title: Nordic walking in the second half of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this article is to review the literature regarding the effectiveness and safety of Nordic walking (NW) in therapeutic rehabilitation in patients of an advanced age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized studies comparing NW with different patterns of long-lasting physical rehabilitation in older adults (average age 65 years) were selected for the review. Studies were identified through a Medline database search covering the last 21 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-four studies on this subject were identified, 37 of them fulfilled the required criteria and 27 of these were analyzed in this review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nordic walking provides a safe and effective way to enhance physical activity in the elderly. It could also serve as a method of rehabilitation that improves fitness, the performance and the exercise capacity of aged persons with diseases associated with an advanced age: cardiovascular diseases due to atherosclerosis; metabolic syndrome without diabetes; early stage Parkinson's disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lowering depression in women with Sjögren's Syndrome.
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland. cathcor@poczta.onet.pl.|Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Military Hospital, R. Weigla 5 Street, 50-981, Wroclaw, Poland. cathcor@poczta.onet.pl.|Division of Angiology, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5 Street, 51-618, Wroclaw, Poland. cathcor@poczta.onet.pl.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skórkowska-Telichowska
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland.|Department of Rehabilitation, School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, I.J. Paderewski 35 Street, 51-612, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kropielnicka
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland.|Department of Rehabilitation, School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, I.J. Paderewski 35 Street, 51-612, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bulińska
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland.|Department of Rehabilitation, School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, I.J. Paderewski 35 Street, 51-612, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Pilch
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland.|Department of Rehabilitation, School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, I.J. Paderewski 35 Street, 51-612, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Woźniewski
authors.affiliation: WroVasc-Integrated Medical Cardio-Vascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, H. Kaminski 73a Street, 51-124, Wroclaw, Poland.|Department of Internal Medicine, 4th Military Hospital, R. Weigla 5 Street, 50-981, Wroclaw, Poland.|Division of Angiology, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5 Street, 51-618, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szuba
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, School of Physical Education in Wroclaw, I.J. Paderewski 35 Street, 51-612, Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Ryszard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jasiński
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Diseases of advanced age; Elderly; Metabolic syndrome; Parkinson’s disease; Physical rehabilitation