The specific causes of elevated blood pressure cannot be determined in the vast majority of patients with hypertension. However, identification of genes causing rare Mendelian forms of hypertension has provided penetrating insights into the basic mechanisms of human hypertension, highlighting the key role of altered sodium handling by the kidney as a final common pathway in hypertension pathoge...

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When discussing the causes of obesity, it is easy to point fingers at the individual. “Gluttony” and “sloth” after all are two of the seven “deadly sins.” Obese adults and their children are assumed to have “free choice” with regard to food intake and energy expenditure and are therefore “responsible” for their metabolic “fates” (1). But no child chooses to become obese; indeed the quality of l...

OBJECTIVE To investigate balance control according to the severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA) using clinical tests and Tetra-ataxiometric posturography (Tetrax®). METHOD A total 80 patients with primary knee OA classified according to American College of Rheumatology criteria, and 40 age-matched controls were enrolled in this study. Of those with OA, 39 patients had mild OA (Kellgren-Lawrenc...

Problems related to the stabilization of an inverted pendulum are an important concern to applied mathematicians and to neuroscientists who work on balance control in humans and two–legged robots. Although feedback delay and the effect of random perturbations (“noise”) pose common and challenging problems there has been little exchange in ideas between the mathematical, engineering and neurosci...

BACKGROUND Age-related balance impairments, particularly in mediolateral direction (ML) may cause falls. Sufficiently sensitive and reliable ML balance tests are, however, lacking. This study is aimed to determine (1) the effect of age on and (2) the reliability of ML balance performance using Center of Mass (CoM) tracking. METHODS Balance performance of 19 young (26±3 years) and 19 older (72...

Our goal was to provide some insights into how the CNS controls and maintains an upright standing posture, which is an integral part of activities of daily living. Although researchers have used simple performance measures of maintenance of this posture quite effectively in clinical decision making, the mechanisms and control principles involved have not been clear. We propose a relatively simp...

The cerebellum is important for movement control and plays a particularly crucial role in balance and locomotion. As such, one of the most characteristic signs of cerebellar damage is walking ataxia. It is not known how the cerebellum normally contributes to walking, although recent work suggests that it plays a role in the generation of appropriate patterns of limb movements, dynamic regulatio...

Somatosensory information is critical to balance control and fall prevention in older adults. Recently, it has been shown that low-level input noise (electrical or mechanical) can enhance the sensitivity of the human somatosensory system. In this study, we tested the effect of low-level electrical noise, applied at the knee, on balance control in 13 healthy elderly volunteers. Subjects performe...