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BackgroundLow physical activity and high sedentary behaviour are unquestionably relevant for public health while also increasing direct and indirect costs.MethodsThe authors examined the direct and indirect costs attributable to low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour in Finland in 2017. Costs related to major non-communicable diseases drawn from Finnish registries covered direct costs (outpatient visits, days of inpatient care, medication and institutional eldercare) and indirect costs (sickness-related absences, disability pensions, unemployment benefits, all-cause mortality and losses of income tax revenue). Prevalences of low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour (≥8 hours per 16 waking hours) were based on self-reports among adolescents or accelerometer data among adults and the elderly from three Finnish population studies: FINFIT 2017, Health 2011 and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Cost calculations used adjusted population attributable fractions (PAF) and regression models. Total annual costs were obtained by multiplying PAF by the total costs of the given disease.ResultsThe total costs of low physical activity in Finland in 2017 came to approximately €3.2 billion, of which direct costs accounted for €683 million and indirect ones for €2.5 billion. Costs attributable to high sedentary behaviour totalled roughly €1.5 billion.ConclusionThe findings suggest that low physical activity and high sedentary behaviour levels create substantial societal costs. Therefore, actions intended to increase physical activity and reduce excessive sedentary behaviour throughout life may yield not only better health but also considerable savings to society.

This study describes the motor-learning process of older individuals during the course of a training intervention on a motor-driven eccentric bicycle ergometer. Seventeen women and 16 men (64 ± 6 yr) took part in a 10-wk training program. Uniformity of force production and consistency of timing were used to describe their motor performance. The results suggested that participants improved the coefficient of variation of peak force during the intervention (measured at the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and the 18th training sessions). They reached a fairly constant level of motor performance around the 12th training session (5 wk). Age and sex affected improvements in the early phases of the learning process to an extent, but the differences diminished by the end of the intervention. These results suggest that the force control of continuous eccentric muscle contractions improves as a result of training in older adults.

1. The effects of dynamic and isometric muscle contractions on the lymph flow dynamics in human skeletal muscle were studied with a scintographic method. 2. Radioactively labelled human serum albumin (99mTc-HSA) was injected bilaterally into the vastus lateralis muscles of eight men (n = 16), four of whom had had an endurance training background. The subjects performed 100 submaximal contractions in 10 min as (i) dynamic knee extensions (CONS), (ii) isometric contractions with the knees at full extension (IMExt), or (iii) isometric contractions with knees fixed at 90 deg angle flexion (IMFlex). The exercises were separated by 65 min periods in supine rest. The level of radioactivity at the injection site was monitored by a gamma-camera, and the clearance rate of radioactivity (CR) was calculated as the fractional decrease during the periods of interest (CR unit = % min-1). 3. The clearance rate was low during the rest periods (0.04 +/- 0.05% min-1), though higher in the trained than in the sedentary subjects (0.06 +/- 0.05 vs. 0.03 +/- 0.03% min-1; P = 0.008). Exercise increased the clearance rate three- to sixfold, to 0.16 +/- 0.16% min-1 during CONS, 0.20 +/- 0.15% min-1 during IMExt and 0.09 +/- 0.11% min-1 during IMFlex. There were no differences between the subject subgroups. 4. The higher clearance rate during IMExt than during IMFlex (P = 0.02) demonstrates the importance of muscle deformations on lymph propulsion and experimentally confirms the current concepts of lymph formation and propulsion in voluntarily active skeletal muscle. It is suggested that lymph propulsion by working muscle is most efficient when the muscle is able to shorten close to its minimum length.

The present study was aimed to localise lymphatic vessels and their growth factors in human and mouse skeletal muscle with immunohistochemistry and specific antibodies (VEGFR-3, LYVE-1, VEGF-C and VEGF-D). The largest lymphatic vessels were found in perimysial connective tissue next to the arteries and veins, as has been shown earlier with electron microscopy. As a new finding, we also found small LYVE-1 positive vessels in the capillary bed between muscle fibres. These vessels were located next to CD31 positive blood capillaries and were of the same size, but fewer in number. In addition, we described the localisation of the two main lymphangiogenic growth factor proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor-C and -D. Both proteins were expressed in skeletal muscle at mRNA and protein levels. VEGF-D was located under the sarcolemma in some of the muscle fibres, in the endothelia of larger blood vessels and in fibroblasts. VEGF-C protein was localised to the nerves and muscle spindles, to fibroblasts and surrounding connective tissue, but was not found in muscle fibres or endothelial cells. Our results are the first to suggest the presence of lymphatic capillaries throughout the skeletal muscle, and to present the localisation of VEGF-C and -D in the muscles.