Serum Selenium Concentration as a Potential Diagnostic Marker for Early-Stage Colorectal Cancer: A Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND Selenium deficiency is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine selenium levels in blood samples obtained from colorectal cancer patients compared with the levels of this element in the blood of patients who had undergone hernia repair and cholecystectomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study group consisted of 49 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at our institution.

[Spine arrangement during work in sitting position and occurrence of pain among dentists and medical assistants].

Background: Back pain is common among people working in the sitting position. Quality of the sitting position depends among others on the standard of work station. Dental units are built on the basis of contemporary ergonomic workplace concepts, while medical assistant workstations are typically computer office workstations.

Back pain in mothers of cerebral palsied children.

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) leads to varying degrees of movement restrictions, imposing on the parents (especially mothers) a number of additional responsibilities. The burden of long-term care for a disabled child can lead to severe pain in various locations and of various intensity. Therefore, it is important to identify their risk factors and provide training for parents of CP children to educate them how to offer care not only to aid rehabilitation of their child, but also to avoid hazards to their own health.

Ergonomic determinants of back pain in physiotherapists involved in paediatric neurorehabilitation.

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in physiotherapists working with children are due to the failure to apply the principles of ergonomics in their daily practice, which is often caused by the necessity of working in forced positions. Health hazards are even bigger because of the disproportion of body weight and height between the patient and the therapist. The aim of the study was to evaluate positions of the spine at work among physiotherapists involved in child neurorehabilitation and their impact on the occurrence of back pain.

Postural habits of young adults and possibilities of modification.

Background: The aim of the study was to assess postural habits in young, healthy people, identify correlations between postural errors and pain and attempt to modify bad habits.

Material And Methods: 144 people, aged 18-23 were enrolled. The intervention consisted of 4 stages: Stage 1 - identification of postural habits, description of responses to stress, back pain frequency and intensity (Jackson & Moskowitz); Stage 2 - correction of habitual position with the help of a physiotherapist, briefing about ergonomic everyday behaviours and consequences of continued non-ergonomic behaviours, Stage 3 - follow-up examination: self-assessment of changes, evaluation of the effects of modifications, determination of causes for discontinuing the behaviour modification programme, where applicable; and Stage 4 - final examination, assessment of results.

Some possibilities of correction and compensation in body posture regulation among children and adolescents with low degree scoliosis.

Background: Postural alignments, secondary curves of spine and tendency to unequal body weight distribution are the compensatory mechanisms in scoliosis, eventually leading to disturbances in the regulation of body posture. The pathological pattern of incorrect posture, evokes a vicious circle of causes and effects, which probably includes alterations in body weight distribution to both feet.

Objective: To examine the role of equal weight loading of both feet in posture regulation among children and adolescents with low-degree scoliosis.

Changes of kinematics parameters of pelvis during walking under the influence of means facilitates treatment of cerebral palsied children.

Background: Physiological human gait is characterized by changes of foot and knee angle that make the gait efficient and not require excessive energy expenditure. In cerebral palsied children, the foot-knee relationship is disturbed by pathological synergies. Therefore, ways to improve this situation are sought.

Foot and Knee Behaviour During Gait in Response to the Use of Additional Means of Treatment in Cerebral Palsied Children.

Background: Physiological human gait is characterized by tree-dimensional pelvis movements, which make that gait is smooth and does not require excessive energy expenditure. In children with cerebral palsy determinants of the pelvis may be affected, mainly due to pathological afferent synergisms. Therefore many specialists is looking for ways to improve this situation.

Health status of adults treated for 1st degree scoliosis at school age.

Background: Abnormal body alignment may lead to the development of spinal overload syndromes, nerve root irritation, pain, impaired ventilation, and compromise of exercise capacity.

Objective: The aim of the study was to find out whether low degree scoliosis impairs breathing, reduces exercise capacity and produces back pain over time.

Material And Methods: Respiratory function, exercise capacity (PWC170) and pain intensity (Jackson and Moskowitz regimen) were assessed in 39 adults aged 19 to 38 years diagnosed with low degree scoliosis (10-280) several years ago.

Neuropathological aspects of conservative treatment of scoliosis. A theoretical view point.

An upright body posture cannot be maintained passively for reasons including a high location of the centre of gravity (COG) and a small support area. Proper alignment of body parts is maintained automatically, tending towards a pattern encoded in the CNS. A particularly important role in posture regulation is played by the short muscles of the back, which respond to being stretched with a contraction.

Body posture and syndromes of back pain.

Background: The effects of faulty postures include disturbances of the symmetric distribution of compressive and tensile forces acting on both sides of the body axis and the emergence of harmful shear forces. The torques of antigravity muscles also change unfavourably. This may lead to the development of a repetitive strain syndrome, stenosis of intervertebral foramina, compression of nerve roots and back pain.

Various attitudes to the use of corrective exercises in conservative treatment of scoliosis.

In acquired scoliosis, the degree of the curve is initially low and its type becomes apparent only after it has progressed. The characteristics of scoliosis include an abnormal spatial arrangement of individual body segments, which the central nervous system (CNS) interprets as a defect and automatically launches compensatory mechanisms. Neglecting low-degree scoliosis poses a two-fold danger.

Muscle strength in the anti-graviational and dorsal extensor muscles of children with scoliosis.

Background. A review of the literature indicates that exercises strengthening the dorsal extensor muscles occupy a significant place in the program of posture reeducation. These exercises are usually performed in positions other than vertical.

Functional asymmetry of gait in children and youth with low-grade scoliosis.

Background. Compensation for abnormal alignment of body parts in scoliosis may occur above or below the pelvis. This manifests as dislocation of body parts or changes in the angular composition of the lower limbs.

"The inhibiting casts" used in cerebral palsed children.

Inhibiting casts, introduced to rehabilitation practice by NDT-Bobath therapists, are being used with increasing frequency in the physiotherapy of children with cerebral palsy (CP). In the literature these plaster casts are known as tone-reducing plasters, spasticity-reducing plasters, or short leg plaster casts. The casts are installed on the lower leg and foot in the form of plaster shoes to immobilize the foot and ankle joints in the proper position.