Physical exercise for the treatment of non-ulcerated chronic venous insufficiency.

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a condition related to chronic venous disease that may progress to venous leg ulceration and impair quality of life of those affected. Treatments such as physical exercise may be useful to reduce CVI symptoms. This is an update of an earlier Cochrane Review.

Physical exercise for the treatment of non-ulcerated chronic venous insufficiency.

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a common disease that causes discomfort and impairs the quality of life of affected persons. Treatments such as physical exercise that aim to increase the movement of the ankle joint and strengthen the muscle pump in the calf of the leg may be useful to reduce the symptoms of CVI.

Objectives: To assess and summarise the existing clinical evidence on the efficacy and safety of physical exercise programmes for the treatment of individuals with non-ulcerated CVI.

Serum zinc reference intervals and its relationship with dietary, functional, and biochemical indicators in 6- to 9-year-old healthy children.

Background: Zinc is an important cause of morbidity, particularly among young children. The dietary, functional, and biochemical indicators should be used to assess zinc status and to indicate the need for zinc interventions.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the zinc status and reference intervals for serum zinc concentration considering dietary, functional, and biochemical indicators in apparently healthy children in the Northeast Region of Brazil.

Sexual dysfunction in obese women is more affected by psychological domains than that of non-obese.

Purpose: To compare differences in the occurrence and changed domains of sexual dysfunction in obese and non-obese Brazilian women.

Methods: Female Sexual Function Index, based on six domains, to investigate 31 sexual dysfunction incidence for obese compared to 32 non-obese women, was used. Statistical analysis using ANOVA and MANOVA were performed to compare total scores of Female Sexual Function Index among groups and to identify the differences among domains, Student t -test was used.

Breathing exercises for adults with asthma.

Background: Breathing exercises have been widely used worldwide as a complementary therapy to the pharmacological treatment of people with asthma.

Objectives: To evaluate the evidence for the efficacy of breathing exercises in the management of patients with asthma.

Search Methods: The search for trials led review authors to review the literature available in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and AMED and to perform handsearching of respiratory journals and meeting abstracts.

Association between habitual sleep duration and blood pressure and clinical implications: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: Elucidation of the association between short sleep duration and elevated blood pressure has implications for assessing and managing hypertension in adults.

Objective: To assess the relationship between sleep duration and blood pressure, and its role in the etiology of hypertension.

Methods: On a systematic search from MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PEDro, PsychINFO and grey literature were included articles with participants over 18 years, reported sleep duration, measured blood pressure or diagnosed hypertension, and the relationship between sleep duration and blood pressure was analyzed.

Comparison between a national and a foreign manovacuometer for nasal inspiratory pressure measurement.

Background: the measurement of nasal inspiratory pressure, known as the sniff test, was developed as a new test of inspiratory muscle strength, mainly used in neuromuscular conditions. The test is easy to be performed and noninvasive. Despite the clinical importance of assessment of nasal inspiratory pressure a national equipment is not available to assess it.

Influence of neck circumference on respiratory endurance and muscle strength in the morbidly obese.

Background: Respiratory function decline has been reported mainly in the morbidly obese. Little is known about the influence of adiposity pattern on the ability to generate strength in respiratory muscles. This study evaluated strength and respiratory endurance in the morbidly obese in preoperative bariatric surgery to determine if such variables were affected by different anthropometric markers (body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and neck circumference (NC)).

[Modulation by progesterone of pain sensitivity to mechanical and ischemic stimuli in young and healthy women].

Purpose: to investigate the relationship between pain perception (experimental pain threshold and tolerance, in response to ischemia and pressure) in young and healthy young women and female sexual hormone seric levels (estradiol and progesterone).

Methods: 18 volunteers have participated of this study, during three consecutive menstrual cycles. A pressure algometer and a manual dynamometer have been used to measure painful responses to pressure and ischemia algesic stimuli.