TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuro-hormonal effects of physical activity in the elderly
AU - Femminella, Grazia D.
AU - de Lucia, Claudio
AU - Iacotucci, Paola
AU - Formisano, Roberto
AU - Petraglia, Laura
AU - Allocca, Elena
AU - Ratto, Enza
AU - D'Amico, Loreta
AU - Rengo, Carlo
AU - Pagano, Gennaro
AU - Bonaduce, Domenico
AU - Rengo, Giuseppe
AU - Ferrara, Nicola
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Thanks to diagnostic and therapeutic advances, the elderly population is continuously increasing in the western countries. Accordingly, the prevalence of most chronic age-related diseases will increase considerably in the next decades, thus it will be necessary to implement effective preventive measures to face this epidemiological challenge. Among those, physical activity exerts a crucial role, since it has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cognitive impairment and cancer. The favorable effects of exercise on cardiovascular homeostasis can be at least in part ascribed to the modulation of the neuro-hormonal systems implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. In the elderly, exercise has been shown to affect catecholamine secretion and biosynthesis, to positively modulate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and to reduce the levels of plasma brain natriuretic peptides. Moreover, drugs modulating the neuro-hormonal systems may favorably affect physical capacity in the elderly. Thus, efforts should be made to actually make physical activity become part of the therapeutic tools in the elderly.
AB - Thanks to diagnostic and therapeutic advances, the elderly population is continuously increasing in the western countries. Accordingly, the prevalence of most chronic age-related diseases will increase considerably in the next decades, thus it will be necessary to implement effective preventive measures to face this epidemiological challenge. Among those, physical activity exerts a crucial role, since it has been proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, cognitive impairment and cancer. The favorable effects of exercise on cardiovascular homeostasis can be at least in part ascribed to the modulation of the neuro-hormonal systems implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. In the elderly, exercise has been shown to affect catecholamine secretion and biosynthesis, to positively modulate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and to reduce the levels of plasma brain natriuretic peptides. Moreover, drugs modulating the neuro-hormonal systems may favorably affect physical capacity in the elderly. Thus, efforts should be made to actually make physical activity become part of the therapeutic tools in the elderly.
KW - Brain natriuretic peptide
KW - Elderly
KW - Physical activity
KW - Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system
KW - Sympathetic nervous system
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U2 - 10.3389/fphys.2013.00378
DO - 10.3389/fphys.2013.00378
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84891695964
VL - 4 DEC
JO - Frontiers in Physiology
JF - Frontiers in Physiology
SN - 1664-042X
M1 - Article 378
ER -