Short-term aerobic training and circulatory function in women: age and hormone-replacement therapy

Abstract

The physiological basis of training responses in women, and particularly older women, is not well understood. Short-term aerobic training (STAT) was used to probe the effects of age and hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) on women's ability to rapidly change peak uptake ( VO(2max)), plasma volume and cardiac function. A total of 39 females participated in the STAT programme: 15 younger (Y; aged 19-29 years), 12 postmenopausal women undergoing HRT and 12 non-medicating postmenopausal (PM) women (aged 60-75 years). Training consisted of ten sessions of cycling over a 2-week period, which progressed in duration from 20 to 60 min and in intensity from 60-75% of maximum heart rate. Plasma volume (PV; as determined by Evan's Blue dye dilution), VO(2max) (cycle ergometry) and cardiac function (radionuclide ventriculography) were analysed using analysis of covariance or repeated measures ANOVA. All groups demonstrated similar increase in VO(2max) (Y, 13%; PM, 17%; HRT, 13%), but without a significant change in left-ventricular ejection fraction and diastolic function or volumes during supine exercise. PV expansion was observed among the Y group (7%; P <0.05) but not the PM group (2%; P >0.05) or women undergoing HRT (1%; P >0.05). Age and hormone-replacement status did not affect the magnitude of VO(2max) change. This study suggests that STAT improves VO(2max), independent of central adaptations.

Acceptability and effectiveness of stationary bike intervention on health outcomes among older adults: a systematic review of intervention studies

“…The most common health outcome investigated across the studies was "Aerobic capacity (VO2 max)", utilized as a physiological function and cardiac tness assessment parameter in 10 studies. The study populations varied, including physically inactive individuals [25,30,56], those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [20,21]…”

“…Among these, 28 (59.57%) studies were Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), while 19 (40.43%) were Non-Randomized Controlled Trials (non-RCTs), including Pretest-posttest and Quasi-Experimental studies. A demographic breakdown reveals that 16 (34.04%) studies[10,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] targeted younger older adults aged 60 to 75 years, 5 studies (10.64%)[33][34][35][36][37] focused on older older adults (aged ≥76), and 26 (55.32%)[14,15, included both age groups.Figures3 and 4demonstrate that among the 47 studies included in the systematic review on sedentary behaviour interventions in physical activity, complete feasibility was observed with a 100% acceptance rate in 18 studies[18,20,21,24,25,27,29,30, 36,41,42,44, 46,[50][51][52] 56], a retention rate of 100% in 7 studies[27,32,43,49,53,54,57], and an adherence rate of 100% in 3 studies[32,39,54]. Additionally, a dropout rate of 0% was reported in 6 studies…”

“…, healthy subjects[18], individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) [58, 60], those with existing comorbidities[28], and one study that did not clearly specify the health status of the population[45]. Among these studies, four demonstrated statistically signi cant effects (p= <0.05) compared to control groups, walk-jogging groups, post-ergometer exercise, and stretching groups [18,25,45, 58]. Additionally, four studies reported highly signi cant effects (p=<0.001), showing improved aerobic Alzheimer's disease dementia[61].…”

Efeitos isolados e associados da terapia de reposição oral estrogênica e do exercício físico aeróbico nas respostas hemodinâmicas e neurais em mulheres no período pós-menopausa

“…O fato da terapia estrogênica não ter influenciado as respostas de capacidade aeróbia máxima (VO 2máx ), confome verificado em estudos prévios 65,66 .…”

“…No que diz respeito ao condicionamento físico, o estrogênio parece não influenciar a capacidade aeróbia de mulheres pós-menopausadas. Foi o que observou um estudo que utilizou terapia hormonal combinada após a realização de 2 semanas de exercícios (5 vezes por semana) em bicicleta ergométrica 65 . Snabes et al 66 também não verificaram melhora no consumo máximo de oxigênio e nem no tempo total de exercício após 3 meses de terapia estrogênica (estradiol micronizado, 2mg/dia).…”