[Physical activity and exercise training for patients with cystic fibrosis].

In France patients with cystic fibrosis benefit from a multidisciplinary follow-up in Cystic Fibrosis Centres. In this follow-up, despite the numerous therapeutic benefits of exercise in this disease, little emphasis is placed on the promotion of physical activity. The aim of this article is to improve this aspect of management, giving advice from a working group of experts, based on the medical literature and clinical experience.

[Interpreting carbon monoxide transfer coefficient: significance and difficulties].

Introduction: Interpreting measurements of carbon monoxide can be problematic.

State Of The Art: The transfer factor (TLCO) is usually calculated by multiplying the decrease in alveolar CO concentration between the beginning and the end of a 10 second breath hold (KCO) by the alveolar volume (VA). Thus a reduced TLCO may occur due to either a low KCO, a reduced VA, or a combination of both.

[Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (T(LCO)) and oxygen saturation during exercise in patients with cystic fibrosis].

Objectives: To estimate the value of diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (T(LCO)) in patients with cystic fibrosis and to evaluate its ability to predict arterial desaturation during exercise.

Method: Fourty-four patients (9-30 years) with cystic fibrosis performed pulmonary function tests with measure of T(LCO) and a bicycle incremental exercise test. They represent a wide variation in disease severity: mean Shwachman score: 77.

[Exercise-induced laryngomalacia].

Exercise-induced laryngomalacia is a rare differential diagnosis of exercise-induced asthma. We report the case of a previously fit 14-year-old female patient who presented with dyspnoea on intense exertion and whose condition had not improved with treatment prescribed for a misdiagnosed exercise-induced asthma. A diagnosis of exercise-induced laryngomalacia was eventually made when a variable extra-thoracic airway obstruction on the flow-volume loops was obtained after an incremental exercise test.

[Asthma and scuba diving Absolute contraindication? in all asthma patients?].

Physical and psychological fitness are required for scuba diving, leading to medical contraindications in certain subjects. Asthma, a condition exhibiting increasing prevalence in the general population is currently considered an absolute contraindication for scuba diving by the French Federation for Submarine Sports and Education (FFESSM). There is however no documented evidence demonstrating a higher risk in asthmatic divers.

Effects of avilamycin on performance of broiler chickens.

The benefits of feeding avilamycin (Surmax/Maxus, Elanco Animal Health) to broiler chickens were demonstrated in a floor pen study (two trials) in which avilamycin was fed at 10 ppm in a 45-day growout. Final live weight of broilers fed avilamycin was significantly (P < or = .01) heavier (90 g) than that of control broilers fed for an equal number of days.

Clinical experience with functional electrical stimulation-assisted gait with Parastep in spinal cord-injured patients.

Study Design: Clinical evaluation of the Parastep method, a six-channel transcutaneous functional electrical stimulation device, in spinal cord-injured patients.

Objectives: To investigate the motor performances of this new technique regarding energy expenditure and to evaluate its advantages and limitations, especially in social activities involving ambulation.

Methods: This study was conducted in 15 thoracic spine-injured patients.

Blood lactate concentrations during exercise: effect of sampling site and exercise mode.

Background: The purpose of the study was to compare blood lactate concentrations determined in blood sampled from three sites (finger capillary, ear-lobe capillary, and forearm vein) during exercise on three different ergometers (a cycle ergometer, a treadmill and an arm-crank ergometer).

Methods: A total of 312 well-trained subjects performed either a six-minute steady-state exercise (n = 219) or an incremental exercise test until exhaustion (n = 93). Blood was sampled from two sites after each exercise test and at the end of each stage of the incremental protocol, 852 pairs of blood samples were analysed.

Long-term nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in sixteen consecutive patients with bronchiectasis: a retrospective study.

Life expectancy and quality of life are poor in patients with chronic respiratory failure due to bronchiectasis. The indication for nocturnal nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) remains controversial in chronic obstructive lung disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether some of the objectives of home mechanical ventilation, i.

Energy consumption of paraplegic locomotion using reciprocating gait orthosis.

The energy cost of walking using a reciprocating gait orthosis (RGOII) with functional electrical stimulation (FES) was assessed in 14 patients with spastic complete paraplegia from six rehabilitation centres. Before and after training asing RGOII with FES, the subjects performed a progressive maximal test on an arm-crank ergometer to obtain their laboratory peak oxygen uptake (LVO2peak), heart rate (HR) and blood lactate concentration changes. At the end of the training session, oxygen uptake (VO2) was measured during a walking test with orthosis at different speeds (6 min steady state at 0.

In vitro screening of Haemonchus contortus third stage larvae for ivermectin resistance.

The indiscriminate repeated use of ivermectin has resulted in the emergence of ivermectin resistant field strains of Haemonchus contortus in sheep in South Africa. There is a need for a rapid and cost effective in vitro test to detect such strains. Infective H contortus larvae known to be resistant to ivermectin, were incubated in vitro in a diluted concentration of the drug.

Restoration of functional gait in paraplegic patients with the RGO-II hybrid orthosis. A multicenter controlled study. II: Physiological evaluation.

We have investigated physiological changes in 21 patients with a spinal cord injury who were fitted with the RGO-II hybrid orthosis. All parameters were measured before and after a training programme in order to evaluate the benefit of gait rehabilitation, cardiovascular adaptation, constipation, spasticity and osteoporosis. A tendency for the improvement in cardiovascular function was noticed, and a segmental decrease in right colonic transit time was observed.

Use of oxygen uptake recovery curve to predict peak oxygen uptake in upper body exercise.

A group of 18 well-trained white-water kayakers performed maximal upper body exercise in the laboratory and during a field test. Laboratory direct peak oxygen uptake (VO2) values were compared, firstly by a VO2 backward extrapolation estimation and secondly by an estimation calculated from VO2 measured during the first 20 s of exercise recovery. Direct peak VO2 correlated with VO2 backward extrapolation (r = 0.

Ventilatory response of prepubertal boys and adults to carbon dioxide at rest and during exercise.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the greater ventilation in children at rest and during exercise is related to a greater CO2 ventilatory response. The CO2 ventilatory response was measured in nine prepubertal boys [10.3 years (SD 0.

[Comparative urinary elimination of caffeine in sedentary and sportsmen after administration of Guronsan].

The authors present the results of a study on urinary excretion of caffeine, after a single oral intake of 100 mg of caffeine, in two populations of students at rest and during exercise. Whether expressed in mg/l or mg/g creatinine no significant difference in urinary excretion of caffeine was observed between the two populations and it proves to be lower than the limit level authorized by the IOC (12 mg/l).

Effects of captopril chronic intake on the aerobic performance and muscle strength of normotensive trained subjects.

Fifteen normotensive athletes specializing in dynamic sports took part in a randomized double-blind and cross-over study: captopril (50 mg/24 h) vs placebo. Each treatment lasted one month. Maximal exercise tests on cycle ergometer were performed at the end of each period.

Efficacy of topically applied ivermectin against sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei var. bovis) of cattle.

A total of 12 adult cattle with sarcoptic mange were included in a study to confirm the efficacy of ivermectin applied topically at 500 micrograms/kg against Sarcoptes scabiei var. bovis. Animals were allocated by restrictive randomization according to mite counts to serve as untreated controls or were treated with a topical formulation of ivermectin applied along the backline on healthy skin.

Does peripheral blood T-lymphocyte population distribution in sarcoidosis provide a prognostic clue?

In its pulmonary form, sarcoidosis generally resolves spontaneously, but it may lead to fibrosis of the lung. The clinical, radiological and functional tests, as well as activity markers such as the serum angiotensin converting enzyme, intrathoracic uptake of 67Gallium and the cytological data provided by bronchoalveolar lavage are only the expressions at any given time of a disease which is constantly progressing and only partly express its evolutive potential. The authors studied the distribution of T-lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood and from bronchoalveolar lavage.

Isokinetic investigation of knee extensors and knee flexors in young French soccer players.

The knee extensor and knee flexor muscle groups in three groups of young soccer players were tested with a Cybex II isokinetic dynamometer and compared with adults. Muscle strength increased with age. The largest gain was observed in young players aged 16-17 years whose quadriceps was the most modified muscle group giving the lowest H/Q ratio.

Ventilatory and occlusion-pressure responses to exercise in trained and untrained children.

Pattern of breathing and mouth occlusion pressure were investigated during an incremental and exhaustive ergocycle test in untrained and trained 11 to 13 year old boys. At each level of exercise, the trained group had lower ventilation, a lower respiratory equivalent, and a lower respiratory rate. These results suggest that trained subjects have more efficient ventilation.

[Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Apropos of a case].

A 38-year-old woman was known to have had a histologically proven "idiopathic" pulmonary hemosiderosis for 7 years; the authors report the onset in this patient of polyarthralgias with articular swelling and positivity of rheumatoid factor, all features consistent with the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, whose beginning was certainly hidden by steroid therapy. This case, as some others previously published, outlines the possibility of the association of pulmonary hemosiderosis and rheumatoid arthritis: is this a casual association, or may pulmonary hemosiderosis be a rare manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis?

Extent of lactic anaerobic metabolism in handballers.

The authors investigated lactic anaerobic metabolism in handball players during practice games. Seven players aged 18-21, belonging to second division league clubs, took part in the study. In the laboratory, VO2 max and the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) were determined with progressive maximal ergocycle tests.