CASE REPORT

Exercise capacity in a 78 year old patient with McArdle’s disease: it is never too late to start exercising

M Perez¹, M A Martin², J C Rubio², J L Maté-Muñoz¹, F Gómez-Gallego¹, C Foster³, A L Andreu⁴, J Arenas², A Lucia¹

¹ Universidad Europea de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
² Centro de Investigación, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid
³ Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA
⁴ Hospital Val d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor Lucia
Polideportivo Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón Madrid 28670, Spain; alejandro.lucia{at}uem.es

The case is reported of a 78 year old man with McArdle’s disease and a history of treated coronary heart disease. Despite the pre-exercise administration of sucrose allowing the patient to exercise with normal physiological responses, and without typical McArdle’s symptoms or biochemical evidence of muscle damage, his exercise capacity was very low (O₂PEAK = 10.7 ml/min/kg), probably attributable to his lifetime of sedentary living. The data suggest that, with pre-exercise sucrose administration, such patients may be candidates for systematic reconditioning, which may improve functional capacity and quality of life.

Keywords: ageing; glycogen phosphorylase deficiency; glycogenosis type V; muscle; maximum oxygen uptake

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Commentary

S J Fleck⁵

⁵ Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, USA; sfleck{at}coloradocollege.edu

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