All of our Physiospot blogs can now be found together at www.physiospot.com
Following the migration of all our Physiopsot blogs into one location all the old feeds and email alerts have become inactive. You will need to go to our new Physiospot site and sign up for your new updates.
With the expansion in the number of Physispot blogs available in 2007 it has become quite a large task to continually juggle them all and is not conducive to an effective service for our readers. We have therefore made the decision to amalgamate all the blogs into one place at www.physiospot.com. Whilst you will be able to read all the articles that have been selected as clinically relevant and posted we have developed separate areas of the site for research in different clinical areas.
By making the management process more efficient not only will we be able to devote more time to actually posting articles but it will also provide a number of additional benefits:
There is one small inconvenience to our readers which can be easily overcome. As of today the email alerts and feeds for all the old physispot blogs will cease to function. You will need to sign up again to receive the update alerts that you are interested in. Go to the update options page to sign up now for your RSS feed and Email Alerts. You can also download our toolbar to receive updates straight to your desktop and follow us on Twitter from this page.
We hope that all our readers are happy with the developments and that you enjoy the site and continue to find it useful, had we not done this we may not have been able to carry on with the juggling! Visit the new site at www.physiospot.com
Hill K, Jenkins SC, Cecins N, Philippe DL, Hillman DR, Eastwood PR.
The authors of this study set out to develop a predictive equation which would allow estimation of the maximum work rate (Wmax) achieved during an incremental cycle ergometry test from the measurement of 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and its derivative, 6-minute walk work, which is the product of 6MWD and body weight.
They found that Wmax could be estimated from equations based on measurements of 6MWD or 6-minute walk work. The estimate of Wmax derived from either equation could provide a basis on which to prescribe cycle ergometry training work rates that comply with the current guidelines for pulmonary rehabilitation
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2008;89(9):1782-7
El-Ansary D, Waddington G, Adams R.
Support from sports tape, a compression garment, and an adjustable fastening brace was assessed by an ultrasound-based measure of sternal separation contingent on movement and by self-report measures of comfort, pain, feeling of support, ease of upper-limb movement, and ease of breathing in 15 patients with sternal instability after a median sternotomy.
The results showed that for both sternal separation and self-report data, some support was better than no support, a supportive device worn on the body was better than sports tape, and wearing an adjustable fastening brace was better than a compression garment. The effects of wearing the different supportive devices on visual analog scale ratings of comfort, pain, support, ease of breathing, and movement mirrored the results obtained for sternal separation.
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2008;89(9):1775-81
Lau KSL and Jones AYM
Forty-six ambulatory patients with a mean age of 75 years, with stage I or II chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and with no previous experience of TENS or acupuncture were included in the study. The experimental group received a treatment of 45 minutes of Acu-TENS, while the control group received placebo-TENS with identical electrode placement.
The experimental group had an increased FEV1 and decreased dyspnoea scores when compared to the control group. Acu-TENS may be a useful non-invasive adjunctive intervention in the management of dyspnoea in patients with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease.
Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 2008; 54: 179–184
Troosters T, Langer D, Vrijsen B, Segers J, Wouters K, Janssens W, Gosselink R, Decramer M, Dupont L.
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of muscle weakness and the importance of physical inactivity in CF and its relation to exercise tolerance and muscle strength. In a study group of 64 adult patients with CF and 20 age-matched controls exercise tolerance, skeletal and respiratory muscle strength were assessed. Quadriceps muscle weakness was present in 56% of the patients. Peak oxygen consumption and six minute walking distance was below normal in 89% and 75% of patients, respectively. Respiratory muscle strength was normal.
The authors conclude that skeletal muscle weakness and exercise intolerance are prevalent in CF. Although physical inactivity is a significant factor contributing to exercise tolerance and skeletal muscle force in adults with Cystic Fibrosis, the impairments in muscle strength and six minute walk distance are in excess to that expected from physical inactivity only.
European Respiratory Journal 2009; 33:99-106
With a couple of e-learning projects that require some dedicated time, I will be taking a break from writing on the CPDspot and Physiospot blogs for the rest of November and December. There may continue to be some posts from our other authors but I will be going quiet until the New Year. When I return in 2009 I will be refreshed and ready to get writing again. I will also have had some time to consider some of the ideas for new projects that have been mulling around for a while now, so you can expect some exciting developments next year.
