Physical Exercise Performed Four Hours after Learning Improves Memory Retention and Increases Hippocampal Pattern Similarity during Retrieval

 

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Stone Hearth News

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Eelco V. van Dongen, Ingrid H.P. Kersten, Isabella C. Wagner, Richard G.M. Morris, Guillén Fernández
Current Biology

Published: June 16, 2016

Properly timed physical exercise can alter mnemonic processes at delayed retrieval and improve memory retention over a period of at least 48 hr. This finding is in line with previous studies reporting beneficial effects of physical exercise (for a review, see [15]) and highlights its potential as a memory intervention in humans. The economic, healthy, and practical nature of exercise makes it ideal for interventions in educational and clinical settings. Our experiment thus serves as a proof of principle study that could inspire future applications of exercise to boost long-term memory in various populations.

We would like to stress that much is yet unknown about the molecular mechanisms of consolidation in humans. The timing of early consolidation processes is as yet poorly understood, and we do not know whether the molecular factors critical in animal models play similar roles in humans. In addition, by necessity, human studies generally use correlational analyses and peripheral measures of the physiological effects of exercise when investigating the mnemonic impact of exercise. It remains unclear how serum levels of, e.g., BDNF, dopamine, and noradrenaline relate to local changes in consolidation factors in the neural circuits important for long-term memory. As such, our speculations on possible mechanistic explanations of our findings should be interpreted with caution.
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Key to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is in Your Gut, Not Head

 

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Stone Hearth News

Newswise — Physicians have been mystified by chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition where normal exertion leads to debilitating fatigue that isn’t alleviated by rest. There are no known triggers, and diagnosis requires lengthy tests administered by an expert.

Now, for the first time, Cornell University researchers report they have identified biological markers of the disease in gut bacteria and inflammatory microbial agents in the blood.

In a study published June 23 in the journal Microbiome, the team describes how they correctly diagnosed myalgic encephalomyeletis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in 83 percent of patients through stool samples and blood work, offering a noninvasive diagnosis and a step toward understanding the cause of the disease.

“Our work demonstrates that the gut bacterial microbiome in chronic fatigue syndrome patients isn’t normal, perhaps leading to gastrointestinal and inflammatory symptoms in victims of the disease,” said Maureen Hanson, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell and the paper’s senior author. “Furthermore, our detection of a biological abnormality provides further evidence against the ridiculous concept that the disease is psychological in origin.”

“In the future, we could see this technique as a complement to other noninvasive diagnoses, but if we have a better idea of what is going on with these gut microbes and patients, maybe clinicians could consider changing diets, using prebiotics such as dietary fibers or probiotics to help treat the disease,” said Ludovic Giloteaux, a postdoctoral researcher and first author of the study.
  In the study, Ithaca campus researchers collaborated with Dr. Susan Levine, an ME/CFS specialist in New York City, who recruited 48 people diagnosed with ME/CFS and 39 healthy controls to provide stool and blood samples.

The researchers sequenced regions of microbial DNA from the stool samples to identify different types of bacteria. Overall, the diversity of types of bacteria was greatly reduced and there were fewer bacterial species known to be anti-inflammatory in ME/CFS patients compared with healthy people, an observation also seen in people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

At the same time, the researchers discovered specific markers of inflammation in the blood, likely due to a leaky gut from intestinal problems that allow bacteria to enter the blood, Giloteaux said.
Bacteria in the blood will trigger an immune response, which could worsen symptoms.

The researchers have no evidence to distinguish whether the altered gut microbiome is a cause or a whether it is a consequence of disease, Giloteaux added.

In the future, the research team will look for evidence of viruses and fungi in the gut, to see whether one of these or an association of these along with bacteria may be causing or contributing to the illness.

 

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

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Overcome strength-training plateau with accentuated eccentric loading

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Stone Hearth News    

     

Hitting a plateau in strength training? The answer to overcoming it might lie in accentuated eccentric loading (AEL).

Many experienced strength trainers try to overcome a plateau by trying to adapt their strength programme, however this is sometimes ineffective. In just five weeks accentuated eccentric loading training considerably improved results for experienced strength-trainers, a study recently published in Frontiers in Physiology found.

This method is based on the principle of repetitive muscle contractions applying a greater external load during the muscle’s lengthening, the eccentric phase of the lift, than in the shortening, the concentric phase. The eccentric phase, for example, is the action of lowering the dumbbell back down from the lift during a biceps curl, as long as the dumbbell is lowered slowly rather than letting it drop.
This is different to the very popular isoinertial training where the same weight is used in both stages of the movement.

“It is important to train using actions that are highly specific to normal actions. I have always been interested in trying to optimize training because lots of people train hard, but I want those people to train smart allowing them to get the most out of their efforts; ” explained Dr. Simon Walker from the Department of Biology of Physical Activity at University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

He added: “It was clear that the force production capacity during eccentric actions was not being utilized during traditional isoinertial training.”

To determine the effects of accentuated eccentric loading the scientists conducted a ten week experiment applied to 28 experienced male strength-trainers separated into three groups: two groups (one using AEL and the other isoinertial training) were exposed to supervision, motivation, greater loading intensities, immediate post-training protein consumption and assistance at concentric failure, meanwhile the third group continued their normal unsupervised training program.

The results for the group using the accentuated eccentric load training were remarkable after the fifth week observing an increase of force production, work capacity, muscle activation and resistance compared to the other groups. However, both AEL and isoinertial methods were equally effective to increase the cross-sectional area of the quadriceps muscle, in subjects accustomed to resistance training.

“This information can modify people’s training methods and perhaps highlight contemporary training methods that can be included and periodized into people’s training regimes, this can range from patient groups to the elderly right through to athletes;” said Dr. Walker.

Evidently, the benefits of accentuated eccentric loading in already-trained individuals may take some time to manifest and, therefore, even several sessions of training may be insufficient to produce meaningful improvements.

“This is no magic pill that will suddenly create huge differences over systematic hard work. smart periodization, and nutrition; but it can give a boost or kick start to overcoming a plateau in strength and muscle mass development;” he continued.

However, it would be interesting to examine if adapting to even longer training periods of accentuated eccentric loading in the future will produce continued improvements or if otherwise the continuous high intensity may lead to over-reaching.

“There are lots of unresolved issues still, such as how AEL may affect recovery, training frequency, and also whether training intensity and volume should be adjusted to better suit the individual. Nevertheless, this study alone gives good evidence that athletes can work on a problematic area, for example to develop strength and muscle mass, by using this method when stagnation has occurred;” added Dr. Walker.

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Dietary fiber intake tied to successful aging, research reveals

 

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Stone Hearth News

     

Most people know that a diet high in fiber helps to keep us “regular.” Now Australian researchers have uncovered a surprising benefit of this often-undervalued dietary component.
A new paper — published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences by scientists from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research — reports that eating the right amount of fiber from breads, cereals, and fruits can help us avoid disease and disability into old age.

Using data compiled from the Blue Mountains Eye Study, a benchmark population-based study that examined a cohort of more than 1,600 adults aged 50 years and older for long-term sensory loss risk factors and systemic diseases, the researchers explored the relationship between carbohydrate nutrition and healthy aging.

They found that out of all the factors they examined — which included a person’s total carbohydrate intake, total fiber intake, glycemic index, glycemic load, and sugar intake — it was the fiber that made the biggest difference to what the researchers termed “successful aging.”

Successful aging was defined as including an absence of disability, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, respiratory symptoms, and chronic diseases including cancer, coronary artery disease, and stroke.

According to lead author of the paper, Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, PhD, from the Institute’s Centre for Vision Research, the study is the first to look at the relationship between carbohydrate intake and healthy aging, and the results were significant enough to warrant further investigation.

“Out of all the variables that we looked at, fiber intake — which is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest — had the strongest influence,” she said. “Essentially, we found that those who had the highest intake of fiber or total fiber actually had an almost 80 percent greater likelihood of living a long and healthy life over a 10-year follow-up. That is, they were less likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes, dementia, depression, and functional disability.”

While it might have been expected that the level of sugar intake would make the biggest impact on successful aging, Gopinath pointed out that the particular group they examined were older adults whose intake of carbonated and sugary drinks was quite low.

Although it is too early to use the study results as a basis for dietary advice, Gopinath said the research has opened up a new avenue for exploration.

“There are a lot of other large cohort studies that could pursue this further and see if they can find similar associations. And it would also be interesting to tease out the mechanisms that are actually linking these variables,” she said.

This study backs up similar recent findings by the researchers, which highlight the importance of the overall diet and healthy aging.

In another study published last year in The Journals of Gerontology, Westmead Institute researchers found that, in general, adults who closely adhered to recommended national dietary guidelines reached old age with an absence of chronic diseases and disability, and had good functional and mental health status.
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Anabolic Steroid Abuse May Increase Risk of Abnormal Heart Rhythm and Stroke

 

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Stone Hearth News

 

   

     

Newswise — Research has already shown that taking anabolic steroids is associated with high blood pressure and an increased risk of developing heart conditions such as left ventricular hypertrophy.
Now research, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation and being presented on 6th June at this year’s British Cardiovascular Society conference, has shown that for some people misusing steroids can be particularly dangerous.

A team of researchers from the University of Birmingham have found evidence to suggest that, when taken by people with the inherited heart condition arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), steroids could lead to changes in heart muscle structure and problems with the heart’s electrical signals. These changes would then increase the likelihood that people taking steroids would suffer from atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm disorder which is itself a major cause of stroke.

ARVC is caused by a mutation in one or more genes responsible for producing the proteins that hold the heart muscle together. The researchers gave dihydrotestosterone, an anabolic steroid commonly used to enhance athletic performance, to mice with a deficiency in one of these same proteins.
They found that, in these hearts, the electrical signal that tells when the heart to beat travelled around the heart more slowly than usual. This slowing down of electrical activity put these hearts at greater risk of dangerous abnormal heart rhythms, such as atrial fibrillation.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have used anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes in their lifetime (1). Anabolic steroids are prescription-only medicines that are sometimes taken without medical advice to increase muscle mass and improve athletic performance. If used in this way, they can cause serious side effects and addiction.

Larissa Fabritz, senior author and reader in cardiovascular sciences at the University of Birmingham, said:

“With one in every five men joining a gym in the UK using performance enhancing anabolic steroids the misuse of steroids is fast becoming an emerging global health problem. Our results show that the misuse of steroids could explain why seemingly healthy individuals are suffering from serious heart problems.”

Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:
“This study reinforces the evidence that using anabolic steroids can have untoward and possibly dangerous side effects, particularly in those who (often unknowingly) have heart problems.”
Find out more about the British Cardiovascular Society Conference at bcs.com/conference.

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Pilates improves disability, pain, flexibility and balance in low back pain patients: new study

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Stone Hearth News    

     

Clin Rehabil. 2016 Jun 3. pii: 0269215516651978. [Epub ahead of print]
Results of a Pilates exercise program in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain: A randomized controlled trial.
Valenza MC1, Rodríguez-Torres J2, Cabrera-Martos I2, Díaz-Pelegrina A2, Aguilar-Ferrándiz ME2, Castellote-Caballero Y2.
Author information
1Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Spain cvalenza@ugr.es.
2Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Spain.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the effects of a Pilates exercise program on disability, pain, lumbar mobility, flexibility and balance in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain.
DESIGN:
Randomized controlled trial.
SETTING:
University laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS:

A total of 54 patients with chronic non-specific low back pain.

INTERVENTION:

Patients were randomly allocated to an experimental group (n=27) included in a Pilates exercise program or to a control group (n=27) receiving information in a form of a leaflet.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Disability (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire and Oswestry Disability Index), current, average and pain at it least and at its worst (Visual Analogue Scales), lumbar mobility (modified Shober test), flexibility (finger-to-floor test) and balance (single limb stance test) were measured at baseline and after the intervention.

RESULTS:

A between-group analysis showed significant differences in the intervention group compared to the control group for both disability scores, the Rolland-Morris questionnaire (mean change±standard deviation of 5.31±3.37 and 2.40±6.78 respectively and between-groups mean difference of 3.2 ± 4.12, p=0.003) and the Oswestry Disability Index (p<0.001), current pain (p=0.002) and pain at it least (p=0.033), flexibility (0.032) and balance (0.043).
CONCLUSIONS:
An 8-week Pilates exercise program is effective in improving disability, pain, flexibility and balance in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain.
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Exercise training seems to induce an antioxidant effect: Sports Med journal

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Stone Hearth News    

Sports Med. 2016 Jun 3. [Epub ahead of print]

The Antioxidant Effect of Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
de Sousa CV1, Sales MM2, Rosa TS2, Lewis JE3, de Andrade RV4, Simões HG2.
Author information

1Graduate Program in Physical Education, Universidade Católica de Brasília, EPTC, QS07, LT1 s/n. Bloco G Sala 15, Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, 72030-170, Brazil. cvsousa89@gmail.com.
2Graduate Program in Physical Education, Universidade Católica de Brasília, EPTC, QS07, LT1 s/n. Bloco G Sala 15, Taguatinga, Brasília, DF, 72030-170, Brazil.
3Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
4Graduate Program in Genomic Sciences and Biotechnology, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Physical activity has been associated with reduced oxidative stress (OS) in observational studies and clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials was to determine the effect of physical exercise on OS parameters.

METHODS:

We conducted a systematic review of the literature up to March 2016 that included the following databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. A keyword combination referring to exercise training and OS was included as part of a more thorough search process. We also manually searched the reference lists of the articles. From an initial 1573 references, we included 30 controlled trials (1346 participants) in the qualitative analysis, 19 of which were included in the meta-analysis. All trials were conducted in humans and had at least one exercise intervention and a paired control group. Using a standardized protocol, two investigators independently abstracted data on study design, sample size, participant characteristics, intervention, follow-up duration, outcomes, and quantitative data for the meta-analysis. Thus, the investigators independently assigned quality scores with a methodological quality assessment (MQA).

RESULTS:

The agreement level between the reviewers was 85.3 %. Discrepancies were solved in a consensus meeting. The MQA showed a total score in the quality index between 40 and 90 % and a mean quality of 55 %. Further, in a random-effects model, data from each trial were pooled and weighted by the inverse of the total variance. Physical training was associated with a significant reduction in pro-oxidant parameters (standard mean difference [SMD] -1.08; 95 % confidence interval [CI] -1.57 to -0.58; p < 0.001) and an increase in antioxidant capacity (SMD 1.45; 95 % CI 0.83-2.06; p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION:

The pooled analysis revealed that regardless of intensity, volume, type of exercise, and studied population, the antioxidant indicators tended to increase and pro-oxidant indicators tended to decrease after training. Therefore, we conclude that exercise training seems to induce an antioxidant effect. Thus, it is suggested that people practice some kind of exercise to balance the redox state, regardless of their health status, to improve health-related outcomes.
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