Huiping Yan

Background: Multidimensional evidence on exercise participation and frailty in older adults is limited. Methods: This 12-week preference-based, non-randomized study included 145 participants (mean age 82.25 years): walking (n = 50), resistance training (n = 20), Traditional Chinese exercise (n = 23), and control (n = 52). Frailty was the primary outcome; physical-performance and molecular analyses were exploratory. Paired trajectories, baseline-stratified binary transitions, and adjusted associations were examined. Results: Among paired participants, pre-frailty/frailty prevalence changed from 70.0% to 60.0% with walking, 90.0% to 70.0% with resistance training, 50.0% to 63.6% with Traditional Chinese exercise (n = 22), and 50.0% to 69.2% in controls. Baseline status constrained opportunities for binary improvement or deterioration. All adjusted frailty risk-ratio confidence intervals included 1. Walking was associated with faster Timed Up and Go and Five-Yard Walk Test performance after correction across eight outcomes. Molecular changes also occurred in controls; intervention timing and potential laboratory-batch confounding limited between-group interpretation. No microbiome taxon survived multiplicity correction; small paired samples limited precision. Conclusions: Walking and resistance-training groups showed descriptively more favorable prevalence trajectories, but adjusted frailty comparisons remained inconclusive. These findings do not establish frailty prevention, modality superiority, or exercise-specific molecular mechanisms.

Background: Physical fitness is important for health and independence in older adults, but existing systems do not always provide a continuous multidomain score. Objective: To develop and preliminarily evaluate a Physical Fitness Index (PFI) for older adults in a Chinese retirement community. Methods: A total of 561 participants aged 65–89 years completed assessments of body composition, strength, endurance, balance, mobility, and flexibility. Scores were normalized within sex and 5-year age groups and combined using a fixed radar-axis order. Results: The PFI averaged 39.24 ± 13.43 points (range, 4.16–84.47). In a reduced surrogate regression model, R² was 0.825 and ten-fold cross-validation yielded an RMSE of 5.79 points and an MAE of 4.33 points. Conclusion: The PFI provides a continuous overall score with a domain profile, but its calibration and measurement properties require external and longitudinal validation.

Background/Objectives: Global population aging is associated with a rising prevalence of malnutrition among adults aged ≥80 years. Gut dysbiosis is linked to immune decline and impaired nutrient absorption, and aerobic exercise may enhance microbial diversity. This study investigated gut microbiota changes after a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention in octogenarians stratified by nutritional status. Methods: A total of 129 nursing home residents (≥80 years) were classified via the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) into a healthy group (HG, MNA-SF ≥ 11) and a malnourished group (MG, MNA-SF < 11). Both groups underwent a 12-week brisk walking intervention (three sessions/week, 1 h/session, 40–60% heart rate reserve). Fecal samples were collected at baseline and post-intervention and were analyzed via shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Results: A total of 36 participants completed the intervention (HG = 17, MG = 19). Within-group baseline-to-post-intervention analysis showed no significant changes in alpha or beta diversity in the MG. However, post-intervention between-group comparison revealed higher microbial richness and diversity in the MG vs. the HG, with enrichment of taxa including Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Streptococcus salivarius. Functional analysis revealed significant enhancements in metabolic pathways related to amino acid biosynthesis, protein synthesis, and quorum sensing in the MG. In contrast, the HG showed limited shifts in microbial diversity but an increase in species involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions: After 12 weeks, the malnourished group showed higher post-intervention microbial richness and diversity than the healthy group, with differences in taxonomic and predicted functional profiles. Without a non-intervention control group, the microbiota differences observed during the 12-week aerobic exercise period can only be considered observational associations, not causal. Additionally, the high dropout rate (72.1%) limits the generalizability of the findings. Clinical trial registration: The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 19 October 2022 (ChiCTR2200064801).

Background: Extremity musculoskeletal pain (EMP) is a major contributor to chronic pain and disability worldwide, often involving tendinopathies, enthesopathies, and myofascial pain syndromes. Conventional treatments such as medications, injections, and physical therapy frequently provide only partial or short-term relief. Acupuncture, widely practiced in clinical settings, has been proposed as a safe and effective alternative or adjunctive therapy. Methods: A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library identified studies published from January 2015 to June 2024. Eligible publications included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, or meta-analyses involving adults with EMP and reporting pain or function as primary outcomes. Nineteen studies (10 RCTs, 9 reviews) met the inclusion criteria and were narratively synthesized. Results: For lateral epicondylitis (LE), manual acupuncture provided short-term benefit, while dry needling demonstrated superior long-term effects. Evidence for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was insufficient, with mixed findings and high risk of bias. In patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), trigger point dry needling showed short-to-medium term pain relief, though its added value in multimodal therapy was inconsistent. For plantar heel pain syndrome (PHPS), both electroacupuncture and dry needling produced significant improvements in pain and function, with benefits sustained beyond three months. Conclusion: Acupuncture appears to be a safe, low-risk therapy for EMP, with strongest evidence for PHPS and LE, limited support for PFPS, and insufficient evidence for CTS. Clinically, acupuncture should be considered as part of comprehensive multimodal strategies, tailored to patient needs and preferences. Future research should focus on large-scale, standardized RCTs, direct comparisons between acupuncture modalities, and inclusion of regional and non-English studies to strengthen the global evidence base.

This assessor-blinded randomized trial was designed to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise, resistance training, and traditional Chinese gong methods on the quality of life (QoL) of older adults aged 66-96 years living in a nursing facility. Seventy - eight participants, who were over 65 years old, free from severe heart disease, asthma, and other conditions specified in the exclusion criteria, were randomly allocated into three groups to receive 12-24 weeks of different exercise interventions. The SF - 36 Health Survey Scale was employed to assess QoL before the intervention and 12 and 24 weeks after it. The results indicated that all three exercise modalities significantly increased the SF - 36 total score. The aerobic exercise group demonstrated improvements in Physical Component Summary (PCS), Mental Component Summary (MCS), Role Physical(RP), and Role Emotional (RE). The resistance training group showed enhancements in MCS, Physical Functioning (PF), Social Functioning (SF), RE, and Mental Health (MH). The traditional gong group achieved progress in PCS, MCS, PF, RP, Bodily Pain (BP), and Vitality (VT). In summary, all three exercise types effectively enhanced the QoL of older adults. Aerobic and resistance training were beneficial for both physical and psychological aspects, while traditional gong methods mainly had a positive impact on physical functioning. Although the study lacked a non-intervention control group, based on these results, this study not only provides a scientific basis for the development of exercise intervention programs for the elderly but also offers practical suggestions for designing exercise plans, contributing to promoting healthy aging.Trial registration: The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 19/10/2022, (ChiCTR2200064801).

This study was designed to determine the effect of 12 weeks of the Chinese traditional exercise, the Dao Yin Regime on reducing fall risk in aging population (>60 years). The exclusion criteria for individuals were as follows: 1) were under 60 years; 2) were unable to read and write; 3) had any acute cardiovascular disease in the past month; 4) had any diagnosed disorder of balance function; 5) had visual problems; 6) had hearing problems; 7) had taken drugs that could lead to dizzy. 8) had regular exercising over 6 months. We novelly tried not to exclude people who take sleeping pills since it has already become a normal phenomenon, we also stipulated that people who live alone should be considered serious issues. We planned to recruit 90 people by calculating at the beginning, but in the end, 93 participants were recruited. Every person received a complete fall risk screening process and they were divided into low-risk (30), moderate-risk (29), high-risk (34) based on the STEADI screening toolkit. The age features in each group were: 80.63±6.83(low-risk),83.38±5.89(moderate-risk) and 82.12±5.64(high-risk), and the sex distribution were: male:14(45.16%) and female:17(54.84%) in the low-risk group, male:8(27.59%) and female:21(72.41%) in the moderate-risk group, male:9(26.47%) and female:25(73.53%) in the high-risk group. The exercise program was set 90min in every training session, and was repeated 3 times a week. Every training session started with 10 min warm-up activity, followed by the standing training, which lasted approximately 40 min, and the last was dynamic training, which contained 12 movements lasting 40 min, with a 5 min cool down activity in the end. The entire training program lasted 12 weeks. The methods to evaluate of the effects included demographic, physiological, and psychological aspects, gait characteristics were the main indices used to assess the effects, the within- and between-group differences were analyzed via paired t-test and chi-test. In the gait characteristics, only the low-risk group showed distinct decline in TUG test (p<0.01). The precise reason of why this outcome was not clear, but there was a small improvement in the participants’ physical function and also the frailty situation improved. In this study, we found that low educational background was not an essential issue on increasing fall risk for old people(p<0.01). Since this was the first attempt on investigate the effect of the Dao Yin Regime on reducing fall risk among old people, some limitations remain, and more studies are needed.

Objective: To validate the correlation between sarcopenia and cognition, and explore cognitive subdomains affected by sarcopenia.Methods: A case–control study was designed to recruit 90 individuals aged 60 and above from June to October 2023 in the same community, all individuals meeting the inclusion criteria were categorized according to the 2019 Asian criteria for sarcopenia and divided into the sarcopenia group and non-sarcopenia group at baseline. After a 12-week follow-up recording, individuals were classified into the aggravation group and alleviation group based on the change of sarcopenia severity. Sarcopenia tests including muscle mass, calf circumference, grip strength and physical function assessment, using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) of nine dimensions for cognitive assessment.Results: (1) There was a significant positive correlation between cognitive function and grip strength in males (r = 0.42, p < 0.05). (2) There was a moderate correlation between sarcopenia grading and MoCA score (r = −0.4, p < 0.001). (3) Individuals with sarcopenia had significantly lower MoCA total scores and sub-scores in executive function, fluency, calculation and delayed recall compared to non-sarcopenia group (p < 0.05). (4) After 12 weeks, the mean value of the change in fluency in the alleviation group increased by 0.33 points, while the aggravation group decreased by 0.2 points (W = 128, p < 0.05).Conclusion: There is a correlation between sarcopenia and cognitive function, individuals with sarcopenia performing poorly in overall cognition as well as refined dimensions. The degree of cognition like fluency degenerates over time with increasing severity of sarcopenia.

This study aimed to explore the potential effects of 8-week parents-accompanied swimming on the physical capacity and intelligence of preschool children in China. Thirty-six boys (mean age 3.56 ± 0.27 years) were divided into three groups: the traditional physical exercise group (TP, n = 12), the accompanied swimming group (AS, n = 12) and the independent swimming group (IS, n = 12). Participants’ physical capacity was assessed before and after the intervention using the following indicators: height, weight, distance of tennis ball throw, standing long jump distance, time for the 10-meter shuttle run, time for a two-legged continuous jump, sit-and-reach distance, and time on the walking balance beam. Intelligence was assessed at three points: pre-test, mid-test after 4 weeks, and post-test. Data were analyzed using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA, Bonferroni test (p < 0.05) and effect size. The time of the AS and IS groups to walk the balance beam was significantly lower than the TP group, with a difference of 1.81 s (p < 0.01, [95% CI −3.22 to −0.40], ES = 1.53) and 1.25 s (p < 0.05, [95% CI −2.66 to 0.16], ES = 0.81). At the mid-test, the IQ scores of the TP group were lower than the AS group (p < 0.05, [95% CI −12.45 to −0.96], ES = 0.89). Additionally, at post-test, the IQ scores of the TP group were significantly lower than those of both AS (p < 0.01, [95% CI −14.12 to −2.74], ES = 1.15) and IS groups (p < 0.01, [95% CI −12.53 to −3.31], ES = 1.21). Swimming enhances children’s balance and IQ scores more than traditional physical exercises. Involving parents in swimming leads to a more significant increase in IQ scores within 4 weeks of initial swimming exercise.

The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of different intensity exercise and 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure on glucose metabolism in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, as well as the action of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)/phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3K)/protein kinase (AKT) signaling pathway in it. Besides that, we explored whether exercise can alleviate the toxicity induced by TCDD. Sixty male SD rats (8 weeks old) were randomly divided into non-exercise group, none-exercise toxic group, moderate-intensity exercise group, moderate-intensity exercise toxic group, high-intensity exercise group, high-intensity exercise toxic group. The toxic groups were intraperitoneally injected with TCDD, which the dose was 6.4 µg/kg· BW for the first week, then 21% of the above week dose for continuous 8 weeks. The 8-week treadmill running of moderate intensity (15 m/min, 60 min/day) and high intensity (26 m/min, 35 min/day) were implemented separately in exercise groups five times a week. After detecting the concentration of fasting serum glucose, insulin and C-peptide, the index of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and islet β-cell secretion (HOMA-β) were calculated. We measured the hepatic mRNA expression levels of IRS2, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases catalytic subunit alpha (PIK3CA), AKT by real-time PCR. The protein expression of total IRS2 (tIRS2), phosphorylated IRS2 at Ser731 (pSer731), total PIK3CA (tPIK3CA), total Akt (tAkt), phosphorylated Akt at Thr308 (pThr308) in liver were analyzed by western blot. We observed that compared to the non-exercise group, insulin and HOMA-IR index were significantly higher in the none-exercise toxic group (p < 0.05), while glucose, insulin, C-peptide and HOMA-IR index were significantly lower in the moderate-intensity exercise group (p < 0.05). In the high-intensity exercise group, the HOMA-IR index was significantly lower and the gene expression of IRS2 was significantly higher than in the non-exercise group (p < 0.05). Besides that, the HOMA-β index in the moderate-intensity exercise toxic group was significantly higher compared to the none-exercise toxic group and moderate-intensity exercise group (p < 0.05). The level of IRS2mRNA was significantly lower in the high-intensity exercise toxic group than in the high-intensity exercise group (p < 0.05). Our results demonstrated that 8-week TCDD exposure could induce insulin resistance in rats, while exercise could improve insulin sensitivity in which moderate intensity was more obvious than high intensity exercise. Meanwhile, both intensity exercise could not effectively alleviate the insulin resistance induced by TCDD, but high intensity exercise could promote compensatory insulin secretion to maintain glucose homeostasis. Although the gene expression of IRS2 was changed in high-intensity exercise groups, the mediation role of the hepatic IRS2/PI3K/AKT pathway in the effects of exercise and TCDD exposure on glucose metabolism remains very limited.