Asian Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Dec 2018

The increasing rate of mortality due to cardiovascular disease has been reported in people with low physical activity worldwide.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of spirulina supplementation and combined aerobic-strength training on serum homocysteine of inactive females.

It was a semi experimental study with pre and post-test design. The subjects consisted of 37 sedentary women who participated voluntarily in the study and were randomly divided into supplement; training and supplement+training groups. Measuring the study variables including serum homocysteine and anthropometry variables were done in pre-test and posttest phases. The data were analyzed using paired t test and ANOVA.

The results suggested that spirulina supplementation and combined aerobic-strength training had a positive influence on serum homocysteine levels in sedentary women (P = 0.003, P = 0.04 respectively) with a greater influence by the combined effect of exercise and supplement (P = 0.001).

The results indicate that homocysteine as an independent cardiovascular disease risk factor in sedentary women can be modified by spirulina and combined strength and aerobic exercise

The Increase of non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and the cancers threatens the population’s health more than any time before (1) regular physical activity is a preventive factor for most of the non-communicable disease (2). The role of general practitioners in promoting physical activity is undeniable and it highlights the need for equipping future doctors with the knowledge of exercise prescription; not only for healthy people but also for specific groups like diabetic and obese patients. On the other hand, general practitioners are usually responsible for medical care of an ever-growing community of recreational and professional athletes. Their involvement includes but is not limited to pre-participation evaluation, sports injuries, athletes’ medical conditions (3), nutrition (4) and doping issues. A Sports and exercise course in medical school can prepare medical students for dealing with these issues during their practice. Considering the current compact curriculum of medical students, it is crucial to design a concise and effective program which is palatable for both school administration and medical students

  Roller shoes (Heelys), which have one or more removable wheels embedded in each sole, allow the wearer to walk, run, or roll by shifting their weight to their heels. The aim of this study was to analyze pediatric roller shoe injuries in Korea. Injury cases associated with roller shoes were collected from the consumer injury surveillance system of the Korea customer agency and analyzed. Questionnaire survey was conducted among 300 elementary school pupils. One hundred pediatric roller shoe wearers (RSWs) were assessed regarding whether they wore protective equipment. Among the 29 injury cases, 24 were safety accidents, and most of them were caused by falls while rolling. Hand and wrist injuries were the most common (25.0%), followed by injuries to the face, arm, and leg. Contusion was the most common type of injury (39.1%), followed by laceration and fractures. Among the 300 children surveyed, 23.0% had roller shoes. The minority of children (27.5%) reported using roller shoes alone. Most of the RSWs answered that they had the experience of rolling in multiuse facilities. The most frequently visited multiuse facilities were department stores (72.5%), followed by shopping malls, and food courts or cafes. Over half of RSWs answered that they had experienced rolling in danger zones for safety accident, and 47.8% reported experiencing accidents. About two-thirds of RSWs answered that they did not remove the wheel while walking. Most of RSWs (82.6%) indicated that they didn’t wear protective equipment. Among the 100 children wearing roller shoes, 99 did not wear any kind of protective device; only one child wore a helmet, elbow protector, and knee protector. RSWs are recommended to wear protective equipment and to be accompanied by parents. Inside commercial facilities, signs prohibiting the wearing of roller shoes should be affixed

Medications for pain and inflammation have increased lately, and dietary supplements and stimulants have increasingly been used to maximize sports performance. They can be harmful to health if they are unnecessary or misused. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of the use of dietary supplements, stimulants, and medications among paddle tennis players in a southern Brazilian city. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 162 paddle players in Tubarão, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Estimates of prevalence ratio, Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact and modified Poisson regression for data analysis were performed, at a 95% significance level. The prevalence of use of dietary supplements, stimulants and medications was 69.1%, 21% and 63.6%, respectively. Statistically significant associations were found between dietary supplements and age (P = 0.029), and dietary supplements and alcohol abuse (P ≤ 0.001), between medication use and alcohol abuse (P ≤ 0.001), and medication use and smoker (P = 0.030). The study concluded that paddle players showed a high prevalence of use of dietary supplements and medications. Educational programs with information about the efficacy of supplements and medications should be implemented in sites where sports are practiced

An anti-gravity treadmill has been used in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation. However, little literature on its use in post-operative knee rehabilitation is available. The purpose of this investigation was to study an effect of anti-gravity treadmill on balance in an early phase of post-operative knee rehabilitation. Forty-nine patients who underwent knee surgery participated in this study (study design: cohort study; level of evidence: level II). At one week post-operatively, each patient was tested for timed single leg stance (SLS) on surgical knee on a floor. Patients were placed onto either AlterG group (AG) or control group (CG) after the test based on their pain level. The patients in AG underwent a balance exercise on AlterG, with the pressure adjusted to a pain-free or minimal pain level, once a day at least 5 days a week. Those in CG underwent their balance exercise on a floor in the same manner. All patients were tested again for SLS at 2 week post-operatively. The lengths of SLS were recorded and analyzed. The lengths of SLS were 38.8 seconds and 19.9 seconds for CG and AG, respectively, at 1 week post-operatively. They improved to 50.5 seconds (CG) and 35.0 seconds (AG) at 2 week post-operatively. There was statistically significant between-group difference at both 1 week and 2 week post-operatively. However, there was no significant between-group difference in improvement from week 1 to week 2. A use of anti-gravity treadmill may have a positive effect on balance in an acute phase of post-operative knee recovery in patients who had an increased level of pain during full weight-bearing immediately after knee operation

In contact sports, such as martial arts, protection from oral injuries is generally recommended. Several authors have focused on the effects of wearing such oral protective gear on sports performances and, in particular, occlusal devices. Although many studies have shown improvements in athletic performance, especially in maximal isometric strength, to date there is still no consensus on the issue. The aim of our study was to evaluate differences in isometric handgrip before and after the application of an occlusal splint (OS) in martial arts athletes. A repeated measures within-subjects design was adopted for the study. Twenty-five young martial arts athletes, specifically of taekwondo (n = 9), ju-jitsu (n = 10) and karate (n = 6), were enrolled in order to study the effects on handgrip peak force while wearing an occlusal splint under two different handgrip test conditions (OS: with occlusal splint vs. NO OS: without occlusal splint), testing both dominant and non-dominant hands. For the dominant hand, comparisons showed a significant increase in handgrip strength under the OS condition (P = 0.01), whereas no significant differences were found for the non-dominant hand for the whole sample. The differences between the OS and NO OS conditions for the dominant hand were present in taekwondo (+8.33%), ju-jitsu (+1.05%) and karate (+2.97%). However, Bonferroni post hoc test showed statistical significance (P = 0.04) only for the taekwondo group. The benefits found with the occlusal splint were statistically significant only during dominant-hand handgrip tasks. Therefore, realignment of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) via occlusal splints could play a significant role in increasing handgrip peak force only for the dominant hand

As balance impairment induced by fatigue is implicated in injury occurrence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of closed and open kinetic chain exercise-induced localized fatigue on static and dynamic balance in trained individuals.

30 healthy boys with mean age of 19.75 ± 1.20 years, participated in this research. Static and dynamic balance were measured before and after open and closed chain fatigue protocol. Static and dynamic balance were measured respectively using the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) and the Star Excursion Balance test (SEBT) in eight directions. The data was analyzed by two-way repeated measures ANOVA at the significance level of P ≤ 0.05.

The results indicated that both static and dynamic balance changed significantly following the study intervention (P ≤ 0.05). In addition, a statistically significant difference was found after fatigue protocol in the static and dynamic balance between open (P = 0.003) and closed (P = 0.001) kinetic chains and respectively.

Localized fatigue in both open and closed kinetic chain has affected the static and dynamic balance. Although, localized fatigue in the closed kinetic chain has a more devastating effect on static balance, in the open kinetic chain, the more deleterious effect influenced the dynamic balance.

Hypoxia caused by exercise condition may alter PGC-1α and HIF-1α expression in cardiac cells. Both factors are transcriptional factors which play a role in conserving energy during metabolic process. However, there is less information about the effects of long term moderate intensity exercise such as swimming on PGC-1α and HIF-1α expression in cardiac cells. Aim of this study is to observe the effect of force swimming exercise on the expression PGC-1α and HIF-1α gene expression in cardiac muscle of mice. Male BALBc mice were divided into two groups (n = 10): control (C) and swimming (ST). ST group was subjected to moderate intensity swimming for 4 weeks, 30 minutes/day for 5 days. Hearts of animal models were preserved for cardiac morphology study using HE staining, PGC-1α and HIF-1α mRNA expression study. We observed that cardiac PGC-1α expression in ST was significantly increased 1.5 fold compared with control group (0.64 vs 0.44; CI = 95%, -0.378 - 0.019; P = 0.035), but expression of HIF-1α was significantly decreased 0.4 times lower than control group (0.35 vs 0.52; CI = 95%, 0.27 - 0.31; P = 0,025). Taken together, ST group increased the expression of PGC-1α but decreased the expression of HIF-1α in mice cardiac muscle in response to chronic hypoxia condition.

Although biochemical markers have been used to monitor training loads (TL), it is unknown if they can be used to predict muscle injuries (MI) in professional football (soccer) players (PFP). To evaluate the relationship between the incidence of MI, serum concentration of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and urea, as well as TL in PFP. Twenty-three PFP from a Colombian first-division team were enrolled in a retrospective cohort study. CPK, urea, TL and new MI were measured during 19 weeks. CPK and urea serum levels within 4 weeks before a diagnosed MI were compared to those measured preseason. CPK and urea relationship with TL were analyzed using a mixed-effects model. The subjects had an age of 25.3 ± 4.2 years. Nine subjects presented with MI during follow-up, 66.6% of which were localized to hamstrings. Serum CPK and urea profiles were constructed for each player along the season. Injured players had a significant elevation of these markers within 4 weeks before the injury was clinically evident when compared to their own preseason values. Expected individual increases in CPK and urea according to TL during the season were estimated. Since CPK and urea values rose several weeks before the MI became overt, constructing CPK and urea profiles for each player during the whole preseason and season may help identify peaks in their concentration as early markers of MI. A tight biochemical control of training may become a preventive strategy for MI, but the use of published reference values is discouraged

This study aimed to evaluate how lung capacity and anthropometric and physical fitness traits are associated with success of Iranian elite Greco-Roman wrestlers. Twenty-five male Iranian elite Greco-Roman wrestlers (22 ± 4 years old) (both of light and heavy weights) participated in the present study. Anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness traits, and lung capacity were tested in the exercise physiology laboratory. Our results showed a significant and positive correlation between arm span, as the only anthropometric trait, and success of Iranian elite Greco-Roman wrestlers. Also, maximal oxygen consumption, dead lift, squat, bench press, agility, shoulder and wrist elevation, sit and reach, eye/left hand reaction time, eye/foot reaction time, ear/left hand reaction time, ear/foot reaction time were positively correlated with success. Furthermore, there were significant and positive correlations between inspiratory reserve volume, tidal volume, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume (in one second), maximal voluntary ventilation, and success. In contrast, we observed a negative and significant correlation between body fat (%) and success of Iranian elite Greco-Roman wrestlers. Physical fitness traits and lung capacity have a greater potential than anthropometric characteristics in the prediction of Greco-Roman wrestler’s success in championship levels

Taking into consideration the inversion of the age pyramid in the coming years and the limitations and diseases that predispose the elderly to episodes of falling, it is necessary to develop resources that can address postural balance in this population. The use of virtual rehabilitation, i.e., rehabilitation using electronic platforms, has been increasing due to the increased treatment adherence observed with these methods.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation program using the Kinect sensor (KS) on the postural balance of the elderly.

This was a non-randomized controlled clinical trial in which 10 elderly subjects and 10 younger adults underwent a 10-session rehabilitation protocol lasting 20 minutes per session. Each session involved muscle stretching and motor coordination exercises, as well as use of the KS. The period between the evaluations was five weeks, and the sessions were held three times per week. The initial and final evaluations included the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and the tandem Romberg test.

After treatment with the KS, the elderly required a longer time to perform the TUG test and had lower static balance results in the tandem Romberg test compared to younger adults; however, there were no significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment values for these two tests within either group (P > 0.05). The elderly scored lower on the BBS than the younger adults both before and after treatment (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0006, respectively). However, the elderly showed a balance gain according to the BBS scores between the pre- and post-treatment evaluations (P = 0.005), which did not occur in the younger adults (P = 0.31).

The KS is able to promote improvements in static and dynamic postural balance in the elderly, who reached a condition close to what was observed in young adults. This improvement is evident when evaluating the changes using the BBS

Stroke is a primary source of disability and mortality globally. The incidence of stroke is dramatically increasing in both developed and developing countries and the age at which those that are afflicted is becoming younger. Studies have shown that 33 million individuals suffer a stroke on an annual basis and approximately half will experience problems performing their activities of daily living (ADL). Practical solutions with a focus on neurorehabilitation are vital. Functional electrical stimulation (FES), and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be two advantageous treatments for reducing disability post-stroke. We propose that rTMS would activate cortical regions especially areas related to the primary motor cortex and FES would activate peripheral nerves that can lead to improvements in motor function of both the upper and lower limbs in patients post-stroke. It is proposing that this concurrent use of rTMS and FES will be of benefit in improving the motor function of this population.

Exercise training (ET) has a cardioprotective effect and can induce new cardiomyocyte formation in physiological cardiac remodeling. However, following a large myocardial infarction (MI), the changes in cardiac regeneration and the subsequently different intensities of ET remain unexplored. We investigated the effect of different intensities of ET on the expression of C/EBPβ and CITED4 after an MI. Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to left coronary artery ligation (LAD). Following an echocardiographic evaluation at four weeks after surgery, MI-operated animals were randomly assigned to either the MI-sedentary (MI-Sed) or the MI-trained groups (low intensity interval training (LIIT), moderate intensity interval training (MIIT), and high intensity interval training (HIIT)). MI-trained animals performed six weeks ET protocols (five days/week). Ten weeks after surgery, HIIT and MIIT animals had significantly higher LV ejection fraction compared to MI-Sed animals. HIIT animals had significantly diminished mRNA levels of C/EBPβ compared to MI-Sed. The mRNA level of CITED4 in HIIT and MIIT were significantly high compared to MI-Sed. The present study demonstrates that cardiac functions are ET intensity-dependent, following a MI. It seems that higher intensities of ET are most effective agents in promoting the expression of C/EBPβ and CITED4. Thus, ET has emerged as an important variable in preclinical and clinical investigations.