Kristina Berškienė

Correlation between Changes in Local Earth’s Magnetic Field and Cases of Acute Myocardial Infarction

The impact of changes in the geomagnetic field on the human body remains the subject of studies across the world, yet there is no consensus. Current studies are observing effects that require further work by researchers in order to find out the mechanisms that would allow a proper assessment of the correlations between the Earth‘s magnetic field variations and changes in human organisms. The main purpose of this study was to investigate possible correlations between the strength of time-varying aspects of the local Earth’s magnetic field and incidence of myocardial infarctions. Study participants included 435 males and 268 females who had diagnosis of myocardial infarction during the period of 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 and attended the Department of Cardiology at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS), Kauno klinikos. Time varying magnetic field data was collected at the magnetometer site located in Lithuania. After mathematical analysis, the results support the hypothesis that the Earth’s magnetic field has a relationship between the number of acute myocardial infarction with ST segment elevation (STEMI) cases per week and the average weekly geomagnetic field strength in different frequency ranges. Correlations varied in different age groups as well as in males and females, which may indicate diverse organism sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic field.

The effect of different physical therapy programs on renal transplant recipients’ physical activity, grip strength, and psychoemotional status – and the associations between these indices

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different physical therapy programs on physical activity, grip strength, and psychoemotional status of individuals who had undergone renal transplant and to determine the associations between these indices. The study included 32 individuals who had undergone renal transplant; the subjects were distributed into 2 groups, each consisting of 16 individuals. Group 1 received a physical therapy program involving aerobic exercises, and group 2 received a physical therapy program involving Pilates exercises. During the study, physical activity was evaluated using the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Grip strength in the hands was evaluated with a dynamometer. Psychoemotional status was evaluated by applying the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. To evaluate the effectiveness of physical therapy programs, we assessed changes in physical activity, grip strength, and psychoemotional status, and the associations between these indices. The evaluation of changes in physical activity, grip strength, and psychoemotional status when applying different physical therapy programs showed a significant change in these indices in both groups. The study also showed that both physical therapy programs had equal effect on the analyzed indices. The evaluation of the association between physical activity and grip strength showed a direct weak correlation between physical activity and grip strength in the left and right hands, a moderate inverse correlation between the level of physical activity and the severity of anxiety, and an inverse correlation between time after renal transplant and the severity of anxiety. In addition, we found a direct strong correlation between physical activity and its other domains and an inverse correlation between physical activity and the duration of sitting (min/wk).

Not only static: Stabilization manoeuvres in dynamic exercises – A pilot study

This study examined characteristics of trunk muscles electrical activity in young adults performed in the course of static and dynamic trunk muscles strengthening exercises using different lumbar spine stabilization manoeuvres. Twenty young adults (Mage = 25.5 SD = 2.91) participated in this study. Of the 20, 11 subjects (5 males and 6 females) reported no history of pain, 9 subjects (5 males and 4 females) reported lower back pain (LBP) within the last three months. Subjects performed lumbar spine stabilization manoeuvres (abdominal bracing (AB) and abdominal hollowing (AH)) with static and dynamic abdominal muscles strengthening exercises (i.e., plank, side-bridges, and curl-ups). Noraxon Telemyo twelve channel electromyography device (Noraxon USA, Inc.) was used to record EMG data from rectus abdominal muscle (RA), external oblique muscles (EO), internal oblique muscles (IO), and erector spine muscles (ES). In static exercises such as side-bridge exercise, significantly higher RA muscle electrical activity was recorded with AB manoeuvre compared to AH manoeuvre both on the right side and left side respectively (Z = -2.17; p = 0.03; Z = 3.40; p = 0.001). In dynamic exercises such as curl-up exercise, during the lifting phase, median value of RA muscle activity with AB was significantly higher than with AH (Z = -2.315; p = 0.021). Median value of IO muscles activity with AH was significantly higher than with AB (Z = -3.230; p = 0.001). Our findings indicated that although surface muscles are more activated with AB manoeuvre exercises, deep abdominal muscles are more activated in exercises with AH manoeuvre. These findings can help practitioners design interventions to integrate AH manoeuvre for benefiting persons with lumbar instability.