Stretching Exercise (stretching + exercise)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Prenatal Stretching Exercise and Autonomic Responses: Preliminary Data and a Model for Reducing Preeclampsia

JOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 2 2010
SeonAe Yeo RNC
Abstract Purpose: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, and it increases maternal risk for future cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships among stretching exercise, autonomic cardiac response, and the development of preeclampsia. Design: Secondary data analysis. Methods: Heart rate and pulse pressure were longitudinally examined in this secondary data analysis among women who engaged in stretching exercise daily from 18 weeks of gestation to the end of pregnancy compared with women who did walking exercise daily during the same time period. A total of 124 women were randomized to either stretching (n=60) or walking (n=64) in the parent study. Findings: Heart rates in the stretching group were consistently lower than those in the walking group. Conclusions: Based on the results of this secondary data analyses, a physiologic framework for possible beneficial effects of stretching exercise by enhancing autonomic responses on reducing risks for preeclampsia is proposed and discussed. Clinical Relevance: If the protective effect is established, stretching exercise can be translated into nursing intervention for prenatal care. [source]


Effect of muscle activity and botulinum toxin dilution volume on muscle paralysis

DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2003
Hyeon Sook Kim MD PhD
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A, Botox) dilution volume and post-injection exercise with electrical stimulation on muscle paralysis. We injected 10 units of BTX-A diluted with 0.1 ml (B1, n=8) or 0.5 ml (B5, n=8) normal saline into both gastrocnemius muscles of 16 New Zealand white rabbits; two controls received no BTX-A. After BTX-A injection, all rabbits received calf muscle stretching exercise and electrical stimulation for 2 hours on the left leg. The compound muscle action potential (CMAP) decrease was most pronounced at 1 week and progressive recovery was observed (i.e. recovery from paralysis, increase of CMAP). There was a significant decrease of CMAP amplitudes in the B5 group compared with the B1 group at week 1 and week 4 (p<0.001). Left limbs with stretching exercise and electrical stimulation showed lower CMAP amplitudes compared with control right limbs of all rabbits. To maximize the muscle paralysis effect of BTX-A, increasing dilution volume and performing post-injection stretching exercise with electrical stimulation may be a promising strategy for increasing the beneficial effect of BTX-A treatment. Future studies are needed to investigate the clinical application of this finding. [source]


Prenatal Stretching Exercise and Autonomic Responses: Preliminary Data and a Model for Reducing Preeclampsia

JOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 2 2010
SeonAe Yeo RNC
Abstract Purpose: Preeclampsia is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, and it increases maternal risk for future cardiovascular disease. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships among stretching exercise, autonomic cardiac response, and the development of preeclampsia. Design: Secondary data analysis. Methods: Heart rate and pulse pressure were longitudinally examined in this secondary data analysis among women who engaged in stretching exercise daily from 18 weeks of gestation to the end of pregnancy compared with women who did walking exercise daily during the same time period. A total of 124 women were randomized to either stretching (n=60) or walking (n=64) in the parent study. Findings: Heart rates in the stretching group were consistently lower than those in the walking group. Conclusions: Based on the results of this secondary data analyses, a physiologic framework for possible beneficial effects of stretching exercise by enhancing autonomic responses on reducing risks for preeclampsia is proposed and discussed. Clinical Relevance: If the protective effect is established, stretching exercise can be translated into nursing intervention for prenatal care. [source]


Adherence to walking or stretching, and risk of preeclampsia in sedentary pregnant women,

RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
SeonAe Yeo
Abstract Pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia may benefit from the positive effects of exercise, but they may be unlikely to adhere to an exercise program. A randomized trial was conducted with 124 sedentary pregnant women to compare the effects of walking exercise to a stretching exercise on adherence and on the preeclampsia risk factors of heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and weight gain. Walkers exercised less than stretchers both overall and as pregnancy advanced. HR and blood pressure were lower among stretchers than walkers, but weight gain did not differ between the groups. For sedentary pregnant women, a stretching exercise may be more effective than walking in mitigating the risk of preeclampsia due to higher adherence and possible cardiac,physiologic effects. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 32: 379,390, 2009 [source]


Jumping Improves Hip and Lumbar Spine Bone Mass in Prepubescent Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2001
Robyn K. Fuchs
Abstract Physical activity during childhood is advocated as one strategy for enhancing peak bone mass (bone mineral content [BMC]) as a means to reduce osteoporosis-related fractures. Thus, we investigated the effects of high-intensity jumping on hip and lumbar spine bone mass in children. Eighty-nine prepubescent children between the ages of 5.9 and 9.8 years were randomized into a jumping (n = 25 boys and n = 20 girls) or control group (n = 26 boys and n = 18 girls). Both groups participated in the 7-month exercise intervention during the school day three times per week. The jumping group performed 100, two-footed jumps off 61-cm boxes each session, while the control group performed nonimpact stretching exercises. BMC (g), bone area (BA; cm2), and bone mineral density (BMD; g/cm2) of the left proximal femoral neck and lumbar spine (L1-L4) were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; Hologic QDR/4500-A). Peak ground reaction forces were calculated across 100, two-footed jumps from a 61-cm box. In addition, anthropometric characteristics (height, weight, and body fat), physical activity, and dietary calcium intake were assessed. At baseline there were no differences between groups for anthropometric characteristics, dietary calcium intake, or bone variables. After 7 months, jumpers and controls had similar increases in height, weight, and body fat. Using repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA; covariates, initial age and bone values, and changes in height and weight) for BMC, the primary outcome variable, jumpers had significantly greater 7-month changes at the femoral neck and lumbar spine than controls (4.5% and 3.1%, respectively). In repeated measures ANCOVA of secondary outcomes (BMD and BA), BMD at the lumbar spine was significantly greater in jumpers than in controls (2.0%) and approached statistical significance at the femoral neck (1.4%; p = 0.085). For BA, jumpers had significantly greater increases at the femoral neck area than controls (2.9%) but were not different at the spine. Our data indicate that jumping at ground reaction forces of eight times body weight is a safe, effective, and simple method of improving bone mass at the hip and spine in children. This program could be easily incorporated into physical education classes. [source]