Effects of abdominal binding on field-based exercise responses in Paralympic athletes with cervical spinal cord injury

Effects of abdominal binding on field-based exercise responses in Paralympic athletes with cervical spinal cord injury.

Christopher R. West, Ian G. Campbell, Victoria L. Goosey-Tolfrey, Barry S. Mason, Lee M. Romer

Abstract

Abdominal binding has been shown to improve resting cardiorespiratory function in individuals with

cervical SCI, but it is not yet clear whether this approach improves the exercise response.

Objectives: To determine the effects of abdominal binding on parameters relating to wheelchair sports performance in highly-trained athletes with cervical SCI.

Design: Repeated-measures field-based study.

Methods: Ten Paralympic wheelchair rugby players with motor-complete SCI (C5–C7) completed a series of exercise tests in two conditions (bound and unbound). The following parameters were assessed: agility and acceleration/deceleration performance; cardiorespiratory function and gross efficiency during submaximal wheelchair propulsion; anaerobic performance and propulsion kinematics during a 30s Wingate test; repeated sprint performance during a 10 × 20 m test; and aerobic performance during a repeated 4 min push test.

Results: Compared to unbound, 6 of 17 field-based performance measures changed significantly with binding. Time to complete the acceleration/deceleration test decreased (p = 0.005), whereas distances covered during the repeated 4 min push test increased (p < 0.043). Binding elicited significant reductions in minute ventilation during submaximal wheelchair propulsion (p = 0.040) as well as blood lactate accumulation and limb discomfort during the second set of the repeated 4 min push test (p = 0.012 and 0.022). There were no statistically significant effects of binding on any other variable.

Conclusions: Abdominal binding improves some important measures of field-based performance in highly-trained athletes with cervical SCI. The changes may be attributable, at least in part, to improvements in trunk stability, ventilatory efficiency and/or haemodynamics.

Source.

Wheelchair rugby - athletes testing

Last Saturday we tested the physical and sport specific skills of our athletes in the Dutch Wheelchair Rugby Talent Selection Team with Tom Paulson. Great experience and nice results.

Posted by Testcentrum CASA Reade on Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Last Saturday we tested the physical and sport specific skills of our athletes in the Dutch Wheelchair Rugby Talent Selection Team with Tom Paulson. Great experience and nice results.

Posted by Testcentrum CASA Reade on Tuesday, 19 May 2015

BMI calculator wrongly labelling thousands as obese, research shows, plus BMI and Spinal Cord Injuries

The BMI calculator used in the public health system to measure obesity rates is highly flawed and could be slapping a false fat label on thousands of Australians, new research has highlighted.

A study into the size and shape of women aged 18-44 has found that almost one-third of participants were miscalculated as obese using the BMI calculator alone, highlighting the need for body measurements, percentage body fat and muscle mass to be introduced into testing.

Read the rest.

Your waist measurement compares closely with your body mass index (BMI), and is often seen as a better way of checking your risk of developing a chronic disease.

Read the rest.

Measuring the waist circumference in people with a SCI should be done in supine position.

Being overweight is a common problem for people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Some research shows that two out of three people with SCI are overweight. Excess weight gained after SCI is difficult to lose, and it is hard to maintain weight over time and avoid putting on extra pounds. In part this is due to a reduced ability to move freely. The higher the injury, the more difficult it is to move, stay active, and exercise. A person with a cervical SCI will have more difficulty moving compared to someone with SCI in the lower spine. The same is true for the completeness of an injury. A person with an incomplete injury who is able to walk will likely burn more calories than a person who has a complete injury and uses a wheelchair full time.

Read the rest.

A review of body mass index and waist circumference as markers of obesity and coronary heart disease risk in persons with chronic spinal cord injury.

Read the rest.

Waist circumference is the best index for obesity-related cardiovascular disease risk in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Read the rest.

Paralysed man walks again after cell transplant

A paralysed man has been able to walk again after a pioneering therapy that involved transplanting cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.

Darek Fidyka, who was paralysed from the chest down in a knife attack in 2010, can now walk using a frame.

The treatment, a world first, was carried out by surgeons in Poland in collaboration with scientists in London.

Read the rest on bbc.news.

A tiny, flexible gold-plated device may be the key to restoring paralyzed humans’ spinal functions

EPFL researcher's neural implant can make paralyzed rats walk again. Soft and stretchable, it is the first of its kind that can be implanted directly on the spinal chord, without damaging it. Described in Science, this new generation device called e-Dura combines electrical and chemical stimulation.

One of the health conditions modern medicine has yet to fix is paralysis in patients who have experienced accidents affecting their spinal cords. But, CNET reports, researchers from Switzerland have already come up with a tiny, flexible, gold-plated device that can be implanted in patients to restore spinal cord functionality and allow paralyzed patients to walk again. [...]

SPINALpedia

SPINALpedia is a social mentoring network and video archive that allows the spinal cord injury community to motivate each other with the knowledge and triumphs gained from our individual experiences.

How to choose a wheelchair

Welcome to Episode 1 of a How To video series presented by National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) with the help of Mary Allison Cook, a wheelchair user for the past 23 years. She will lead us through a number of How To's for the wheelchair user. In this video you will learn the important aspects of how to choose a wheelchair that is right for you.

Learn everything about Spinal Cord Injuries

Recognising the need to disseminate information about comprehensive management of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) took the initiative to develop elearnSCI.org, a web-based teaching and educational resource. elearnSCI.org specifically addresses the current lack of professional development opportunities for medical and paramedical professionals involved in SCI Management due to the limited access of up-to-date SCI training and learning materials/ resources. The content has been developed by 332 leading SCI professionals and educationists from around the world and reflects realities in both high and low resource settings. The content has been informed by the most up-to-date SCI research and as such will be of relevance to students, those new to the field of SCI and to SCI practitioners everywhere. The Asian Spinal Cord Network (ASCoN), Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), Livability and the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme partnered with ISCoS to develop this resource, with financial support from Access to Health Care.

Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence

• Over 3500 articles reviewed
• 1400+ articles rated
• 107 Outcome Measures assessed (Download for Free)
• 80+ researchers, clinicians and trainees from 5 different countries involved in updating the key topic areas in SCIRE, including New Chapters on Economic Evaluation of Spinal Cord Injury and Sexual and Reproductive Health and SCI

http://www.scireproject.com/

New device allows brain to bypass spinal cord and move paralysed limbs

For the first time ever, a paralysed man has moved his fingers and hand with his own thoughts after an electronic neural bypass for spinal cord injuries that reconnects the brain directly to muscles, allowing voluntary and functional control of a paralysed limb. This innovation comes from a partnership between The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Battelle.

Read more on NeuroNews.

Hugh Herr: The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance

Hugh Herr is building the next generation of bionic limbs, robotic prosthetics inspired by nature's own designs. Herr lost both legs in a climbing accident 30 years ago; now, as the head of the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics group, he shows his incredible technology in a talk that's both technical and deeply personal — with the help of ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost her left leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and performs again for the first time on the TED stage.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews

Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Pioneering implant revives legs of paralysed men

11:42 08 April 2014 by Andy Coghlan

Magazine issue 2964. Subscribe and save

They can't quite walk. Yet. But four wheelchair-bound men who until recently were completely paralysed below the waist can now move their legs and toes and even lift up to 100 kilograms with their legs. Their spinal cords have been reawakened by electrical implants that revive the flow of information between limbs and brain. Such feats would previously have been unthinkable in people with spinal cord injuries.

"We think it's a very large milestone," says Claudia Angeli of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville. "There's not been anything like this, and no hope previously for the most severely injured patients, so this is a very important step forward for them."

Read the rest on NewScientist.

Basic wheelchair propulsion

Basic Wheelchair Propulsion by BlazeSports America.

Born from the spirit of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Paralympic Games, BlazeSports America is a national nonprofit organization that enables children and adults with physical disability to realize their potential through sport and healthy lifestyles. BlazeSports provides sports training, competitions, summer camps, leadership training, and recreational opportunities for youth and adults who use wheelchairs, have a visual impairment, have an amputation, or who have a neurological disability such as cerebral palsy through 63 clubs in 29 states including the District of Columbia.

Wings for life

The driving forces behind Wings for Life are the two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner and the founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz. In 2003, Kinigadner's son Hannes had a tragic accident which left him tetraplegic.

Moved by the dreadful injury, Kinigadner and Mateschitz invited leading scientists from across the world to come to Salzburg. It soon became clear that, contrary to common opinion, there is legitimate reason to hope that traumatic spinal cord injury can be cured. Ground-breaking discoveries made by Prof. Dr. Sam David in 1981 and by Prof. Dr. Martin Schwab in the early 1990s showed that injured nerve cells in the spinal cord are capable of regeneration after specific types of treatment.

Kinigadner and Mateschitz soon realised that research into spinal cord injury was underfunded. Paralysis is not considered a widespread condition and therefore investing millions in research to help a relatively small number of people was generally considered an unprofitable endeavour.

This realisation prompted Kinigadner and Mateschitz to set up the Wings for Life research foundation – with the goal of finding ways to cure all people affected.

Human exoskeletons by eksobionics

Ekso™ is a wearable bionic suit which enables individuals with any amount of lower extremity weakness to stand up and walk over ground with a natural, full weight bearing, reciprocal gait. Walking is achieved by the user’s weight shifts to activate sensors in the device which initiate steps. Battery-powered motors drive the legs, replacing deficient neuromuscular function.

• Provides a means for people with as much as complete paralysis, and minimal forearm strength, to stand and walk
• Helps patients re-learn proper step patterns and weight shifts using a functional based platform
• Facilitates intensive step dosage over ground

American Spinal Injury Association

Mission of the ASIA

(a) to promote and establish standards of excellence for all aspects of health care of individuals with spinal cord injury from onset throughout life.

(b) to educate members, other healthcare professionals, patients and their families as well as the public on all aspects of spinal cord injury and its consequences in order to prevent injury, improve care, increase availability of services and maximize the injured individual’s potential for full participation in all areas of community life.

(c) to foster research which aims at preventing spinal cord injury, improving care, reducing consequent disability, and finding a cure for both acute and chronic SCI.

(d) to facilitate communication among members and other physicians, allied health care professionals, researchers and consumers.

International perspectives on spinal cord injury

New guidelines published by WHO:

"Every year between 250 000 and 500 000 people suffer a spinal cord injury, with road traffic crashes, falls and violence as the three leading causes. People with spinal cord injury are two to five times more likely to die prematurely. They also have lower rates of school enrollment and economic participation than people without such injuries. Spinal cord injury has costly consequences for the individual and society, but it is preventable, survivable and need not preclude good health and social inclusion. Ensuring an adequate medical and rehabilitation response, followed by supportive services and accessible environments, can help minimize the disruption to people with spinal cord injury and their families. 

The aims of International perspectives on spinal cord injury are to: 

• assemble and summarize information on spinal cord injury, in particular the epidemiology, services, interventions and policies that are relevant, together with the lived experience of people with spinal cord injury;

• make recommendations for actions based on this evidence that are consistent with the aspirations for people with disabilities as expressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities."

Full report in English

Murderball

Murderball is a 2005 American documentary film about tetraplegic athletes who play wheelchair rugby. It centers on the rivalry between the Canadian and U.S. teams leading up to the 2004 Paralympic Games.

You MUST watch it if you want to work with these guys!!!

Restless Limb Syndrome

What this guys has written in this post is so inspiring..! And as I always say... you can learn so many things from people with a kind of paralysis... you can get so much energy from them..! It is like they turned their disability into a blessing..!

You MUST read this..!

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago

The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) has been recognized as the "#1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America" since 1991 by U.S. News & World Report. No other specialty hospital has been consecutively ranked the "#1" by U.S. News & World Report for so long.