Friday 14 March 2014

Lower back pain and pelvic tilt during biking


Lower back pain


I was always wondering what it the correct position for all my joints during biking. What can be the most energy efficient and at the same time anatomically less stressful position I should have.

Here is a wonderful website that gives nice detailed guidelines and rules of thumb for proper body position during biking.

I found very relevant to my problem the following information:

Lower Back Pain and Pelvic Tilt

This image shows two cyclists, with the one on the right in a far lower, more aggressive position. One might imagine that of the two, he might suffer more back pain. But this was not the case, with the cyclist on the left suffering debilitating pain, very quickly into a ride. The clue is in the angle of the pelvis. The rider on the left has a noticeable hinge point in his lower back as his pelvis is reluctant to lean forwards and the lower lumbar vertebrae appear to be immobile. The rider on the right meanwhile has a smooth transition from pelvis to lumbar region and along the whole spine. In the left hand case, the saddle was too low and the rider had a very stiff right hip joint. The excessive upwards movement of the knee and lack of mobility in the hip combined to push the pelvis back.

Thursday 13 March 2014

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association


ALS Association: Create a World without ALS.

Established in 1985, The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease on every front.  By leading the way in global research, providing assistance for people with ALS through a nationwide network of chapters, coordinating multidisciplinary care through certified clinical care centers, and fostering government partnerships, The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.

As the preeminent ALS organization, The Association leads the way in research, care services, public education, and public policy — giving help and hope to those facing the disease.  The Association’s nationwide network of chapters provides comprehensive patient services and support to the ALS community. The mission of The ALS Association is to lead the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy, while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

A-myo-trophic comes from the Greek language. "A" means no or negative. "Myo" refers to muscle, and "Trophic" means nourishment–"No muscle nourishment." When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.

As motor neurons degenerate, they can no longer send impulses to the muscle fibers that normally result in muscle movement. Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing. When muscles no longer receive the messages from the motor neurons that they require to function, the muscles begin to atrophy (become smaller). Limbs begin to look "thinner" as muscle tissue atrophies.

FatSecret.com


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Sunday 9 March 2014

Exercise, how it can increase or decrease specific hormones and growth factors



A beatiful article on ScientificPhysicalTherapy.

Summary: The growth factor IGF-1 and the anabolic hormones growth hormone and testosterone stimulates protein synthesis and tissue regeneration. IGF-1 can be decreased by mild aerobic exercise at the lactate threshold which is approximately 50% VO2 max. This would be beneficial in cases where the patient has increased risk of cancer.

Exercising at levels higher than 60% VO2 max will increase IGF-1 and high resistance exercise will also increase IGF-1. Growth hormones are stimulated by high intensity exercise both short sprint exercise and resistance exercise if it provides high tissue stress.

Resistance exercises with high workloads are the most effective way to stimulate the release of testosterone. Clinically it may look like IGF-1, growth hormones and testosterone can only be stimulated later in the treatment program when the patient has progressed into higher resistance exercise protocols. It may however be possible for many patients even early on to stimulate the production of IGF-1 and the anabolic hormones by incorporating short interval maximal effort sprints on a cycle ergometer. This may be a way to increase the anabolic response and improve protein synthesis and tissue regeneration early on.

Saturday 1 March 2014

Funding a cure for spinal cord injury



“The target is to raise £1.5m in two years. We've got the world leader in spinal repair here, Professor Geoffrey Raisman, and he’s very optimistic that he’ll get paralysis beaten in the near future.”

David Nicholls, founder Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation

The Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation (NSIF) was founded by chef David Nicholls following an accident in which his son, Daniel, was left paralysed from the arms down. Daniel had been standing in water between the safety flags on Bondi Beach, when he dived into an oncoming wave, hit an unseen sandbank and broke his neck.

There are over 2.5 million people worldwide living with paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. Around 130,000 people every year join them. David was determined to do everything he could to see his son, and others living with spinal injury, walk again. Therefore he set up NSIF.

The charity is focused on raising money in order to fund innovative medical research, that we all hope will lead to a repair and cure for spinal cord injury.

Find out how you can help – Make a Difference.

First wave of physios set to qualify as independent prescribers



Eight CSP members have completed one of England’s first independent prescribing courses for physiotherapists.

The physios were among the first intake of students on a conversion course for practitioners who were already supplementary prescribers. It was held at London South Bank University (LSBU).

As independent prescribers, the physios can prescribe medicines for their patients without a doctor’s counter-signature.

One of them, Rosalie Barrett, clinical lead physiotherapist at Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust, said: ‘This is a really exciting time for physiotherapy and a huge milestone for the profession.

‘It’s the conclusion of a long campaign to allow physiotherapists the autonomy to prescribe independently within their specialised fields.

‘We already assess, diagnose and treat and now we are being given the recognition that we are specialists and we can ensure faster, more efficient patient care.’

Read the rest here.

Finding my feet - Claire Lomas


Over dinner late in 2011, Claire Lomas told her friends she would be walking the London Marathon in 2012 despite not walking a step since the accident which left her paralysed in 2007.

Given Claire's strength of character, not one of her friends were doubting that she would complete - It was just a question of how long it would take!

On 8 May 2012, 17 days after she started, Claire crossed the finish line in London and whilst walking she had been taken into the hearts of the nation.

The 2013 challenge saw Claire take on a 400 mile hand-cycle, visiting schools and talking to children en-route. At the finish on 13 May, she had raise £75,000.

'Inspirational' is the word that has been used many times to describe Claire's achievements.