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Biomedical subjects

A Felez

Publications and source records attributed to A Felez.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

[Feasability of a back school assessment programme].

OBJECTIVES: Testing the feasability of a back school assessment programme in two populations of people suffering with chronic low back pain. MATERIAL: Twenty-nine patients were randomly included in a chronic low back pain assessment programme (15 patients waiting for back school and 14 patients after back school). METHODS: The programme was made of the measure of the age, the sex, the body mass index, the pain (VAS, St Antoine Hospitals Pain Questionnaire - SAPQ), the anxiety, the depression, the RIII nociceptive reflex, the fingertip-floor distance, the strength of the flexors and of the extensors of the lumbar spine (CybexR 6000 isocinetic dynamometer), the lumbar function (EIFEL, Dougados), the Dallas self-questionnaire. The Back School Education programme was made of five sessions (information, ergonomics, extension exercises). RESULTS: Comparing the two populations we did not observe significant differences concerning the age, the body mass index, the anxiety and depression levels, the pain (VAS, SAPA, RIII nociceptive reflex), the lumbar stiffness, the lumbar disability, the quality of life; the patients who had achieved back school had a peak torque of the flexors and a ratio flexors/extensors significantly lower. Comparing men and women we observed significant differences in the SAPQ and the muscles strength. The SAPQ was correlated with the depression and anxiety levels, the lumbar disability, the peak torque of the flexors. The VAS was correlated with the age, the lumbar stiffness, the depression level, the peak torque of the flexors. The RIII nociceptive reflex was correlated with the ratio flexors/extensors. CONCLUSION: This study present some biases but this objective assessment of chronic low back pain appeared as feasible. The pain must be investigated in term of intensity, expression, alleviation. The impairment of the flexors muscles in women and after back school has to be confirmed. The different tests are relevant to determinate the efficiency of the back school programmes.

Adult↗

Effect of carbohydrate ingestion on adipose tissue lipolysis during long-lasting exercise in trained men.

To study whether sucrose administration acts on lipid mobilization during prolonged exercise, we used subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue microdialysis in eight well-trained subjects submitted at random to two 100-min exercises (50% maximal aerobic power) on separate days. After 50 min of exercise, the subjects ingested either a sucrose solution (0.75 g/kg body wt) or water. By using a microdialysis probe, dialysate was obtained every 10 min from the subjects at rest, during exercise, and during a 30-min recovery period. During exercise without sucrose, plasma and dialysate glycerol increased significantly. With sucrose, the response was significantly lower for dialysate glycerol (P < 0.05). Plasma free fatty acid level was lower after sucrose than after water ingestion (P < 0.05). With water ingestion, plasma catecholamines increased significantly, whereas insulin fell (P < 0.05). With sucrose ingestion, the epinephrine response was blunted, whereas the insulin level was significantly increased. In conclusion, the use of adipose tissue microdialysis directly supports a lower lipid mobilization during exercise when sucrose is supplied, which confirms that the availability of carbohydrate influences lipid mobilization.

Adipose Tissue↗

Impairment and recovery of left motor function in patients with right hemiplegia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the motor function of the left, supposedly unaffected, limbs of patients with an acute right vascular hemiplegia. METHODS: Fifteen patients with an acute vascular right hemiplegia and 16 matched healthy controls were studied. Motor function of the left limbs of each patient was evaluated on days 20 and 90 after their stroke using four validated tools (hand dynamometer, isokinetic dynamometer, finger tapping, and nine hole peg test). RESULTS: There was a significant impairment of motor function of the left limbs of patients at day 20 compared with controls. The impairment had recovered almost completely at day 90 after the stroke. CONCLUSION: These results show the bilateral cerebral representation of the human motor system and suggest the participation of ipsilateral motor pathways in recovery after a stroke.

Aged↗

Oxytocin increases thresholds of colonic visceral perception in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

AIM: The effects of oxytocin on colonic perception of intraluminal distension were evaluated in 26 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), using a flaccid bag placed in the descending colon and connected to a computerised barostat. METHOD: Symptomatic responses (first sensation and pain) were evaluated during isobaric distensions (4 mm Hg increments, five minute duration, five minute interval with return to zero pressure between each step), performed automatically by the barostat, during a continuous infusion of placebo or various doses of oxytocin (10, 20, 30, and 50 mU/min). RESULTS: The distension pressure (mean (SD)) required to induce a first abdominal sensation was 17.3 (5.5) mm Hg on placebo, 19.9 (5.8) on oxytocin 10 mU/min (NS), 22.3 (6.0) mm Hg on oxytocin 20 mU/min (p < 0.01), 23.1 (6.6) mm Hg on oxytocin 30 mU/min (p < 0.01), and 24.0 (7.1) mm Hg on oxytocin 50 mU/min (p < 0.01). The distension pressure required to induce pain was 24.8 (6.3) mm Hg on placebo, 26.0 (5.8) on oxytocin 10 mU/min (NS), 33.3 (7.8) mm Hg on oxytocin 20 mU/min (p < 0.01), 34.2 (7.6) mm Hg on oxytocin 30 mU/min (p < 0.01), and 34.3 (7.9) mm Hg on oxytocin 50 mU/ min (p < 0.01). Compliance curves were not different after placebo and oxytocin injection at the different doses. Naloxone did not inhibit the effect of oxytocin. Oxytocin also did not alter somatic perception, characterised by the RIII reflex at the level of the biceps femori. CONCLUSIONS: Oxytocin significantly increases thresholds for visceral perception in IBS patients at doses equal or to greater than 20 mU/min, possibly by acting at the level of visceral afferents.

Adult↗

[Osteocalcin and smoking].

Smoking is a risk factor for osteoporosis. Nicotine and nonnicotine tobacco smoke components have been shown to depress osteoblast activity in a number of in vitro and animal studies. To determine whether smoking is associated with depressed osteoblast activity in humans, we measured serum osteocalcin levels (using a radioimmunological method based on an antibody to human osteocalcin) in 24 male or female smokers and 24 matched nonsmokers. Overall, osteocalcin levels were significantly lower in smokers (15 +/- 6.95 ng/ml) than in nonsmokers (21.27 +/- 8.34 ng/ml) (p = 0.007). The difference between smokers and nonsmokers was significant in males (15.3 +/- 4.5 vs 23.27 +/- 9.7; p = 0.02) but not in females (16.27 +/- 8.9 vs 19.45 +/- 6.7; p = 0.2). These data suggest that smoking may induce osteoblast depression, either directly or via hormonal changes.

Adult↗