High-Velocity Resistance Training Proves More Effective Than Traditional Resistance Training in Older Men

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• New Free Search Engine
  • Most-at-Risk Nursing Home Residents to be Tested for “Superbugs”
• Vitamin D Connected to Physical Performance

A study reported in the European Journal of Applied Physiology demonstrated that a high-velocity power training (PT) program can be performed safely in older men and appears to be more effective in improving muscular power, and more important, functional performance, compared with a low-velocity traditional resistance training (TRT) program.

The study investigated the effect of a 10-week PT program versus TRT on functional performance and on muscular power and strength in older men. Twenty inactive volunteers (aged 60-76 years) were randomly assigned to a PT group (three 8-10 repetition sets performed as fast a possible at 60% of 1 repetition maximum [1-RM]) or a TRT group (three 8-10 repetition sets with 2- to 3-second contractions at 60% of 1-RM). Both groups exercised 2 days a week with the same work output.

Outcomes were measured with the Rikli and Jones functional fitness test and a bench and leg press test of maximal power and strength (1-RM). Significant differences between and within groups were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). At 10 weeks, there was a significantly (P < .05) greater improvement in measures of functional performance in the PT group. Arm curling improved by 50% versus 3%, and a 30-second chair stand improved by 43% versus 6% in the PT and TRT groups, respectively. There was also a significantly greater improvement in muscular power (P < .05) in the PT group. The bench press improved by 37% versus 13%, and the leg press by 31% and 8% in the PT and TRT groups, respectively. There was no significant difference between groups in improved muscular strength. It appears that in older men, there may be a significantly greater improvement in functional performance and muscular power with PT versus low-velocity resistance training.

Another benefit of PT over TRT training is that blood lactate concentrations tend to be lower, which results in less muscular fatigue. This may help reduce dropout and make it easier for people of all ages to stay with a resistance training program.

Source: Eur J Applied Physiol 2007;99:257.

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New Free Search Engine 

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have created a new online search engine (www.relemed.com) that provides medical professionals, researchers, and the general public with a more efficient and targeted way to search drawing from the 17+ million articles currently available through the National Library of Medicine’s PUBMED service for the latest, most relevant medical literature to answer medical queries.

ReleMed, short for Relevant Medicine, is not a general health site. It does not provide answers or suggest guidelines for specific medical problems. Rather, on the basis of the user’s search terms, ReleMed retrieves the most relevant recent references published about a problem or a combination of conditions, versus any article in which the search terms appear.

Most-at-Risk Nursing Home Residents to be Tested for “Superbugs” 

A Johns Hopkins study of adult patients admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that patients who resided in nursing homes or other kinds of long-term care facilities at any time within the last 6 months were far more likely than other adult patients to carry or be infected with a drug-resistant superbug.

The study, conducted over a 4-month period in 2006, was intended to grasp the extent of 1 of the lesser known hospital superbugs, multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter (MDR-ACIN) and control its spread among the hospital’s most vulnerable adult patients. More than 1600 were screened within 24 hours of admission to any 1 of 5 intensive care units where previous infections had been recorded.

Results showed that patients who had been in nursing homes, either admitted to Hopkins directly from a long-term care facility or transferred from home or another community hospital, were 12 times more likely than other patients to be carriers of the bacterium. Rates were even higher—22 times—among those patients who were wheelchair- or bed-bound because their legs were paralyzed.

What most surprised researchers was that a majority of the MDR-ACIN-colonized patients, who ranged in age from 19 to 74, also carried high rates of 3 other, more common superbugs. Sixty-two percent had methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 77% had vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and 39% had extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) gram-negative bacteria.

Lisa Maragakis, MD, an assistant professor at Hopkins, points out that of the most widely available drugs used to fight Acinetobacter, there is only one medication, colistin (polymyxin E), is effective against MDR-ACIN. She noted that other hospitals have encountered MDR-ACIN that is also resistant to colistin, however, leaving no available treatment options.

As a result of the study, Johns Hopkins Hospital will begin in the summer of 2007 to test all patients who have spent time in a nursing home, looking for drug-resistant bacteria at the outset of their hospital admission and using isolation precautions until their test results are known.

Source: www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_16a_07.html. Cited May 2007.

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Vitamin D Connected to Physical Performance 

Supplementation with vitamin D and calcium has been recommended to maintain bone health and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fracture. A new report indicates that vitamin D alone may be linked to a decline in physical performance.

In this study, researchers analyzed data from the InCHIANTI study, which followed 976 people aged 65 years and older in Italy. The mean age of participants was 74.8 years. Participants completed a short physical performance test of their walking speed, ability to stand from a chair, and ability to maintain their balance in progressively more challenging positions. In addition, handgrip strength, a predictor of future disability, was measured using a hand-held dynamometer.

Physical performance and grip strength were about 5% to 10% lower in those who had low levels of vitamin D. Lead author Denise Houston, PhD, noted that vitamin D plays an important role in muscle function, and thus it is plausible that low levels of the vitamin could result in lower muscle strength and physical performance. It could also be the case that people with poor physical performance spent less time outdoors in the sun and consequently had lower levels of vitamin D.

“There is a growing awareness that the prevalence of low vitamin D levels is common among the elderly,” said Houston. “Higher amounts of vitamin D may be needed for the preservation of muscle strength and physical function as well as other conditions such as cancer prevention. The current recommendations are based primarily on vitamin D’s effects on bone health.”

The current U.S. recommendations for vitamin D intake for people aged 51-70 is 400 international units (IUs) per day, and 600 IUs for those over age 71.

Source: J Gerontol Ser A Biol Sci Med Sci 2007;62:440.