The Achilles tendon is an elastic storage tendon that converts kinetic energy into mechanical energy and reduces the metabolic cost of high-speed locomotion. Numerous studies have shown that the tendon is responsive to mechanical stimuli with changes in CSA and collagen synthesis both in the short- and long-term.1 2 This ...

Fatigue is debilitating in multiple sclerosis (MS) and may have multiple causes. Recent investigations into objectively measurable correlates of fatigue have used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine a range of neurophysiological measures of neural excitability that may be altered in patients with MS. This qualitative review was conducted to ...

INTRODUCTION: Up until now, there has been little description of the test exercises carried out in patients with neuromuscular diseases. However, prescription of physical therapy by exercise requires rigorous individualized assessment of the patient's physical endurance parameters. OBJECTIVE: To describe exercise tolerance and external limitation factors in a sample group ...

The purpose of this study was to summarize the effects of physical activity and exercise on peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in healthy humans. Experimental and observational studies were identified from PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and SPORT Discus. A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria. Evidence from ...

BACKGROUND: For female marathon runners, breast pain (mastalgia) may be an important issue which has yet to be considered. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of mastalgia in female marathon runners, identify factors that increase mastalgia and methods used to overcome mastalgia, and explore the impact that ...

Unaccustomed strenuous exercise that includes lengthening contraction (LC) often causes delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), a kind of muscular mechanical hyperalgesia. Previously we reported that bradykinin-like substance released from the muscle during exercise plays a pivotal role in triggering the process of muscular mechanical hyperalgesia by upregulating nerve growth factor ...

ObjectiveThis study compares sensory-biological, cognitive-emotional, and cognitive-interpretational factors in predicting angina on an exercise treadmill test (ETT).MethodsA total of 163 patients with ETT-induced ischemia and coronary artery disease in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Psychophysiological Investigations of Myocardial Ischemia study were given an ETT, during which 79 patients ...

In the last decade, a considerable number of articles has shown that exercise is effective in improving motor performance in Parkinson disease. In particular, recent studies have focused on the efficacy of intensive exercise in achieving optimal results in the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson disease. The effects of intensive ...

Current dogma states that meaningful recovery of function after spinal cord injury (SCI) will likely require a combination of therapeutic interventions comprised of regenerative/neuroprotective transplants, addition of neurotrophic factors, elimination of inhibitory molecules, functional sensorimotor training, and/or stimulation of paralyzed muscles or spinal circuits. We routinely use (1) peripheral nerve ...

Based on a series of exercise tests which included the estimation of sweat losses, this article proposes a novel sweat scoring system for exercising horses. This provides a practical estimate of individual animal exercise-induced sweat losses, based on visible appearance of sweat on the coat after work, which takes into ...

BACKGROUND: There is no defined set of criteria for diagnosing erosive lichen planus affecting the vulva (ELPV) and there is geographical variation in management. OBJECTIVES: To reach consensus on clinico-pathological diagnostic criteria for ELPV. METHODS: This was a three-stage international electronic-Delphi exercise with a subsequent formal feedback process. In the ...

Increase of factor VIII activity (FVIII) after physical exercise has been reported in healthy subjects and small-scale studies in patients with coagulopathies. The aim was to study whether moderate and mild haemophilia A patients are able to increase their endogenous FVIII activity levels by physical activity. We studied changes in ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Besides exercise intolerance, the assessment of ventilatory and perfusion adequacy allows additional insights in the disease pathophysiology in many cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases. Valid measurements of dead space/tidal volume ratios (VD/VT), arterial (a') - end-tidal (et) carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) pressure differences (p(a'-et)CO2) and (p(et-a')O2), ...

This review presents the epidemiological data regarding the exercise-related complication in exercising sickle cell trait carriers, and focuses on the different potential mechanisms that could be involved in these adverse events, such as hemorheological alterations, inflammation, vascular adhesion of circulating blood cells, oxidative stress and impaired nitric oxide metabolism. We ...

BackgroundTo evaluate the long-term needs of lung cancer survivors and to explore factors associated with unmet need.Patients and methodsWe recruited lung patients treated with curative surgery from 2001 through 2006 at two centers in Korea. Needs in the domains of information, supportive care, education and counseling, and socioeconomic support were ...

Objective: Lack of exercise is a risk factor for various negative health outcomes. Some research suggests people with severe mental illnesses are less likely to engage in exercise than the general population. The purpose of this report is to document, analyze, and understand self-identified barriers to exercise that may be ...

Habit formation may be important to maintaining repetitive healthy behaviors like exercise. Existing habit questionnaires only measure part of the definition of habit (automaticity; frequency). A novel habit questionnaire was evaluated that measured contextual cueing. We designed a two-stage observational cohort study of regular exercisers. For stage 1, we conducted ...

Sarcopenia leads to a loss of strength, later on to a decreased functional status, impaired mobility, a higher risk of falls, and eventually an increased risk of mortality. There are many factors responsible for the decline of muscle mass and muscle strength associated with aging, although the complex, multi-factorial mechanisms ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, which is most commonly associated with smoking or exposure to environmental pollutants. Unfortunately, there is an inadequate understanding of the molecular and physiological determinants governing one's susceptibility for developing COPD. Here, we describe a novel hypothesis: Individuals with ...

As maintenance of lifestyle change and risk factor modification following completion of cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to be notoriously difficult, we developed a brief self-regulation lifestyle program for post-cardiac rehabilitation patients. Randomized-controlled trial. Following completion of cardiac rehabilitation 210 patients were randomized to receive either a lifestyle maintenance program ...

Background The psychological benefits of exercise are repeatedly and consistently reported in the literature. Various forms of exercise, varying in duration and intensity, yield comparably positive changes in affect, which sheds doubt on the significance of exercise characteristics in the acute mental health benefits resulting from physical activity. Aims Based ...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of isometric horizontal abduction using Thera-Band during three exercises (forward flexion, scaption, and wall push-up plus) in subjects with scapular winging by investigating the electromyographic (EMG) amplitude of the pectoralis major, serratus anterior and the pectoralis major/serratus anterior activity ratio. ...

Abstract Objectives: T'ai chi is a form of mind-body practice used as exercise in China, though limited data are available on characteristics of t'ai chi users and factors associated with practice. Methods: Characteristics of and factors associated with t'ai chi practice among middle-aged and elder Chinese in Shanghai China were ...

The aim of this study was to examine the physical activity of children with and without asthma in Greece, the factors affecting their intention to exercise, and the influence of gender. The study involved 50 children with asthma and 50 children without asthma, aged 9-14-years old. We used the leisure ...

While intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) has been reported to evoke cellular responses via hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) but without substantial performance benefits in endurance athletes, we hypothesized that repeated sprint training in hypoxia could enhance repeated sprint ability (RSA) performed in normoxia via improved glycolysis and O(2) utilization. 40 trained ...

Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) are considered to mediate the inflammatory reaction of cerebral ischemia injury, and exercise can inhibit the activity of the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway in the peripheral blood of humans. Although physical exercise has been demonstrated to be neuroprotective in both clinical ...

An unprecedented 85 harbour porpoises stranded freshly dead along approximately 100 km of Danish coastline from 7-15 April, 2005. This total is considerably above the mean weekly stranding rate for the whole of Denmark, both for any time of year, 1.23 animals/week (ranging from 0 to 20 during 2003-2008, excluding ...

Neurotrophin 4 (NT-4) belongs to the family of neurotrophic factors, and it interacts with the tyrosine kinase B (trkB) receptor. NT-4 has neuroprotective effects following cerebral ischemia. Its role might be similar to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), because both interact with trkB. Exercise also improves neural function by increasing neurotrophic ...

This randomized, placebo-exercise controlled trial found that 6-months of Kung Fu training improved enjoyment of physical activity more than the placebo-exercise intervention, while both groups improved perceptions of behavioral conduct and changed strategies for physical activity. Importantly, family support for physical activity declined in subjects who had more visits to ...

In patients with normal results on stress single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) studies, coronary artery disease risk factors (RFs) and the mode of testing can influence the trajectory of long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, the combined prognostic impact of these commonly assessed factors has heretofore not been considered. In this study, all-cause ...

What factors are associated with adherence of older adults to group exercise interventions for the prevention of falls? What is the relationship between adherence and the falls prevention efficacy of the intervention? Systematic review with meta-analysis of randomised trials. Older adults (60 years and older) undertaking a group exercise intervention ...

High shear stress (HS) associated with artery stenosis facilitates thrombin generation (TG) by increasing the release of procoagulant platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs). Physical exercise and hypoxia may paradoxically modulate vascular thrombotic risks. This study investigated how exercise training with/without hypoxia affected TG mediated by PDMPs under physio-pathological shear flows. Seventy five ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between the level of exercise behavior and individual and environmental factors related to exercise behavior among female Japanese undergraduate students. METHODS: The participants were 2,482 female Japanese undergraduate students. Participants' level of exercise behavior was measured by the ...

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the topic of physical training and blood coagulation are rare and the effects are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether endurance training adjusts blood coagulation and fibrinolysis at rest and after exercise. The study included 50 healthy untrained non-smokers randomized into ...

Abstract The present study addresses whether exercise during pregnancy in mouse alters mitochondrial function in the brains of the resultant offspring. We divided pregnant mice into 4 groups: a control group (CON), and groups of mice that exercised for 20 (E20m), 30 (E30m), and 40 min per day (E40m). The pregnant ...

Background: This study compared older men and women with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors in terms of the effects of a 6-month exercise intervention on high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels, blood pressure (BP) and other risk factors. Methods and Results: Sixty older (age 61-79) overweight men and 71 such women with 2 or ...

Exercise induced asthma (EIA) common in endurance and other athletes limits physical activity. Although a correlation between recurrent childhood bronchitis and the development of asthma has been reported, its relation to EIA in adult athletes has not been assessed. The study evaluates the EIA risk after recurrent childhood wheezing (RCW) ...

Current reviews outside of sport indicate that the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) items load on two separate factors (optimism and pessimism) and, therefore, should be treated as independent constructs. However, researchers in the sport sciences continue to use the single composite score reflecting a unidimensional definition of optimism. Hence, I ...

Closed-head injury (CHI) usually involves both physical damage of neurons and neuroinflammation. Although exercise promotes neuron repair and suppresses neuroinflammation, currently CHI patients often stay resting during the post-traumatic period. This study aimed to investigate whether and how post-injury exercise benefited the brain structure and function in CHI mice. CHI ...

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension links to a prothrombotic state driven by endothelial dysfunction, reduced fibrinolytic potential and platelet hyperactivity. We hypothesized that ramipril treatment would favourably modify the haemostatic response to a submaximal aerobic exercise session in hypertensives. METHODS: Twenty-four hypertensive patients underwent a submaximal exercise test before and after 13±2 months ...

The United States is in the midst of a significant public health problem that relates to obesity and inactivity. This epidemic has far-ranging consequences for our workforce and our children and shows no signs of slowing in the near future. Significant research has been performed on the effects of exercise ...

The main purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-2) and to test the hypothesis that the different types of behavioral regulation can be combined on a single factor to assess autonomous and controlled motivation. Data ...

INTRODUCTION: The APTT is widely employed as part of a coagulation screening panel, used as a pre-operative assessment of bleeding risk, to detect hereditary and acquired haemostatic defects and to monitor anticoagulant therapy. External quality assessment (EQA) exercises assess laboratory performance of individual tests, but rarely assess the approach to ...

Affective responses during exercise are often important determinants of exercise initiation and maintenance. Current physical activity may be one individual difference that is associated with the degree to which individuals have positive (or negative) affective experiences during exercise. The objective of this study was to explore physical and cognitive explanations ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Following repair of congenital heart disease (CHD), adult patients are at risk for reduced exercise capacity. Restrictive lung disease (RLD) may contribute to reduced exercise capacity in this population. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of RLD and its impact on exercise tolerance in the ...

Episodes of bleeding in people with haemophilia (PWH) are associated with reduced activity and limitations in physical performance. Within the scope of the 'Haemophilia & Exercise Project' (HEP) PWH were trained in a sports therapy programme. Aim of this study was to investigate subjective and objective physical performance in HEP-participants ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the predictive value of clinical and exercise test variables in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). METHODS: A customized symptom-limited ramp treadmill protocol was used to assess 725 PAD patients referred for exercise testing at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital between ...

The current study examined the psychometric properties and validity of the Multidimensional Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale (MOEES) in a sample of older adults with physical and functional comorbidities. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the hypothesized 3-factor model in 108 older adults (M age 85 yr) residing in ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between exercise identity and exercise dependence. We hypothesized that stronger exercise identities would be associated with greater odds of experiencing exercise dependence symptoms. DESIGN: Logistic regression was used to assess the extent of association between exercise identity and the ...

This study examined the effect of a combined program of exercise training and self-management education on risk factors for diabetes complications and adherence behavior. A two-group, quasi-experimental study design was used to test the 12-week intervention program with community-dwelling older adults in Korea. Change scores (from baseline to Week 13) ...