BACKGROUND AND METHODS Pulsed magnetic field therapy is frequently used to treat the symptoms of osteoarthritis, although its efficacy has not been proven. We conducted a randomized, double-blind comparison of pulsed magnetic field and sham therapy in patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients were assigned to receive 84 sessions, each with a duration of 30 minutes, of eithe...

Caloric restriction (CR) results in fat loss; however, it may also result in loss of muscle and thereby reduce strength and aerobic capacity (VO2 max). These effects may not occur with exercise-induced weight loss (EX) because of the anabolic effects of exercise on heart and skeletal muscle. We tested the hypothesis that CR reduces muscle size and strength and VO2 max, whereas EX preserves or i...

The effect of caffeine to promote improvements in mood, cognition, and exercise performance has been well established in young and athletic adults. However, little is known about whether such nutritional ergogenic aids are effective in enhancing psychological well-being, physiological or cognitive performance in older adults. This study assesses the ergogenic effect of caffeine on mood, percept...

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effectiveness of variable resistance as provided through elastic plus free weight techniques in college aged males and females. Twenty novice lifters were randomly assigned to a traditional free weight only (6 males and 5 females) or elastic band plus free weight group (5 males and 5 females) and 9 more normally active controls (5 males and 4 ...

BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle strength, velocity, and power are markedly reduced in patients with heart failure, which contributes to their impaired exercise capacity and lower quality of life. This muscle dysfunction may be partially because of decreased nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. We therefore sought to determine whether ingestion of inorganic nitrate (NO3 (-)) would increase NO productio...

OBJECTIVE Myocellular ATP synthesis (fATP) associates with insulin sensitivity in first-degree relatives of subjects with type 2 diabetes. Short-term endurance training can modify their fATP and insulin sensitivity. This study examines the effects of moderate long-term exercise using endurance or resistance training in this cohort. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A randomized, parallel-group tria...

Diabetic polyneuropathy can lead to atrophy and weakness of distally located striated muscles due to denervation. Lack of neurotrophic support is believed to contribute to the development of diabetic neuropathy. In this study, we measured the expression of nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin 3 (NT-3), neurotrophin 4 (NT-4) and ciliary neurotrophic f...

Being well-established in advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), skeletal muscle dysfunction and its underlying pathology have been scarcely investigated in patients with mild-to-moderate airflow obstruction. We hypothesized that a loss of oxidative phenotype (oxphen) associated with decreased endurance is present in the skeletal muscle of patients with mild-to-moderate COPD. In...

Central cardiorespiratory and gas exchange limitations imposed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) impair ambulatory skeletal muscle oxygenation during whole body exercise. This investigation tested the hypothesis that peripheral factors per se contribute to impaired contracting lower limb muscle oxygenation in COPD patients. Submaximal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES; 30...

Combined V-wave and Hoffmann (H) reflex measurements were performed during maximal muscle contraction to examine the neural adaptation mechanisms induced by resistance training. The H-reflex can be used to assess the excitability of spinal alpha-motoneurons, while also reflecting transmission efficiency (i.e., presynaptic inhibition) in Ia afferent synapses. Furthermore, the V-wave reflects the...