• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Sunday, August 14, 2022
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

Football and team handball training may increase health span and, ultimately, lifespan

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 7, 2021
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

In the quest for healthy aging and longer lifespan, Danish researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have collaborated with Swedish researchers at Karolinska Institutet to explore the anti-aging effects of football and team handball training

IMAGE

Credit: Jacob Almtoft

In the quest for healthy aging and longer lifespan, Danish researchers at the University of Southern Denmark have collaborated with Swedish researchers at Karolinska Institutet to explore the anti-aging effects of football and team handball training in women.

In a current study published in Scientific Reports, the researchers investigated the effects of lifelong regular exercise on two of the central hallmarks of aging combined and showed that football and team handball have a positive effect on telomere length and mitochondrial function in women.

“Our legacy consists of DNA that is packed in chromosomes. When cells divide, the inheritance is copied, but with each cell division the ends of the DNA threads get shorter. The so-called telomeres are shortened, which causes us to age. It is remarkable that engaging in team sports such as football and handball helps women to maintain longer telomeres and healthy mitochondria. It may potentially increase their health span and, ultimately, lifespan, as shorter telomeres and mitochondrial dysfunction are both associated with a number of age-related diseases and mortality,” says senior researcher Muhammad Asghar, the study’s shared senior author, of the Department of Medicine, Solna at Karolinska Institutet.

Younger biological age in the cells as evaluated by telomere length

“We’ve recently shown that 65-80-year-old male football players are in excellent physical shape in comparison to untrained age-matched individuals, evidenced by markedly higher aerobic fitness, muscle mass and bone strength as well as a younger biological age in the cells as evaluated by telomere length,” says Professor Peter Krustrup, the study’s shared senior author, of the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark, and adds:

“Interestingly, the present study shows the same pattern, including a positive effect on mitochondrial health, in 60-80-year-old female team handball players, thereby supporting the evidence for an anti-aging potential of team sports.”

“In addition to the positive findings in elderly team handball players, we observed that young female elite football players have ~23% longer telomeres in specific blood cells compared to untrained age-matched women,” says PhD Marie Hagman, the study’s first author, of the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark.

“These results are striking because differences in telomere length of that magnitude are not normally found in young participants. It should be noted, however, that this is a cross-sectional study and that our findings need to be confirmed by future randomised controlled trials,” Hagman explains.

The study involved 129 healthy, non-smoking women, including young elite football players (YF, n=29, 18-30 yrs), young untrained controls (YC, n=30, 18-30 yrs), elderly team handball players (EH, n=35, 60-80 yrs) and elderly untrained controls (EC, n=35, 60-80 yrs). The study was the first to investigate the effects of lifelong regular exercise in humans on two of the central aging hallmarks combined.

Elite football and lifelong team handball training are associated with beneficial anti-aging cellular effects

The results of the study showed that elite football and lifelong team handball training are associated with beneficial anti-aging cellular effects in women. Specifically, young elite football players demonstrated higher telomere length and higher mtDNA copy number compared to young untrained controls, while elderly team handball players showed healthy mitochondria compared to elderly untrained controls. These cellular adaptations were also positively correlated with VO2max and the amount of weekly exercise, emphasizing the importance for these women, irrespective of age, to maintain a reasonable fitness and activity level.

###

The research was led by Peter Krustrup, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, and Muhammad Asghar, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet. The work was carried out with support from the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, SDU Sport and Health Sciences Cluster, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation grant to Team Denmark granted to Peter Krustrup, as well as grants to Muhammad Asghar from the Swedish Research Council and Ragnar Söderberg Foundation.

Publications

Marie Hagman, Bjørn Fristrup, Rémi Michelin, Peter Krustrup, Muhammad Asghar. Football and team handball training postpone cellular aging in women. Scientific Reports – Nature.

http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91255-7

Marie Hagman, Christian Werner, Katharina Kamp, Bjørn Fristrup, Therese Hornstrup, Tim Meyer, Michael Böhm, Ulrich Laufs, Peter Krustrup (2020). Reduced telomere shortening in lifelong trained male football players compared to age-matched inactive controls. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases 63(6):738-749.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033062020301171?via%3Dihub

Media Contact
Peter Krustrup
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91255-7

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91255-7

Tags: AgingCardiologyClinical TrialsEndocrinologyGerontologyMedicine/HealthMetabolism/Metabolic DiseasesPhysiologyPublic HealthSports Medicine
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Kratofil microscope 2021

Snyder Institute researchers discover new approach to healing skin infections and wounds

August 12, 2022
Adhesive hydrogel

Using sound and bubbles to make bandages stickier and longer lasting

August 12, 2022

Pralsetinib achieves tissue-agnostic benefits for patients with RET gene fusions

August 12, 2022

The circadian clock makes sure plant cells have the time of their lives

August 12, 2022
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Picture of the horse specimen.

    Ancient DNA clarifies the early history of American colonial horses

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • Fatigue, headache among top lingering symptoms months after COVID

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Ill-fated ‘Into the Wild’ adventurer was victim of unfortunate timing, Oregon State study suggests

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Skin: An additional tool for the versatile elephant trunk

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

University of WashingtonWeather/StormsZoology/Veterinary ScienceUrbanizationVehiclesVirologyVirusWeaponryViolence/CriminalsVaccineVaccinesUrogenital System

Recent Posts

  • Experimental verification on steering flight of honeybee by electrical stimulation
  • UTA researcher explores integration and power electronic regulation of batteries for Navy
  • Bug eyes and bat sonar: UCLA bioengineers turn to animal kingdom for creation of bionic super 3D cameras
  • Overcoming a major manufacturing constraint
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In