High-intensity training may reduce rapid eGFR decline risk in older adults
Key takeaways:
- Rapid eGFR decline occurred in 23% of patients on high-intensity exercise.
- Meanwhile, rapid eGFR decline occurred in 30% of control patients.
High-intensity interval training may reduce the risk of rapid eGFR decline in older adults, according to results of a study conducted in Norway.
“Physical exercise is known to mitigate several of these pathways, preventing vascular diseases in the heart, brain and musculoskeletal systems,” Stein I. Hallan, of the department of clinical and molecular medicine at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, wrote with colleagues. “However, the effects of physical exercise on kidney function have not been adequately studied.”
Researchers performed a post-hoc analysis of 1,156 patients enrolled in an open-label, randomized parallel-arm study in Trondheim, Norway. The goal was to explore the dose-response effect of physical activity on kidney function in older adults. Researched studied participants from the 2012 to 2018 clinical trial who had a median age of 72 years and median eGFR of 95 mL/min/1.73 m2.
The cohort was broken into three groups: 385 patients in a control group on general physical activity recommendations; 380 in a moderate-intensity continuous training group, using 70% of peak heart rate for 50 minutes twice weekly; and 391 in a high-intensity interval group, using 90% of peak heart rate for 4 minutes, four times, twice weekly.
The main outcome was cystatin C-based eGFR decline of more than 5 mL/min/1.73 m² per year.
Researchers found oxygen uptake increased by 1.8 mL/kg/min, 2.3 mL/kg/min and 3.3 mL/kg/min in the control, moderate-intensity and high-intensity groups, respectively. Rapid eGFR decline was seen in 30% of patients in the control group, 28% of moderate-intensity patients and 23% of high-intensity patients.
Researchers also found patients who decreased their moderate to vigorous activity by more than 20 minutes per week had a relative risk of 1.30 (95%, CI 0.93-1.83) in terms of rapid heart decline. Meanwhile, patients who increased their activity by more than 20 minutes per week had a relative risk of 0.73 (95%, CI 0.53-0.99) compared to those with stable activity, according to the researchers.
“Results were similar across a wide variety of subgroups, and the achieved physical exercise level associated with the magnitude of eGFR changes in companion analyses. Preservation of kidney function should be recognized as one of the numerous health benefits of high-intensity exercise training,” the researchers wrote.
Collapse
Read more about