The longitudinal effects of physical activity history on metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: To examine the relationship of physical activity and its changes over a 9-yr follow-up to the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in 2060 young adults (24-39 yr) enrolled in the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Methods: Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) was assessed using a self-report questionnaire completed in connection with a medical examination at two consecutive measurements in 1992 and 2001. By summing the LTPA items, a physical activity index (PAI) was formed for both measurement points according to which the participants were divided into tracking groups: persistently active, increasingly active, decreasingly active, and persistently inactive.

Exercise-induced expression of angiogenic growth factors in skeletal muscle and in capillaries of healthy and diabetic mice.

Background: Diabetes has negative, and exercise training positive, effects on the skeletal muscle vasculature, but the mechanisms are not yet fully understood. In the present experiment the effects of running exercise on the mRNA expression of pro- and antiangiogenic factors were studied in healthy and diabetic skeletal muscle. The responses in capillaries and muscle fibers, collected from the muscle with laser capture microdissection, were also studied separately.

Effects of acute exercise, exercise training, and diabetes on the expression of lymphangiogenic growth factors and lymphatic vessels in skeletal muscle.

Blood and lymphatic vessels together form the circulatory system, allowing the passage of fluids and molecules within the body. Recently we showed that lymphatic capillaries are also found in the capillary bed of skeletal muscle. Exercise is known to induce angiogenesis in skeletal muscle, but it is not known whether exercise has effects on lymphangiogenesis or lymphangiogenic growth factors.

A single bout of exercise with high mechanical loading induces the expression of Cyr61/CCN1 and CTGF/CCN2 in human skeletal muscle.

High mechanical loading was hypothesized to induce the expression of angiogenic and/or lymphangiogenic extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in skeletal muscle. Eight men performed a strenuous exercise protocol, which consisted of 100 unilateral maximal drop jumps followed by submaximal jumping until exhaustion. Muscle biopsies were taken 30 min and 48 h postexercise from the vastus lateralis muscle and analyzed for the following parameters: mRNA and protein expression of ECM-associated CCN proteins [cysteine-rich angiogenic protein 61 (Cyr61)/CCN1, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF)/CCN2], and mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha.

Repeated bout effect on the cytoskeletal proteins titin, desmin, and dystrophin in rat skeletal muscle.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of repeated bouts of exercise on the cytoskeletal proteins titin, desmin, and dystrophin. Rats were made to run downhill for 90 min 1 or 5 times separated by 14 days. Samples were taken from quadriceps femoris muscle 3, 48, 96 h and 50 days after the last exercise session and detected by quantitative PCR, histochemical stainings, and western blot analyses.

Effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and physical training on gene expression of titin-based stretch-sensing complexes in mouse striated muscle.

In striated muscle, a sarcomeric noncontractile protein, titin, is proposed to form the backbone of the stress- and strain-sensing structures. We investigated the effects of diabetes, physical training, and their combination on the gene expression of proteins of putative titin stretch-sensing complexes in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Mice were divided into control (C), training (T), streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D), and diabetic training (DT) groups.

Testing a model of physical activity and obesity tracking from youth to adulthood: the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study.

Objective: To test a potential model of the relationship between physical activity and obesity from youth to adulthood.

Design: Longitudinal study data from the cardiovascular risk in young Finns study.

Subjects: A total of 1319 boys (n=626) and girls (n=693) aged 9, 12, 15 and 18 years were randomly selected from five university towns and their rural surroundings in 1980.

Localisation of lymphatic vessels and vascular endothelial growth factors-C and -D in human and mouse skeletal muscle with immunohistochemistry.

The present study was aimed to localise lymphatic vessels and their growth factors in human and mouse skeletal muscle with immunohistochemistry and specific antibodies (VEGFR-3, LYVE-1, VEGF-C and VEGF-D). The largest lymphatic vessels were found in perimysial connective tissue next to the arteries and veins, as has been shown earlier with electron microscopy. As a new finding, we also found small LYVE-1 positive vessels in the capillary bed between muscle fibres.

Effects of experimental type 1 diabetes and exercise training on angiogenic gene expression and capillarization in skeletal muscle.

Diabetes alters microvascular structure and function and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In diabetic skeletal muscle, impaired angiogenesis and reduced VEGF-A expression have been observed, whereas in healthy muscle exercise is known to have opposite effects. We studied the effects of type 1 diabetes and combined exercise training on angiogenic mRNA expression and capillarization in mouse skeletal muscle.

Risk of obesity in relation to physical activity tracking from youth to adulthood.

Purpose: Maintaining a high level of physical activity throughout one's lifetime may decrease the risk of obesity. We evaluated how physical activity patterns from youths (9-18 yr) to adulthood are associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) in a population of young adults.

Methods: As part of the longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, we assessed physical activity over a 21-yr follow-up in a cohort of 1319 subjects.

Stability and prediction of physical activity in 5-, 10-, and 28-year follow-up studies among industrial employees.

The aim of the study was to examine the stability of voluntary and household physical activity (PA) and to compare it with that of the use of the most common stimulants. The prospective cohort study comprised of follow-ups at 5, 10, and 28 years at baseline in 1973 in four plants of an industrial corporation in Finland. A systematic, non-proportional sample (n=902, age range 18-64 years) stratified for age, gender, and occupational status was drawn from the employees.

Effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and physical training on gene expression of extracellular matrix proteins in mouse skeletal muscle.

Diabetes induces changes in the structure and function of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in many tissues. We investigated the effects of diabetes, physical training, and their combination on the gene expression of ECM proteins in skeletal muscle. Mice were divided to control (C), training (T), streptozotocin-induced diabetic (D), and diabetic training (DT) groups.

Physiological and psychological responses to 100 km cross-country skiing during 2 days.

Aim: Physical exercise can have beneficial as well as detrimental effects on body tissues. The purpose of this study was to examine how the body responds to a 2-day 100 km ski event.

Methods: Two-day follow-up, field trial to measure changes in body mass, postural response of heart rate, pain perception, range of joint movement, muscle circumferences, vertical jump, creatine kinase (CK) and profile of mood state to repeated long distance cross-country skiing during 2 days.

Physical activity from childhood to adulthood: a 21-year tracking study.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate stability of physical activity from childhood and adolescence to adulthood in multiple age cohorts, and analyze how well adult physical activity can be predicted by various physical activity variables measured in childhood and adolescence.

Methods: The data were drawn from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. The study was started in 1980, when cohorts of randomly sampled boys and girls aged 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 years (total of 2309 subjects) were examined for the first time.

Hormonal responses to 100 km cross-country skiing during 2 days.

Aim: The purposes of this study were to investigate the resting levels and the acute hormonal responses of serum testosterone and cortisol, and with time-resolved immunofluorometric assay of luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), to daily repeated prolonged skiing.

Methods: Quasi-experimental design: short-term follow-up, (reversal) field trial to investigate the daily responses of blood hormones to repeated 50 km skiing during 2 days in men.

Participants: 10 physically active men (34.

The effects of a four-day march on the gonadotrophins and mood states of army officers.

The effects of daily repeated prolonged exercise on gonadotrophin levels and mood states were studied in six physically active army officers participating in a 4-day march totaling 185 km. We hypothesized that submaximal daily repeated prolonged exercise may disturb the balance of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis, which could be determined from the concentrations of serum luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone with time-resolved immunofluorometric assay. In addition, the mood states of the men were followed during the exercise period.

Injuries to the upper extremity in ice hockey: analysis of a series of 760 injuries.

Background: Injuries to the upper extremity are common in ice hockey.

Purpose: To investigate the mechanisms, types, and severity of upper extremity ice hockey injuries in patients in different age categories.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Physical activity and breast cancer risk among female physical education and language teachers: a 34-year follow-up.

The cohort consisted of 1,489 Finnish female physical education and 8,560 language teachers born after 1920 and alive in 1967. The 2 study populations were similar in social class and way of living and clearly discordant in physical activity both during their university studies and later in life. The incidence of breast cancer among these teachers up to the year 2000 was assessed through a record linkage with the Finnish Cancer Registry.

Hormonal responses to daily strenuous walking during 4 successive days.

The hormonal response to 4 days' walking exercise (totaling 164 km) was examined among 15 healthy males. We hypothesised that submaximal daily, repeated, prolonged exercise may disturb the balance of the adrenal cortex and pituitary-testicular axis, which could be analysed from the concentrations of serum cortisol and testosterone, and with time-resolved immunofluorometric assay (IFMA) of luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). In the adrenal cortex the increased response to acute exercise could be seen after the 1st day.

Standardization and validation of the body weight adjustment regression equations in Olympic weightlifting.

The problems in comparing the performances of Olympic weightlifters arise from the fact that the relationship between body weight and weightlifting results is not linear. In the present study, this relationship was examined by using a nonparametric curve fitting technique of robust locally weighted regression (LOWESS) on relatively large data sets of the weightlifting results made in top international competitions. Power function formulas were derived from the fitted LOWESS values to represent the relationship between the 2 variables in a way that directly compares the snatch, clean-and-jerk, and total weightlifting results of a given athlete with those of the world-class weightlifters (golden standards).

Albumin clearance from human skeletal muscle during prolonged steady-state running.

This study was designed to find out if the lymph flow, indicated as albumin clearance, from active skeletal muscle is maintained constant during a prolonged steady-state exercise. 99mTc-labelled albumin was injected bilaterally into the vastus lateralis muscles of eight endurance-trained men. The radioactivity at the injection site was monitored by a gamma-camera before, frequently during, and after a 2 h run at a controlled steady intensity of 69 +/- 4% of the maximal heart rate.

Injury profile in ice hockey from the 1970s through the 1990s in Finland.

The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence, types, and mechanisms of injury in Finnish ice hockey players at the highest competition level in different decades. Several teams were observed prospectively during the seasons between 1976 and 1979, and in the 1988 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993 seasons. An injury was defined as any sudden trauma requiring examination and treatment by a physician.

Controlled lengthening or shortening contraction-induced damage is followed by fiber hypertrophy in rat skeletal muscle.

To study the hypothesis that more severe damage, caused by controlled lengthening (L) contractions, results in greater myofiber hypertrophy compared to increase in fiber size followed shortening (S) contractions, tibialis anterior muscles of anesthesized male Wistar rats were subjected to 240 either L or S contractions. The highest increase in muscle beta-glucuronidase activity, an indicator of muscle damage, was observed in L (7.1-fold) 4 days and in S (2.

Neck muscle ultrasonography of male weight-lifters, wrestlers and controls.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the effect of different sport training regimens on the size of the neck semispinalis capitis muscle (SECM). The cross-sectional area (CSA) and the linear dimensions of the SECM were measured bilaterally by real-time ultrasonography. Ten young Finnish elite level weight-lifters, 8 freestyle wrestlers and 10 controls (all male) participated in the study.

Factors explaining the physical activity of young adults: the importance of early socialization.

As a part of the large project Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns, the purpose of the present study was to examine how adult physical activity is influenced by early physical activity and current social and health-related factors. A total of 2411 children and adolescents aged 9, 12, 15 and 18 years were randomly selected from five university towns and their rural surroundings in 1980. They were followed up for 12 years by means of questionnaires.