[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of whole-body vibration exercise in a sitting position prior to therapy in stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] Fourteen chronic stroke patients were included in this study. Prior to occupational therapy, whole-body exercise was performed for 10 minutes, 5 times per week, for a total of 8 weeks. Muscle tone and upper extremity f...

Pediatricians often encounter children with delays of motor development in their clinical practices. Earlier identification of motor delays allows for timely referral for developmental interventions as well as diagnostic evaluations and treatment planning. A multidisciplinary expert panel developed an algorithm for the surveillance and screening of children for motor delays within the medical h...

Objective. Test-retest reliability of the myotonometer was investigated in patients with subacute stroke. Methods. Twelve patients with substroke (3 to 9 months poststroke) were examined in standardized testing position twice, 60 minutes apart, with the Myoton-3 myometer to measure tone, elasticity, and stiffness of relaxed bilateral biceps and triceps brachii muscles. Intrarater reliability of...

Regional anaesthesia may affect respiratory muscle function, pulmonary bronchial tone and postoperative pulmonary dysfunction. These effects on respiratory function depend on the concentration of the local anaesthetic used and, mostly, on the location of the regional block. Most peripheral nerve blocks have no effect on respiratory function and are, therefore, often recommended as the technique...

Obstructive sleep apnoea is a common and serious breathing problem that is caused by effects of sleep on pharyngeal muscle tone in individuals with narrow upper airways. There has been increasing focus on delineating the brain mechanisms that modulate pharyngeal muscle activity in the awake and asleep states in order to understand the pathogenesis of obstructive apnoeas and to develop novel neu...

Prostanoids, produced endogenously via cyclooxygenases (COXs), have been implicated in the sustained contraction of different smooth muscles. The two major types of COXs are COX-1 and COX-2. The COX subtype involved in the basal state of the internal anal sphincter (IAS) smooth muscle tone is not known. To identify the COX subtype, we examined the effect of COX-1- and COX-2-selective inhibitors...