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Research Database -
International Updates
Physical Therapy
Issue 65
GAUCHARD and colleagues,
Equilibration et Performance Motrice, Unite de Formation et de Recherche
en Sciences et Techniques des Activites Physiques et Sportives (UFR STAPS),
Universite Henri Poincare-Nancy 1, Villers-les-Nancy, France investigated
what types of physical activities might prove the most beneficial
to retain or regain control of balance in elderly individuals.
Background: Age
and lack of physical activities may result in poor balance control,
and physical activities may modulate postural control
in elderly people.
Methods: The
researchers studied 19 healthy individuals aged over 60 years who
regularly practised proprioceptive (Group I) or bioenergetic
(Group II) physical activities and 21 control subjects who
only practised walking on a regular basis. All subjects underwent
a dynamic posturographic test and a test to evaluate lower limb muscular
strength.
Results: Control
subjects showed the poorest balance and muscular performance.
Group I subjects has the best postural control, with average
muscular strength. Group II subjects had significantly increased
muscular strength, but poor-quality balance control.
Conclusion: Proprioceptive
exercise appears to have the best impact on balance control.
Gauchard GC et
al. Beneficial effect of proprioceptive physical activities on balance
control in elderly human subjects.
Neuroscience Letters 273 (2): 81-4. Oct 1999.
RICHARDS and POHL, Department of
Occupational Therapy Education and the Center on Aging, University of
Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas 66160-7602, USA, LRICHARD@kumc.edu
review (87 references) loss of movement control in the upper
body in stroke that interferes with the ability to perform daily
life activities, review practices that promote learning of motor
skills that may or may not be adhered to in current intervention
approaches, and discuss the evidence for the effectiveness
of each interventional approach reviewed in facilitating the regaining
of motor skills.
Richards L, Pohl
P. Therapeutic interventions to improve upper extremity recovery and function.
Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 15 (4): 819-32. Nov 1999.
LUNDERVOLD and colleagues, Department of
Education Psychology, The University of Texas at El Paso, 79968, USA,
dlunderv@utep.edu evaluated
the effects of behavioural relaxation training (BRT) for the treatment
of moderate-to-severe essential tremor (ET) in two older adults.
Methods: Two adults,
aged 73 and 83 years, with moderate-to-severe
ET were evaluated using a single-case design and statistical analysis.
Measures included: within-session clinician- and self-rated tremor
severity and disability in activities of daily living (ADL),
electromyogram (EMG) activity, and daily self-ratings of
tremor severity and ADL disabilities. A brief (2-4 week)
baseline period was followed by BRT.
Results: Clinically
significant reductions of 47-66% occurred
in within-session clinician- and self-rated tremor severity
and daily self-ratings. Statistically significant changes in
self- and clinician-ratings occurred
following BRT. In some cases, EMG activity also declined
following BRT. At a 7-week follow-up, results were mixed and related to
continued use of relaxation skills.
Conclusion: Although
the cost ratio (medication : BRT) indicates that BRT is more expensive
relative to standard medical intervention, the cost-benefit
to patients offsets the financial difference. BRT may be an effective
first step in a biobehavioural stepped-care treatment model.
Lundervold DA et
al. Reduction of tremor severity and disability following behavioral relaxation
training.
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 30 (2):
119-35. Jun 1999.
BUCKLE reviews (96 references) the use and examines
the potential role of clinical aromatherapy as a complementary
therapy in the care of patients with chronic pain.
Background: Chronic
pain affects some 80 million Americans, and the annual cost to national
[US] healthcare of chronic pain management is approximately US$70 billion.
Aromatherapy has been used increasingly as part of an integrated,
multidisciplinary approach to pain management. The therapy is thought
to enhance the parasympathetic response through the effects of
touch and smell, encouraging relaxation at a deep level. Relaxation
has been shown to alter perceptions of pain.
Discussion: Aromatherapy
might possibly play a role in the management of chronic pain through
relaxation. This does not take into account possible additional
effects of pharmacologically active ingredients of the essential
oil or any possible potentization of conventional drugs
by the essential oil. Clinical trials are in their early stages,
but
evidence suggests that aromatherapy might be used as a complementary
therapy for managing chronic pain. This article examines the potential
role of clinical aromatherapy in this regard. At least one state board
of nursing has recognized the therapeutic value of aromatherapy
and voted to accept it as part of holistic nursing care.
Buckle J. Use of
aromatherapy as a complementary treatment for chronic pain. Alternative
Therapies in Health and Medicine 5 (5): 42-51. Sep 1999.
Comment: Aromatherapy
has a huge potential role to play, not only in pain management and relaxation,
but also through the anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties of certain
oils, which may once again come into their own when and if antibiotics
lose the battle against the Superbugs.
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