In this paper, we review and discuss epidemiological and experimental evidence on the effects of daily footwear on gait and life-long health. We consider different types of footwear, including "minimal shoes", and their design features, comparing them to barefoot walking, with a focus on overall gait and the function of the heel pad. Narrative review. We find little evidence for health benefits of most typical shoe design features (e.g., cushioning, raised heels or arch support) for normal walking in healthy individuals, and in several cases (e.g., high heels), there is evidence of detrimental health effects. Based on currently available evidence, we recommend minimal footwear as the default for the general population to stimulate healthy biomechanical aging, with other types of footwear used infrequently or when there is an individual or clinical need.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050527 | DOI Listing |
Healthcare (Basel)
February 2025
Department of Design, KASK and Conservatorium School of Arts, HOGENT, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
In this paper, we review and discuss epidemiological and experimental evidence on the effects of daily footwear on gait and life-long health. We consider different types of footwear, including "minimal shoes", and their design features, comparing them to barefoot walking, with a focus on overall gait and the function of the heel pad. Narrative review.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng
December 2024
This study presents a novel framework that utilizes instrumented footwear to predict fall risk in institutionalized older adults by leveraging stride-to-stride gait data. The older adults are categorized into fallers and non-fallers using three distinct criteria: retrospective fall history, prospective fall occurrence, and a combination of both retrospective and prospective data. Three types of data collected from N=95 institutionalized older adults are analyzed: traditional timed mobility tests, gait data collected from a validated electronic walkway, and gait data collected with instrumented footwear developed by our team.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomimetics (Basel)
February 2025
Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology "Nicolae Simionescu", 8 B. P. Hasdeu Street, District 5, 050568 Bucharest, Romania.
Millions of people request bone regeneration every year, and the market for bone grafting materials has a positive trend. The most used biomaterials applied to replace and regenerate bone are based on collagen and different types of ceramics in order to mimic natural bone matrix. However, there are a lot of implant-associated infections after surgery, or the implants are rejected because of reduced biocompatibility, and this is why the research into graft bone materials is still a challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Sports Sci
February 2025
School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada.
Competitive runners compared with recreational runners have increased odds of osteoarthritis and running-related injury, potentially from different running types. We compared distal anterior femoral cartilage deformation in competitive runners following a continuous and high-intensity interval run (10 × 400 m, 300 m jog) and evaluated the association between running kinetics and cartilage deformation. Twenty-four competitive runners (11 females and 13 males), between 18 and 35 years old underwent femoral cartilage ultrasound imaging before and after both running conditions in a counterbalanced order 2-7 days apart.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
February 2025
Lendület' Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány str. 2-4, Vácrátót, 2163, Hungary; National Laboratory for Health Security, HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Karolina str. 29, Budapest, 1113, Hungary. Electronic address:
Unintentional human-vectored seed dispersal (HVD) occurs when the seed dispersal vectors are humans, and the seeds are attached to clothing or footwear during various outdoor activities. Since most plant species spread by HVD are invasives or weeds, the process can have globally relevant adverse environmental effects due to the growing global tourism industry. Here we evaluated whether the germination capacity of seeds can be reduced by laundry washing treatments used in households, in order to decrease the chance of unintended dispersal of plant species by clothing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!