Physical demand levels in individuals completing a sports performance-based work conditioning/hardening program after lumbar fusion.

Background Context: Pain and disability after lumbar fusion surgery contributes to the over $20 billion dollars spent in health-care costs and estimated $28 billion in lost wages annually. With the goal of returning to work, an intensive program designed to build functional strength may be used. Previous interventions for this subgroup report the outcome measure of return to work (RTW), but do not account for the physical demand of the job to which they are returning.

Effects of cyclosporine-A on rat soleus muscle fiber size and phenotype.

Purpose: Organ transplant patients treated with cyclosporine-A (CsA) often exhibit weight loss and muscle weakness. The cellular target of CsA, calcineurin, has been implicated in maintenance of muscle fiber size and in expression of the type I skeletal muscle phenotype. We hypothesized that CsA treatment would cause fiber atrophy, as well as increase type IIa myosin heavy chain (MHC) content and oxidative enzyme activities in the soleus muscle.