Background: Balance impairment is a common disability in post-stroke survivors, leading to reduced mobility and increased fall risk. Robotic gait training (RAGT) is largely used, along with traditional training. There is, however, no strong evidence about RAGT superiority, especially on balance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Postural instability is a cardinal feature of Parkinson's disease, together with rest tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia. It is a highly disabling symptom that becomes increasingly common with disease progression and represents a major source of reduced quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease. Rehabilitation aims to enable patients with Parkinson's disease to maintain their maximum level of mobility, activity and independence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: In recent years, robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) has been proposed as therapy for balance and gait dysfunctions in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Through this systematic review, we aimed to discuss the impact of RAGT on balance and gait outcomes. Furthermore, characteristics of the training in terms of robots used, participants characteristics, protocols and combined therapeutic approaches have been described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets
December 2013
It is debated whether the use of herbal supplements in endurance sports, in order to have a better performance, is correct or not, from the perspective of both as safety and as effectiveness. In this review we try to find out if the most common herbal supplements (Echinacea, Rhodiola, Ginseng) are effective in the improvement of performance or in the modulation of the immune system. According to the results of our review, the prevalent effect is adaptogenic rather than ergogenic, with a better tolerance of the exercise induced stress, related to enhancement of the whole immune system and decrease of the oxidative damage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets
June 2013
It is known that in severe acquired brain injuries there is process of neuroinflammation, with the activation of a local and general stress response. In our study we considered six patients with disorders of consciousness (five in vegetative state and one in minimal consciousness state) in subacute phase, which had both a clinical assessment and a functional imaging (fMRI): in all these patients we analised blood levels of osteopontin (OPN), a cytokin involved in neuroinflammation but also in neurorepair with a still discussed role. Besides we studied the lymphocyte subsets and blood levels of some hormones (ADH, ACTH, PRL, GH, TSH, fT3, fT4).
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