Effect of Exercise on Cognition, Conditioning, Muscle Endurance, and Balance in Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may be a precursor to dementia; however, its progression may be prevented or slowed with exercise. This study aimed at determining the effects of group aerobic and strength training on cognition, conditioning, muscle endurance, and balance in underprivileged community-dwelling older adults with MCI. METHODS: This was a single-blind, randomized, and matched-pair controlled (gender, age, body mass index, and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised for MCI diagnosis) clinical trial. It was developed in 4 community centers. Fifty-two sedentary, functionally independent individuals, aged 60 years or more, with MCI were randomized into intervention group (n = 26) and control group (n = 26). Participants were tested before and after a 24-week exercise program. Sociodemographic characteristics, cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination), conditioning (2-minute stationary walk test), lower-limb endurance (30-second sit/stand test), and balance data (Functional Reach test) were collected. The intervention group walked and exercised twice weekly (60 minutes each) using ankle weights, latex resistance bands, and dumbbells. The exercise load and intensity were regularly increased on the basis of a preestablished incremental number of sets and repetitions and on the basis of the participants' correct movement execution with a given load. Data were analyzed with Pearson χ test, Fisher exact test, Student t test, Mann-Whitney U test, 2-way repeated measures analysis of variance, and the Cohen d. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Before the intervention, no significant differences were found between groups for any of the variables. Postintervention, significant differences were observed in cognition, conditioning, muscle endurance, and balance. Significant time-by-group interactions were detected in all the intergroup analyses. The improvements observed in the intervention group had medium to large effect sizes (0.35-1.15). The control group's decrease in cognition (13.9%) had a large effect size, while its Functional Reach test decrease (11.4%) had a medium effect size, with no significant change in conditioning or muscle endurance. CONCLUSION: The training program improved cognitive function, muscle endurance, aerobic conditioning, and balance in older adults with MCI.

Electrical Stimulation for Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Systematic Review

Background Electrical stimulation is commonly recommended to treat urinary incontinence in women. It includes several techniques that can be used to improve stress, urge, and mixed symptoms. However, the magnitude of the alleged benefits is not completely established. Objectives To determine the effects of electrical stimulation in women with symptoms or urodynamic diagnoses of stress, urge, and mixed incontinence. Search Strategy: Our review included articles published between January 1980 and January 2012. We used the search terms “urinary incontinence”, “electrical stimulation”, “intravaginal”, “tibial nerve” and “neuromodulation” for studies including female patients. Selection Criteria We evaluated randomized trials that included electrical stimulation in at least one arm of the trial, to treat women with urinary incontinence. Data Collection and Analysis Two reviewers independently assessed the data from the trials, for inclusion or exclusion, and methodological analysis. Main Results A total of 30 randomized clinical trials were included. Most of the trials involved intravaginal electrical stimulation. Intravaginal electrical stimulation showed effectiveness in treating urge urinary incontinence, but reported contradictory data regarding stress and mixed incontinence. Tibial-nerve stimulation showed promising results in randomized trials with a short follow-up period. Sacral-nerve stimulation yielded interesting results in refractory patients. Conclusions Tibial-nerve and intravaginal stimulation have shown effectiveness in treating urge urinary incontinence. Sacral-nerve stimulation provided benefits in refractory cases. Presently available data provide no support for the use of intravaginal electrical stimulation to treat stress urinary incontinence in ...

Pattern of P50 suppression deficit in patients with epilepsy and individuals with schizophrenia / Padrão do déficit de supressão do P50 em pacientes com epilepsia e em indivíduos com esquizofrenia

OBJECTIVE: To identify P50 suppression in patients with epilepsy, to investigate the effect of seizure control on P50 suppression, and to compare epilepsy patients with individuals with schizophrenia and healthy volunteers. METHOD: P50 evoked potential parameters and P50 suppression were studied crossectionally in patients with uncontrolled or controlled epilepsy, in individuals with schizophrenia and in healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Individuals with schizophrenia had significantly smaller conditioning stimulus (S1) amplitude, and patients with epilepsy had larger test stimulus (S2) amplitude. Mean S2/S1 ratio was 0.71±0.33 for patients with uncontrolled epilepsy; 0.68±0.36 for patients with controlled epilepsy; 0.96±0.47 for individuals with schizophrenia, and 0.42±0.24 for healthy volunteers. CONCLUSION: The sensory filter of patients with epilepsy is altered, and this alteration is not associated with seizure control. Also, it works differently from the sensory filter of individuals with schizophrenia.

OBJETIVO: Identificar se existe déficit de supressão do P50 em pacientes com epilepsia, verificar a influência do controle das crises nesse déficit, comparando com pacientes com esquizofrenia e com voluntários saudáveis. MÉTODO: Os parâmetros do potencial evocado P50 e sua supressão foram estudados, com um corte transversal, em pacientes com epilepsia controlada ou não, esquizofrenia e em voluntários saudáveis. RESULTADOS: Indivíduos com esquizofrenia apresentam uma amplitude de S1 significativamente menor que os demais, sendo que os pacientes com epilepsia apresentavam uma resposta S2 de maior amplitude. A média da razão S2/S1 foi de 0,71±0,33 nos pacientes com epilepsia não controlada; 0,68±0,36 naqueles com epilepsia controlada; 0,96±0,47 nos com esquizofrenia e 0,42±0,24 nos controles normais. CONCLUSÃO: O filtro sensitivo de pacientes com epilepsia é alterado, e essa alteração não está associada com o controle das crises. Além disso, ele funciona de forma diferente do filtro sensitivo dos indivíduos com esquizofrenia.