Background Lifestyle therapy with resistance training is a potent measure to counteract age‐related loss in muscle strength and mass. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to respond in the expected manner. This phenomenon is particularly common among older adults and those with chronic diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD) and may involve endocrine variables such as vitamin D. At present, the effects of vitamin D supplementation on responses to resistance training remain largely unexplored. Methods Ninety‐five male and female participants (healthy, n = 71; COPD, n = 24; age 68 ± 5 years) were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin D3 or placebo supplementation for 28 weeks in a double‐blinded manner (latitude 61°N, September–May). Seventy‐eight participants completed the RCT, which was initiated by 12 weeks of supplementation‐only (two weeks with 10 000 IU/day, followed by 2000 IU/day), followed by 13 weeks of combined supplementation (2000 IU/day) and supervised whole‐body resistance training (twice weekly), interspersed with testing and measurements. Outcome measures included multiple assessments of muscle strength (nvariables = 7), endurance performance (n = 6), and muscle mass (n = 3, legs, primary), as well as muscle quality (legs), muscle biology (m. vastus lateralis; muscle fibre characteristics, transcriptome), and health‐related variables (e.g. visceral fat mass and blood lipid profile). For main outcome domains such as muscle strength and muscle mass, weighted combined factors were calculated from the range of singular assessments. Results Overall, 13 weeks of resistance training increased muscle strength (13% ± 8%), muscle mass (9% ± 8%), and endurance performance (one‐legged, 23% ± 15%; whole‐body, 8% ± 7%), assessed as weighted combined factors, and were associated with changes in health variables (e.g. visceral fat, −6% ± 21%; [LDL]serum, −4% ± 14%) and muscle tissue characteristics such as fibre type proportions (e.g. IIX, −3% points), myonuclei per fibre (30% ± 65%), total RNA/rRNA abundances (15%/6–19%), and transcriptome profiles (e.g. 312 differentially expressed genes). Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect training‐associated changes for any of the main outcome domains, despite robust increases in [25(OH)D]serum (∆49% vs. placebo). No conditional effects were observed for COPD vs. healthy or pre‐RCT [25(OH)D]serum. In secondary analyses, vitamin D3 affected expression of gene sets involved in vascular functions in muscle tissue and strength gains in participants with high fat mass, which advocates further study. Conclusions Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect muscular responses to resistance training in older adults with or without COPD.

The incidence of vertebral fractures in 87 epileptic outpatients was 16 per cent. The occurrence of vertebral fractures in epileptics was not correlated to age, state of osteomalacia or to type or number of epileptic seizures.

A significant increase in S-urate was found postictally in 17 patients with two or more grand ma1 seizures within 24 h. In six patients S-urate was above the level at which hyperuricemic renal failure may develop. Impaired renal function was observed in two patients who had extremely high S-urates. It is proposed that prophylactic procedures against hyperuricemic renal failure should be carried out in all patients with repetitive convulsions.

Objective To examine the effect of pre‐operative androgen deprivation on the progression rate of malignancy in patients operated on for localized prostate cancer. Patients and methods A total of 53 patients received no hormone therapy (group 1) and a further 38 patients (group 2) received the generic releasing‐hormone agonist triptorelin during the 3 months before surgery. The patients in group 1 had T1b‐T2 tumours, whereas 12 of those in group 2 had clinical stage T3 tumours. Despite this, the surgical specimens from the patients in group 2 showed a rate of cancer invasion of the surgical margins 20% lower than those from the patients in group 1. After prostatectomy, the patients were followed for 3 years by repeated analyses of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) in serum. Results During the follow‐up, the PSA level exceeded the upper threshold (0.6 ng/mL) in 16 % of the patients in group 1 and in 43 % of those in group 2 (P<0.05). This difference was mainly related to the pre‐treatment stage of the tumour. Some of the patients in group 1 received post‐operative radiotherapy but this was not reflected in their PSA levels. Of the patients in group 1 and 2, 4% and 14% respectively (P>0.05), developed symptoms from skeletal metastases. Conclusion There was no evidence that pre‐operative hormone therapy slowed the progression of prostate cancer.

Background: Lifestyle therapy with resistance training is a potent measure to counteract age-related loss in muscle strength and mass. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to respond in the expected manner. This phenomenon is particularly common among older adults and those chronically diseased (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD), and may involve endocrine variables such as vitamin D. At present, the effects of vitamin D supplementation on responses to resistance training remain largely unexplored. Methods: Ninety-five male and female participants (healthy, n=71; COPD, n=24; age 68 ± 5 years) were randomly assigned to receive either vitamin D3 or placebo supplementation for 28 weeks in a double-blinded manner (latitude 61°N, September-May). Seventy-eight participants completed the RCT, which was initiated by 12 weeks of supplementation-only (in average, 3333 IU.day-1), followed by 13 weeks of combined supplementation (2000 IU.day-1) and supervised whole-body resistance training (twice weekly), interspersed with testing and measurements. Outcome measures included multiple assessments of muscle strength (n=7), endurance performance (n=6), and muscle mass (n=3, legs, primary), as well as muscle quality (legs), muscle biology (m. vastus lateralis; muscle fibre characteristics, transcriptome), and health-related variables (e.g. visceral fat mass and blood lipid profile). For main outcome domains such as muscle strength and muscle mass, weighted combined factors were calculated from the range of singular assessments. Results: Overall, 13 weeks of resistance training increased muscle strength (13% ± 8%), muscle mass (9% ± 8%) and endurance performance (one-legged, 23% ± 15%; whole-body, 8% ± 7%), assessed as weighted combined factors, and were associated with changes in health variables (e.g. visceral fat, -6% ± 21%; [LDL]serum, -4% ± 14%) and muscle tissue characteristics such as fibre type proportions (e.g. IIX, -3%-points), myonuclei.fibre-1 (30% ± 65%), total RNA/rRNA abundances (15%/6-19%), and transcriptome profiles (e.g. ~336 differentially expressed genes). Vitamin D3 supplementation led to robust increases in [25(OH)D]serum (Δ49% vs placebo), but did not affect training-associated changes for any of the main outcome domains, with no interaction being evident with disease status or pre-RCT [25(OH)D]serum. In secondary analyses, vitamin D3 affected expression of gene sets involved in vascular functions in muscle tissue, strength gains in participants with high fat mass, and [cortisol]serum (Δ20%), all of which advocate further study. Conclusions: Vitamin D3 supplementation did not affect muscular responses to resistance training in old adults with or without COPD.