Regular Exercise Promotes Wound Healing in Elderly Patients

-
This following research belongs to :
Emery CF, Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R, et al. Exercise accelerates wound healing among healthy older adults: a preliminary investigation. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 2005;60A(11)1432-1436.
As adults age, the body's ability to heal in a timely fashion decreases, which increases the risk of infection. Certain health behaviors appear to have an effect on wound healing and immune function. This is especially true of physical exercise, which has been shown to improve both immune and endocrine function, and to reduce the effects of psychological stress (which itself has been shown to influence wound healing).To determine the effects of fitness and exercise on wound healing and neuroendocrine function, scientists recruited 28 sedentary older adults (average age: 61.0 years) into an exercise group and a control group. Subjects in both groups received a small puncture wound on the back of the upper arm. One month before the wound procedure, patients in the exercise group began participating in an aerobic exercise program conducted three days per week for approximately one hour each day. Wounds were measured three times per week to calculate the rate of wound healing. Participants also completed assessments of endurance, salivary cortisol, and self-reported stress at baseline and at the conclusion of the study.
Results: Wound healing occurred at a significantly faster rate in the group that exercised (average 29.2 days) compared to the group that did not exercise (39.8 days). In addition, exercise participants "achieved significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness." Exercise patients also demonstrated a significant increase in cortisol secretion, which the researchers did not expect to occur. They hypothesized that the increased cortisol levels "may be associated with additional neuroendocrine and immune function changes relevant to the wound-healing process."
Conclusion: "This study demonstrates a beneficial effect of exercise activity on would-healing rates among healthy older adults. Moreover, exercise was associated with an enhanced neuroendocrine response among the exercise participants. ... From a practical perspective, the results provide empirical support for the relevance of considering exercise activity as a component of medical care among patients who have sustained dermal wounds or who are recovering from surgical procedures."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Entrapment of medial calcaneal nerve (MCN)

-
Image
Peripheral nerve entrapment is a rare, but important, cause of foot and ankle pain that often is underdiagnosed and mistreated. A peripheral nerve may become entrapped anywhere along its course, but certain anatomic locations are characteristic (2). The medial calcaneal nerve (MCN) The Tibial nerve is called the planter nerve in the sole. The tibial nerve passes to the sole of the foot takes a turn on the medial side of the calcaneum is called MCN. The medial calcaneal nerve arises from tibial nerve of the inner side of the ankle, perforates the laciniate ligament, travels downwards passing below the bony projection on the inner side of the ankle, and supplies the skin over the medial aspect of the heel. Hence it is the most important nerve for heel sensations. MCN have 2 branches. The anterior branch dominate the cutaneous sensation of the anterior part of the medial calcaneal and heel weight loading field, while the posterior branch dominate the sensation of the posterior an
Read more

Review of Labral Tears of shoulder

-
Image
The glenoid labrum of the shoulder has extensive anatomic variation but appears to be important for contributing to shoulder stability and for increasing the depth of contact between the glenoid labrum and the humeral head. Tears of the labrum are commonly seen in association with other pathologic entities, such as instability and rotator cuff tears, and treatment of the labral pathology may be incidental to treatment of the other more significant pathology. However, conditions isolated to the labrum do occur and can be a significant source of shoulder problems. Effective treatment of these lesions may result in significant improvement in the patient's symptoms (4). Labral lesions are difficult to diagnose, and special diagnostic studies and, frequently, arthroscopy are required. How much we can rely on clinical tests is a question. Shoulder complaints are frequently recurrent. Instability might cause some of these complaints (3). History taking and clinical tests are commonly used
Read more

Differential diagnosis of Anatomic (Radial) snuffbox pain: It is not always DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis.

-
Image
Tendon, Bone & Ligament causes: 1. DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis: Swelling of tendon of APL (Abductor pollicis longus) & extensor pollicis brevis at lateral wrist near anatomic snuff box.  The primary complaint is radial sided wrist pain that radiates up the forearm with grasping or extension of the thumb. The pain has been described as a “constant aching, burning, pulling sensation." Pain is often aggravated by repetitive lifting, gripping, or twisting motions of the hand. Swelling in the anatomical snuff box, tenderness at the radial styloid process, decreased CMC abduction ROM of the 1st digit, palpable thickening of the extensor sheaths of the 1st dorsal compartment and crepitus of the tendons moving from the extensor sheath may be found upon examination. Other possible findings include weakness and paresthesia in the hand. Finkelstein’s diagnostic test will present positive provoking the patient’s symptoms. If left untreated, the inflammation and progressive narro
Read more