Living intensely in old age
as 2012 is the Year of Active Ageing in Europe, many activities have been organised to promote an entrepreneurial and healthy ageing. In the next few minutes, we will learn about a program that is directly related to these initiatives. At the Public University of Navarra, a project has been launched to promote physical exercise in old age. In a nursing home in Pamplona, after taking measurements to find out what needs or weaknesses the elderly have, they are put to practice gymnastics. The results are amazing.
jesus is 97 years old and trains every day in the gym of the Casa de la Misericordia in Pamplona.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP): They don't believe it, Jesus! ; we'll show them
Mikel Izquierdo participates in an innovative program led by the researcher. The idea is to estimate the impact of planned physical exercise on older people.16 The training began 16 weeks ago, and Jesus has regained almost 30% of the strength he had lost in both his legs and arms.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP): It has gained a lot of muscle and increased its power by 100%.
These results confirm something previously known about the health benefits of physical activity, but the claim has not been extensively proven in the elderly. Research is coming to fill this gap.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP):Above all, there are two reasons for exercising from the age of 50: on the one hand, because it is an ideal tool to combat heart disease or prevent the ailments caused by sedentarism, and on the other hand, because it is a way to combat functional decline.
For example, since they started their exercise sessions, people fall less into this center.
To find out what exercise is best for each of them, tests or measurements are performed on the grandparents who are participating in the study. It is a diagnosis of physical condition. These are people with different clinical characteristics who will then be subjected to a training plan based on the results.
We're on the Tudela campus. Other measurements and tests are carried out in the laboratories of the Faculty of Physiotherapy. In this exercise, they are measuring the conduction of the nerve kinads of the muscle in different situations. The purpose of these tests is to find out how much and how to use physical exercise in each case: which is the most appropriate training for an elderly person with diabetes, for example, or another with heart problems, or what to do to regain lost functionality.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP): With all these elements a group of healthy people performs the training to strengthen the muscles, and after eight weeks the protocol is repeated. With this work we want to know what is the best exercise to recover sick people more quickly or to overcome an injury. And here, the oxygen consumption is measured to know the level of health of the exerciser.
ROBERTO AGUADO; Professor of Physiology (NUP): The aerobic capacity, i.e. the ability to transport oxygen to the muscles, and exercise are linked. This is measured here; this test objectively tells us the level above which physical work can be performed on aerobic energy.
ALAZNE ANTON; Professor of Physiology (NUP): We measured the maximum oxygen consumption because it is an indicator of mortality. More oxygen, less risk. We work with those with reduced capacity in research, with the elderly, with fragile people... we all need oxygen for everyday tasks: dressing, getting out of bed, shopping... Our goal is to improve the functional capacity of these people through physical activity and, by the way, reduce the risk of death.
The technology used for diagnosis is strange. Accelerometers such as those used by video or mobile games determine whether a person is healthy or not. The sensor receives acceleration, speed, location and direction, i.e. how it moves, how the patient walks. A series of models are obtained from the graphs, which indicate how the grandfather or grandmother is physically present.
ALICIA MARTÍNEZ; Department of Mathematics (NUP): After all, it’s a number, a number that tells us about a friend’s risk of falling, or whether he is fragile or not. The analysis of the motion curves gives us this number.
Frailty is a geriatric concept. This concept includes the risk of falling, the ability to take advantage of oneself or the probability of death. Accelerometer technology is an easy and inexpensive way to know the degree of fragility. Diagnosis involves treatment from behind: the planning of physical exercises.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP): We decide the program of physical exercises. The goal is usually to strengthen the muscles and improve their functional capacity, and eventually stop being fragile. How is the plan defined? As the medicines are prescribed, one by one and according to experts.
ALVARO CASAS; geriatrician: We are starting to get results. In cases like the patient we’ve seen now, you can move from standing up to standing up from the seat 10 to 12 times with exercises. It is an effective intervention, the most effective that can be in geriatrics, and it is also cheap. The thing is, we don't have a culture of prescribing physical exercise.
It is obvious that it improves the quality of life of the elderly, but this research trial has a broad meaning. Society is getting older. In the last century, the number of people over 65 has risen seven times, while those over 80 have risen 13 times. This project of the University of Navarra has a direct impact on the reduction of health and social expenses that this aging process entails.
MIKEL IZQUIERDO; Professor of Physiotherapy (NUP): We may not live longer by exercising or participating in such a program because life expectancy has not increased much in recent years, but we will live better with a better quality of life. What is that? For example, walking with our nephews, being independent and acting on our own until the last moment.
And the final advice of the experts. Don’t wait until you get older to start exercising. The sooner we start, the lighter the burden of the years will be.
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