Can someone help me write a 5 page argumentative essay on : The Importance of Exercise The 4 sources I included are 4 Scholarly sources that must be in the essay and then you can add any sources found

The ageing cardiovascular system The cardiovascular system functions to deliver oxygen and energy substrates to metabolically active tissues, and remove metabolic waste from said tissues. Dysfunction of the cardiovascular system results in insufficient supply of energy and oxygen to these tissues, \ and chronic dysfunction often results in cardiovascular disease, which itself takes many forms, including coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke and peripheral arterial disease, all of which have implications for mortality and physical performance.

There is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease with advancing age. Ageing is associated with reduced cardiac diastolic function, as well as stroke volume index. In addition, with older age there is an increased risk of heart failure and ventricular fibrillati\ on. Exercise and physical activity stimulates eccentric remodelling of the cardiac walls, resulting in greater cardiac output and stroke volume, as a consequence of increasing left ventricular chamber size. In fact, maintaining or increasing fitness has a profound impact\ on risk of heart failure in later life, with reports fitness at age 40\ -49 years predicted heart failure incidence by the age of 65 years, with every 1 unit increase in metabolic equivalent (MET) resulting in a reduced risk of heart failure by 20% (Berry et al., 2013).

The vasculature is an incredibly important network of blood vessels, which act to regulate blood flow to tissues, blood pressure, and thus delivery and extraction of substrates in peripheral tissues. The inner lining itself is made up of the endothelium, which acts to secrete vasoactive substances, which control vessel diameter. The ability of the endothelium to stimulate an increase in vessel diameter is termed endothelial function, and is often quantified as the change in vessel diameter in response to reperfusion after a period of blood flow occlusion, termed ‘flow-mediated dilatation’. As we age, the ability of the endothelium to release nitric oxide to act on vascular smooth muscle cells, which subsequently relax to widen vessel diameter, is reduced. Endothelial dysfunction occurs in older adults compared to younger counterparts (Black et al., 2008). This significantly elevates cardiovascular disease risk in this older population. Exercise training has been found to improve flow-mediated dilatation in humans, and indeed older adults, thus potentially reducing cardiovascular disease risk (Black et al., 2008). In addition to improving endothelial function, exercise also stimulates the mobilisation of stem/progenitor cells from the bone marrow, and some of these stem/progenitor cells, exert a positive effect on the vasculature. These endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) act by homing to sites of endothelial injury and tissue ischaemia, and stimulate repair by either differentiating into mature endothelial cells, or act in a paracrine manner by Exercise and physical activity - the ultimate anti-ageing pill?

Drs Mark Ross and Lawrence Hayes discuss the role of exercise and physical activity in agei\ ng to prevent/treat disease.

Exercise can positively affect biochemical markers associated with ageing 7 The Sport and Exercise Scientist n Issue 52 n Summer 2017 n www.bases.org.uk @basesUK /BASESUK bases_uk BASESUK secreting endothelial growth factors. The number of these cells in the peripheral blood compartment declines with age, as does the number residing in bone marrow. However, both exercise and physical activity interventions stimulate regular increases in these cells, offering a window of vascular repair, as well as in some studies showing a raised resting level in the blood in humans (Ross et al., 2016), but the effects of exercise on these cells in the elderly are yet to be fully determined. Exercise, therefore, offers significant vascular benefits by direct and indirect effects on the \ vascular endothelium.

The ageing muscular system Omnipresent age-associated reductions in muscle mass and function are consistently reported. What is concerning given increasing life expectancies, is that deteriorations in skeletal muscle \ characteristics are commonly associated with frailty, risk of falls and dependence. Research concerning predictors of physical function and health indicators has indicated muscle strength and muscle power, are strongly associated with falling and mortality.

Whilst reductions in muscle function are inevitable with age, as evidenced by analysis of age-group athletic world records, improved muscle characteristics in physically active older adults, compared to sedentary counterparts has been documented. For example, work from our group (Hayes et al., 2015) reported that in age-matched ~60 year old males, sedentary individuals had a lower peak power output, and a lower relative amount of lean mass, compared to masters athletes. Further evidence of the positive influence exercise exerts on skeletal muscle function is provided by exercise intervention studies in older adults. For example, Fiatarone and colleagues (1990) demonstrated considerable plasticity of skeletal muscle, reporting maximal strength increases of ~174% and gait speed increases of ~48% following 8 weeks of high- intensity resistance training in nonagenarians. Therefore, physical activity and exercise in older age appears key for attenuating the decline in muscle function, whilst some research suggests intense exercise may produce the greatest protective effect. Whilst positive effects of exercise on skeletal muscle in ageing cohorts are evident, mechanisms underlying adaptations to ageing, and exercise, remain to be fully elucidated. This may be partially attributed to the multitude of factors that underlie force production (nervous, muscular and connective). Exercise training has been shown to upregulate several muscular adaptive processes that are downregulated with ageing and disuse. For example, blunted muscle protein synthetic responses to protein ingestion have been observed following disuse and ageing, however, enhanced muscle protein synthetic response to protein ingestion is upregulated following exercise. In conclusion, ageing and sedentarism reduces skeletal muscle mass and function, which can be reversed by exercise training. This protective effect improves physical functioning and independence in later life. Whilst definitive mechanisms for the age-associated reduction in muscle mass and function are yet to be fully elucidated, technological advances in molecular exercise physiology show promising insight into exercise and nutritional interventions to attenuate the effect of ageing on skeletal muscle.

The ageing brain The brain’s role in debilitating neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease has fascinated scientists/ physiologists for over a century. Recently, funding for research to treat and cure these neurological diseases has substantially increased and there is no surprise why. The forecast for Alzheimer’s incidence over the next 50 years makes for distressing reading. According to Alzheimer’s UK, it is expected that 1 in 100 of the general population will be affected by Alzheimer’s by the age of 60 years. In addition to Alzheimer’s, dementia (partly due to vascular dysfunction), Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis are of significant interest to those investigating ageing and its effects \ on the brain and the nervous system.

The few studies that have investigated the link between physical activity in men and women and Alzheimer’s and dementia show an inverse relationship between physical activity and incidence of these neurological disorders. Interestingly, this is also the case for low intensity activities, such as walking, in addition to high intensity exercise. However, this is an area of significant future research, and longitudinal interventional studies are required to tease out the relationship between physical activity/ inactivity and neurological disorders.

Implications Due to the wide-ranging benefits of exercise and physical activity on the ageing human body, they may be the most effective (and cheap!) anti-ageing pill. Although we can never rewind the clock, we certainly can reduce non-communicable diseases risk, as well as the severity of non-communicable diseases’ effects on the individual. We cannot forget that these together will improve quality of life of older adults, and enhance or maintain independence long into later life. Dr Mark Ross Mark is a BASES accredited sport and exercise scientist and a Lecturer and Researcher in exercise, ageing and cardiovascular stem cells at Edinburgh Napier University.

Dr Lawrence Hayes Lawrence is a Lecturer and Researcher in active ageing at the University of Cumbria. References:

Berry, J.D. et al. (2013). Physical fitness and risk of heart failure and coronary artery disease. Circulation: Heart Failure, 6, 627-634.

Black, M.A., Green, D.J. & Cable, N.T. (2008). Exercise prevents age-related decline in nitric-oxide-mediated vasodilator function in cutaneous microvessels.

Journal of Physiology, 586, 3511-3542.

Fiatarone, M.A. et al. (1990). High intensity strength training in nonagenarians.

Effects on skeletal muscle. JAMA, 263, 3029-3034.

Hayes, L.D. et al. (2015). Resting steroid hormone concentrations in lifetime exercisers and lifetime sedentary males. The Aging Male, 18, 22-26.

Ross, M.D., Malone, E. & Florida-James, G. (2016). Vascular ageing and exercise: Focus on cellular reparative processes. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. doi: 10.1155/2016/3583956 AGEING EXERCISE Muscle Mass Muscle Function Vascular Function Cognitive Function Oxidative Stress SarcopeniaCVD Risk Figure 1. The effects of ageing and exercise on humans.

CVD - Cardiovascular Disease Copyright ofSport &Exercise Scientist isthe property ofBritish Association ofSport & Exercise Sciences anditscontent maynotbecopied oremailed tomultiple sitesorposted toa listserv without thecopyright holder'sexpresswrittenpermission. However,usersmayprint, download, oremail articles forindividual use.