Circulation & The Elementary School

Currently taking a break from reviewing "Accelerated Longitudinal Decline of Aerobic Capacity in Healthy Older Adults". It seemed like an interesting article at the time when I chose it, but it is way more technical than I anticipated... but alas, I shall make it through as I always do. The main conclusion of the article is that former studies that only looked at "snap-shots" (cross-sectional studies) of age brackets were not very accurate... This study is longitudinal, meaning that it looks at the same group of people over time. The study used the the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) to collect data, this is America's longest-running scientific study of human aging, which has been going since 1958.

What they found was that the rate of decline of peak treadmill oxygen consumption (peak VO2) accelerates markedly with each successive age decade, especially in men, regardless of physical activity habits. Does this mean that exercise is not important? NOT AT ALL!
The authors of the study discuss the fact that this remains highly controversial as some studies provide evidence for this idea and some against it...
If I may be so bold... I doubt that any study will ever find any negative effects from moderate exercise at any age. So make sure you go out and get some exercise at any given point in your life...

Speaking of which this was the main message 3 of my classmates and I tried to convey to 4th and 5th graders at an elementary school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The PT on staff and some of the teachers were kind enough to work out some class time for us to talk to their students about what PT is, what we do, and what they can do to stay healthy. The kids had so many questions, albeit not all about PT, but the energy and curiosity was there.
The main things I learned were that the 4th graders at that school do not have gym, it has been replaced by african dance... The school does not have students do the "pledge of allegiance" as I did throughout my schooling... Evolution is a fairly accepted idea... 5th graders apparently learn about sound waves and some physica and the airway system (they were able to recite that air travels from the nasal passage, to the trachea, to the bronchus, to the alveoli, ends up in the lungs, and that the diaphragm is the main muscle of breathing!!!)

They will learn more than we'll ever know... if they can just put down the video games and soda, and as one of my professors says... WHY CAN'T THEY FOUND THE FOUL LINE ON A BASKETBALL COURT?!?!

It was an awesome experience for me and the other 3 student PT's that went and it appeared to be a great experience for the kids... We are planning more school visits and if you or anyone you know has a connection to any students from elementary school all the way up to undergrad in the NYC area, please let me know so we could set something up. It really is a lot of fun. That's my favorite part of this profession, the possibilities of fun...

Now back to reading and analyzing the rest of this Circulation article.