Nutritional, Bone, and Physical Fitness States of Jockeys in Chronic Repetition of Short-Term Weight Loss

Professional jockeys are required to fit their weight, mainly weight loss, for two game days every weekend during racing season which usually lasts 10 months a year in Korea. The repetitive routine weight loss protocol is performed for 4 to 5 days a week include two game days. This situation would have brought some negative effects on the professional jockeys\u27 overall health and physical condition with the relation of their performance. The purpose of the present study was: 1) to examine the weight loss habits of pro-jockeys, and 2) effects of chronic short-term weight loss on nutritional status, bone health, and physical fitness of them. Pro jockeys (n=43) completed a questionnaire for the assessment of weight loss habits. Pro jockeys (n=10, around 12 years of career) were compared with trainee jockeys (n=10, less than 1 years of career) for their nutritional status, bone health, and physical fitness. The nutritional status was measured by a computerized program (CAN Pro 2.0). Bone mineral density was measured by DEXA (Hologic, QDR-4500W, USA). All participants performed grip strength test, standing on one leg with eyes closed test, and side step test for the assessment of physical fitness. According to the result, more than 80% of pro jockeys underwent a routine weight loss process every week, for around 1 kg, within 2 to 3 days prior to the game days by diet mainly and/or exercise/sauna. Around 70% of them reported severe fatigue during the weight loss period. There were no significant differences in nutritional status between two groups. However, they consume average of 1,100 Kcal a day reflecting 21 to 80% of recommended daily consumption during weight loss periods. In bone health, six trainee jockeys and two pro jockeys were diagnosed as osteopenia. One pro jockey was diagnosed as osteoporosis. No significant difference was found in fitness factors between two groups. In conclusion, chronic exposure to short-term weight loss may result in serious health problems especially on bone health. For the jockeys in Korea, balanced diet program and the related education on weight management are strongly required.

Kinesio Taping does not Alter Muscular Performance of Lower Extremity in Obese Adults

Obese adults often experience a weight burden imposed on the joints during physical activities. Taping is known as an effective therapy that can lessen the stress on joints during physical activity. Specially, Kinesio taping has gained recognition to improve exercise performance. However, the acute effects of Kinesio taping using obese population have not been well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of Kinesio taping on the muscular strength, power, and endurance of lower extremity in obese adults. This study was conducted in randomized crossover design with 7 days washout periods. Fourteen obese adults (male: 5, female: 9), mean age of 24.0 ± 3.04 years and percent body fat of 37.44 ± 7.64 % (male: 33.25 ± 8.12, female: 38.16 ± 6.91) took part in the study. All subjects underwent three different trials which were no taping, placebo taping (3M tape), and Kinesio taping. The tape was applied to the rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, and patella ligament based on the Kinesio taping techniques. Subjects wore an eye mask and the taped leg was covered by clothes for preventing subjects and researchers from identifying different tapings (double-blind). Muscular power, isometric muscle strength, and muscle endurance of lower extremity were assessed. Repeated measures one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine differences among three trials. There were no statistical differences in peak power (F= 0.978, p= .402), mean power (F=1.386, p=.285), muscular strength (extension: F= 1.138, p= .350; flexion: F= 3.326, p= .068, and endurance (F= 3.675, p= .060) among three trials. Interpretation of these findings suggests that the Kinesio tape did not improve lower limb performance in obese adults. Short application period may affect to the non-significance result. Further studies are needed to investigate the effective period of taping on lower limb exercise performance in obese adults

Acute Effects of Different Stretching Protocols Combined with Potentiating Exercise on Flexibility, Power, and Muscle Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of different stretching protocols combined with potentiating exercise on flexibility, power, and muscle performance. This study was conducted in repeated and cross-over designed. Thirteen collegiate males aged 25.4±3.46 years voluntarily participated in this study. Prior to conduct stretching session, participants performed jogging on the treadmill for 5 min. Then, four different stretching protocols (non stretching; NS, static stretching; SS, dynamic stretching; DS, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching; PNFS) specially targeted for lower limb muscles combined with potentiating exercise (PE, 3 sets x 5 times tuck jumps) were randomly applied at the same time of the day with 7-days interval. Straight leg raise, and vertical jump tests were measured at baseline, post jogging, stretching, and potentiating exercise. Isokinetic muscle strength, anaerobic power, and agility T-test were measured after each stretching combined with potentiating exercise. Repeated measure ANOVAs were used with significant level set at p\u3c.05. Our results indicate that greater improvement in straight leg raise was observed in SS (9.6%) and PNFS (12.1%) compared to NS (0.6%) and DS (5.0%) at post stretching (p\u3c.001). However, vertical jump performance was significantly improved only in DS (1.8%) (p\u3c.001). After potentiating exercise, greater improvement of vertical jump performance was observed in NS (2.2%), SS (3.2%), and PNFS (6.5%) than DS (-0.4%) (p\u3c.01). Isometric leg flexion was significantly higher in DS and PNFS than NS and SS after completion of PE (p\u3c.05). However, no significant differences in leg extension, anaerobic power, and agility were observed among trials. Our study demonstrated that dynamic and PNF stretching protocols combined with potentiating exercise are efficient for generating muscle strength as well as improving flexibility. It is also noted that potentiating exercise plays a major role for preventing the acute loss of power induced by static and PNF stretching

The Acute and Chronic Effect of Korea Ginseng Supplement on Exercise Performance, Cognitive Function, and Fatigue Recovery

The purpose of this study was to determine the acute and chronic effects of Korean ginseng supplements on exercise performance, cognitive function, and fatigue recovery. The study used double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Twelve healthy adult males (age = 31 ± 6.86 yrs) were randomly assigned to either KGD or placebo trials. All subjects conducted the exercise consisted with 30 minutes cycling at 70-75% of VO2 max followed by 16 km time trial with 30 minutes resting periods. All subjects were tested for muscular power, strength, endurance, cognitive function, and fatigue. The subjects took KGD (280 ml containing 5.88 mg of ginsenosides) or placebo 90 mins before exercise trials and following 7 days. The blood sample was drawn for IL-6, myoglobin, and total antioxidant capacity immediately after time trial, as well as 2, 24, 48, and 72 hours. After 2 weeks of wash-out period, the subjects were crossed over into the opposite trial and performed the same test. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine the effect of acute and chronic intake of ginseng on exercise performance and blood variables. An alpha of .05 was used, and the Greenhouse-Geisser (G-G) adjusted F and degrees of freedom were reported. In a placebo trial, peak power and mean power levels were significantly decreased across time, F (1.47, 13.24) = 4.63, G-G p = .039, h2p = .340 and F (1.46, 13.13) = 5.31, G-G p = .028, h2p = .371 while no differences were found in a ginseng trial. In a placebo trial, average reaction time (ART) was significantly increased across time, F (1.29, 11.63) = 10.81, G-G p = .005, h2p = .546, but in a ginseng trial, no difference in ART was found across time, F (1.54, 13.86) = 4.02, G-G p = .051, h2p = .309. There was a significant increase in TAC across time in a ginseng trial, F (1.42, 11.37) = 5.07, G-G p = .035, h2p = .388 while no difference was found in a placebo trial. No significant differences were found in other variables from placebo and ginseng trails. The 7 days of KRG supplementation significantly reduced the serum myoglobin concentration across time in the KGD trial, F (1.88, 13.17) = 5.18, G-G p = .023, while no difference was found in the placebo trial, F (2.21, 17.66) = .88, G-G p = .443. No significant differences were observed in serum total antioxidant activity and IL-6 between KGD and placebo trials. The study shows that Korean ginseng supplement before stating the exercise improve anaerobic capacity, cognitive function in particular psychomotor vigilance task, and fatigue recovery during cycling exercise. And 7 days of Korean ginseng supplement reduces muscle damage and fatigue after cycling exercise

Mortality after surgery in Europe: a 7 day cohort study

Background: Clinical outcomes after major surgery are poorly described at the national level. Evidence of heterogeneity between hospitals and health-care systems suggests potential to improve care for patients but this potential remains unconfirmed. The European Surgical Outcomes Study was an international study designed to assess outcomes after non-cardiac surgery in Europe.Methods: We did this 7 day cohort study between April 4 and April 11, 2011. We collected data describing consecutive patients aged 16 years and older undergoing inpatient non-cardiac surgery in 498 hospitals across 28 European nations. Patients were followed up for a maximum of 60 days. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcome measures were duration of hospital stay and admission to critical care. We used χ² and Fisher’s exact tests to compare categorical variables and the t test or the Mann-Whitney U test to compare continuous variables. Significance was set at p<0·05. We constructed multilevel logistic regression models to adjust for the differences in mortality rates between countries.Findings: We included 46 539 patients, of whom 1855 (4%) died before hospital discharge. 3599 (8%) patients were admitted to critical care after surgery with a median length of stay of 1·2 days (IQR 0·9–3·6). 1358 (73%) patients who died were not admitted to critical care at any stage after surgery. Crude mortality rates varied widely between countries (from 1·2% [95% CI 0·0–3·0] for Iceland to 21·5% [16·9–26·2] for Latvia). After adjustment for confounding variables, important differences remained between countries when compared with the UK, the country with the largest dataset (OR range from 0·44 [95% CI 0·19 1·05; p=0·06] for Finland to 6·92 [2·37–20·27; p=0·0004] for Poland).Interpretation: The mortality rate for patients undergoing inpatient non-cardiac surgery was higher than anticipated. Variations in mortality between countries suggest the need for national and international strategies to improve care for this group of patients.Funding: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, European Society of Anaesthesiology