Prapas Pothongsunun

Vernonia cinerea Less. supplementation and strenuous exercise reduce smoking rate: relation to oxidative stress status and beta-endorphin release in active smokers

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Vernonia cinerea Less. (VC) supplementation and exercise on oxidative stress biomarkers, beta-endorphin release, and the rate of cigarette smoking.MethodsVolunteer smokers were randomly divided into four groups: group 1: VC supplement; group 2: exercise with VC supplement; group 3: exercise; and group 4: control. VC was prepared by wash and dry techniques and taken orally before smoking, matching the frequency of strenuous exercise (three times weekly). Before and after a two month period, exhaled carbon monoxide (CO), blood oxidative stress (malondialdehyde [MDA], nitric oxide [NOx], protein hydroperoxide [PrOOH] and total antioxidant capacity [TAC]), beta-endorphin and smoking rate were measured, and statistically analyzed.ResultsIn Group 1, MDA, PrOOH, and NOx significantly decreased, whereas TAC increased (p < 0.05). In Group 2, MDA and PrOOH decreased (p < 0.05), with no other changes noted (p > 0.05). In Group 3, MDA, PrOOH, NOx, TAC, and beta-endorphin levels increased significantly (p < 0.05). Group 4 showed no change in oxidative stress variables or beta-endorphine levels (p > 0.05). All groups had lower levels of CO after the intervention. The smoking rate for light cigarette decreased in group 2(62.7%), 1(59.52%), 3 (53.57%) and 4(14.04%), whereas in self-rolled cigarettes it decreased in group 1 (54.47%), 3 (42.30%), 2 (40%) and 4 (9.2%).ConclusionSupplementation with Vernonia cinerea Less and exercise provided benefit related to reduced smoking rate, which may be related to oxidaive stress and beta-endorphine levels.

N-Acetylcysteine Supplementation Controls Total Antioxidant Capacity, Creatine Kinase, Lactate, and Tumor Necrotic Factor-Alpha against Oxidative Stress Induced by Graded Exercise in Sedentary Men

Aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of short-term (7 days) N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at 1,200 mg daily supplementation on muscle fatigue, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max ), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), lactate, creatine kinase (CK), and tumor necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α). Twenty-nine sedentary men (13 controls; 16 in the supplement group) from a randomized control were included. At before and after supplementation, fatigue index (FI) was evaluated in the quadriceps muscle, and performed a graded exercise treadmill test to induce oxidative stress, and as a measure of VO2max . Blood samples were taken before exercise and 20 minutes after it at before and after supplementation, to determine TAC, CK, lactate, and TNF-α levels. Results showed that FI and VO2max  increased significantly in the supplement group. After exercise decreased the levels of TAC and increased lactate, CK, and TNF-α of both groups at before supplementation. After supplementation, lactate, CK, and TNF-α levels significantly increased and TAC decreased after exercise in the control group. Whereas the TAC and lactate levels did not change significantly, but CK and TNF-α increased significantly in the supplement group. Therefore, this results showed that NAC improved the muscle fatigue, VO2max , maintained TAC, controlled lactate production, but had no influence on CK and TNF-α.

Six weeks of aerobic dance exercise improves blood oxidative stress status and increases interleukin-2 in previously sedentary women

This study evaluated the change in blood oxidative stress, blood interleukin-2, and physical performance following 6 weeks of moderate intensity and duration aerobic dance exercise in 24 sedentary women. Blood samples were collected at rest twice before (baseline) and after the 6-week intervention for analysis of protein hydroperoxide (PrOOH), malondialdehyde (MDA), total anti-oxidant capacity (TAC), and interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels. Maximal treadmill run time (Time(max)) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)) were also measured. All variables were statistically analyzed with a repeated measurement ANOVA and Tukey post hoc. No differences were noted in any variable during the baseline period (p > 0.05). After aerobic dance exercise, VO(2max), Time(max), TAC and IL-2 were significantly increased, whereas MDA levels were decreased significantly (p < 0.05). PrOOH did not change either between baseline measures or after exercise. It can be concluded that aerobic dance exercise at a moderate intensity and duration can improve physical fitness, decrease MDA, and increase TAC and IL-2 in previously sedentary women.

Acute clinical benefits of chest wall-stretching exercise on expired tidal volume, dyspnea and chest expansion in a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A single case study

Chest physical therapy (CPT) has an important role in a medical team to assist in resolving the critical problems deriving from chronic lung disease. These critical problems include increased secretion volume, difficult breathing or dyspnea, ineffective coughing, inability to be weaned off a ventilator, and physical deterioration resulting from low aerobic capacity and endurance after prolonged bed rest. The inability to be weaned off a ventilator does not only result from secretion production or muscle weakness, but other conditions including chest stiffness or immobility. The procedure to increase chest mobility includes specific chest stretching and mobilization. Chest wall-stretching exercises were composed of thoracic rotation and anterior compression with stretching in sitting position, trunk extension and rib torsion in supine lying, and lateral stretching in side lying. These exercises were given to the patient as a regular daily program along with postural drainage, percussion, breathing exercise and limb exercises. The expired tidal volume, dyspnea level, and chest expansion were evaluated and clinical efficiency was analyzed during CPT, compared to Pre-CPT and Post-CPT with Bloom table. The results showed a significant clinical improvement of expired tidal volume, reduction in dyspnea level, and increase in chest expansion.

Case-based reasoning system for Screening Falling Risk of Thai elderly

The effect of a fall towards an older person can be devastating and lead to loss of independence and reduce his/her quality of life. Furthermore, the cumulative effect of falls and resulting injuries can consume a disproportionate amount of health care resources. However, the number of physiotherapists is not sufficient to provide the necessary care for the increasing number of aging population. The governmental agencies try to solve the urgent problem by reducing the demand of the medical expert with the trained physiotherapist. This research outlines a Falling Risk Screening System to diagnose falling patterns in elderly people using Motion Capture Technology. The idea is to integrate an appropriate procedure including case based reasoning and motion capture to provide a decision support system. The diagnosis information derived from the process of case based reasoning helps support the physiotherapist to determine serious falling risks in the elderly and recommend guidelines for medical treatment. In this study, the limited sample data leads to use stratified 10-fold cross-validation method for performance evaluation of the CBRs retrieval mechanism. It demonstrates the very high performance, 81.67% of accuracy.

Clustering the clusters – knowledge enhancing tool for diagnosing elderly falling risk

Falls which affect the musculoskeletal system are the leading cause of injury in people over 65 years. To address the growing problem of falls in an ageing society and to support and improve the healthcare service provided, a diagnostic tool is required. This study proposes a new approach to analyse and diagnose the risks associated with elderly falling by applying K-means clustering to cluster and assess the fall risks data of elderly Thai people, captured using motion capture technology. These clusters are mapped into two-dimensional space using self-organising map (SOM). The resulting 95.45% accuracy suggests that the two-stage clustering technique is applicable and useful in managing fall risks which can then be included in decision support system to assist physiotherapists, in recommending a customised rehabilitation programme.

Knowledge management system in falling risk for physiotherapy care of elderly

This paper describes the elderly healthcare research project affected by a fall. The decision support system is proposed as knowledge management method, including knowledge engineering to acquiring the experts heuristically diagnostic knowledge and sharing this knowledge to the physiotherapist in the form of tool and application at the right time. This paper outlines a Knowledge Management System (KMS) to diagnose falling patterns in elderly people using Motion Capture Technology. The idea is to integrate an appropriate procedure including case based reasoning and motion capture to provide a decision support system. The diagnosis information derived from the process of KMS helps support the physiotherapist to determine serious falling risks in the elderly and recommend guidelines for medical treatment. The evaluation result shows an efficient performance with 80.95% of precision when using the Assumption Attribute category criteria with KNNR=3. Furthermore, the result of KMS-EUCS shows a high satisfaction from the users with 97.50% of satisfaction in a community of practice scenario. This can confirm the successful of KMS approach within the falling risk screening procedure.