeres.

Exercise science professor Larry Tucker found adults with high physical activity levels have telomeres with a biological aging advantage of nine years over those who are sedentary, and a seven-year advantage compared to those who are moderately active. To be highly active, women had to engage in 30 minutes of jogging per day (40 minutes for men), five days a week.

Tucker analyzed data from 5,823 adults who participated in the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, one of the few indexes that includes telomere length values for study subjects....His study found the shortest telomeres came from sedentary people -- they had 140 base pairs of DNA less at the end of their telomeres than highly active folks. Surprisingly, he also found there was no significant difference in telomere length between those with low or moderate physical activity and the sedentary people.

Published on Leave a comment on Gut Microbe Differences Between Active and Sedentary Women

 A new study found differences in gut microbes between active women (they exercised at least the recommended amount) and those that are sedentary. When the gut bacteria were analyzed with modern tests (genetic sequencing) the active women had more of the health promoting beneficial bacteria such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia hominis, and Akkermansia muciniphila than the sedentary women. The sedentary women also had some bacterial species not seen in the active women. The researchers said that exercise "modifies the composition of gut microbiota" (the gut microbes) in a way beneficial for health.

And what is the recommended minimal amount of exercise? The World Health Organization recommends at least 3 days of exercise per week for 30 minutes at a moderate intensity. Note that exercise can mean doing exercises, but it can also include walking briskly, intense housework (scrubbing, vacuuming with lots of bending, etc.), gardening (digging, raking, etc), or shoveling snow, etc. In this study the group of active women had at least 3 hours of physical exercise per week. Note that a sedentary lifestyle is associated with a high incidence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, while physical exercise or activity has metabolic and immune health benefits (prevents disease).

But...reading the full study, the research also showed that the active group ate more fruits and vegetables - which we know has an effect on the gut microbiome and feeds beneficial bacteria. Although the diets of the 2 groups of women were similar in total carbohydrates, protein and fat content eaten, the active women ate more fruits, vegetables, and fiber, and the sedentary group ate more processed meat. So it looks like both exercise and a good amount of fruits and vegetables may be important for nurturing beneficial bacteria. By the way, the 3 species of beneficial bacteria mentioned currently are not found in any probiotic supplements on the market. (Earlier posts on the beneficial F. prausnitzii and Akkermansia muciniphila). From C. Bressa et al research article in PLoS ONE:

Differences in gut microbiota profile between women with active lifestyle and sedentary women

Physical exercise is a tool to prevent and treat some of the chronic diseases affecting the world’s population. A mechanism through which exercise could exert beneficial effects in the body is by provoking alterations to the gut microbiota, an environmental factor that in recent years has been associated with numerous chronic diseases. Here we show that physical exercise performed by women to at least the degree recommended by the World Health Organization can modify the composition of gut microbiota. Using high-throughput sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene, eleven genera were found to be significantly different between active and sedentary women. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed higher abundance of health-promoting bacterial species in active women, including Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia hominis and Akkermansia muciniphila. Moreover, body fat percentage, muscular mass and physical activity significantly correlated with several bacterial populations. In summary, we provide the first demonstration of interdependence between some bacterial genera and sedentary behavior parameters, and show that not only does the dose and type of exercise influence the composition of gut microbiota, but also the breaking of sedentary behavior. ...continue reading "Gut Microbe Differences Between Active and Sedentary Women"