Is music-with-movement intervention better than music listening and social activities in alleviating agitation of people with moderate dementia? A randomized controlled trial.

Aim: Interactive music intervention is generally perceived as more effective on clinical outcomes than a receptive approach because it can better engage the people with dementia. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of the 6-week music-with-movement intervention on agitation of people with moderate dementia, music listening and social activity.

Methods: A multi-centre randomized controlled trial was conducted on 165 nursing home residents with moderate dementia.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Effect of Acupressure on Agitation and Salivary Cortisol in Nursing Home Residents with Dementia.

Background: Acupressure has been used to manage agitation in people with dementia because it is safe and inexpensive. However, its effect on agitation and at the biochemical level is uncertain.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial examined the effect of acupressure on agitation, as measured by the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI); and on salivary cortisol, as measured at baseline (T0) and in the 3rd (T1), 5th (T2), and 8th (T3) weeks.

Mechanical effects of traction on lumbar intervertebral discs: A magnetic resonance imaging study.

Background: Although traction has long been used for treating patients with low back pain (LBP), its effects are still inconclusive mainly because of limited high-quality evidence.

Objective: To provide evidence of the mechanism of traction on lumbar intervertebral discs.

Design: A quantitative approach with a repeated measurement protocol.

[Acupressure for Managing Agitation in People with Dementia: Design of a Protocol Using the Delphi Technique].

Background: Preliminary studies support the effect of acupressure in managing agitation in people with dementia (PWD). However, procedures for the selection of intervention ingredients and specifications of the implementation techniques are lacking. This lack of information hinders further studies on the effect of acupressure and its subsequent clinical uses.

The effects of the music-with-movement intervention on the cognitive functions of people with moderate dementia: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the six-week music-with-movement (MM) intervention, as compared with music listening (ML) and social activity (SA), on the cognitive functions of people with moderate dementia over time.

Methods: A multi-center randomized controlled trial was conducted on 165 nursing home residents with moderate dementia. The MM intervention protocol was developed based on a critical literature review, and tested in three rounds of pilot studies before undergoing testing in this study.

The Effect of Acupressure on Agitation and Salivary Cortisol in People with Dementia: A Pilot Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the acupressure effect over time, compare the efficacy in different dosages, and identify feasibility issues with saliva sample collection and acupressure implementation in agitated nursing home residents with dementia.

Design: Time serial design with eight dosage-combination groups.

Setting: Three residential care homes (RCHs) in Hong Kong.

Effects of low level laser treatment on the survival of axotomized retinal ganglion cells in adult Hamsters.

Injury to axons close to the neuronal bodies in the mammalian central nervous system causes a large proportion of parenting neurons to degenerate. It is known that optic nerve transection close to the eye in rodents leads to a loss of about half of retinal ganglion cells in 1 week and about 90% in 2 weeks. Using low level laser treatment in the present study, we demonstrated that treatment with helium-neon (660 nm) laser with 15 mW power could delay retinal ganglion cell death after optic nerve axotomy in adult hamsters.

Acupressure for agitation in nursing home residents with dementia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Agitation is prevalent among people with dementia (PWD) in nursing homes. It frustrates both the PWD and their caregivers. Acupressure is a non-pharmacological intervention whose effectiveness is supported by preliminary studies.

Mechanisms underlying the effect of acupuncture on cognitive improvement: a systematic review of animal studies.

Acupuncture has been reported to be beneficial in treating cognitive impairment in various pathological conditions. This review describes the effort to understand the signaling pathways that underlie the acupunctural therapeutic effect on cognitive function. We searched the literature in 12 electronic databases from their inception to November 2013, with full text available and language limited to English.

Treadmill pre-training ameliorates brain edema in ischemic stroke via down-regulation of aquaporin-4: an MRI study in rats.

Objective: Treadmill pre-training can ameliorate blood brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in ischemia-reperfusion injury, however, its role in ischemic brain edema remains unclear. This study assessed the neuroprotective effects induced by treadmill pre-training, particularly on brain edema in transient middle cerebral artery occluded model.

Methods: Transient middle cerebral artery occlusion to induce stroke was performed on rats after 2 weeks of treadmill pre-training.

Acupuncture improves cognitive function: A systematic review.

Background: Acupuncture has been used as a treatment for cognitive impairment.

Objective: This review assesses clinical evidence for or against acupuncture as a treatment for cognitive impairment. This review also discusses the proposed mechanism(s) that could link acupuncture to improved cognitive function.

Effects of Panax ginseng-containing herbal plasters on compressed intervertebral discs in an in vivo rat tail model.

Background: Tienchi (Panax notoginseng) has been used in conservative treatments for back pain as a major ingredient of many herbal medicines. This study aims to investigate the effects of a herbal medicine containing tienchi on compressed intervertebral discs in rats.

Methods: Using an in vivo rat tail model, intervertebral disc compression was simulated in the caudal 8-9 discs of 25 rats by continuous static compression (11 N) for 2 weeks.

A neuroprotective herbal mixture inhibits caspase-3-independent apoptosis in retinal ganglion cells.

It was previously demonstrated that Menta-FX, a mixture of Panax quinquefolius L. (PQE), Ginkgo biloba (GBE), and Hypericum perforatum extracts (HPE), enhances retinal ganglion cell survival after axotomy. However, the mechanisms of neuroprotection remain unknown.

The time effect of pressure on tissue viability: investigation using an experimental rat model.

An experimental rat model was used to investigate the time-pressure effect on tissue viability. External loading equivalent to 13.3 kPa (100 mm Hg) of pressure was applied to the greater trochanter and tibialis area of Sprague-Dawley rats using pneumatic indentors for duration of 6 hrs each day for 1 to 4 days.

Effects of prolonged surface pressure on the skin blood flowmotions in anaesthetized rats--an assessment by spectral analysis of laser Doppler flowmetry signals.

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of prolonged surface compression on the skin blood flowmotion in rats using spectral analysis based on wavelets transform of the periodic oscillations of the cutaneous laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signal. An external pressure of 13.3 kPa (100 mmHg) was applied to the trochanter area and the distal lateral tibia of Sprague-Dawley rats via two specifically designed pneumatic indentors.

Therapeutic ultrasound enhances medial collateral ligament repair in rats.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of therapeutic ultrasound (US) on medial collateral ligament healing. A total of 36 3-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats with transected medial collateral ligaments were studied. Subjects were given 5-min pulsed US therapy (duty cycle; one application in 4 ms; 1:4) daily with different durations (1 day, 5 days and 10 days) and intensities (0, 0.

Electro-acupuncture potentiates the disulphide-reducing activities of thioredoxin system by increasing thioredoxin expression in ischemia-reperfused rat brains.

Reactive oxygen species can directly affect the conformation and activity of sulfhydryl-containing proteins by oxidation of their thiol moiety. During the process of ischemia-reperfusion, the thioredoxin (Trx) system (consisting of thioredoxin reductase (TR), Trx and NADPH) prevents susceptible proteins from this oxidative modification. Oxidative damage is one of the most damaging stress in ischemia.

Electroacupuncture provides a new approach to neuroprotection in rats with induced glaucoma.

Objectives: To investigate, using multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG), the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on retinal function in rats with experimental glaucoma.

Design And Subjects: Glaucoma was induced in the right eyes of 15 adult female Sprague-Dawley rats by laser photocoagulation for three quarters of the perilimbal and episcleral vessels. The left eye of each rat was used as the control.

Ultrastructural comparison of medial collateral ligament repair after single or multiple applications of GaAlAs laser in rats.

Background And Objectives: To examine single versus multiple applications of a gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) laser on the ultrastructural morphology of surgically injured medial collateral ligaments (MCLs) in rats.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Sixteen rats were studied with 12 receiving right MCL transection and 4 receiving sham injury. Group 1 (n = 4) received one session of laser (31.

Effectiveness of multiple pre-ischemia electro-acupuncture on attenuating lipid peroxidation induced by cerebral ischemia in adult rats.

Free radicals induced by cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury can trigger lipid peroxidation, leading to the production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxy-2(E)-nonenal (4-HNE). Post-ischemia electroacupuncture (EA) therapy was able to reduce extent of lipid peroxidation. However, the effect of pre-ischemic EA therapy has not been reported.

Regulation of caspase activation in axotomized retinal ganglion cells.

Transection of the optic nerve initiates massive death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Interestingly, despite the severity of the injury, RGC loss was not observed until several days after axotomy. The mechanisms responsible for this initial lack of RGC death remained unknown.

Comparison of single and multiple applications of GaAlAs laser on rat medial collateral ligament repair.

Background And Objectives: To examine single versus multiple applications of the gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs) laser on the healing of surgically injured medial collateral ligaments (MCLs) in rats.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Sixteen rats were studied, with 12 receiving surgical transection to their right MCL and 4 receiving a sham injury. Group 1 (n = 4) received a single dose of GaAlAs laser therapy (wavelength 660 nm, average power 8.

Electroacupuncture reduces the extent of lipid peroxidation by increasing superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in ischemic-reperfused rat brains.

Reactive oxygen species can be scavenged by superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). During ischemia-reperfusion, the normal functioning of these antioxidant enzymes may be insufficient for the prevention of oxidant-induced peroxidation of membrane lipids and hence cerebral infarction. We therefore investigated whether electroacupuncture (EA) treatment at Fengchi points in post-ischemic rats could increase the antioxidant enzyme activities and thereby reduce the extent of lipid peroxidation.

The effects of electro-acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on patients with painful osteoarthritic knees: a randomized controlled trial with follow-up evaluation.

Objectives: To examine the relative effectiveness of electro-acupuncture (EA) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in alleviating osteoarthritic (OA)-induced knee pain.

Design: Single-blinded, randomized controlled study.

Subjects: Twenty-four (24) subjects (23 women and 1 man), mean age 85, were recruited from eight subsidized Care & Attention Homes for the elderly.

Therapeutic ultrasound improves strength of achilles tendon repair in rats.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of therapeutic ultrasound on structural properties and functional performance of Achilles tendon healing. Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats with surgical hemitransected Achilles tendon were studied. Ten were treated daily with 1 MHz continuous ultrasound at 1.