Cardiovascular health in former elite male athletes

Cardiovascular risk and systemic inflammation in male professional rugby: a cross-sectional study

Objective

To investigate cardiovascular risk factors' prevalence and association with systemic inflammation in professional male rugby players (RP).

Methods

A cross-sectional investigation of 46 professional male RP (26.1±4.1 years) cardiovascular risk factors were compared by position. Inflammatory markers were compared with healthy controls (n=13) and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (n=10).

Results

Twenty-six per cent of RP had no risk factors, 49% had 1-2 cardiovascular risk factors and 25% had 3-4 risk factors. Forwards had greater body fat (p<0.001), visceral fat (p<0.001), glucose (p=0.025), and C reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.023) compared with backs. RP demonstrated more favourable lipid and glucose profiles than reference values for the general population. Most RP (n=28, 61%) had elevated blood pressure (≥140/90 mm Hg). RP had higher vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) (p=0.004) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) (p=0.002) than healthy controls. RP had lower CRP than patients with RA (p=0.009), while one-third (n=15) displayed equivalent ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 levels. Multivariate clustering and principal component analysis biplots revealed higher triglycerides, inflammatory markers, and worse body composition were associated with forwards.

Conclusions

Despite athletic status, most of this rugby cohort had at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Concomitantly, these RP demonstrated increased levels of inflammation, with one-third, primarily forwards, displaying equivalent levels to patients with inflammatory disease. Further studies are needed to unravel the prognostic implications of increased inflammation in RP because unchecked, chronic inflammation may lead to increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Physical Activity on Telomere Length as a Biomarker for Aging: A Systematic Review

Background

Overall life expectancy continues to rise, approaching 80 years of age in several developed countries. However, healthy life expectancy lags far behind, which has, in turn, contributed to increasing costs in healthcare. One way to improve health and attenuate the socio-economic impact of an aging population is to increase overall fitness through physical activity. Telomere attrition or shortening is a well-known molecular marker in aging. As such, several studies have focused on whether exercise influences health and aging through telomere biology. This systematic review examines the recent literature on the effect of physical activity on telomere length (TL) and/or telomerase activity as molecular markers of aging.

Methods

A focused search was performed in the databases PubMed and Web of Science for retrieving relevant articles over the past ten years. The search contained the following keywords: exercise, sport, physical activity, fitness, sedentary, physical inactivity, telomere, telomere length, t/s ratio, and telomerase. PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were observed.

Results

A total of 43 articles were identified and categorized into randomized controlled trials (RCT), observational or interventional studies. RCTs (n = 8) showed inconsistent findings of increased TL length with physical activity in, e.g. obese, post-menopausal women. In comparison with a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, observational studies (n = 27) showed significantly longer TL with exercise of moderate to vigorous intensity; however, there was no consensus on the duration and type of physical activity and training modality. Interventional studies (n = 8) also showed similar findings of significantly longer TL prior to exercise intervention; however, these studies had smaller numbers of enrolled participants (mostly of high-performance athletes), and the physical activities covered a range of exercise intensities and duration. Amongst the selected studies, aerobic training of moderate to vigorous intensity is most prevalent. For telomere biology analysis, TL was determined mainly from leukocytes using qPCR. In some cases, especially in RCT and interventional studies, different sample types such as saliva, sperm, and muscle biopsies were analyzed; different leukocyte cell types and potential genetic markers in regulating telomere biology were also investigated.

Conclusions

Taken together, physical activity with regular aerobic training of moderate to vigorous intensity appears to help preserve TL. However, the optimal intensity, duration of physical activity, as well as type of exercise still need to be further elucidated. Along with TL or telomerase activity, participants’ fitness level, the type of physical activity, and training modality should be assessed at different time points in future studies, with the plan for long-term follow-up. Reducing the amount of sedentary behavior may have a positive effect of preserving and increasing TL. Further molecular characterization of telomere biology in different cell types and tissues is required in order to draw definitive causal conclusions on how physical activity affects TL and aging.

Does Participation in Sport Protect Former Saudi Arabian Athletes from High Blood Glucose after Retirement?

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has increased dramatically in the last decades in developed and developing countries. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes in retired athletes in Saudi Arabia and compare it to nonathletes. This study hypothesizes that early participation in sport can prevent former athletes from abnormal blood glucose levels after retirement.

METHODS

The leading methods of researching the issues of the study include the analysis of theoretical sources, analysis of statistics, and comparison. Seventy-three former athletes and 26 nonathletes aged between 20 and 60 years participated in this study. Height, weight, and blood glucose levels were collected by the researcher. The former athletes were divided into 3 groups according to their type of training: endurance, mixed sports, and power sports.

RESULTS

The study results showed that 40.59% of former athletes had prediabetes compared to 16.83% of nonathletes. Furthermore, 8.91% of the former athletes had T2D, while 3.96% of the nonathletes had T2D. The results of this study indicated that former athletes had lower average blood glucose than nonathletes. Also, the study results indicated that no statistically significant differences were found between former athletes and nonathletes after retirement. About fasting blood glucose, former power athletes had higher average blood glucose than endurance athletes and mixed sports athletes.

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that no statistically significant differences were found between the former athlete groups.

Monitoring the health of transitioning professional footballers: protocol of an observational prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

Transitioning out of professional football is a challenging time in most players' lives. During these preretirement and postretirement years, professional footballers may struggle with their mental, musculoskeletal, neurocognitive and cardiovascular health. Currently, longitudinal data about these health conditions are lacking. This article presents the design of a prospective cohort study with the primary aim of gathering epidemiological evidence about the onset and course of mental, musculoskeletal, neurocognitive and cardiovascular health conditions in professional footballers during their preretirement and postretirement years and evaluating the associations between risk indicators and the health conditions under study in these players.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

An observational prospective cohort study with repeated measurements over a follow-up period of 10 years will be conducted among at least 200 professional footballers (male; 27 (±1) years old). Mental health will be explored by assessing symptoms of distress, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, alcohol misuse, drug misuse and disordered eating. Musculoskeletal health will be explored by assessing severe joint injury and related surgery, clinical and radiological osteoarthritis, and joint function (hips, knees and ankles). Neurocognitive health will be explored by assessing the concussion, brain structure and functioning, and neurocognitive functioning. Cardiovascular health will be explored by assessing blood pressure, lipid profile and ECG abnormalities.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval for the study was provided by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers. The results of the study will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals, will be presented at scientific conferences and will be released in the media (postpublication).

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

The Dutch Trial Registry (Drake Football Study NL7999).

Mobility and muscle strength in male former elite endurance and power athletes aged 66-91 years

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare mobility and muscle strength in male former elite endurance and power athletes aged 66-91 years (n = 150; 50 men in both former elite athlete groups and in their control group). Agility, dynamic balance, walking speed, chair stand, self-rated balance confidence (ABC-scale), jumping height, and handgrip strength were assessed. Former elite power athletes had better agility performance time than the controls (age- and body mass index, BMI-adjusted mean difference -3.6 s; 95% CI -6.3, -0.8). Adjustment for current leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and prevalence of diseases made this difference non-significant (P = 0.214). The subjects in the power sports group jumped higher than the men in the control group (age- and BMI-adjusted mean differences for vertical squat jump, VSJ 4.4 cm; 95% CI 2.0, 6.8; for countermovement jump, CMJ 4.0 cm; 95% CI 1.7, 6.4). Taking current LTPA and chronic diseases for adjusting process did not improve explorative power of the model. No significant differences between the groups were found in the performances evaluating dynamic balance, walking speed, chair stand, ABC-scale, or handgrip strength. In conclusion, power athletes among the aged former elite sportsmen had greater explosive force production in their lower extremities than the men in the control group.