The effect of water immersion on short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials in human

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Water immersion therapy is used to treat a variety of cardiovascular, respiratory, and orthopedic conditions. It can also benefit some neurological patients, although little is known about the effects of water immersion on neural activity, including somatosensory processing. To this end, we examined the effect of water immersion on short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) elicited by median nerve stimuli. Short-latency SEP recordings were obtained for ten healthy male volunteers at rest in or out of water at 30°C. Recordings were obtained from nine scalp electrodes according to the 10-20 system. The right median nerve at the wrist was electrically stimulated with the stimulus duration of 0.2 ms at 3 Hz. The intensity of the stimulus was fixed at approximately three times the sensory threshold.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Water immersion significantly reduced the amplitudes of the short-latency SEP components P25 and P45 measured from electrodes over the parietal region and the P45 measured by central region.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Water immersion reduced short-latency SEP components known to originate in several cortical areas. Attenuation of short-latency SEPs suggests that water immersion influences the cortical processing of somatosensory inputs. Modulation of cortical processing may contribute to the beneficial effects of aquatic therapy.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>UMIN-CTR (UMIN000006492)</p

Does moderate-to-high intensity Nordic walking improve functional capacity and pain in fibromyalgia? A prospective randomized controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of moderate-to-high intensity Nordic walking (NW) on functional capacity and pain in fibromyalgia (FM). METHODS: A total of 67 women with FM were recruited to the study and randomized either to moderate-to-high intensity Nordic Walking (n = 34, age 48 ± 7.8 years) or to a control group engaging in supervised low-intensity walking (LIW, n = 33, age 50 ± 7.6 years). Primary outcomes were the six-minute walk test (6MWT) and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire Pain scale (FIQ Pain). Secondary outcomes were: exercise heart rate in a submaximal ergometer bicycle test, the FIQ Physical (activity limitations) and the FIQ total score. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients completed the post-test. Significantly greater improvement in the 6MWT was found in the NW group (P = 0.009), as compared with the LIW group. No between-group difference was found for the FIQ Pain (P = 0.626). A significantly larger decrease in exercise heart rate (P = 0.020) and significantly improved scores on the FIQ Physical (P = 0.027) were found in the NW group as compared with the LIW group. No between-group difference was found for the change in the FIQ total. The effect sizes were moderate for the above mentioned outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise by means of Nordic walking twice a week for 15 weeks was found to be a feasible mode of exercise, resulting in improved functional capacity and a decreased level of activity limitations. Pain severity did not change over time during the exercise period. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00643006