ஜர்னல் ஆஃப் நர்சிங் & கேர்

Effect of Pole-Assisted Walking on Intramuscular Lipids in Elderly Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

Yoshinao Nakagawa* and Masaaki Hattori

The present study investigated the effects of a 10 week walking program using hiking poles on intra-and extramyocellular lipid (IMCL and EMCL) content in elderly as assessed by 1H-MR spectroscopy. Six nursing home residents aged between 65 and 84 years (n=6) participated in the study. The subjects were asked to walk for at least 30 minutes a day, three days per week. Intramuscular and blood lipid concentrations were obtained at baseline and at after the 10 week study. 1H-MR spectra were acquired from the tibialis anterior (TA), soleus (SOL) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles. Significant difference was not observed in IMCL concentrations on between before and after pole-assisted walking (PW) program (NS). A significant reduction was recognized in EMCL concentrations and EMCL/IMCL ratio on TA (p<0.05) and MG (p<0.01) between the values before PW and those after. Mean HDLC (p<0.01) and TC (p<0.05) concentrations increased after completion of the PW program. A decrease in VLDL-C (p<0.05) and HDL-C/LDL-C ratio (p<0.01) was also observed at this point. These results show that the PW program induces a decrease in intramuscular lipids and improves lipoprotein profiles in the elderly nursing home residents.