A study from Kanazawa University in Japan has shown that leg swelling can be reduced in the elderly as the muscle pumping action of the leg is as effective in people of all ages.
Chronic lower-limb oedema (CLO) — the permanent accumulation of fluid in the leg — often occurs in elderly people. The condition leads to various physical and mental problems, including difficulty in walking or moving, fatigue and anxiety. Lack of physical activity, associated with a decrease in muscle pump action is one of the causes of CLO.
Leg muscles can act as a blood pump: when contracted, the muscle squeezes veins together, forcing blood to flow. But it was not known whether muscle pump action changes as people age had not been thoroughly investigated. Now, Junko Sugama from Kanazawa University and colleagues have addressed this issue. In addition, they studied the effect of leg posture on the muscle pump action.
For their study, the researchers recruited 76 healthy volunteers, categorised into young, middle-aged and old, with average ages of 24, 47 and 72 years, respectively. To investigate blood flow and visualise the morphology of muscles and veins at a given position along the leg, the researchers used MRI cross-section images at 21 positions in the calf region.
To assess the effect of leg motion, subjects were asked to perform plantar flexion (pointing the foot downwards) every 2 seconds for a minute, and MRI images were taken before and after the exercise. This procedure was repeated over three different body positions: supine, sitting and standing.
The scientists found that for all postures, blood flow increased after the exercise, implying that the latter promotes muscle pump action. The blood flow velocity was observed to increase most for the standing posture (90-135%), followed by the supine (55-90%) and sitting (30-40%) postures. No age difference was seen in the flow changes, however the elderly patients had exercise habits, the researchers pointed out.
The researchers suggested that nurse measurement of muscle pump action is useful for deciding whether intervention exercise is necessary to prevent CLO but an easier measurement tool than MRI is needed.
Additional studies are needed, such as adapting the measurement equipment so that it can be applied to elderly people with reduced mobility. The scientists nevertheless concluded that for their set of subjects, “no difference was found in the changes in muscle pump action with age”, and that “elderly people may be able to maintain their muscle pump action when they have exercise habits”.
Source: News-Medical.Net
Journal reference: Fujii, T., et al. (2021) Gravity magnetic resonance imaging measurement of muscle pump change accompanied by aging and posture. Japan Journal of Nursing Science. doi.org/10.1111/jjns.12407.
