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Background and objective The health impacts of combined aerobic and resistance training on older populations are largely unknown. Therefore, we carried out the current study to systematically investigate the effects of combined exercise on body composition and physical functions of elders. Methodology Literature was searched from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were: 1) healthy participants aged 55 years and above; 2) effects of combined exercise (aerobic combined with resistance training) examined; 3) effects on fat mass and lean mass reported. Research quality of the included studies was assessed by PEDro scale. Results Among the involved 11 studies, 9 out of 11 found that combined exercise increased the amount of lean mass of the elders (0.3–7.4%), while the other 2 reported a decline (3.0% and 3.4%). As for fat mass, all the included studies found that combined exercise decreased the total fat mass (2.19–16.5%) or local fat mass (0.7–40.7%). Furthermore, 5 out of the 11 studies examined the impact of combined training on muscle strength and aerobic power, and exercise was found to increase the lower limb strength (knee flexion: 15.1–15.9%; knee extension: 11.6–16.9%; and leg press 1 RM: 17.6–54.3%). Moreover, 5 studies assessed and reported that combined exercise was associated with an increased VO2peak (1.0–145.6%). Conclusions This systematic review revealed that a 8–52 weeks’ combined exercise, such as cycling combined with weight-lifting machines training, was beneficial in a decrease in whole-body and localized fat mass, and increase in the amount of body lean mass among older populations. Combined exercise was also shown to be more effective in increasing lower extremity strength and VO2peak compared with aerobic or resistance ones solely.

OBJECTIVE Running is among the most popular recreational activities; nonetheless, the acute post-race changes of cartilage or meniscus have rarely been determined. The current study aimed to review the acute changes in knee cartilage and meniscus among habituate runners following long-distance running detected by using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS Systematic literature search was performed on those dominate clinical databases which including MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. Included studies should be conducted on healthy marathon runners, and the participants should be examined before and after running by using MRI. Intervention studies were excluded. RESULTS A total number of 14 studies were finally included in this review which all examined the cartilage or meniscus by using MRI functional sequences. Among them, six studies quantitatively measured the changes regarding volume of the knee cartilage or/and meniscus. Five studies found that the volume would decrease initially after running. Ten studies reported T2 (T2*) would decrease after running and returned to the baseline in a short term, while T1ρ may remain increased in months. Five studies measured subareas for T2 (T2*) value, and found that the superficial and medial subarea changed more vastly than other regions after running. CONCLUSION Runners experience transient changes in the volume and signals of knee cartilage and meniscus after long-distance running. A liquid exchange and material interaction in cartilage and meniscus was observed after running. Superficial and medial areas of knee cartilage and meniscus might be more susceptible to mechanical loading.

Objective To evaluate the incidence of knee bone marrow edema-like signal and its changes before and after running a half marathon running in asymptomatic amateur marathon runners to explore the impact of the half marathon on knee bone marrow edema-like signal. Methods 50 asymptomatic amateur marathon runners (30 males, 20 females) were recruited. T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), fat-suppressed protein density weighted imaging (fs-PDWI) and three-dimensional double-echo steady-state (3D-DESS) sequence on the right knee were performed before and within 3 h after a half-marathon running. 20 healthy volunteers were recruited as control. According to the whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging score (WORMS) system, the involvement of bone marrow edema-like signal in 15 regions of knee was graded from 0 to 3. The results were classified and Mann Whitney U test was used for comparison between groups. Results The total incidence of bone marrow edema-like signal in amateur marathon group was 62%. Among them, the incidence of grade 1–3 was 48% (24/50), 12% (6/50), 2% (1/50), respectively, which was statistically significant compared with the controls (P = 0.007). There was no significant difference between gender before running (P = 0.172) and after running (P = 0.162). There was no significant difference before and after running (P > 0.05). However, 3 subjects showed new lesions, 8 subjects showed progression and 4 subjects showed decreased signal. Conclusion The occurrence of knee bone marrow edema-like signal in amateur marathon runners is more common. The lesions of bone marrow edema-like signal will show aggravation or improvement in a certain extent after the half marathon.

Thicker carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) has been a valid predictor for atherosclerosis development. A significant association between environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and thickening of CIMT has been demonstrated in adults, whereas such association has scarcely been reviewed in paediatric population. The dominate electronic databases, including MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, were searched from inception. Reference lists of retrieved articles were further scanned as to avoid any missing literatures. Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Qualitative synthesis analyses were performed on the selected studies. 331 articles were retrieved, and 4 were finally selected. All four studies investigated the association between postnatal ETS and CIMT in children, and three of them reported a statistically significant positive association. Three studies investigated the association between prenatal maternal ETS and CIMT, and one of the three found a positive association. Two studies explored the association between postnatal maternal ETS and CIMT, one reported a positive association. Two studies used serum cotinine measurement to quantify ETS and demonstrated potential dose-response relationship with CIMT. ETS exposure may play an independent role in the development of cardiovascular risks in healthy children and adolescents. In the consideration of the great burden of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, there is an urgent need of effective surveillance for paediatric population’s ETS exposure to reduce smoke exposure.