Evaluation of Lumbar Myofascial Release Effects on Lumbar Flexion Angle and Pelvic Inclination Angle in Patients with Non-Specific Low Back Pain

Background: Many studies have shown that changes in lumbar flexion angle and the pelvic inclination angle can be affected by the shortening of the lumbar muscles, which can cause low back pain. Decreased lumbar flexion angle and pelvic inclination angle can cause or exacerbate low back pain by disrupting the lumbopelvic rhythm. Purpose: This study aimed to use myofascial release techniques as a specialized treatment on muscle tissue to cause muscles to reach the optimal length and improve lumbar flexion angle and pelvic inclination angle, and thus improve low-back pain. Setting: Non-specific low back pain patients, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran. Participants: 30 chronic non-specific low back pain participants were randomly assigned into two groups. Research Design: This is a randomized control trial. Interventions: The myofascial release group (n=15) underwent 4 sessions of myofascial release treatment based on Myer’s techniques, and the control group (n=15) underwent 10 sessions of routine electrotherapy for two weeks. Main Outcome Measures: Before start-ing the intervention and after the last treatment session, both groups were evaluated by the lumbar flexion angle with a flexible ruler, calculating the pelvic inclination angle by a trigonometric formula, and VAS measured the pain score of the participants. Results: The results of the paired t test showed that, after treatment in both groups, the severity of pain and lumbar flexion angle changed significantly (p ≤ .001). However, the pelvic inclination angle was changed considerably only in the myofascial release group, and we did not see significant changes in the control group (p = .082). Also, the independent sample t test results to examine the between-group changes showed that changes in the myofascial release group were significantly different from the control group (p ≤ .000). Also, the effect size shows the large effect of the myofascial release technique compared to the control group (effect size ≥ 1.85). Conclusion: The present study results showed that myofascial release techniques in patients with low back pain could help decrease pain intensity and increase lumbar flexion and pelvic inclination angle. Based on the present study results, myofascial release can be a treat-ment to correct posture in patients with chronic non-specific, low back pain. Due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to evaluate the long-term effects of treatment

Effects of a six-week endurance weight training program on bioelectrical activity of muscles and functional tests in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) isa common metabolic disease associated with pathophysiologicalchanges in the neuromuscular system.The present study aimed to investigate the effectsof a 6-week endurance training program on musclestrength, electrophysiological parameters, and functionalactivities in T2DM patients. Methods. The study period was divided into 6 weekswithout training and 6 weeks with training. TwelveT2DM patients participated in this study. During thetraining period, the same T2DM patients went throughan endurance training program. The assessment processincluded measurement of muscle strength, surfaceelectromyography (SEMG) recording, and functionaltests. Twelve healthy individuals were evaluated tocompare their data with the T2DM patients. Results. The results showed that the muscle strengthand the amplitudes of the SEMG signals of T2DM patientswere lower than those of the healthy subjects.The bioelectric activity of T2DM patients increasedafter six weeks of the endurance training program. Thefunctional tests showed significant improvement afterthe endurance training program in T2DM patients,while no significant difference was observed betweenthe T2DM and healthy subjects. Conclusions. The short-term endurance-training programfor lower limb muscles increased muscle strengthand SEMG amplitudes of the knee extensor and flexormuscles and improved functional tests in T2DM patients,which may be attributed to neural adaptationafter the endurance-training program

Effects of eccentric and concentric exercises on some blood biochemical parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes

omplications. There are several studies about the beneficial effects of aerobic and resistance exercises onblood glucose and lipids levels, insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetic patients. However, there is no study toinvestigate the effects of eccentric exercise in these patients. This study was designed to compare the effectof eccentric and concentric exercises on some of the blood biochemical parameters in type 2 of diabeticpatients.Materials and Methods: 28 type 2 diabetic patients were assigned randomly in one of the twoexperimental eccentric and concentric groups. Before and after control and also after intervention, bloodsugers, HbA1c, lipids and body mass index were measured.Results: The results showed that eccentric and concentric exercises result in a significant decrease inblood sugar, HbA1c, and blood lipids. Eccentric exercise training also significantly reduced blood sugarlevels and HbA1c compared to the concentric exercise (P<0.0001). Moreover, no significant changes werefound in blood lipids levels in regard to the type of exercise.Conclusion: Our findings show that eccentric exercise is more effective than concentric exercise withrespect to reducing and controlling blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetic patient