To evaluate the cardiopulmonary endurance of subjects with spinal cord injury by measuring the maximal oxygen consumption with varying degrees of spinal cord injury level, age, and regular exercise.
We instructed the subjects to perform exercises using arm ergometer on healthy adults at 20 years of age or older with spinal cord injury, and their maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was measured with a metabolic measurement system. The exercise proceeded stepwise according to the exercise protocol and was stopped when the subject was exhausted or when VO2 reached an equilibriu
Among the 40 subjects, there were 10 subjects with cervical cord injury, 27 with thoracic cord injury, and 3 with lumbar cord injury. Twenty-five subjects who were exercised regularly showed statistically higher results of VO2max than those who did not exercise regularly. Subjects with cervical injury showed statistically lower VO2max than the subjects with thoracic or lumbar injury out of the 40 subjects with neurologic injury. In addition, higher age showed a statistically lower VO2max. Lastly, the regularly exercising paraplegic group showed higher VO2max than the non-exercising paraplegic group.
There are differences in VO2max of subjects with spinal cord injury according to the degree of neurologic injury, age, and whether the subject participates in regular exercise. We found that regular exercise increased the VO2max in individuals with spinal cord injury.
Citations
To determine if assistive ergometer training can improve the functional ability and aerobic capacity of subacute stroke patients and if functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the paretic leg during ergometer cycling has additional effects.
Sixteen subacute stroke patents were randomly assigned to the FES group (n=8) or the control group (n=8). All patients underwent assistive ergometer training for 30 minutes (five times per week for 4 weeks). The electrical stimulation group received FES of the paretic lower limb muscles during assistive ergometer training. The six-minute walk test (6MWT), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and the Korean version of Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI) were evaluated at the beginning and end of treatment. Peak oxygen consumption (Vo2peak), metabolic equivalent (MET), resting and maximal heart rate, resting and maximal blood pressure, maximal rate pressure product, submaximal rate pressure product, submaximal rate of perceived exertion, exercise duration, respiratory exchange ratio, and estimated anaerobic threshold (AT) were determined with the exercise tolerance test before and after treatment.
At 4 weeks after treatment, the FES assistive ergometer training group showed significant improvements in 6MWT (p=0.01), BBS (p=0.01), K-MBI (p=0.01), Vo2peak (p=0.02), MET (p=0.02), and estimated AT (p=0.02). The control group showed improvements in only BBS (p=0.01) and K-MBI (p=0.02). However, there was no significant difference in exercise capacity and functional ability between the two groups.
This study demonstrated that ergometer training for 4 weeks improved the functional ability of subacute stroke patients. In addition, aerobic capacity was improved after assisted ergometer training with a FES only.
Citations
The aim of this study is to exam the effects of exercise modes on the systolic blood pressure and rate-pressure product during a gradually increasing exercise load from low to high intensity.
Fifteen apparently healthy men aged 19 to 23 performed the graded exercise tests on cycle ergometer (CE) and treadmill (TM). During the low-to-maximal exercises, oxygen uptake (VO2), heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and rate-pressure product were measured.
CE had a significantly lower maximum VO2 than TM (CE vs. TM: 48.51±1.30 vs. 55.4±1.19 mL/kg/min; p<0.001). However, CE showed a higher maximum SBP (SBPmax) at the all-out exercise load than TM (CE vs. TM: 170±2.4 vs. 154±1.7 mmHg; p<0.001). During the low-to-maximal intensity increment, the slope of the HR with VO2 was the same as VO2 increased in times of the graded exercise test of CE and TM (CE vs. TM: 2.542±0.100 vs. 2.506±0.087; p=0.26). The slope of increase on SBP accompanied by VO2 increase was significantly higher in CE than in TM (CE vs. TM: 1.669±0.117 vs. 1.179±0.063; p<0.001).
The SBP response is stronger in CE than in TM during the graded exercise test. Therefore, there is a possibility that CE could induce a greater burden on workloads to cardiovascular system in humans than TM.
Citations
First
Prev
