Masuki Shizue, PhD |Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine; Nose Hiroshi, MD, PhD
Competition Sponsor: Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
Awardee Year: 2024
We developed an exercise prescription system using the IoT, which enables individuals to receive instructions for performing interval walking training (IWT) according to their physical fitness from a central server. Using the system, we examined the effects of IWT in 10,000 middle-aged and older people and reported that 5-month IWT increased physical fitness by ~15%, improved symptoms of lifestyle-related diseases by ~20% and other age-associated diseases by ~30%, and decreased healthcare costs by ~20% (Compr Physiol 10: 1207-1240, 2020). As for the mechanisms, while mitochondrial dysfunction due to sarcopenia with aging reportedly causes chronic systemic inflammation, we found that IWT suppressed pro-inflammatory gene expression with increased physical fitness. In other words, the seemingly diverse symptoms of the diseases are fundamentally caused by chronic inflammation and can be improved if physical fitness is increased by IWT. Accordingly, we plan to examine the effects of IWT on diseases, from genetic to clinical levels, in “patients” who regularly visit hospitals. To do this, we recently launched the “Sports Medicine Clinical Research Center” at Shinshu University School of Medicine, where we will accumulate evidence of the effects of IWT on diseases in cooperation with clinical staff. Once collected, this evidence would enable us to change the current drug/organ specific medical system into a non-drug/integrative one, thereby reducing healthcare costs. Subsequently, we hope to spread this system to regional core hospitals throughout the country and build a healthy longevity society by activating the health service industry through reduced healthcare costs.