About this Research Topic

Background

This Research Topic is part of the Exercise as a Countermeasure to Human Aging series:
Exercise as a Countermeasure to Human Aging, Volume II

The average age of Humanity is greater than it has ever been, and is continuing to increase. That this is occurring is a success of scientific progress, in part from physiological research, but it does introduce to us new challenges in healthcare and wider society. Specifically, the diseases and mortality causes seen by nations’ healthcare systems are shifting towards chronic, non-transmittable disorders including frailty and sarcopenia. Indeed, regional differences in longevity statistics demonstrate the key role in healthcare, diet and exercise in promoting human health.

Both physical activity and structured exercise are near-uniformly positive for human longevity and wellbeing by multiple, complex physiological mechanisms and pathways that help maintain health, independence and quality of life. By comparing humans of different ages, we begin to gain an insight into the mechanistic processes of aging, and how activity and exercise may offset these.

Indeed, highly active older individuals show improvements in muscle function, cardiovascular and respiratory function, and immunological responses to physiological challenges and overall reductions in all-cause mortality, relative to their inactive peers. These observations suggest that exercise can offset the decreases in human function that we consider ‘inevitable aspects of aging’, but cannot prevent them completely.

It is necessary that we understand the physiological mechanisms underlying aging. Our understanding of how and why exercise and activity promote healthy aging, and indeed the basic physiology of the aging process, is at this time incomplete.

Based on the above, this Research Topic aims to focus on the aging human, and the role of exercise and/or activity (or conversely their absence; inactivity) in promoting successful aging and/or the insight that exercise and activity provides us into the physiological mechanisms of human aging. Such models can both help us as scientists understand human aging, or to influence the rate of change of function seen with human aging. Whilst it is anticipated that human models be used in the first instance, in vitro, in vivo and in silico models will be considered, if they can be shown to advance the understanding of the aging human.

This Research Topic is specifically interested in original research, clinical trial, review and systematic review articles.

Keywords: Frailty, Ageing, Activity, Exercise, Inactivity, Sarcopenia

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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