We have recently observed that in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) raised plasma norepinephrine (NE) is an independent predictor of incident cardiovascular events but that its prognostic power is reduced when this sympathetic marker is tested in statistical models including also left ventricular mass. Because left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) may be a mechanism whereby NE contribut...

Purpose. Objective of the present study was to see the correlation of subjectively measured KOOS questionnaire with objectively measured 6-minute walk test (6-MWT), age, height, weight, and BMI. Participants. 251 subjects with OA knee based on American College of Rheumatology criteria. Methods. After passing inclusion and exclusion criteria, the following parameters were recorded: age, height, ...

BACKGROUND New parameters in the 6-minute walk test (6 MWT) are required for comprehensive analysis of exercise capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the present study was to apply a novel index, the desaturation distance ratio (DDR), to clinical research on COPD as an estimate of exercise capacity and to examine whether DDR is a potential parameter ...

Introduction Frail elderly people often use emergency care. During hospitalization, physical decline is common, implying an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) has been shown to be beneficial for these patients in hospital care. However, there is very limited evidence about the effects on physical fitness. The aim was to compare effects on physica...

Background Acupuncture therapy plays a pivotal role in pain relief, and increasing evidence demonstrates that mast cells (MCs) may mediate acupuncture analgesia. The present study aims to investigate the role of MCs in acupuncture analgesia using c-kit gene mutant-induced MC-deficient rats. Materials and methods WsRC-Ws/Ws rats and their wild-type (WT) littermates (WsRC-+/+) were used. The nu...

Previous studies reported on the association of left ventricular mass index (LVMI) with urinary sodium or with circulating or urinary aldosterone. We investigated the independent associations of LVMI with the urinary excretion of both sodium and aldosterone. We randomly recruited 317 untreated subjects from a white population (45.1% women; mean age 48.2 years). Measurements included echocardiog...

OBJECTIVE Cardiovascular, respiratory and musculoskeletal system disorders which may affect the functional exercise capacity are common in obese patients. We aimed to investigate the functional exercise capacity and its relationship with functional pulmonary capacity in obese children. METHODS A total of 74 obese and 36 healthy children as a control group were enrolled in the study. Pulmonary...

To discern if physical function test are better mortality predictors than muscle mass in elderly hospitalized patients, we analyzed the prognostic value of muscle mass malnutrition and compared it with physical muscle function tests, including the six-minute walking test (6 MWT) and hand grip strength. We included the ankle brachial index (ABI) to assess arterial disease, related to muscle atro...

INTRODUCTION Evaluation of effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has not yet been presented in medical literature. The objective of the study is to analyze the influence of inspiratory muscle training on dyspnea (oxygen cost diagram [OCD], baseline dyspnea index [BDI]), quality of life (SF-36), results of 6 MWT (distance, dyspnea in Borg'...

Neurobiological research in genetically tractable organisms relies heavily on robust assays for behavioral phenotypes. The simple body plan of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans makes it particularly amenable to the use of automated microscopy and image analysis to describe behavioral patterns quantitatively. Forward genetic screens and screens of drug libraries require high-throughput phenoty...