Effects of intermittent hypoxia and whole-body vibration training on health-related outcomes in older adults

Abstract

Background Aging is associated with a health impairment and an increase of the vulnerability of the older people. Strength training under intermittent hypoxic conditions has been shown to have therapeutic effects on individual’s health. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a combined intermittent hypoxia (IH) and whole-body vibration (WBV) training program on health-related outcomes in older people. Methods A total of 60 adults (over the age of 65) voluntarily participated in an intervention that lasted 20 weeks (three 30-min sessions per week). The participants were divided into four experimental groups subjected to different environmental conditions (IH vs normoxia) and exercise (non-exercise vs WBV). Functional fitness, body composition, metabolic parameters, inflammatory biomarkers, and bone turnover were evaluated before and after the intervention. A multifactorial ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to explore differences within and between groups. Results The results showed that IH and WBV had a positive synergistic effect on inflammatory parameters (CRP and IL-10), bone formation biomarker (PINP), and body composition (muscle and bone mass). Conclusion In conclusion, a combined IH and WVB training could be a useful tool to prevent the deterioration of health-related outcomes associated with aging. Clinical trial registration NCT04281264. https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

Eight Weeks of Intermittent Exercise in Hypoxia, with or without a Low-Carbohydrate Diet, Improves Bone Mass and Functional and Physiological Capacity in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes

“…However, there remains no evidence correlating improvements in 6MWT with bone metabolism. Recently, it was demonstrated that intermittent EH for twenty weeks did not influence functional capacity in the elderly, but concomitantly improved inflammatory biomarkers, bone formation, and bone mass, suggesting that it is an important therapeutic strategy for preventing damage to the skeletal system caused by advancing in age [ 32 ].…”

“…It is suggested that specific adaptations induced by hypoxia are mediated mainly by the increase in the hypoxia-induced transcription factor 1α (HIF-1α), which, in addition to offering potentially therapeutic effects for bone health by inducing an osteogenic–angiogenic response [ 28 ], promotes improvements in glucose metabolism in patients with T2DM to a greater extent than in normoxic conditions [ 30 ]. In older adults, EH has shown to be beneficial to cognitive performance and quality of life [ 31 ], functional capacity [ 32 ], and bone health [ 33 ]. These adaptations raise the question of the usefulness of EH as a therapeutic intervention in T2DM, but the evidence remains scarce.…”