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Exercise for Restless Legs Syndrome

Restless legs syndrome is a miserable health issue that compel the legs to want to move at night. There is not a lot known if doing any sort exercises is beneficial for restless legs syndrome and helping those with the condition get some sleep. Also what is not known is if it is useful, just what sort and type of exercises should be used.

This clinical trial was recently registered in which the researchers are going to study exercise in restless legs syndrome.

Here is a summary of the study:

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a very common neurological condition characterized by an uncontrollable desire to move the legs. Due to the traumatic effect of RLS on morbidity, the patient is negatively affected in many different directions. The duration and quality of sleep of the patients decrease, and their cognitive functions change. The prevalence or risk of anxiety and depression increases in this population. At the same time, the quality of life of patients is significantly reduced. Among the different pharmacological agents used in RLS, dopamine agonists are the most widely used. However, the reporting of serious and common side effects related to this treatment has led to non-pharmacological approaches in the treatment of RLS and the effectiveness of many different approaches has been investigated. The exercise approach, which is determined to be effective in the treatment of the disease, is a subject that has been little studied. The type, duration and frequency of optimal exercise could not be standardized. In addition, the effect of exercise on RLS patients has been investigated in limited subjects. For this reason, the aim of our study is to examine the effect of different exercise programs on symptoms, sleep, cognitive functions, quality of life, psychological status and fatigue in patients with RLS.

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The Use of Recovery Footwear

Athletes workout very hard to achieve their goals, usually by increasing the amount and intensity of their workout. On the other hand, what has become clearer lately is that relaxing and not training may perhaps be just as necessary as the specific working out that they perform. The rest or downtime is equally as significant with improving performance and is also an integral strategy to avoid injuries. Overuse injury deterrence is very necessary as if an exercise related injury develops then that affects the ability to exercise to improve overall performance. Every time a training load is applied by a hard workout, you will find some microdamage to the body. The tissues must recover from this damage. The tissues will return from a high intensity workout better if it’s allowed to rest. This microdamage must also recuperate. In case a additional exercising strain is carried out before that small trauma has recuperated, then the damage amasses and an overuse injury sooner or later occurs.

This is exactly why a great deal of research is considering the science of recuperation. Runners have to recover from games and training work outs ahead of the subsequent one. Generally this is as straightforward as only training hard one day and not training as hard the next day. What’s more, it ensures that pro athletes and scientists are looking for tips on how to speed up and facilitate recovery. For instance, costly but not entirely tested concepts such as ice bathing and hyperbaric oxygen chambers. It could imply something as simple as what is known as recovery footwear.

Following a exercise session, professional athletes love to take off their shoes and place on footwear which is comfy and frees the foot from the confines of those shoes. The favourite recovery shoes are frequently flip-flops or sandals which free the foot from the limitations of shoes. They are really commonly soft or well padded plus they typically have some foot support. The intention of these types of shoes are to help provide the feet and leg muscles some rest so that they don’t work as hard. The goal being that this will facilitate recuperation of those worn out feet as well as leg muscles so they are actually better ready for the following workout. A further benefit from those flip flops with an arch support constructed in, is they can be easily made use of by those athletes who are required to wear foot supports within their training shoes. The amount of arch support that may be built in these is usually is similar to that is available in over-the-counter supports that you can buy at retail.

There are many brands of these different kinds of recovery footwear. Among the most well-known in the United States is the Oofos brand name. Their shoes contain a lot of padding which is designed to really provide the foot a rest after having a high intensity exercise session. In Australia, a popular brand name are the Archies. The Archies are a flip flop with an above average amount of arch support and good padding. With these sorts of footwear, a reduced amount of energy is required to move, so that they improve recuperation which help the muscles and joints recuperation from those little discomfort that might come after a very hard workout. This means they are really much more ready for their subsequent workout.

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Mueller-Weiss disease of the navicular bone

Mueller Weiss disease is a rare source of pain within the midfoot in adults that has been also known as Brailsford disease. It is a sudden onset osteonecrosis of the navicular bone in the foot. You will find there’s a a lot more well-known problem of the same bone in young childen known as Köhler disease, which is also an osteonecrosis in the tarsal navicular bone, but they are completely different conditions due to the nature with the developing bone tissues in youngsters. The condition was first described by Schmidt in1925. It was W Muller who afterwards proposed how the underlying mechanism of the disorder has been due to an excessive compression force upon the midfoot region. About the same period, K Weiss, noted which the appearances on x-ray were similar to those noticed in a condition known as Kienbock disease, and this is an osteonecrosis. The two of these reviews led to the most commonly used name for this problem, Mueller Weiss syndrome.

Mueller Weiss disease usually affects adults in between forty and sixty years of age (Köhler disease has a common starting point around 5 years of age). It is more prevalent in females. It might have an impact on just one foot, or it can affect both feet. The common symptoms include the gradual oncoming of pain in the mid-foot and hindfoot that may often be localized to the most agonizing area being over the navicular. A flat foot is in addition more common in those with this issue. The easiest way to diagnose Mueller Weiss disorder is via the use of radiology. On x-ray there will probably appear to be a failure of areas of the bone and sclerosis along with comma-shaped deformity on the lateral aspect. A CAT scan may also display similar issues and could be helpful to appraise the stage with the problem in far more detail. A magnetic resonance image can be more sensitive to aid in the diagnosis since it is capable of detect changes in the bone marrow.

Mueller Weiss disease is often progressive and may produce severe pain and become fairly disabling, so treatment should be commenced as early as possible to prevent it from becoming impaired too much. Initial treatment methods are to limit activities, perhaps some pain alleviation medicines and use supportive footwear. Usually foot orthotics are used to help further stabilise the area and support the mid-foot (arch) of the feet. This will keep a lot of stress from the navicular. If that is not really helping, then a even more limitation in weight bearing amounts is essential which means that there is much less pressure around the painful navicular. A moon boot or walking splint is the next phase to help protect and also immobilise the area if the signs and symptoms aren’t improving. If most of these conservative approaches do not help, there are also surgical options that can help with the soreness but can frequently result in some minimal disability, which can be a lot better in comparison to the continual pain of an active disease. The particular surgical treatment might be a decompression of the bone tissue using drilling. Another option in case there are regions of bone destruction would be a operative fusion of the important joints around the bone.

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Golf as a contact sport?

Press release:

In the article “Golf: a contact sport. Repetitive traumatic discopathy may be the driver of early lumbar degeneration in modern-era golfers” published today in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, Drs. Corey T. Walker, Juan S. Uribe, and Randall W. Porter from Barrow Neurological Institute describe the biomechanics of modern-era golf and its clinical consequences.

The authors point out that “among professional and amateur golfers, back disorders remain the most common injury, comprising 55% and 35% of injuries in these groups, respectively.” They also note that modern professional golfers are experiencing back problems at far younger ages than the general population. To explain this, they focus on how the golf swing of present-day professionals, such as Tiger Woods, differs from that employed by golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan.

As golf has evolved over the last two decades, the golf swing has become more powerful. To keep up, modern-era professional golf players participate in intensive strength-training sessions. And the techniques of the swing have also changed. During the downswing, greater compressive force is directed toward the spinal disc and facet joints, and this affects these structures asymmetrically. With more than 300 swings per golf-playing day, the golfer repeatedly experiences minor traumatic injuries to the spine, which over time can result in a pathogenic process that the authors have termed “repetitive traumatic discopathy” (RTD).

To illustrate how this can occur, the authors discuss Woods’ years of debilitating spine pain.

In this paper Walker and colleagues discuss modern-day golf swing biomechanics and how they relate to the development of RTD, earlier ages of players exhibiting RTD, and the possibility that golfer’s athletic strength training may contribute to RTD. They also address treatment of patients with this repetitive spinal injury.

When asked about the study, Dr. Walker said, “We believe Tiger Wood’s experience with spinal disease highlights a real and under-recognized issue amongst modern era golfers. Repetitive traumatic discopathy (RTD) results from years of degenerative ‘hits’ or strains on the spine resulting in early onset breakdown, instability, and pain. We hope medical practitioners, and surgeons in particular, will be able to diagnose and treat golfers with RTD in a specialized fashion going forward.”

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Young athletes’ ACL injury risk increases with fatigue, new research shows

Press release:

ACL injuries are one of the most common sports injuries affecting adolescent athletes, leading to lost playing time and high healthcare costs. Research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting in San Diego shows athletes who experience fatigue – tested on a standardized assessment -¬ demonstrated increased risk of ACL injury. The study is the first to measure the direct impact of fatigue on injury risk in the adolescent population.

“We studied 85 athletes at an average age of 15.4 years, and found 44.7% showed an increased injury risk after high-intensity aerobic activity,” noted lead author Mohsin S. Fidai, MD, from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. “Additionally, 68% of those studied were identified as having a medium- or high-risk for injury following the activity, as compared to 44% at baseline.”

The study utilized vertical and drop-jump assessments of each athlete, which were captured on video and reviewed by 11 professional health observers. Participants included track and field, basketball, volleyball, and soccer athletes. Injury risk was also associated with the level of fatigue, as 14 of 22 athletes demonstrating over 20% fatigue showed an increased ACL injury risk. Female athletes and those over age 15 were also more likely to demonstrate an increased injury risk.

“While ACL injury prevention programs are commonly used now, a decrease in injury numbers has not followed suit,” commented Fidai. “We hope this study helps advocate for ACL injury prevention training programs to incorporate fatigue resistance training and awareness by coaches, trainers and physical education teachers.”

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Biomarkers may help us understand recovery time after concussion

Press Release:

MINNEAPOLIS – A blood test may help researchers understand which people may take years to recover from concussion, according to a study published in the May 27, 2020 online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study looked at a biomarker called neurofilament light chain, a nerve protein that can be detected in the blood when nerve cells are injured or die.

Researchers found that, years later, people with a history of three or more concussions were more likely to have high levels of the biomarker than people who had not had a concussion. High levels of the biomarker were also associated with more severe symptoms such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression years after the concussions occurred.

“While most people with mild concussions recover completely, some never get their lives back fully because of chronic disability,” said study author Kimbra L. Kenney, M.D., of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “These people may benefit greatly from a test that could predict those disabilities years ahead of time. Our study found there’s great potential for this protein to predict the problems people with concussions may experience years after their injuries.”

The study involved 195 military veterans with an average age of 38; 85 percent were male. Participants were divided into three groups: 45 people with no history of concussions, 94 people with one or two concussions, and 56 people with three or more concussions. It had been at least seven years since the last concussion for the participants. They were also tested to confirm whether they had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or post-concussive syndrome, which refers to lingering symptoms like mood changes, memory problems and headaches after a concussion.

Blood samples were taken to determine levels of the protein in participants. Then they measured levels of protein in the blood overall as well as in the exosomes found in the blood. Exosomes are like tiny bubbles that carry protein and other information between cells. The average blood levels of neurofilament light were 33% higher in those with three or more concussions than those who had never had a concussion. Exosomal levels were similarly 34% higher in those with multiple concussions. Two other proteins associated with inflammation were also increased in those with multiple concussions.

“The main finding in the study is that people with multiple concussions have more of these proteins in their blood, even years after the last injury,” said Kenney. “Additionally, these proteins may help predict who will experience more severe symptoms such as PTSD and depression. That’s exciting because we may be able to intervene earlier to help lessen the overall effects of concussions over time.”

Kenney said a limitation of the study was the relatively small number of people involved and the need to verify these results in a much larger, separate group of people.

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The study was supported by the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs and National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about concussion at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 36,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

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Football-loving states slow to enact youth concussion laws

Press Release:

PULLMAN, Wash. – States with college teams in strong conferences, in particular the Southeastern Conference (SEC), were among the last to take up regulations on youth concussions, according to a recent study. The study, which investigated the association between youth sport participation and passage of concussion legislation, uncovered the importance of SEC affiliation, and found a similar connection in states with high rates of high school football participation.

In contrast, states with higher gender equality, measured by the number of women in the labor force, were early adopters.

Washington State University sociologists Thomas Rotolo and Michael Lengefeld, a recent WSU Ph.D. now at Goucher College, analyzed the wave of youth concussion laws from 2007 to 2014, specifically looking at return-to-play guidelines: a mandated 24-hour wait period before sending a player with a possible concussion back on to the field.

“We explored a lot of different ways of measuring college football presence, and the thing that just kept standing out was SEC membership,” said Rotolo, the lead author on the study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine. “Every college town thinks they have a strong college football presence, but the SEC is a very unique conference.”

Co-author Lengefeld, a former high school football player from Texas, knows first-hand how important the sport is throughout the South, but the data showed a specific correlation between resistance to youth concussion regulations among SEC states in particular.

“This SEC variable was similar to the South effect, but not all southern states have an SEC school–and in SEC states the resistance to concussion laws was a bit stronger,” he said.

Lengefeld added that the SEC also stands out since it has the largest number of viewers and brings in more profits than any other conference.

Scientists have known for more than a century that youth concussions were a serious health issue, but the movement to create concussion health policies for youth sports did not gain any ground until a Washington state middle school player was badly injured. In 2006, Zackery Lystedt was permanently disabled after being sent back onto the field following a concussion. The Seattle Seahawks took up the cause in the state, followed by the NFL which took the issue nationwide.

Even though the NFL advocated for youth concussion policy changes, the states responded differently. Washington state, Oregon and New Mexico were among the first to adopt the new return-to-play guidelines, while states like Georgia and Mississippi were among the last.

“There’s clearly something culturally going on that was different in those states,” said Lengefeld.

The researchers also investigated the role of gender equity in concussion adoption since football is often viewed as hyper-masculine. They used women’s participation in the labor market as a rough indicator of a state’s gender egalitarian views and found a statistically significant difference showing that states with higher levels of women’s labor market participation enacted the concussion legislation more quickly.

Lengefeld said the methodology they used in this study can also be applied to analyze how many other health policies are enacted across different states.

“As we were submitting this research for publication, COVID-19 was just starting, and we noticed all the differences in the way states are behaving,” Lengefeld said. “It’s not new for sociologists to study the diffusion of laws at the state level, but this is another way of doing that that incorporates a set of ideas about culture.”

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RunEASI wearable enables runners to train and rehabilitate more efficiently

The wearable is worn around the waist.

Press Release:

Being able to exercise without pain or injury: it’s every athlete’s dream as well as the goal of RunEASI, a new spin-off of KU Leuven. RunEASI’s wearable measures the impact experienced by runners and provides scientific feedback that can help them avoid and recover from injuries. The spin-off is supported by the Gemma Frisius Fund and the Freshmen investment fund.

Runners typically use a heart rate monitor, but this device does not offer insight into how the body responds to the impact caused by the feet landing on the ground. And yet, this impact is precisely what determines the risk of injuries. RunEASI – which originated from a collaboration between movement and computer scientists at KU Leuven – has therefore developed a wearable application that does assess these important parameters.

This is achieved using a sensor that is attached to the lower back with a belt and is connected to an app. The sensors measures the impact on the body while running and detects any movement compensations that may occur. The app provides feedback to improve the running pattern. RunEASI is the first application that can perform such an analysis and intervention in a scientifically validated and efficient way. The application will be available on the market as of mid-February 2021.

Stability, symmetry, impact

“We are trying to establish the link between the way in which someone runs, the associated impact loads, and the risk of injuries,” says Professor Benedicte Vanwanseele from the Human Movement Biomechanics unit at KU Leuven. “Three parameters are key to this: stability, symmetry, and impact.”

“Research has shown that trunk instability increases with a runner’s fatigue level. When this is combined with high impact loads, this creates a compensatory pattern that increases the risk of overuse injuries. Symmetry shows whether the impact is equally divided between left and right: after an injury, for instance, a runner may favour one leg without realising it. Last, but not least, the impact parameter shows how the body responds to the shocks that occur when the foot strikes the ground.”

“Our tool intervenes when the data show that the runner has a harmful running pattern,” says computer science professor Jesse Davis. “AI allows us to analyse when the body is exposed to the most severe impacts. This can depend on the surface, the pace, the duration of the training, the runner’s fatigue, and other factors. On the basis of this analysis, coaches and physiotherapists can proactively adjust the runners’ training.”

More insight and better support

“With RunEASI we want to help runners, whether it be professional or recreational ones, to achieve their goals with less risk of injury,” explain co-founders Kurt Schütte (CEO) and Tim Op De Beéck (CTO). “The way our sensor is attached is unique and was developed in cooperation with the orthopaedic experts at Steunzoolpunt. It enables us to measure our new movement metrics very efficiently and accurately. Physiotherapists can use this scientific analysis to better assess when someone is ready to resume training after an injury.”

“We strongly believe in digital tools that improve a person’s quality of life, and this ambition is also reflected in RunEASI,” says Steven Spittaels of the Freshmen investment fund. “It’s an application that, thanks to its scientific feedback, can be of great added value to runners and professional healthcare providers. Athletes obviously want to know how to stay injury free and we want to support RunEASI to help them achieve this.”

“We are extremely grateful for the belief and financial support of the Gemma Frisius Fund and Freshmen Fund,” responds CEO Kurt Schütte. “With their support, we can fulfil our mission and ambition to make the world run better.”

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More information

The RunEASI wearable can be pre-ordered and will be available as of mid-February 2021. Check the website for further information: runeasi.ai

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Arthur Lydiard Recognised as International Athletics Legend

Press Release:

The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has posthumously awarded Arthur Lydiard ONZ OBE the IAAF World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the Legend category.

The award was announced by IAAF President Sebastian Coe in Doha and welcomed by Athletics New Zealand Chief Executive Peter Pfitzinger, ahead of the start of the 2019 IAAF World Championships.

Peter said: “It is an honour and privilege for Athletics New Zealand to receive this World Athletics Heritage Plaque on behalf of Arthur’s family, his champion athletes and the many others he trained over 50 years of coaching. Arthur was an innovative and highly successful coach, and generous with his time, sharing his coaching wisdom with runners around the world.”

Arthur Lydiard’s ground-breaking system of training produced record-breaking runners, including a group of elite New Zealanders known as ‘Arthur’s Boys’ who won multiple Olympic medals and set numerous world records between them. The group included New Zealand and International sporting legends Sir Murray Halberg, Sir Peter Snell, Barry Magee and John Davies as well as other highly successful athletes such as Bill Baillee, Jeff Julian and Ray Puckett.

Sir Murray Halberg’s initial memories of Lydiard have blurred over the years, but he recalls quickly embracing his coach’s training load, which sometimes touched 100 miles per week.


“Arthur looked to develop stamina and prepared us as if we were marathon runners,” recalls Murray. “But it wasn’t just me that improved under the training, Bill Baillie, Barry Magee, Peter Snell all of us did. Success bred success.”

“Arthur created a family within the training group,” Murray explains. “We used to run from his home in Mt Roskill and he always took a great interest in our personal development. Without Arthur it would have been an absolute miracle had I become Olympic champion. Lydiard was the power behind all of us in our training group. He was a motivator, coach, mentor and friend.”

Athletics New Zealand Patron Sir Peter Snell recognizes the impact Arthur had on his multiple record-breaking and Olympic medal winning achievements. “A lot of people said that it was not Arthur’s coaching but my talent, which contributed to my success,” explains Peter. “That annoyed him but we both know that isn’t the case, his training made all the difference.”

Since retiring from international running in 1965, Barry Magee has carved a reputation as one of the country’s most influential distance running coaches in which Lydiard’s high mileage training model forms the template of his philosophy.

“Lydiard is the greatest distance running coach the world has ever seen. There is no greater model to preach”, said Barry, bronze medallist in the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. “New Zealand should be so proud of Arthur Lydiard. To think a nation of two million could go out and conquer the distance running world was all thanks to him. He did the impossible.”