Improvement in cardio-metabolic health and immune signatures in old individuals using daily chores () as an intervention: A randomized crossover study in a little-studied population.

Iftikhar Alam, Riaz Ullah, Attaullah Jan, Bismillah Sehar, Atif Ali Khan Khalil, Huma Naqeeb, Essam A Ali, Qazi Muhammad Farooq Wahab, Mahpara Safdar, Abid Ali, Muhammad Haidar Zaman, Falak Zeb

Journal: Frontiers in public health 2022;10():1009055

PMID: 36353274

Free Full Text on PubMed Central View on PubMed

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Decline in cardio-metabolic health, immunity, and physical activity is associated with old age. Old people also find it difficult to engage in structured exercise programs. Therefore, there is a need to investigate common daily chores as an alternative for exercise that may also help in maintaining cardio-metabolic and immune health.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate whether , an obligatory Islamic prayer involving various physical movements and closely resembling yoga, enhances the benefits conferred by the current guidelines for physical activity.

METHODS

A total of 30 overweight adults (mean (SD) age of 53.5 (8.7) years) participated in this study. For a 4-week duration, we compared the effects of before/after meals (Pre-MS/Post-MS) on selected immunological and metabolic parameters in serum samples. We also compared the effects of both Pre-MS/Post-MS regimens in young and old subjects to observe any age-related effects.

RESULTS

Most of the baseline metabolic parameters and the count of immune cells were normal. Post-MS resulted in a significant reduction in body weight and percent body fat (%BF). Overall, Post-MS resulted in a clear leukocytosis with a significant increase in granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. When analyzing the lymphocyte compartment, a clear numerical increase was noted for T, B, and NK cells. The number of CD8+ T cells showed a statistically significant increase. Similarly, Post-MS induced leukocytosis in both young and old individuals, while the increase in granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes was statistically significant in old subjects only.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that the Islamic obligatory and congressional practice is capable of mimicking desirable pro-immune and pro-metabolic health effects.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

(UMIN000048901).

Address: Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, Peshawar, Pakistan.; Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.; Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, United Kingdom.; Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Institute of Pharmacy, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan.; Department of Clinical Nutrition, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center, Peshawar, Pakistan.; Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.; Department of ENT, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Peshawar, Pakistan.; Department of Environmental Design, Health & Nutritional Sciences, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan.; Boro Park Center of Rehabilitation, New York, NY, United States.; Nan Shi Fu Zhong, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.; Research Institute for Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1009055

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MeSH Terms: Adult, Humans, Middle Aged, Cross-Over Studies, Leukocytosis, Exercise, Overweight, Islam