Does downhill walking on treadmill improve physical status and quality of life of a patient with COPD?

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is accompanied by several extra-pulmonary consequences, such as skeletal muscle weakness and atrophy which will have a negative impact on daily life in patients and lead to their debilitation; therefore, when treating COPD patients, protocols should be taken into account to improve function and quality of life (QoL). Case Presentation: The case was a 71- year-old woman suffering from chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis for 30 years that has been faced with increased musculoskeletal disorders in recent months. The case was managed by downhill treadmill walking for four months with the aim of improving her functional ability and QoL. Functional tests, thigh girth measurement and St. george�s respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) were used to assess the physical status and QoL of the patient. The outcomes measures confirmed the improvement of the studied case. The improvements continued three months after the beginning of the treatment. Conclusions: The eccentric exercise therapy in the form of downhill walking had positive effects on functions and QoL of studied case, especially had an augmenting effect on the thigh muscles size. © 2015, Sports Medicine Research Center

The study of correlation between forward head posture and neck pain in Iranian office workers

Objectives: Factors such as prolonged sitting at work or improper posture of head during work may have a great role in neck pain occurrence among office employees, particularly among those who work with computers. Although some studies claim a significant difference in head posture between patients and pain-free participants, in literature the forward head posture (FHP) has not always been associated with neck pain. Since head, cervical and thoracic postures and their relation with neck pain has not been studied in Iranian office employees, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between some work-related and individual factors, such as poor posture, with neck pain in the office employees. Material and Methods: It was a cross-sectional correlation study carried out to explore the relationship between neck pain and sagittal postures of cervical and thoracic spine among office employees in forward looking position and also in a working position. Forty-six subjects without neck pain and 55 with neck pain were examined using a photographic method. Thoracic and cervical postures were measured using the high thoracic (HT) and craniovertebral (CV) angles, respectively. Results: High thoracic and CV angles were positively correlated with the presence of neck pain only in working position (p 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings have revealed that office employees had a defective posture while working and that the improper posture was more severe in the office employees who suffered from the neck pain

Effects of whole-body vibration on postural control in elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This systematic review was performed to summarize the current evidence for whole body vibration (WBV) interventions on postural control in elderly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>English and German language papers in Medline, PEDro, Cinahl and the Cochrane databases were searched. Two reviewers extracted data on patients' characteristics, type of WBV intervention and outcomes. Two independent reviewers rated the methodological quality of these studies. Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifteen papers reporting quantitative data were included. Results from 15 papers could be pooled for a meta-analysis. The studies involved 933 participants. In 7 studies the authors investigated the effects of vibration plates generating vertical sinusoidal vibrations (VS-WBV) and 7 papers described the use of side-alternating sinusoidal vibrations (SS-WBV). One study investigated both VS-WBV and SS-WBV.</p> <p>Weak to moderate evidence of an overall effect as a result of VS-WBV and SS-WBV was observed for (a) static balance for post-intervention values with a standardized mean difference (SMD) -0.06, 95% CI -0.31 to 0.18 and for change values SMD -0.26, 95% CI -1.09 to 0.57, and (b) dynamic balance for post-intervention-values SMD -0.34, 95% CI -0.60 to -0.08. For functional balance (c) an overall outcome for post-intervention values with SMD of 0.34, 95% CI -0.19 to 0.87 was found.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The 15 studies reviewed were of moderate methodological quality. In summary, SS-WBV seems to have a beneficial effect on dynamic balance in elderly individuals. However, the current results should be interpreted with caution because of the observed heterogeneity of training parameters and statistical methods. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the effects of WBV on postural control in an elderly population.</p

Efficacy of high-intensity laser therapy in comparison with conventional physiotherapy and exercise therapy on pain and function of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial with 12-week follow up

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders causing pain and functional impairment. The purpose of the study is to compare the effects of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT), conventional physical therapy (CPT), and exercise therapy (ET) on pain and function in patients with KOA. The study was designed as an assessor-blind randomized controlled trial. Ninety-three patients (aged between 50 and 75 years) with proved KOA were included and randomly allocated into three groups, and received 12 sessions of HILT, CPT, or ET. The outcomes were pain intensity measured by visual analog scale (VAS), knee flexion range of motion (FROM), timed up and go test (TUG), 6-min walk test (6MWT), and functionality of knee measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) questionnaire. Statistical analyses were done to compare the amounts at the baseline, immediately after treatment and after 12 weeks. HILT was significantly more effective than the other groups in decreasing the VAS, increasing FROM and improving the scores of WOMAC (total and function subscale) both after treatment and after 12 weeks. The effect of HILT and CPT on the TUG, 6MWT, and WOMAC pain subscale was not significantly different after treatment, and both were better than ET. HILT was significantly better than the others after follow-up, particularly more effective on the stiffness subscale of WOMAC. HILT combined with exercise therapy, as a useful therapeutic approach, could have positive influences on KOA patients. © 2018, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature

Efficacy of high-intensity laser therapy in comparison with conventional physiotherapy and exercise therapy on pain and function of patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial with 12-week follow up

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders causing pain and functional impairment. The purpose of the study is to compare the effects of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT), conventional physical therapy (CPT), and exercise therapy (ET) on pain and function in patients with KOA. The study was designed as an assessor-blind randomized controlled trial. Ninety-three patients (aged between 50 and 75 years) with proved KOA were included and randomly allocated into three groups, and received 12 sessions of HILT, CPT, or ET. The outcomes were pain intensity measured by visual analog scale (VAS), knee flexion range of motion (FROM), timed up and go test (TUG), 6-min walk test (6MWT), and functionality of knee measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis (WOMAC) questionnaire. Statistical analyses were done to compare the amounts at the baseline, immediately after treatment and after 12 weeks. HILT was significantly more effective than the other groups in decreasing the VAS, increasing FROM and improving the scores of WOMAC (total and function subscale) both after treatment and after 12 weeks. The effect of HILT and CPT on the TUG, 6MWT, and WOMAC pain subscale was not significantly different after treatment, and both were better than ET. HILT was significantly better than the others after follow-up, particularly more effective on the stiffness subscale of WOMAC. HILT combined with exercise therapy, as a useful therapeutic approach, could have positive influences on KOA patients. © 2018, Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature

Comparison of the length of shoulder girdle’s muscles, neck and shoulder range of motion in patients with chronic neck - shoulder pain and healthy subjects

Background and Objective: One of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in modern societies is neck and shoulder pains which often lead to postural disorders and soft tissue shortenings. This study was done to compare the length of shoulder girdle’s muscles in healthy subjects and patients with shoulder and neck pain. Methods: This case-control study was done on16 patients with chronic neck- shoulder pain as cases and 15 healthy subjects as control group. Length of upper trapezius, pectoralis major and minor muscles was evaluated with functional tests. Also, the range of shoulder abduction and external rotation and cervical flexion and lateral flexion were measured by goniometer. Results: Significant differences between patient and control groups were found in pectoralis major and minor muscles length in involved side (P<0.05) and also in neck active range of lateral flexion (P<0.05). Furthermore, there were significant differences between shoulder active range of abduction and external rotation (P<0.05) in the groups. Conclusion: This study confirmed a significant reduction in range of motion in the neck and shoulder and also a remarkably shortening in the muscles of in the involved side

A comparative study of whole body vibration training and conventional training on knee proprioception and postural stability after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Objective: To compare the effect of a whole body vibration training (WBVT) programme with a conventional training (CT) programme on knee proprioception and postural stability after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Methods: Twenty athletes with unilateral ACL reconstruction were randomly assigned to the WBVT or CT group; all participants received 12 sessions of WBVT or conventional training. Absolute error in joint repositioning for two target angles (30° and 60°) was measured with the Biodex dynamometer; bilateral dynamic postural stability (anteroposterior, mediolateral and overall stability indices) was measured with the Biodex Stability System pre-intervention and post-intervention. Results: The improvement in postural stability in the WBVT group was significantly greater than that in the CT group (p�0.05). The p values of the changing scores of open overall, open anteroposterior, open mediolateral, closed overall, closed anteroposterior and closed mediolateral stability indices were 0.002, 0.010, 0.0001, 0.001, 0.0001 and 0.046, respectively. In addition, there were significant differences in all averages of absolute angular error at 60° and 30° between the WBVT and CT groups in both knees (p = 0.001 in healthy knees and p = 0.001 and p = 0.0001 in reconstructed knees), apart from the healthy knees at the 30° target position, which was not significant (p = 0.131). Conclusions: Whole body vibration training improved proprioception and balance in athletes with reconstructed ACL