Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in People with Diabetes; Biomarkers and Nutritional Supplementation

Exercise is important for controlling hemoglobin A1c, and maintaining proper glycemic control in people with diabetes. Exercise also increases the diabetics overall insulin sensitivity, and decreases their dependency on diabetes medication. However, people with diabetes are faced with metabolic and endothelial impairment, which could result in a prolonged sensation of muscle soreness following exercise. This would make it difficult for these people to sustain exercise regimes. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common problem in healthy individuals and in people who have diabetes. DOMS is a painful sensation experienced by individuals who have been recently inactive and then over-exercise. Yet, because people with diabetes usually have neuropathies, they may not feel this soreness appropriately, leading to premature return to exercise and causing further injuries. Therefore, this investigation assessed the differences in DOMS between people with diabetes, and healthy individuals, at 2 different body regions. However, DOMS is mainly measured with subjective scales, but we wanted to establish a new objective measure. Infra-red (IR) thermal imaging was used as one of the biomarkers in this assessment, and after expanding on this technique, it was considered a valid and relaible tool for detecting and quantifying delayed onset muscle soreness after an intense exercise session. Once muscle soreness in people with diabetes was determined, and a new novel biomarker was established, another focus of this dissertation was to examine whether DOMS could be attenuated by ingesting a nutritional supplement. Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) have been shown to be effective in promoting muscle recovery following exercise; however, the effects of this supplement have not been investigated amongst diabetic individuals. The results of this experiment showed that people with diabetes get sorer than healthy individuals. It was also found that IR thermal imaging may be a valuable technique for identifying which muscles are sore after exercising. Thus, thermal imaging would be an efficient and painless way of quantifying DOMS in both healthy individuals and in people with diabetes. Furthermore, this investigation showed that BCAA significantly reduced muscle soreness and enhanced healing in subjects with diabetes. However, in the healthy control group this supplement had minimal effects

COMPARISON OF MUSCULOSKELETAL STRESS ON LUMBAR, SHOULDER, AND WRIST JOINTS WHILE MAKING A BED USING EASYTUCK PAD VERSUS OTHER BED-MAKING TOOLS

Objective: Currently, there are multiple bed-making tools utilized by consumers and businesses with the intention of increasing safety and reducing time to make a bed. In this study, we will compare musculoskeletal stress, time, and preference of making a bed using the EasyTuck pad versus three other bed-making tools and making a bed without any bed-making tool. Methods: A sample of ten subjects performed the task of making a queen size mattress bed with one bottom fitted sheet and one top flat sheet, using the EasyTuck pad versus three other bed-making tools, and making a bed without any bed-making tool, in a random order. Time to make the bed, forces on the low back, shoulders and wrist, and the number of times each individual bent forward were measured during each trial. In addition, subjective preferences were measured using a simple questionnaire. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the differences between the five different procedures. There were significant differences for all the measured variables. Regarding the time needed to make one bed, the EasyTuck pad had the least time range (80.6 s±4.3), which was approximately 40 s less than making the bed with no tool (p<0.001). Furthermore, for the overall lumbar spine impulse force, the EasyTuck pad had the largest overall reduction in this category (90.6%). Regarding the subjective data, the EasyTuck pad had an overall rating of 9.4 out of 10, compared to the other tools with ratings of 5.9, 5.1, and 3.4 out of 10, which was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: Making beds on a regular basis poses risk of injury, especially for those who are required to perform this for their occupation. However, using assistive tools for bed-making, could minimize, and prevent injuries and overload to the lower back, and other parts of the body, making the bed-making task safer. Based on our findings, the EasyTuck pad was by far the most efficient and safest tool to assist in making beds, with the lowest possible risk of injury when compared to all the other tools tested

The Influence of Autonomic Dysfunction Associated with Aging and Type 2 Diabetes on Daily Life Activities

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and ageing have well documented effects on every organ in the body. In T2D the autonomic nervous system is impaired due to damage to neurons, sensory receptors, synapses and the blood vessels. This paper will concentrate on how autonomic impairment alters normal daily activities. Impairments include the response of the blood vessels to heat, sweating, heat transfer, whole body heating, orthostatic intolerance, balance, and gait. Because diabetes is more prevalent in older individuals, the effects of ageing will be examined. Beginning with endothelial dysfunction, blood vessels have impairment in their ability to vasodilate. With this and synaptic damage, the autonomic nervous system cannot compensate for effectors such as pressure on and heating of the skin. This and reduced ability of the heart to respond to stress, reduces autonomic orthostatic compensation. Diminished sweating causes the skin and core temperature to be high during whole body heating. Impaired orthostatic tolerance, impaired vision and vestibular sensing, causes poor balance and impaired gait. Overall, people with T2D must be made aware and counseled relative to the potential consequence of these impairments