Effect of ambulatory sports therapy on bronchial asthma in children

Exercise-induced asthma (EIA) is very common in children with asthma. For this reason they avoid every strenuous exercise because they fear a new asthma attack. Working capacity and maturation of motor performance can be insufficient as a consequence. We investigated whether a special training programme in an asthma sports group has positive effects not only on asthma, but also on working capacity and motor performance. 11 children with extrinsic asthma (4 girls, 7 boys), 8 to 14 years old, were studied before and after a 6-month out-patient rehabilitative sports therapy (sports group) with regard to their degree of bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR), frequency of EIA, cardiopulmonary capacity for exercise; knowledge about their asthma, level of coordination and condition, and their movement-related anxiety. There were 9 children with extrinsic asthma (2 girls, 7 boys), 8 to 15 years old, in a control group. They did not take part in any special training programme. After the sports therapy we found in 3 children of the sports group a decrease in BHR, EIA was now present in only 2 of formerly 4 children. Physical working capacity (PWC) at the aerobic/anaerobic threshold improved in the sports group by about 1 W/kg body weight (p = 0.008), efficiency of work from 23.7% to 27.9% (p = 0.009). We also found a remarkable improvement of motor abilities. Movement-related anxiety decreased in the sports group both in Indoor sports (p = 0.0089) and aquatics (p = 0.026). In the control group there was no significant change. Physical training in children with asthma has many positive effects on lung function and motor performance. We believe that the limit for an EIA release is shifted to a higher PWC. The reduction of the anxiety over sports at a higher level of PWC contributes to an improved quality of life for children with asthma.     

Participation in community sports centres: motives and predictors of enjoyment

Research into why people engage in sport and physical recreation has received relatively little attention in both recreation planning and sport psychology. Although there has been a steady flow of North American literature related to participation motivation in competitive youth sport settings, such evidence is of limited value in explaining adult involvement in sport and recreation in Britain. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine why people participate in sport and exercise in community sports centres and to identify whether these motives predict sport enjoyment. The study was based on a questionnaire-interview of approximately 5 min duration conducted in six community sports centres in Leicester. The sample comprised 336 respondents aged 16 years and over. The subjects were presented with 15 motives for sports participation and indicated their degree of agreement on a 5-point scale. The three most commonly endorsed motives were to maintain health, develop physical fitness and aid relaxation. A factor analysis with oblique rotation revealed four factors:assertive achievement, physical well-being, socio-psychological well-being, and sports mastery and performance. Discriminant analysis showed that males were more motivated to participate for sports mastery and performance and assertive achievement than females. A MANOVA showed that older subjects were more motivated by socio-psychological well-being than younger subjects. Sport enjoyment was best predicted by socio-psychological well-being, sports mastery and performance, and sports importance, although only 14.4% of the variance in enjoyment scores was accounted for. These results confirm other research on age differences in exercise and mental health, as well as gender differences on participation motives.     

Cardiac role in exercise limitation in asthmatic subjects with special reference to disease severity

We wanted to assess limitations in cardiorespiratory fitness of asthmatic subjects, acclimatized to 1,300 m altitude and in a clinically stable state. We therefore studied 16 young asthmatic and 8 normal young subjects during an incremental bicycle exercise test. The asthmatics were divided into two groups, according to the Aas classification: a moderate asthma group (degree 2 and 3, no pulmonary impairment during symptom-free intervals), and a severe asthma group (degree 4 and 5, with persistent airway obstruction). The results showed that cardiorespiratory fitness is limited in severe asthmatic subjects acclimatized to an altitude of 1,300 m, due to decreased cardiac output and stroke volume. At submaximal exercise, the lower stroke volume is compensated by an increased arteriovenous oxygen content difference, but this compensation no longer exists at maximal exercise, which explains the lower maximal oxygen uptake in the severe asthma group. The hypothesis that the high tidal volume in the severe asthma group could lead to a decrease in left ventricular performance is considered. In conclusion, with respect to cardiorespiratory response to exercise, asthmatics should not be considered as a homogeneous group. Furthermore, relationship between ventilatory requirement and its consequences upon cardiac stroke volume provides a strong argument for the physical rehabilitation of asthmatics. Indeed, aerobic training can decrease the ventilation level for a given workload, and thus reduce inappropriate adaptations to exercise.     

Thoracic complications associated with utilization of the air turbine dental drill

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of asthma is rising and there are recent reports of increasing asthma rates among top level skiers and runners in the Nordic countries. METHODS: The lifetime occurrence of pulmonary diseases (asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema) and current bronchitis symptoms was compared in former elite male athletes (n = 1282) who represented Finland between 1920 and 1965 at least once in international competitions and controls (n = 777) who, at the age of 20, were classified as healthy and who responded to a questionnaire in 1985. The presence of disease and symptoms was identified from the questionnaire and, in the case of asthma, also from a nationwide reimbursable medication register. The death certificates of the subjects of our original cohort who died between 1936 and 1985 were also investigated to determine the cause of death. RESULTS: The occurrence of the pulmonary diseases was associated with age, smoking habits, occupational group, and a history of exposure to chemicals. After adjusting for these variables, athletes who participated in mixed sports (odds ratio (OR) 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23 to 0.92) and power sports (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.87) had lower odds ratios for emphysema, and endurance sports athletes had a lower odds ratio for the presence of at least one pulmonary disease (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.98) when compared with controls. Athletes also tended to have fewer reimbursable medications for asthma and fewer current symptoms for chronic bronchitis. Between 1936 and 1985 two controls but none of the athletes died of asthma. CONCLUSIONS: The lifetime occurrence of asthma or other pulmonary diseases is not increased in former elite athletes, and exercise alone, even in a cold environment, did not appear to increase the prevalence of asthma, at least up to the mid 1980s.     

Subjective and objective means of assessing cystic fibrosis and asthma

The accuracy of methods of assessment was studied in 79 children with CF or asthma. Memory recall was good for CF but poor for asthma. In asthma, patients' subjective feelings and the physical examination were inaccurate in detecting airways obstruction. Of those who felt normal, 75% had abnormal FEV1. In order to avoid undertreatment the use of diary cards in asthma and pulmonary function tests in both diseases is recommended.     

Phylogenetic studies of complete mitochondrial DNA molecules place cartilaginous fishes within the tree of bony fishes

PURPOSE: A major research priority is the influence of childhood and adolescent physical activity patterns on adult physical activity. The research in this area is inconsistent. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships among specific components of physical activity during childhood and adolescence and exercise habits in adulthood. METHODS: We analyzed preteen and teenage experiences, individual and team sports, and several psychosocial variables. One hundred and five male volunteers completed questionnaires about their current (estimated energy expenditure (EE)) and historic physical activity and a treadmill stress test. RESULTS: Based on correlations and regression analyses, without and with controlling for potentially confounding variables (treadmill run time and sum of skinfolds), the frequency of being forced to exercise and the frequency of being encouraged to exercise during the preteen years were inversely related to adult physical activity. Being forced to exercise during the preteen years was more related to participation in individual sports than to participation in team sports or both individual and team sports. CONCLUSIONS: Being forced to exercise during childhood may have potentially negative consequences for later activity. The findings indicate that experiences related to participation in activity during childhood and adolescence may influence adult physical activity. The implications of our findings are discussed and future research is recommended.     

Immunological monitoring of dry-cleaning shop workers--exposure to tetrachloroethylene

That asthmatics benefit not only from physical exercise but that they can even reach performance levels comparable to that of non asthmatics is becoming increasingly clear. To reach such a level, asthmatics need to use drugs to prevent effort-related asthma attacks in addition to taking appropriate therapeutic measures. beta 2 agonists are drugs that potentially produce a certain amount of "anabolic" effect, depending on the dose and permanence in tissues, in laboratory and farm animals as well as in humans. We must conclude that the dose needed to obtain this effect is higher than that used for therapeutic purposes in asthma or respiratory diseases. Bearing in mind that oral treatments are considerably less effective than inhaled drugs in exercise-related asthma attacks, that the doses of the latter are lower and that the ergogenic effects of the substances studied are nil or below detection levels, it seems logical to allow individuals with asthma who use such substances to engage in physical exercise. Moreover, the asthmatic whose disease is so severe as to require the use of orally administered beta 2 agonists will in all likelihood be too ill to participate in a sport while that status persists.     

Improving aerobic capacity in healthy older adults does not necessarily lead to improved cognitive performance.

The effects of aerobic exercise training in a sample of 85 older adults were investigated. Ss were assigned randomly to either an aerobic exercise group, a nonaerobic exercise (yoga) group, or a waiting-list control group. Following 16 weeks of the group-specific protocol, all of the older Ss received 16 weeks of aerobic exercise training. The older adults demonstrated a significant increase in aerobic capacity (cardiorespiratory fitness). Performance on reaction-time tests of attention and memory retrieval was slower for the older adults than for a comparison group of 24 young adults, and there was no improvement in the older adults' performance on these tests as a function of aerobic exercise training. Results suggest that exercise-related changes in older adults' cognitive performance are due either to extended periods of training or to cohort differences between physically active and sedentary individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mixed IgM kappa-IgM lambda cryoglobulinemia with a double monoclonal serum component. A case report

The regulation of breathing is dependent on the complex interaction of three components of the respiratory system: 1) the control centers, 2) the sensors, and 3) the effector organs. The control centers reside in the brainstem and are responsible for the automaticity of breathing. Input into these respiratory centers can be initiated from higher brain centers in order to produce voluntary breathing efforts. Afferent neural signals also come to the central control system from the respiratory sensors, which are divided into two categories: chemoreceptors and sensory receptors. The chemoreceptors respond to changes in the blood oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen ion concentration by sending impulses to the control center to alter the ventilatory pattern by affecting the effector organs--the respiratory muscles. The sensory receptors are located in the upper and lower airways, the lung, and the muscles of respiration. They also can have a marked effect on the respiratory pattern. It is believed that stimulation of these receptors is important in the initiation of hyperventilation and cough in lung diseases such as asthma. There is also recent evidence that respiratory chemoreceptor responsiveness is abnormal in patients with asthma who have a history of near-fatal attacks.     

Effects of group- versus home-based exercise in the treatment of obesity.

This study examined the effects of 2 aerobic exercise regimens on exercise participation, fitness, eating patterns, treatment adherence, and weight changes in 49 obese women undergoing a year-long behavioral weight loss program. Participants were assigned randomly to weight loss treatment plus either group- or home-based exercise. All participants were instructed to complete a moderate-intensity walking program (30 min/day, 5 days/week). Group exercise participants were provided with 3 supervised group exercise sessions per week for the 1st 26 weeks and with 2 sessions per week thereafter. Home exercise participants were instructed to complete all exercise in their home environment. After 6 months, both conditions displayed significant improvements in exercise participation, fitness, eating patterns, and weight loss. At 12 months, the home-based program showed superior performance to the group condition in exercise participation and treatment adherence; at 15 months, participants in the home program demonstrated significantly greater weight losses than those in the group program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tobacco, youth, and sports

Cigarette smoking constitutes the single largest threat to the health and longevity of American youth. Each year, almost 400,000 people die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases. Moreover, 90% of adult smokers began using tobacco before their eighteenth birthday, and each day 3,000 children and adolescents begin smoking. Smokeless tobacco use is less prevalent than cigarette smoking but has similar deleterious health effects and is often also glamorized by sports figures. This article examines the relationship between tobacco and sports and offers specific steps that physicians (specifically orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine physicians, who interact with athletes at sporting events and in schools as well as at the clinic) can take to help prevent or minimize tobacco use. Although sports have been used by the tobacco industry to promote tobacco products to young people, the authors suggest new ways to prevent its success.     

Age-related responses of vasoactive factors during acute exercise

To evaluate the age-related response of vasoactive factors during acute exercise, young (n = 8, aged 23.6+/-2 years) and old (n = 13, aged 77+/-6 years) healthy volunteers performed a stress test using a treadmill, and blood samples were taken before and after exercise. There were neither basal (old people 77+/-53 vs. young people 67.6+/-40 pg/ml) nor peak exercise-related (old people 77+/-43 vs. young people 66.8+/-34 pg/ml) differences in plasma adrenomedullin (AM) between both groups. AM did not increase with exercise in either group. Regarding plasma cAMP, there were neither basal nor exercise related differences, but this nucleotide increased with exercise in both groups (old people p < 0.0001, young people p < 0.05). Plasma Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) was higher in basal (116.3+/-64 vs. 46.8+/-21 pg/ml, p < 0.003) and after exercise samples (150.2+/-76.5 vs. 68.7+/-29.5 pg/ml, p < 0.004) in old people as compared with young people. Old people showed an increase in ANP with exercise (p < 0.05), but in young people, though there was a trend to increase, it did not reach statistical significance. There were neither basal nor exercise related differences in plasma cGMP, but this nucleotide increased with exercise in both groups. Angiotensin II (AT-II) levels were lower in basal and after exercise samples in old people as compared with young people. AT-II levels did not increase with exercise in either group. These data suggest that, with increasing age, the vascular tree develops resistance to ANP and higher sensitivity to AT-II, while AM levels do not change. Exercise makes ANP changes more evident, while AM and AT-II are not modified.     

Exercise applications and promotion in behavioral medicine: Current status and future directions.

Comments on the clinical applications and promotion of aerobic (endurance) exercise within behavioral medicine. Highlighted applications include cardiovascular risk modification, obesity, diabetes, and smoking. Particular emphasis is placed on the problem of poor adherence to exercise programs in clinical and apparently healthy populations alike, on the identification of the high-risk dropout, and on the modification of exercise adherence. Findings indicate that aerobic exercise may be beneficial in the treatment of a variety of health disorders but not because of the physiological effect. Many exercise studies are flawed due to the inability to separate specific problems from nonspecific effects of exercise and problems of adherence. Stimulus control, reinforcement control, and self-control procedures can improve exercise adherence. Future research should investigate the relationship between improvements in cardiovascular fitness and the behavioral and psychological/cognitive changes attributed to exercise and the factors that control exercise participation and adherence. (107 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of aerobic exercise on depression.

43 depressed undergraduate women were randomly assigned to either an aerobic exercise treatment condition in which they participated in strenuous exercise, a placebo treatment condition in which they practiced relaxation exercises, or a no-treatment condition. Aerobic capacity was assessed before and after a 10-wk treatment period. Self-reported depression was assessed before, during, and after the treatment period. Results show that Ss in the aerobic exercise condition had reliably greater increases in aerobic capacity and reliably greater decreases in depression than did Ss in the placebo or no-treatment condition. There was a reduction in depression that was independent of treatment; it is suggested that a no-treatment control condition is a necessity in research on depression. It is concluded that findings provide clear evidence that participation in a program of strenuous aerobic exercise is effective for reducing depression. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Betamethasone treatment and fetal lung perfusion evaluated with color Doppler energy imaging

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of implementing a physician based surveillance system of occupational respiratory diseases (PROPULSE) in Québec with regard to physician participation rate, characteristics of reported cases, and comparison with official statistics from the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB). METHODS: All chest physicians and allergists in Québec were asked to report suspected new cases of occupational respiratory diseases, on a monthly basis, between October 1992 and September 1993. For each case, personal information was collected and the physician's opinion on whether the condition was related to work was categorised as highly likely, likely, and unlikely. RESULTS: Of the 161 physicians initially approached, 68% participated. Physicians rated 48% of suspected cases as highly likely, 29% as likely, and 20% as unlikely. The most often reported diagnosis was asthma (63%), followed by diseases related to asbestos (16%). Silicosis was less frequent (5%) but it was reported for six workers under 40 of whom five were involved in sandblasting activities. The high proportion of cases of asthma probably reflects the increasing importance of this disease but may also reflect the different patterns of reporting among physicians with different expertise. The distribution of cases by diagnostic category is quite different between the PROPULSE system and that of the WCB (annual mean number of compensated cases during a four year period). Asthma and allergic alveolitis are more frequent in PROPULSE, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome are about the same in both systems, and other diseases are more frequent among compensated cases. The most frequent sensitising agents reported for asthma were the same in both systems (isocyanates, flour, and wood dust). 15% of the PROPULSE cases were not covered by the WCB, and therefore would not be found in the board's official statistics. CONCLUSIONS: A physician based reporting procedure can be implemented as part of a surveillance system to supplement data from other sources and thus provide a better understanding of the occurrence of occupational respiratory diseases.     

Genetics of asthma and atopy

Asthma and airways hyperresponsiveness are the respiratory manifestations of sensitization to exogenous materials including protein allergens and chemical sensitizers that may trigger ongoing inflammation and respiratory symptomatology in those people who are predisposed to develop the asthmatic syndrome. That genetics plays a major role in this particular syndrome is without question, since twin studies have shown a greater prevalence of disease for monozygotic as opposed to dizygotic twins. There have been the beginnings of the development of an approach to a number of candidate genes for major genetic input in the asthmatic syndrome. However, unlike cystic fibrosis or even other autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as juvenile diabetes and/or multiple sclerosis, a single gene or a significant set of major genes may not be easily identified. Rather the small contribution of multiple genes and/or sets of genes may be summed together and added to environmental exposure in people who will develop asthmatic syndromes. The identification of a genetic component to asthma would be of great significance. Even without a major or predominant gene, identification of the minor sets of genes interacting to cause asthma would represent a great advance. Knowledge of those minor genetic alleles involved in asthma susceptibility would allow great latitude in offering diagnostic screening and new therapeutic interventions in asthma.     

The effect of antiemetics and reduced radiation fields on acute gastrointestinal morbidity of adjuvant radiotherapy in stage I seminoma of the testis: a randomized pilot study

OBJECTIVE: To assess the long term effects of weight loss with and without additional aerobic and weight training exercises on exercise tolerance and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese women. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Randomized prospective study for an approximately one-year community setting. PATIENTS: 31 healthy obese women volunteers (age 42.8 yrs +/- 6 SD) recruited by community advertisement. INTERVENTION: All subjects underwent a weight loss program consisting of low calorie diet and behavior therapy for a minimum of 46 weeks. They were randomly assigned to one of the four groups. Group A: diet alone, Group B: diet plus aerobic exercise program in a supervised group setting, Group C: Diet plus weight training and Group D: diet plus weight training plus aerobic exercise program. MEASURES: Exercise time (Tex) peak sustained workload (Wp), peak oxygen consumption (VO2), oxygen pulse and the rate of change of VO2 on recovery (VO2rec) were measured at the beginning and after 47.5 weeks +/- 1.5 SD, of the program. RESULTS: All subjects lost weight and achieved increased Tex and lowered resting VO2. VO2 peak and VO2 peak kg-1 increase in Groups B and D only. O2 pulse and VO2rec improved in group D. Improvements in exercise time correlated significantly with initial exercise time and weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: Weight loss increase Tex irrespective of participation in an exercise program. However, evidence of improved aerobic fitness occurred only in groups performing aerobic exercise.     

Effect of endurance exercise training on heart rate variability at rest in healthy young and older men

Heart rate variability (HRV) (SD of the RR interval), an index of parasympathetic tone, was measured at rest and during exercise in 13 healthy older men (age 60 to 82 years) and 11 healthy young men (age 24 to 32 years) before and after 6 months of aerobic exercise training. Before exercise training, the older subjects had a 47% lower HRV at rest compared with the young subjects (31 +/- 5 ms vs 58 +/- 4 ms, p = 0.0002). During peak exercise, the older subjects had less parasympathetic withdrawal than the young subjects (-45% vs -84%, p = 0.0001). Six months of intensive aerobic exercise training increased maximum oxygen consumption by 21% in the older group and 17% in the young group (analysis of variance: overall training effect, p = 0.0001; training effect in young vs old, p = NS). Training decreased the heart rate at rest in both the older (-9 beats/min) and the young groups (-5 beats/min, before vs after, p = 0.0001). Exercise training increased HRV at rest (p = 0.009) by 68% in the older subjects (31 +/- 5 ms to 52 +/- 8 ms) and by 17% in the young subjects (58 +/- 4 ms to 68 +/- 6 ms). Exercise training increases parasympathetic tone at rest in both the healthy older and young men, which may contribute to the reduction in mortality associated with regular exercise.     

Effect of voluntary exercise on maximal oxygen uptake in young female Fischer 344 rats

The effect of voluntary exercise on maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) was studied in young female Fischer 344 rats. After 10 weeks of wheel-running training, the absolute VO2 max and VO2 max relative to body mass increased without a decline in body mass. The running speed eliciting VO2 max, heart and soleus muscle mass, and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in the soleus muscle also increased. These results suggest that voluntary exercise is an effective means of increasing the aerobic exercise capacity of young female Fischer 344 rats.     

Lifetime exercise and disk degeneration: an MRI study of monozygotic twins

Participation in some competitive sports has been shown to increase disk degeneration; however, the long-term effects of recreational physical activities are unclear. We investigated the effects of endurance exercise and power sports on disk degeneration in monozygotic male twins with contrasting lifetime exercise histories. The effects of endurance exercise were studied in 22 discordant twin pairs (mean lifetime frequencies of 3.9 vs 1.1 times/wk), and the effects of power sports were investigated in 12 discordant pairs (2,300 vs 200 h of weightlifting). The age range of the twins was from 35 to 69 yr. No differences in MRI findings between co-twins discordant for endurance exercise were found at any of the spinal regions. Subjects with more power sport involvement had greater disk degeneration in the T6-T12 region (P < 0.03), but similar findings were not present in the lumbar spine. Controlling for recalled back injuries, occupational loading, smoking, and driving did not significantly affect the results. No signs of beneficial or harmful effects of lifetime endurance exercise on disk degeneration were seen. Increased power sport participation was associated with slightly greater disk degeneration in the lower thoracic spine, but not in the lumbar spine.