Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: The mechanisms of muscle injury repair after EPI�® technique, a treatment based on electrical\nstimulation, have not been described. This study determines whether EPI�® therapy could improve muscle damage.\nMethods: Twenty-four rats were divided into a control group, Notexin group (7 and 14 days) and a Notexin + EPI group.\nTo induce muscle injury, Notexin was injected in the quadriceps of the left extremity of rats. Pro-inflammatory interleukin\n1-beta (IL-1beta) and tumoral necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined by ELISA. The expression of receptor\nperoxisome gamma proliferator activator (PPAR-gamma), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and vascular\nendothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGF-R1) were determined by western-blot.\nResults: The plasma levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta in Notexin-injured rats showed a significant increase compared\nwith the control group. EPI�® produced a return of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta values to control levels. PPAR-gamma\nexpression diminished injured quadriceps muscle in rats. EPI�® increased PPAR-gamma, VEGF and VEGF-R1 expressions.\nEPI�® decreased plasma levels of pro-inflammatory TNF-alpha and IL-1beta and increased anti-inflammatory PPAR-gamma\nand proangiogenic factors as well as VEGF and VEGF-R1 expressions.\nConclusion: The EPI�® technique may affect inflammatory mediators in damaged muscle tissue and influences the new\nvascularization of the injured area. These results suggest that EPI�® might represent a useful new therapy for the treatment\nof muscle injuries. Although our study in rats may represent a valid approach to evaluate EPI�® treatment, studies designed\nto determine how the EPI�® treatment may affect recovery of injury in humans are needed....
Background: Although it is well known that oral pathogens can enter the systemic circulation and cause disease, it\nis largely unknown if poor oral health increases the risk of sports injuries. The purpose of this study is to investigate\nthe association between poor oral health and reinjuries in male elite soccer players, adjusted for psychosocial\nproblems and player characteristics.\nMethods: 184 Players in premier league soccer clubs and 31 elite, junior soccer players in the Netherlands, Belgium\nand England, were enrolled in a retrospective cross-sectional study. The Sports Injury Risk Indicator, a self assessed\nquestionnaire, was used to obtain information on reinjuries, age and player position, oral health and psychosocial\nproblems. The number of different types of oral health problems was used as an indicator of poor oral health. (SumDental,\nrange 0ââ?¬â??2: 0 = no oral health problems, 1 = one type of oral health problem and 2 = two or more types of oral health\nproblems). Multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate whether SumDental was associated with reinjuries,\nafter adjustment for psychosocial problems and player characteristics.\nResults: 37% of the players reported no oral health problems, 43% reported one type of oral health problem and 20%\nreported two or more types of oral health problems. After full adjustment for age, player position and psychosocial\nproblems (i.e. injury anxiety, psychophysical stress, unhealthy eating habits and dissatisfaction with trainer/team), poor oral\nhealth (SumDental) was positively associated with all kind of reinjuries whether analyzed as a continuous variable or as a\ncategorical variable. The fully adjusted odds ratios for SumDental analyzed as a continuous variable were: in relation to\nrepeated exercise-associated muscle cramps: 1.82 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07, 3.12), in relation to muscle or tendon\nreinjury 1.57 (95% CI: 1.01, 2.45) and in relation to multiple types of reinjury 1.88 (95% CI: 1.19, 2.97).\nConclusion: The results from this study justify a thorough examination of the effects of oral health problems on the\ninjury risk of playing elite soccer....
Background: Compression garments (CG) are commonly used by athletes to improve motor performance and\nrecovery during or following exercise. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of CG on physiological and\nphysical parameters with variable results as to their efficacy. A possible effect of commercially available CG may\nbe to induce a change in leg mechanical characteristics during repetitive tasks to fatigue. This investigation\ndetermined the effect of CG on performance and vertical stiffness during single-leg-hopping to exhaustion.\nMethods: Thirty-eight healthy, male participants, mean (SD) 22.1 (2.8) years of age performed single-leg hopping\nat 2.2 Hz to volitional exhaustion with a CG, without CG and with a sham. Differences in total duration of hopping\n(1-way repeated ANOVA) and dependant variables for the start and end periods (2-way repeated ANOVA) including\nduration of flight (tf), loading (tl) and contact (tc) phases, vertical height displacement during flight (zf) and loading\n(zl) phases, normalised peak vertical ground reaction force (FzN) and normalised vertical stiffness (kN), were\ndetermined. Bonferroni correction was performed to reduce the risk of type 1 error.\nResults: There was no significant difference (p = 0.73) in the total duration of hopping between conditions\n(CG (mean (SD)) 89.6 (36.3) s; without CG 88.5 (27.5) s; sham 91.3 (27.7) s). There were no significant differences\nbetween conditions for spatiotemporal or kinetic characteristics (p > 0.05). From the start to the end periods there\nwas no significant difference in tl (p = 0.15), significant decrease in tf (p < 0.001), zf and zl (p < 0.001) and increase in\ntc (p < 0.001). There was also a significant increase in kN from start to end periods (p < 0.01) ranging from 9.6 to 14.2%.\nConclusions: This study demonstrates that commercially available CG did not induce a change in spatiotemporal or\nvertical stiffness during a fatiguing task. The finding that vertical stiffness increased towards the end of the task, while\nhopping frequency and duration of loading were maintained, may indicate that there was an alteration to the motor\ncontrol strategy as fatigue approached....
Background: Exergaming is a promising new alternative to traditional modes of therapeutic exercise which may\nbe preferable and more effective for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Impaired balance is reported as one of\nthe most disabling aspects of MS. The purposes of this study were to examine the effects of exergaming on: (1)\npostural sway, (2) gait, (3) technology acceptance and (4) flow experience in people with MS. Secondary outcomes\nwere disability: 12?item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) and the World Health Organization Disability\nAssessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) questionnaire.\nMethods: Fifty-six adults (mean age = 52 years, SD = 5.8; 38 women) with a clinical diagnosis of MS and able to\nwalk 100 meters with or without use of a walking aid were included in this study and randomized into 3 groups.\nGroup 1 received balance training using the Nintendo Wii Fitââ??¢ (exergaming) and Group 2 undertook traditional\nbalance training (non-exergaming). Group 3 acted as a control group, receiving no intervention. Exergaming and\ntraditional balance training groups received four weeks of twice weekly balance-orientated exercise. Postural sway\nwas measured using a Kistlerââ??¢ force platform. Spatiotemporal parameters of gait were measured using a GAITRiteââ??¢\ncomputerised walkway. Technology acceptance and flow experience were measured using the Unified Theory of\nAcceptance and Use of Technology and the Flow State Scale questionnaires, respectively.\nResults: There were significant improvements in bipedal postural sway in both intervention groups when compared\nto the control group; and no effects of either intervention on gait. There were no significant differences between the\ninterventions in technology acceptance but on several dimensions of flow experience the Wii Fitââ??¢ was superior to\ntraditional balance training. Both interventions showed improvements in disability compared to control.\nConclusions: In terms of the physical effects of exergaming, the Wii Fitââ??¢ is comparable to traditional balance training.\nThese findings would support the use of the Wii Fitââ??¢ as an effective means of balance and gait training for people with\nMS, which is both accepted and intrinsically motivating to MS users....
Background: Ultrasound imaging is a valuable tool in exercise and sport science research, and has been used to\nvisualize and track real-time movement of muscles and tendons, estimate hydration status in body tissues, and most\nrecently, quantify skeletal muscle glycogen content. In this validation study, direct glycogen quantification from preand\npost-exercise muscle biopsy samples was compared with glycogen content estimates made through a portable,\ndiagnostic high-frequency ultrasound and cloud-based software system (MuscleSound�®, Denver, CO).\nMethods: Well-trained cyclists (N = 20, age 38.4 �± 6.0 y, 351 �± 57.6 wattsmax) participated in a 75-km cycling time trial\non their own bicycles using CompuTrainer Pro Model 8001 trainers (RacerMate, Seattle, WA). Muscle biopsy samples\nand ultrasound measurements were acquired pre- and post-exercise. Specific locations on the vastus lateralis were\nmarked, and a trained technician used a 12 MHz linear transducer and a standard diagnostic high resolution GE\nLOGIQ-e ultrasound machine (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI) to make three ultrasound measurements. Ultrasound\nimages were pre-processed to isolate the muscle area under analysis, with the mean pixel intensity averaged from the\nthree scans and scaled (0 to 100 scale) to create the glycogen score. Pre- and post-exercise muscle biopsy samples\nwere acquired at the vastus lateralis location (2 cm apart) using the suction-modified percutaneous needle biopsy\nprocedure, and analyzed for glycogen content.\nResults: The 20 cyclists completed the 75-km cycling time trial in 168 �± 26.0 minutes at a power output of 193 �± 57.8\nwatts (54.2 �± 9.6% wattsmax). Muscle glycogen decreased 77.2 �± 17.4%, with an absolute change of 71.4 �± 23.1 mmol\nglycogen per kilogram of muscle. The MuscleSound�® change score at the vastus lateralis site correlated highly with\nchange in measured muscle glycogen content (R = 0.92, P < 0.001).\nConclusions: MuscleSound�® change scores acquired from an average of three ultrasound scans at the vastus lateralis\nsite correlated significantly with change in vastus lateralis muscle glycogen content. These data support the use of the\nMuscleSound�® system for accurately and non-invasively estimating exercise-induced decreases in vastus lateralis skeletal\nmuscle glycogen content....
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