💬 Biography
Ivan Bautmans (MSc PT, MSc MT, PhD) is a biogerontological expert focusing on physical training, sarcopenia and inflammation. As tenured full professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) he leads the Gerontology department and the Frailty & Resilience in Ageing Research Unit (https://fria.research.vub.be) and coordinates 2 major Research Programs 1) on Healthy Ageing and 2) on the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise in the aged. Heading the Research Master Gerontological Sciences (VUB, (www.vub.ac.be/en/study/research-master-gerontological-sciences) he lectures on healthy ageing & research methodology. Ivan Bautmans is Collen-Francqui Chair 2025 (KULeuven) and received 6 scientific prizes for work on muscle fatigue in frailty. He is board member of the Belgian Society for Gerontology & Geriatrics (www.geriatrie.be), founding board member of the Belgian Ageing Muscle Society (www.ageingmuscle.be) and co-chair of the Sarcopenia Special Interest Group of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (www.eugms.org). He is scientific advisor at SOMT University of Physiotherapy (NL, https://somt.nl/), visiting guest professor at Hanze University of Applied Sciences (NL, https://www.hanze.nl/nl) with whom he has an international joint research group (https://www.paratonia.org/) and collaborates extensively with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
🎤 Presentation: Unveiling Vitality Capacity: the key to Healthy Ageing
Healthy Ageing is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age”. Functional ability depends on intrinsic capacity, which is “the composite of all the physical and mental capacities that an individual can draw on”. When intrinsic capacity is too low to cope with the environmental challenges, functional loss and disability occurs, hreatening physical independency. Vitality capacity is considered as the underlying physiological determinant of intrinsic capacity reflecting the rate of biological ageing. While physical activity is a key element in its maintenance and improvement, vitality capacity is negatively impacted by (low-grade) inflammation. Most ageing persons develop a chronic low-grade inflammatory profile (CLIP), which is a major pathophysiological driver for frailty and other ageing-related chronic diseases. Therefore, monitoring the trajectories of vitality capacity during ageing is of uttermost importance to provide timely (preventive) interventions. Fatigue and muscle endurance are two biomarkers of vitality capacity, which are easy to measure and allow to identify older persons with increasing CLIP and at risk for frailty. Since also CLIP can be countered by means of physical exercise, knowledge of these concepts and their assessment are highly relevant for the audience of the IAGG -conference in their mission to promote healthy ageing.