Publications by authors named "Maria A Fiatarone-Singh"

Purpose: This study examined the effects of cluster sets (CS) versus traditional sets (TRAD) on performance and perceptual responses during pneumatic chest press (CP) and leg press (LP). Exercise-specific differences and the influence of sex and strength were also explored.

Methods: Forty-seven recreationally resistance-trained young adults (23 male and 24 female) performed CP and LP at 70% 1-repetition maximum in either CS (4 × [2 × 5], 30-s intraset rest, 150 s between sets) or TRAD (4 × 10, 180-s rest between sets) in randomized order.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Aging leads to physiological changes and increased disease vulnerability, culminating in higher mortality rates as individuals get older.
  • Regular physical activity (PA) and exercise can counteract aging effects, improve health span, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
  • Personalized exercise plans, including various forms of training like aerobic and resistance exercises, are essential for maintaining health and functionality in older adults, particularly those with age-related issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study aimed to determine if counseling to encourage walking could lower the risk of major cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD).
  • The trial involved 200 participants, with half receiving counseling and the other half as a control group. The participants were followed for about 3.5 years.
  • Results showed that those who received counseling had a significantly lower rate of MACE (9.8%) compared to the control group (21.4%), suggesting that the intervention was effective in reducing cardiovascular risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Flexibility is recognized as one of the components of physical fitness and commonly included as part of exercise prescriptions for all ages. However, limited data exist regarding the relationship between flexibility and survival. We evaluated the sex-specific nature and magnitude of the associations between body flexibility and natural and non-COVID-19 mortality in a middle-aged cohort of men and women.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Implementation of best practice frailty guidelines in residential aged care is currently unclear, and there is a particular scarcity of evidence regarding multifaceted frailty treatments inclusive of medication optimization in these settings, despite the bidirectional relationship between polypharmacy and frailty. This review aimed to retrieve all relevant literature and evaluate the effect of medication optimization delivered in conjunction with exercise and/or nutritional interventions in the best-practice management of frailty in residential aged care.

Design: Systematic review with a qualitative synthesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Virtually all adults in aged care facilities are frail, a condition which contributes to falls, cognitive decline, hospitalisation, and mortality. Polypharmacy, malnutrition, sedentariness, and sarcopenia are risk factors amenable to intervention. The Asia-Pacific Frailty Management Guidelines recommend anabolic exercise and the optimisation of medications and nutrition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To investigate the effects of a dyadic intervention of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for informal dementia caregivers and home-based balance and progressive resistance training (PRT) for their loved ones. : The study was a two arm, randomized, controlled, single-blinded, parallel-group trial. Dyads were randomized to an intervention group: an 8-week MBSR course (daily) and an 8-week PRT and balance training (3 days/week) for their loved ones or a waiting list control group.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: It is unclear how to effectively promote walking in people with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Objective: To test whether brief counseling delivered by allied health professionals increases step count in participants with PAD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this randomized clinical trial, participants with symptomatic PAD were recruited from sites in Australia and randomly allocated 1:1 to the counseling intervention or an attention control.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lewy body dementia (LBD) is an aggressive type of dementia of rapid, fluctuating disease trajectory, higher incidence of adverse events, and poorer functional independence than observed in Alzheimer's disease dementia. Non-pharmacological treatments such as progressive, high-intensity exercise are effective in other neurological cohorts but have been scarcely evaluated in LBD.

Methods: The Promoting Independence in Lewy Body Dementia through Exercise (PRIDE) trial was a non-randomised, non-blinded, crossover pilot trial involving older adults with LBD consisting of a baseline assessment, an 8-week wait-list, and an 8-week exercise intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We sought to determine the effects of 12 months of power training on cognition, and whether improvements in body composition, muscle strength, and/or aerobic capacity (VO2peak) were associated with improvements in cognition in older adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Participants with T2D were randomized to power training or low-intensity sham exercise control condition, 3 days per week for 12 months. Cognitive outcomes included memory, attention/speed, executive function, and global cognition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 5 years of supervised exercise training (ExComb), and the differential effects of subgroups of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT), with control on the cardiovascular risk profile in older adults.

Methods And Results: Older adults aged 70-77 years from Trondheim, Norway (n = 1567, 50% women), able to safely perform exercise training were randomized to 5 years of two weekly sessions of HIIT [∼90% of peak heart rate (HR), n = 400] or MICT (∼70% of peak HR, n = 387), together forming ExComb (n = 787), or control (instructed to follow physical activity recommendations, n = 780). The main outcome was a continuous cardiovascular risk score (CCR), individual cardiovascular risk factors, and peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To examine whether 5 years of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration more than moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and control (CON) in older men and women.

Methods: A total of 1567 older adults (790 [50.4%] women) were randomized (2:1:1) to either CON (n=780; asked to follow the national recommendations for physical activity) or 2 weekly sessions of HIIT (10-minute warm-up followed by 4×4-minute intervals at ∼90% of peak heart rate) or MICT (50 minutes of continuous work at ∼70% of peak heart rate).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Research has proven that aerobic exercise improves glucose homeostasis among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Elastic resistance (tube or band) is suggested as a good alternative for home-based strength training among older adults including those with T2DM due to its low cost, simplicity, portability, and versatility. This study aimed to measure the effects of 16-week home-based progressive resistance training (PRT), using a resistance tube on glucose homeostasis and cardiovascular risk factors among older adults with T2DM.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Extra virgin olive oil is often associated with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Its effects on inflammatory conditions such as ulcerative colitis (UC), however, have yet to be defined. As such, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating olive-based interventions in UC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Maintain Your Brain (MYB) trial is one of the largest internet-delivered multidomain randomised controlled trial designed to target modifiable risk factors for dementia. It comprises four intervention modules: physical activity, nutrition, mental health and cognitive training. This paper explains the MYB Nutrition Module, which is a fully online intervention promoting the adoption of the 'traditional' Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) pattern for those participants reporting dietary intake that does not indicate adherence to a Mediterranean-type cuisine or those who have chronic diseases/risk factors for dementia known to benefit from this type of diet.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We examined the effect of power training on habitual, intervention and total physical activity (PA) levels in older adults with type 2 diabetes and their relationship to metabolic control.

Materials And Methods: 103 adults with type 2 diabetes were randomized to receive supervised power training or sham exercise three times/week for 12 months. Habitual, intervention, and total PA, as well as insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), were measured.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: To assess the association between body composition and the risk of adverse outcomes in Fontan patients.

Methods: Participants from the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans were included. Appendicular lean mass (ALM), appendicular lean mass index (ALM divided by height squared; ALMI) and total body fat mass percentage (%BF) were calculated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To evaluate the effect of five years of supervised exercise training compared with recommendations for physical activity on mortality in older adults (70-77 years).

Design: Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: General population of older adults in Trondheim, Norway.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

MLKL is the essential effector of necroptosis, a form of programmed lytic cell death. We have isolated a mouse strain with a single missense mutation, Mlkl, that alters the two-helix 'brace' that connects the killer four-helix bundle and regulatory pseudokinase domains. This confers constitutive, RIPK3 independent killing activity to MLKL.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the genetic links between acute anterior uveitis (AAU) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), particularly focusing on the role of the HLA-B27 gene in both conditions.
  • Researchers performed a genomewide association study (GWAS) with nearly 6,000 participants to identify genetic markers associated with AAU, finding one significant locus and several suggestive associations that imply shared genetic risks with AS.
  • The results highlight a strong genetic overlap between AAU and AS, indicating that understanding these genetic factors could help identify individuals at high risk for these inflammatory diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An 87-year-old man with dementia with Lewy bodies, living in residential aged care, exhibited rapid functional decline and weight loss associated with injurious falls over 9 months. Independent clinicians (geriatrician and exercise physiologist) assessed him during an extended wait-list period prior to his commencement of a pilot exercise trial. The highly significant role of treatable factors including polypharmacy, sarcopenia and malnutrition as contributors to frailty and rapid functional decline in this patient are described.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The aims of this study were firstly to assess the correlation between disease specific measures of quality of life (QOL) and physical performance and activity, and secondly to identify demographic, clinical, functional, and physical activity measures independently associated with QOL in people with intermittent claudication.

Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study of 198 people with intermittent claudication caused by peripheral artery disease who were recruited prospectively. QOL was assessed with the intermittent claudication questionnaire (ICQ) and the eight-theme peripheral artery disease quality of life questionnaire.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lewy Body dementia (LBD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative dementia. This form of dementia is notable for an aggressive disease course consisting of a combination of cognitive, Parkinsonian, affective, and physiological symptoms that significantly increase morbidity and mortality, and decrease life expectancy in this population compared to more common dementias. Additionally, those diagnosed with LBD are often excluded from trials evaluating exercise in similar diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease due to the complexity and concurrency of motor and cognitive symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Older adults have distinctive health challenges that are relevant to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and are potentially modifiable by cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiac rehabilitation in older adults provides opportunity to assess sarcopenia, obesity, osteoporosis, frailty, falls risk, arthritis, cognition, special senses, self-efficacy, depression, social support, polypharmacy, and nutritional adequacy. Therefore, broadening standard assessments to include these domains can help detect modifiable vulnerabilities and inform therapeutic priorities.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF