Purpose To determine the influence of arm-crank exercise in reproductive hormone levels in adults with chronic SCI. Further objectives were to assess the influence of arm-crank exercise on muscle strength and body composition. Materials and Methods Seventeen male adults with complete SCI at or below the 5th thoracic level (T5) volunteered for this study. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 9) or control group (n = 8) using a concealed method. The participants in the intervention group performed a 12-week arm-crank exercise program, 3 sessions/week, consisting of warming-up (10-15 min) followed by a main part in arm-crank (20-30 min [increasing 2 min and 30 seconds each three weeks]) at a moderate work intensity of 50-65% of heart rate reserve (HRR) (starting at 50% and increasing 5% each three weeks) and by a cooling-down period (5-10 min). Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone and estradiol were determined by ELISA. Muscle strength (handgrip) and body composition (waist circumference [WC]) were assessed. Results After the completion of the training program, testosterone level was significantly increased (p = 0.0166;d = 1.14). Furthermore, maximal handgrip and WC were significantly improved. Lastly, a significant inverse correlation was found between WC and testosterone (r =- 0.35; p = 0.0377). Conclusion The arm-crank exercise improved reproductive hormone profile by increasing testosterone levels in adults with chronic SCI. A secondary finding was that it also significantly improved muscle strength and body composition in this group.

Recent studies have reported obesity prevalence in people with intellectual disability is even higher than in the general population what may finally lead to impair their health status and increase healthcare costs. Fortunately several studies have reported regular exercise may improve body composition in obese people with and without intellectual disability. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study conducted exclusively in female participants with intellectual disability, in an attempt to keep our sample homogeneous. To date, many studies focused on the influence of regular exercise in people with intellectual disability have recruited mixed (males and females) groups in order to increase their sample size to strengthen research designs. Therefore, we assessed the influence of a 10-week aerobic training program on fat mass percentage and indices of obesity in women with Down syndrome. To get this goal, twenty obese young women with Down syndrome volunteered for this study. Eleven were randomly assigned to perform a 10-week aerobic training program, 3 sessions/week, consisting of warming-up followed by a main part in a treadmill (30-40 min) at a work intensity of 55-65% of peak heart rate and a cooling-down period. Control group included 9 age, sex and BMI matched women with Down syndrome. Fat mass percentage and fat distribution were measured. This protocol was approved by an Institutional Ethics Committee. When compared to baseline, fat mass percentage, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio were significantly reduced after training. Conversely, no changes were reported in controls. It was concluded a 10-week training program reduced fat mass in obese adult women with Down syndrome.

En la actualidad se acepta que la obesidad es un grave problema de salud pública. La situación es aún más preocupante entre las personas con discapacidad intelectual, especialmente entre las mujeres. Afortunadamente recientes estudios sugieren la utilidad del ejercicio como estrategia frente a la obesidad. Sin embargo, la mayoría de estos estudios utilizan grupos mixtos (hombres y mujeres) o varones, siendo escasa la información sobre un grupo homogéneo de mujeres. Por consiguiente nos planteamos como hipótesis que un programa de entrenamiento de 10 semanas podría reducir el porcentaje de masa grasa y la distribución abdominal en mujeres obesas con síndrome de Down. En nuestro estudio participaron 20 mujeres adultas (18-30 años) con un cociente intelectual de 50-69 según la escala Stanford-Binet y diagnóstico citogenético de trisomía 21. Todas presentaban obesidad definida como IMC>30 kg/m2. Once de las participantes se asignaron aleatoriamente al grupo experimental y desarrollaron un programa de entrenamiento de 10 semanas de tipo aeróbico con 3 sesiones/semana. El porcentaje de masa grasa se determinó mediante impedanciometría bioeléctrica (Tanita TBF521). Para obtener el índice cintura/cadera se midieron las circunferencias de la cintura y la cadera utilizando una cinta antropométrica. Nuestro protocolo fue aprobado por un Comité de Ética Institucional. Nuestros resultados confirman que el ejercicio aeróbico redujo significativamente el porcentaje de masa grasa, el índice cintura/cadera y el perímetro de la cintura (p<0,05). Por el contrario no se observaron cambios en el grupo control. Concluimos que un programa de entrenamiento de 10 semanas consiguió mejorar la composición corporal de mujeres obesas con síndrome de Down. Futuros estudios longitudinales bien conducidos y controlados son necesarios para conocer el impacto de esta mejora en el manejo clínico de este grupo.