Department of Physical Therapy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.
J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2012 Apr-Jun;35(2):86-94. doi: 10.1519/JPT.0b013e3182312b14.
Physical therapists treat older individuals, characterized as both a needy and expanding population. Frailty, a predisability condition with links to chronic inflammatory conditions, is estimated to affect 7% of individuals older than 60 years and 40% of people older than 80 years. Chronic inflammation is one of the most important physiologic correlates of the frailty syndrome and high levels of proinflammatory cytokines, related to both aging and increasing adiposity in older individuals are related to an increased risk of mortality, sarcopenia, reduced muscle strength and decreased mobility.
The purpose of this narrative review is to inform the physical therapist of the effects of aging and increasing adiposity on chronic inflammation and the association of inflammation with muscle loss, strength, and mobility impairments in older adults; and to review the current evidence to provide clinical recommendations on physical activity and exercise regimes that may mitigate chronic inflammation in older adults.
As physical therapists help manage and treat an increasingly older population, understanding how the inflammatory milieu changes with aging and increasing adiposity and how these changes can be impacted by physical therapists via exercise and physical activity is critical.
Exercise is a potent preventive intervention strategy and countermeasure for chronic inflammation and adiposity. Exercise can also benefit the frail older individual by combating the negative effects of chronic inflammation and optimally balancing the production of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines. In addition to providing an anti-inflammatory environment within muscle to mitigate the effects of chronic inflammation, exercise has the added benefit of improving muscle mass and function and decreasing adiposity in older adults.
物理治疗师治疗老年人，老年人是一个既有需求又在不断扩大的群体。衰弱是一种与慢性炎症状态有关的残疾前期状态，据估计，60 岁以上人群中有 7%，80 岁以上人群中有 40%患有衰弱。慢性炎症是衰弱综合征最重要的生理相关因素之一，高水平的促炎细胞因子与衰老和老年人中肥胖的增加有关，与死亡率增加、肌肉减少症、肌肉力量减弱和活动能力下降有关。
本综述的目的是让物理治疗师了解衰老和肥胖对慢性炎症的影响，以及炎症与老年人肌肉减少症、力量和活动能力受损的关系；并回顾当前的证据，为物理治疗师提供关于可能减轻老年人慢性炎症的身体活动和运动方案的临床建议。
随着物理治疗师帮助管理和治疗日益老龄化的人群，了解炎症环境如何随衰老和肥胖而变化，以及这些变化如何通过运动和身体活动被物理治疗师影响是至关重要的。
运动是一种有效的预防干预策略，可对抗慢性炎症和肥胖。运动还可以通过对抗慢性炎症的负面影响并最佳平衡促炎和抗炎细胞因子的产生，使虚弱的老年个体受益。除了在肌肉内提供抗炎环境以减轻慢性炎症的影响外，运动还有助于改善老年人的肌肉质量和功能，并减少肥胖。
