Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Fitness’

The Implications and Association of Stair Climbing with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD)

Posted in Cardiovascular and Vascular Systems, Cardiovascular Research, Epigenetics and Cardiovascular Risks, Frontiers in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Disorders, Origins of Cardiovascular Disease, tagged , , , , , on October 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The Implications and Association of Stair Climbing with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD)

Reporter: Arav Gandhi, Research Assistant 2, Domain Content: Cardiovascular Diseases, Series A

 

Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) is a condition in which cholesterol builds up in the arteries to an extent that develops long-term complications for other areas of the body and in some cases emergence of symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath are presented and reported to PCPs. This can cause a strain on daily activities such as walking and especially may be noticed when climbing stairs which represents a form of exertion related to elevation. To further understand the significance of ASCVD upon daily activities, Zimin Song et al. (2023), using a sample of 458,860 participants (55.9% female) from the UK Biobank, aimed to evaluate the intensity of stair climbing and the present risk of ASCVD. All participants had a history of ASCVD, put at risk for ASCVD, or had a recorded levels of genetic risk.

Prior to the study, all participants underwent blood tests and other necessary measurements. During the study, the researchers assessed the intensity of stair climbing through a self-reported structure in which participants were asked a set of questions addressing the duration of climbing stairs and whether they continued to climb. Additional questionnaires were administered to collect sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and health status. Following the conclusion of the study, the researchers found, with an application of statistical analysis, that over a period of 12.5 years individuals with a higher intensity of stair climbing were of younger age, female, and non-regular smokers. Moreover, those individuals exemplified a higher level of education and income along with healthier dietary habits and prolonged exercise durations. Beyond demographic characteristics, researchers found that when individuals especially those with a family history of ASCVD increased the intensity of stair climbing, the risk of ASCVD was reduced. This remained consistent across other groups of participants finding an association between the intensity of stair climbing and the risk of ASCVD.

Ultimately, given the large sample of UK adults, the findings conclude that high-intensity climbing, or climbing more than five flights of stairs daily was associated with over a 20% reduction in risk of obtaining ASCVD. Despite the variance of disease tendencies among individuals, active engagement in stair climbing can significantly reduce the risk of ASCVD in contrast to those who discontinued stair climbing leading to a higher risk of ASCVD. However, the intensity of stair climbing was limited to a threshold in which it no longer decreased the risk of ASCVD.

Simply climbing stairs can be considered a prevention strategy for ASCVD, but the application of active engagement in physical activities may be associated with reducing the risk of obtaining other diseases. For instance, the positive effects of stair climbing on reducing the risk of ASCVD may also apply to

  • atrial fibrillation,
  • diabetes, and
  • hypertension.

Other existing studies find associations with a

  • lower risk of metabolic syndrome, and even
  • mortality.

In contrast to structured sports and exercise, stair climbing proves to be an effective method with minimal equipment and low cost that allows an individual to practice cardiorespiratory fitness reducing the risks of various diseases while improving their overall standard of life. Although further studies need to be conducted on the extent to which intense stair climbing improves different areas of the body and what diseases it helps prevent, current studies prove the effects of stair climbing to be beneficial to an extent in which individuals should be encouraged in incorporate it in their daily routine yielding both short-term and long-term benefits.

To learn more about the topic, check out the article below.

SOURCE

Song Z, Wan L, Wang W, et al. Daily stair climbing, disease susceptibility, and risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A prospective cohort study. Atherosclerosis. 2023:117300. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2023.117300

 

Other related articles published in this Open Access Online Scientific Journal include the following:

Archive for the ‘Atherogenic Processes & Pathology’ Category

N =178 articles


Series A: e-Books on Cardiovascular Diseases 

Series A Content Consultant: Justin D Pearlman, MD, PhD, FACC

 

VOLUME THREE

Etiologies of Cardiovascular Diseases:

Epigenetics, Genetics and Genomics

 

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018PNHJ84

 

by  

Larry H Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Senior Editor, Author and Curator

and

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN, Editor and Curator

 

2.1.3 Physical Activity and Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

  • Causes
  • Biomarkrs
  • Therapies

2.1.3.1  In Two-thirds of Waking Hours Older Women are Sedentary

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

2.1.3.2 Walking and Running: Similar Risk Reductions for Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia, DM, and possibly CAD

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

2.1.3.3 Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Risk for Extreme Performance Athletes

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

2.1.3.4 Preventive Medicine Philosophy: Exercise vs. Drug, IF More of the First THEN Less of the Second

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

2.1.3.5 Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as a Tool

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP

2.1.3.6   Is it Hypertension or Physical Inactivity: Cardiovascular Risk and Mortality – New results in 3/2013

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

2.1.3.7  2014 Epidemiology and Prevention, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Conference: San Francisco, Ca.   Conference Dates:  San Francisco, CA 3/18-21, 2014

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

Read Full Post »

Selye’s Riddle solved

Posted in Biochemical pathways, Curation, Developmental biology, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Human aging, Human Immune System in Health and in Disease, Human Sensation and Cellular Transduction: Physiology and Therapeutics, Inflammasome, Metabolism, Microbiology, Micronutrients, Nephrology, Stress Disorders, Systemic Inflammatory Response Related Disorders, tagged , , , , , on March 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Selye’s Riddle solved

Larry H. Bernstein, mD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

 

Mathematicians Solve 78-year-old Mystery

Mathematicians developed a solution to Selye's riddle which has puzzled scientists for almost 80 years.
Mathematicians developed a solution to Selye’s riddle which has puzzled scientists for almost 80 years.

In previous research, it was suggested that adaptation of an animal to different factors looks like spending of one resource, and that the animal dies when this resource is exhausted. In 1938, Hans Selye introduced “adaptation energy” and found strong experimental arguments in favor of this hypothesis. However, this term has caused much debate because, as it cannot be measured as a physical quantity, adaptation energy is not strictly energy.

 

Evolution of adaptation mechanisms: Adaptation energy, stress, and oscillating death

Alexander N. Gorbana, , , Tatiana A. Tyukinaa, , Elena V. Smirnovab, , Lyudmila I. Pokidyshevab,

Journal of Theoretical Biology    19 Jan 2016   http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022519316000205   http://dx.doi.org:/10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.12.017

Highlights

•   We formalize Selye׳s ideas about adaptation energy and dynamics of adaptation.
•   A hierarchy of dynamic models of adaptation is developed.
•   Adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the ‘dominant path’ in the model of adaptation.
•   The optimal distribution of resources for neutralization of harmful factors is studied.
•   The phenomena of ‘oscillating death’ and ‘oscillating remission’ are predicted.       

In previous research, it was suggested that adaptation of an animal to different factors looks like spending of one resource, and that the animal dies when this resource is exhausted.

In 1938, Selye proposed the notion of adaptation energy and published ‘Experimental evidence supporting the conception of adaptation energy.’ Adaptation of an animal to different factors appears as the spending of one resource. Adaptation energy is a hypothetical extensive quantity spent for adaptation. This term causes much debate when one takes it literally, as a physical quantity, i.e. a sort of energy. The controversial points of view impede the systematic use of the notion of adaptation energy despite experimental evidence. Nevertheless, the response to many harmful factors often has general non-specific form and we suggest that the mechanisms of physiological adaptation admit a very general and nonspecific description.

We aim to demonstrate that Selye׳s adaptation energy is the cornerstone of the top-down approach to modelling of non-specific adaptation processes. We analyze Selye׳s axioms of adaptation energy together with Goldstone׳s modifications and propose a series of models for interpretation of these axioms. Adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the ‘dominant path’ in the model of adaptation. The phenomena of ‘oscillating death’ and ‘oscillating remission’ are predicted on the base of the dynamical models of adaptation. Natural selection plays a key role in the evolution of mechanisms of physiological adaptation. We use the fitness optimization approach to study of the distribution of resources for neutralization of harmful factors, during adaptation to a multifactor environment, and analyze the optimal strategies for different systems of factors.

In this work, an international team of researchers, led by Professor Alexander N. Gorban from the University of Leicester, have developed a solution to Selye’s riddle, which has puzzled scientists for almost 80 years.

Alexander N. Gorban, Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Leicester, said: “Nobody can measure adaptation energy directly, indeed, but it can be understood by its place already in simple models. In this work, we develop a hierarchy of top-down models following Selye’s findings and further developments. We trust Selye’s intuition and experiments and use the notion of adaptation energy as a cornerstone in a system of models. We provide a ‘thermodynamic-like’ theory of organism resilience that, just like classical thermodynamics, allows for economics metaphors, such as cost and bankruptcy and, more importantly, is largely independent of a detailed mechanistic explanation of what is ‘going on underneath’.”

Adaptation energy is considered as an internal coordinate on the “dominant path” in the model of adaptation. The phenomena of “oscillating death” and “oscillating remission,” which have been observed in clinic for a long time, are predicted on the basis of the dynamical models of adaptation. The models, based on Selye’s idea of adaptation energy, demonstrate that the oscillating remission and oscillating death do not need exogenous reasons. The developed theory of adaptation to various factors gives the instrument for the early anticipation of crises.

Professor Alessandro Giuliani from Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome commented on the work, saying: “Gorban and his colleagues dare to make science adopting the thermodynamics style: they look for powerful principles endowed with predictive ability in the real world before knowing the microscopic details. This is, in my opinion, the only possible way out from the actual repeatability crisis of mainstream biology, where a fantastic knowledge of the details totally fails to predict anything outside the test tube.1”

Citation: Alexander N. Gorban, Tatiana A. Tyukina, Elena V. Smirnova, Lyudmila I. Pokidysheva. Evolution of adaptation mechanisms: Adaptation energy, stress, and oscillating death. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2016; DOI:10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.12.017. Voosen P. (2015) Amid a Sea of False Findings NIH tries Reform, The Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »