NEC Foundation of America has awarded NJIT a $32,000 grant to support the dissemination and use of therapeutic video games to serve children with severe sensory and motor disabilities.

Herschel Salan, vice president and general manager of NEC Financial Services LLC, presented the check at a special luncheon and tour of the facility last month. The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for Children with Orthopedic Disabilities at NJIT has developed a prototype of the Hands-Up video game software, with the support of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.

“The game will improve neuro-plasticity through intensive and repetitive training,” said Richard Foulds, PhD, center director and associate professor in the department of biomedical engineering. Foulds expects more than 50 partners to receive and test the free software, instruction and evaluation materials. Ongoing technical assistance will be available.

Other projects at NJIT’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center include research on robot-assisted therapy, modeling and remediation of spasticity, the improvement of bone density in non-ambulatory children and child-machine interfaces for wheelchair-mounted robots.

Outreach activities at the Center include graduate education in rehabilitation engineering, pre-college (for students with and without disabilities) exposure to rehabilitation engineering and community awareness of assistive technology and rehabilitation engineering.

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For more information about NEC Foundation of America, including application guidelines, please visit necfoundation. NEC Foundation of America was established in 1991 and endowed at $10 million by NEC Corporation and its United States subsidiaries. Income generated by the endowment is donated to nonprofit organizations in the United States in support of programs with national reach and impact in the arena of assistive technology for people with disabilities. Through its grants, NEC Foundation of America underscores its philosophy of advancing society through technology and enabling individuals to realize their full potential.

NJIT, New Jersey’s science and technology university, at the edge in knowledge, enrolls more than 8,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in 92 degree programs offered by six colleges: Newark College of Engineering, New Jersey School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, School of Management, Albert Dorman Honors College and College of Computing Sciences. NJIT is renowned for expertise in architecture, applied mathematics, wireless communications and networking, solar physics, advanced engineered particulate materials, nanotechnology, neural engineering and e-learning. In 2006, Princeton Review named NJIT among the nation’s top 25 campuses for technology and top 150 for best value. U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 Annual Guide to America’s Best Colleges ranked NJIT in the top tier of national research universities.

Source: Sheryl Weinstein

New Jersey Institute of Technology

The futuristic technology of the Six Million Dollar Man -specifically a part metal and part flesh human being – won’t be exclusive to Hollywood anymore. While the main character in the Six Million Dollar Man was outfitted with metals to enhance his performance, a multidisciplinary team of scientists led by the UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al has discovered a process to produce new metal surfaces that promise to lead to superior medical implants that will improve healing and allow the human body to better accept metal prostheses.

According to new research published in Nano Letters, the scientists capitalized on recent advances in nanotechnology to change how metals can influence cell growth and development in the body. A critical aspect of the finding is that the surfaces can directly stimulate cells – thereby eliminating the need for pharmaceuticals and resulting side-effects. The study is a collaboration between the UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al, McGill University, the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-EMT), Plasmionique Inc and the Universidade de SГЈo Paulo.

“Using chemical modification, we have produced metals with intelligent surfaces that positively interact with cells and help control the biological healing response,” says Antonio Nanci, the study’s senior author and a professor at the UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al’s Faculty of Dentistry. “These will be the building-blocks of new and improved metal implants that are expected to significantly affect the success of orthopedic, dental and cardiovascular prostheses.”

Etching produces nanoporous surfaces

Dr. Nanci and colleagues applied chemical compounds to modify the surface of the common biomedical metals such as titanium. Exposing these metals to selected etching mixtures of acids and oxidants results in surfaces with a sponge-like pattern of nano (ultra small) pits. “We demonstrated that some cells stick better to these surfaces than they do to the traditional smooth ones,” says Dr. Nanci. “This is already an improvement to the standard available biomaterial.”

The researchers then tested the effects of the chemically-produced nanoporous titanium surfaces on cell growth and development. They showed that the treated surfaces increased growth of bone cells, decreased growth of unwanted cells and stimulated stem cells, relative to untreated smooth ones. In addition, expression of genes required for cell adhesion and growth were increased in contact with the nanoporous surfaces.

Different etchants have different effects

Uncontrolled growth of cells on an implant is not ideal. For example, when using cardiovascular stents, it is important to limit the growth of certain cells in order not interfere with blood flow. Also, in some cases, cells can form an undesirable capsule around dental implants causing them to fall. The scientists demonstrated that treatment with specific etchants reduced the growth of unwanted cells.

“An important element of this study is how we demonstrated the selective cellular effects of etching,” says Dr. Nanci. “With subtle changes in chemical composition of etching mixtures, we can alter the nanopatterns that are created on the metal surface and control consequent cellular responses.”

“Our study is groundbreaking,” adds Dr. Nanci. “We use simple yet very efficient chemical treatments to alter metals commonly used in the operating room. This innovative approach may ultimately hold the key to developing intelligent materials that are not only easily accepted by the human body but that can actively respond to the surrounding biological environment.”

About the study

The article “Nanoscale Oxidative Patterning of Metallic Surfaces to Modulate Cell Activity and Fate” was published in Nano Letters and was authored by Antonio Nanci (UniversitГ© de Montreal), Fiorenzo Vetrone (UniversitГ© de Montreal and INRS-EMT), Fabio Variola (UniversitГ© de Montreal and INRS-EMT), Paulo Tambasco de Oliveira (Universidade de SГЈo Paulo), Sylvia Francis Zalzal (UniversitГ© de Montreal), Ji-Hyun Yi (UniversitГ© de Montreal), Johannes Sam (UniversitГ© de Montreal), Karina F. Bombonato-Prado (Universide de SГЈo Paulo), Andranik Sarkissian (Plasmionique Inc. Varennes), Dmitrii F. Perepichka (McGill University), Federico Rosei (INRS-EMT) and James D. Wuest (UniversitГ© de Montreal).

Partners in research

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Fonds quГ©bГ©cois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies, the SГЈo Paulo State Research Foundation and the Canadian Bureau for International Education.

On the Web

About the UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al
About the INRS-EMT
About the University de Sao Paulo
About McGill University
About Plasmionique Inc
About the Nano Letters

UniversitГ© de MontrГ©al

In recognition of the rapid growth of interest in immunotherapy, Future Medicine has announced the launch of the definitive tile Immunotherapy. The journal is the latest addition to Future Medicine’s collection of titles addressing modern medicine and biomedical research (available at futuremedicine). Future Medicine is part of London-based Future Science Group.

Immunotherapy involves the treatment of disease through immune manipulation of the host. The valuable role of this approach in oncology is increasingly recognized alongside conventional chemo- and radio-therapies, and the US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of immunotherapy in melanoma, leukemias, lymphomas and myelomas, and in breast, cervical, ovarian, kidney, prostate and colorectal cancers. Immunotherapeutics are also being applied in a variety of other disease areas, including allergy, rheumatoid disease, autoimmunity and transplantation, as well as in many infections, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

Immunotherapy publishes reviews, original research, perspectives, commentary and news and views for interdisciplinary community with an interest in the development and clinical use of immunotherapeutics. The journal operates rigorous peer review and disclosure policies.

Three Senior Editors are responsible for the editorial direction of Immunotherapy: Prof. Yutaka Kawakami of Keio University School of Medicine (Tokyo, Japan), Dr Francesco M. Marincola of the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD, USA) and Prof. David C. Wraith of the University of Bristol (UK). The Senior Editors are supported by team of eight Associate Editors, together with an Advisory Panel of more than 50 international experts.

Senior Editor Dr Marincola said, “With the launch of Immunotherapy, we hope to attract outstanding and novel concepts, whether generated though discovery or hypothesis-driven approaches that may enhance the understanding of human biology, and with this the effectiveness of immunotherapy.”

He concluded, “…we happily celebrate the birth of a new ‘immunotherapy’ journal devoted to the identification and publication of salient basic and clinical immunology studies with an open-minded vision, looking for breakthroughs that could explain immunologic phenomena in a comprehensive fashion.”

Immunotherapy articles are highly structured and illustrated, and presented in highly accessible formats. The launch issue contents can be viewed at futuremedicine/toc/imt/1/1.

About Future Science Group

The Future Science Group is an expanding group of independent publishing companies active in the field of scientific information and endeavor, including Expert Reviews Ltd (formerly known as Future Drugs Ltd) Future Medicine Ltd and Future Science Ltd. As a leading provider of products and services for the medical, science and business communities, we present the most important scientific breakthroughs in an accessible and evaluated format, while at the same time providing the scientific community with unique vehicles for disseminating forward-thinking research information and data. Future Medicine is a pioneer is publications associated with pharmcogenomics, personalized medicine and biomarker research. Complete listings of titles under the Expert Reviews and Future Medicine imprints are available at expert-reviews and futuremedicine respectively.

The Future Science Group

Motor control exercises, when performed in conjunction with other forms of therapy, can significantly reduce pain and disability in patients with persistent low back pain, according to a new systematic review published in the January issue of Physical Therapy (PTJ), the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). In addition to feeling less pain, patients performing these types of exercises are able to be more physically active and experience positive effects over a longer period of time than those who receive other treatments, according to researchers.

Motor control exercise, also known as specific stabilization exercise, is a new form of exercise for back pain that has gained the attention of researchers and health practitioners over the past decade. The exercise focuses on regaining control of the trunk muscles, also known as the transversus abdominis and multifidus, which support and control the spine. Previous studies of patients with low back pain have shown they are unable to properly control these muscles. Through motor control exercise, patients are taught how to isolate and “switch on” these muscles and then incorporate these movements into their normal activities.

“Although the exercises seemed promising, until now we did not have clear evidence on whether or not they were more effective,” according to researcher Luciana G Macedo, PT, MSc, a PhD student at The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia.

“It is important to note that this form of exercise is different from going to the gym or going for a walk,” explained Macedo.” The program relies upon a skilled clinician, such as a physical therapist, identifying the specific trunk muscles that are a problem and then working closely with patients to teach them how to get the muscles working properly again. The patient first learns to control these muscles in simple postures, then later in more challenging activities. The ultimate goal is for the patient to get the muscles to work to control and support the spine in those activities that previously caused pain.”

“Low back pain is an international health problem with enormous economic and social costs,” added Macedo. “In America alone, the treatment cost of back pain is estimated to be $86 billion per year or 9% of the country’s total health expenditure. The search for new ways to manage this old problem is critical in order to improve the health and quality of life of individuals who struggle with this condition.”

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The report in PTJ systematically reviewed and then summarized 14 randomized, controlled trials, evaluating the effectiveness of motor control exercises for persistent, low back pain. An abstract of the study can be found on the PTJ Web site.

Physical therapists are highly-educated, licensed health care professionals who can help patients reduce pain and improve or restore mobility — without expensive surgery or the side effects of medications. APTA represents more than 70,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students of physical therapy nationwide. Its purpose is to improve the health and quality of life of individuals through the advancement of physical therapist practice. Learn more about conditions physical therapists can treat at www.apta/consumer, and find a physical therapist in your area at findapt.us.

Source: Stephanie Block
American Physical Therapy Association

Two new studies found that exercise may be a factor in recovering from a total knee replacement (total knee arthroplasty or TKA) and knee osteoarthritis (OA). One study involving a progressive quadriceps strengthening program after total knee replacement found that it enhanced clinical improvement almost to the level of healthy older adults. The other study, the first to examine the relationship between four components of physical activity and the incidence of knee OA in older adults, found that certain types of activities were linked to an increased risk of the disease. The studies were published in the February issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

Nearly half a million total knee replacements are performed each year in the U.S. to treat severe knee OA, which is on the rise due to an increase in the elderly and overweight populations. Although knee replacement improves function, patients continue to have impaired quadriceps strength and function for activities such as walking and climbing stairs, which remain below those of healthy people of the same age. Rehabilitation targeting these areas has not been studied well and is not routinely prescribed.

A randomized controlled trial led by Lynn Snyder-Mackler of the University of Delaware and funded by the National Institutes of Health involved 200 patients who had undergone a knee replacement and 41 patients who received conventional standard of care (inpatient rehabilitation and home physical therapy). The 200 patients received six weeks of progressive strength training two or three times a week that targeted knee extension, range of motion, kneecap mobility, quadriceps strength, pain control and gait. Half of this group also received neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES).

The results showed that those who did the strength training program had significant improvements in quadriceps strength and muscle activation, functional performance and self-reported function and that they also demonstrated substantially greater quadriceps strength and functional performance after 12 months than the standard of care group. There were no significant differences between the group that just did exercise and the group that did exercise plus NMES.

“Our data suggest that individuals who do not undertake an intensive rehabilitation program following TKA are clearly at a disadvantage,” the authors state. They point out that quadriceps strength is related to functional performance and was the single greatest predictor of function for activities such as rising from a chair or climbing stairs. Functional performance typically peaks about three years following surgery and slowly declines in the following 10 years. “Failing to obtain adequate functional recovery may accelerate functional decline and predispose these individuals to an early loss of functional independence as they age,” the authors conclude.

Another study published in the same issue and led by Led by Marjolein Visser of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam involved almost 1,700 men and women ages 55 to 85 years old of the LASA study that were assessed over a 12-year period for knee OA. Their physical activity was evaluated with a questionnaire that included information on frequency and duration of physical activity over a two-week period. Intensity, mechanical strain, turning action and muscle strength scores were created for each activity.

During the follow-up period, 28 percent of participants developed knee OA. Activities with low muscle strength (such as light household work) or high mechanical strain (such as dancing or tennis) were associated with an increased risk of knee OA, even after adjusting for demographics, health, and early life/current physical activity, as well as the other components of physical activity.

The study did not find an association between the level of overweight and mechanical strain in the incidence of knee OA. “This finding could indicate that the higher risk of knee OA in obese persons may be explained by factors other than increased mechanical strain, and higher levels of physical activity may not negatively affect knee health in heavier respondents,” the authors state.

The authors caution that before these results can be translated into advice for health professionals on daily activities for older adults, further studies need to be conducted to clarify the optimal amount of daily activity necessary for healthy joints for each component of physical activity.

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Articles: “Improved Functioning From Progressive Strengthening Interventions After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Randomized Clinical Trial With an Imbedded Prospective Cohort,” Stephanie C. Petterson, Ryan L. Mizner, Jennifer E. Stevens, Leo Raisis, Alex Bodenstar, William Newcomb, Lynn Snyder-Mackler, Arthritis Care & Research (Arthritis Care & Research), February 2009.

“Physical Activity and Incident Clinical Knee Osteoarthritis in Older Adults,” Lisanne M. Verweij, Natasja M. Van Schoor, Dorly J.H. Deeg, Joost Dekker, Marjolein Visser, Arthritis Care & Research (Arthritis Care & Research), February 2009.

Source: Sean Wagner

Wiley-Blackwell

Exercise is commonly used to improve physical function, decrease symptoms and minimize disability caused by chronic low back or neck pain. Numerous randomized trials and clinical practice guidelines have supported this practice, and studies suggest that individually tailored, supervised exercise programs are associated with the best outcomes.

Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about exercise prescription, including who is prescribing it, who is getting it and what type of exercise is being prescribed. A new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, examined these questions and found that exercise may be underutilized for chronic back and neck pain. The study was published in the February issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

Led by Timothy S. Carey and Janet K. Freburger of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers conducted a telephone survey of almost 700 individuals with chronic back or neck pain who saw a physician, chiropractor and/or physical therapist (PT) during the previous 12 months. They asked participants whether they were prescribed exercise, the amount of supervision received, and the type, duration and frequency of the prescribed exercise.

“Less than 50 percent of the subjects in our sample were prescribed exercise, one of the few moderately effective therapies for the highly disabling illness of chronic back and neck pain,” the authors state. The type of provider seen played a major role in whether participants received a prescription. Of those who received exercise prescription, 46 percent received the prescription from a PT, 27 percent from a physician, and 21 percent from a chiropractor. The authors note that these findings agree with previous studies that have found that “who you see is what you get.”

Although most of the 700 participants had seen a physician, only 14 percent were prescribed exercise. Some of those who were not prescribed exercise by a physician, however, were likely referred to a PT who did prescribe exercise. Not surprisingly, Pts were the most likely to prescribe exercise, although about a third of those who saw a PT did not receive an exercise prescription.

For those who were prescribed exercise, the type of provider seen determined the amount of supervision and, to some extent, the types of exercises prescribed. Pts were more likely to provide supervision and prescribe stretching and strengthening exercises, practices which follow current guidelines and lead to better outcomes.

“Considering current evidence on the efficacy of exercise, these findings demonstrate that exercise is being underutilized as a treatment for chronic back and neck pain,” the authors state. They note that none of the hypothesized health-related characteristics, such as pain or weakness in the extremities, hypothesized whether an individual was prescribed exercise and that providers’ decisions to prescribe exercise did not appear to be influenced by the degree of impairment. However, women, people with a higher education level and those receiving worker’s compensation were more likely to be prescribed exercise. This may be because women and more educated individuals are more likely to be active participants in their care and those with worker’s compensation are frequently injured on the job and treated with the goal of returning to work.

“Although exercise prescription provided by Pts appears to be the most in line with current guidelines, there is much room for improvement by all types of providers who prescribe exercise for patients with chronic back and neck pain,” the authors note. They suggest that future studies should explore barriers to prescription of exercise treatments, such as practitioner knowledge, organizational aspects of the practice, and poor reimbursement for exercise instruction compared with other types of treatment.

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Article: “Exercise Prescription for Chronic Back or Neck Pain: Who Prescribes It? Who Gets It? What Is Prescribed?” Janet K. Freburger, Timothy S. Carey, George M. Holmes, Andrea S. Wallace, Liana D. Castel, Jane D. Darter, Anne M. Jackman, Arthritis & Rheumatism (Arthritis Care & Research), February 2009.

Source: Sean Wagner

Wiley-Blackwell
What is pain?
For more information on what pain is and possible treatments, please see:
What is Pain? What Causes Pain?

This issue of Sports Technology, published by Wiley-Blackwell, spotlights recent developments that seek to close the gap between able-bodied athletes and para-athletes, with two published articles highlighting running prostheses.

The first article, entitled “Biomechanics of double transtibial amputee sprinting using dedicated sprinting prostheses” by Bruggemann et al., compares the sprinting mechanics data of able-bodied sprinters with that of a double transtibial amputee by examining the overall kinetics and the kinetics at the joints – while sprinting at maximum speed.

The carbon blade used by the amputee sprinter has a significant advantage in both energy storage and return in fast sprinting, in comparison to the healthy human ankle joint. The blade allows the disabled sprinter to deliver the same level of performance as an able-bodied athlete – but at a lower metabolic cost.

The other article, “Lower Extremity Leg Amputation: an advantage in running?”, authored by Lechler and Lilja describes the clinical view of fitting an amputee with a prosthetic leg.

The paper provides a general overview on prosthesis technology. It highlights the challenges and disadvantages of a prosthetic fitting – including the difficulties in selection, fitting and the alignment adaptation of the socket; as well as other issues such as the compensatory strategies of the amputee.

The full table of contents for this issue of Sports Technology is available online at: www3.interscience.wiley/journal/117899685/home

These papers are published in the January 2009 issue of Sports Technology (Vol. 1, Issue 4-5).

About Sports Technology

Sports Technology is a unique source of information on all aspects of sports technology. This international journal aims to establish stronger links between industrial and academic research, and enhance communication between athletes, coaches, engineers, scientists, biomechanists, managers and administrators involved with sports and sports technology. Design and development of sports products and infrastructure require close collaboration between all stakeholders, as well as good understanding of both life and sports sciences, principles of economy and engineering. Therefore it is only natural that a journal focusing on sports technology is inter-and transdisciplinary as well as holistic in its approach.

Sports Technology publishes articles that are classified either as scientific research articles (focusing on the scientific aspects of sports technology research) or technical research and development articles (focusing on the commercial product design and development aspects).

About Wiley-Blackwell

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wileys Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit blackwellpublishing or interscience.wiley.

About Wiley

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years, helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace.

Our core businesses publish scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley’s global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia. The Company’s Web site can be accessed at wiley. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Mary Beth Walsh, M.D., FACP, executive medical director and CEO of The Winifred Masterson Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., is the 2009 chair of the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation.

As chair, Walsh will lead the section’s governing council which advises the AHA on public policy issues of concern to all post -acute and continuing care providers. The governing council represents leaders from among the nation’s rehabilitation, acute long-term care, sub-acute, skilled, home health and continuing care services.

Walsh has served as the executive medical director and CEO of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital since 1995. She came to Burke, an affiliate of Cornell Medical School, in 1979 to develop an inpatient service for patients with rheumatic diseases. Burke currently has three divisions — a 150-bed medical rehabilitation hospital, an outpatient division and a medical research institute.

Walsh is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine and an Associate Dean of Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York, N.Y. She is also an attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Walsh was the recipient of the Hudson Valley Branch of the Arthritis Foundation Founders’ Award in 1998, and served on the Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee. She served as president of the New York Rheumatism Association in 2003 and 2004 and as a delegate to an AHA Regional Policy Board from 2005 to 2007.

James Prister, president and CEO of RML Specialty Hospital in Hinsdale, Ill., was named as the chair-elect of the section and will assume the role of chair in 2010. New members joining the governing council are Kevin Conn, vice president of South Florida Health South Corporation & CEO, Health South Sunrise Rehab Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Margaret Crane, CEO of Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles; and Carl Josehart, CEO of TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston.

About AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.

About the Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation

The AHA’s Section for Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation represents over 2,500 institutional members of the American Hospital Association, providing a unique blend of forum and network, linking members with shared interests and missions to advise AHA on policy and advocacy, and discussing issues of importance to all providers of post-acute and continuing care services.

AHA

A study published in this month’s issue of Angiology shows that supplementation with the pine bark extract Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all) improves blood flow to the muscles which speeds recovery after physical exercise. The study of 113 participants demonstrated that Pycnogenol significantly reduces muscular pain and cramps in athletes and healthy, normal individuals.

“With the millions of athletes worldwide, this truly is a profound breakthrough and extremely significant for all individuals interested in muscle cramp and pain relief with a natural approach. These findings indicate that Pycnogenol can play an important role in sports by improving blood flow to the muscles and hastening post-exercise recovery,” said Dr. Peter Rohdewald, a lead researcher of the study.

Researchers at L’Aquila University in Italy and at the University of Wьrzburg in Germany studied the effects of Pycnogenol on venous disorders and cramping in two separate studies.

The first study consisted of 66 participants who had experienced normal cramping at some point, had venous insufficiency, or were athletes who suffer from exercise-induced cramping. The first two weeks of the study was an observation period and participants did not supplement with Pycnogenol. Symptoms related to venous disorders, and the number of cramping episodes each participant experienced over the two observation weeks was recorded.

Next, all the participants were given 200 mg of Pycnogenol once a day for four weeks. After the treatment phase, participants’ symptoms and cramping episodes were recorded for one week without any Pycnogenol supplementation.

The researchers found a significant decrease in the number of cramps the participants experienced while supplementing with Pycnogenol. Participants who had experienced normal cramping had a 25 percent reduction in the number of cramps experienced while taking Pycnogenol.

Participants with venous insufficiency experienced a 40 percent reduction in the number of cramps, and athletes with frequent cramping experienced a 13 percent reduction in the number of cramps while on Pycnogenol.

The second study involved 47 participants with diabetic microangiopathy (a disorder of the smallest veins commonly associated with diabetes), or intermittent claudication (a blood vessel disease that causes the legs to easily cramp).This study also used a two-week pre-trial observation period followed by a week of supplementing with Pycnogenol (200 mg per day for one week), followed by a week of observation without Pycnogenol supplementation.

Patients with diabetic microangiopathy had a 20.8 percent reduction in pain, while participants with claudication experienced a 21 percent decrease in the amount of pain experienced while supplementing with Pycnogenol. Results indicated participants who took placebo experienced no decrease in pain.

Cramps are a common problem for people of all ages, ranging to the extreme fit and healthy to people who suffer from health problems. Previously, magnesium was hailed as the natural approach for relieving muscle cramps, however studies continue to show magnesium to be inefficient for reducing muscle cramps.

“Pycnogenol improves the blood supply to muscle tissue creating a relief effect on muscle cramping and pain. Poor circulation in the muscle is known to cause cramps and Pycnogenol improved the cramping in patients due to a stimulation of blood flow to their muscle tissue. Nitric oxide (NO) a blood gas, is well known to enhance blood flow and Pycnogenol may be influencing the activity of NO,” said Rohdewald. “The insufficient production of NO is the common denominator responsible for impaired blood flow in vascular disease.”

Strenuous exercise is known to involve muscle damage which may be followed by symptoms of inflammation. In separate studies published this year and in 2004 and 2005, Pycnogenol demonstrated its anti-inflammatory effects in clinical trials for asthma, dysmenorrhea and osteoarthritis.

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Pycnogenol is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the Maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past 35 years and has more than 220 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient. Today, Pycnogenol is available in more than 400 dietary supplements, multi-vitamins and health products worldwide. For more information or a copy of this study, visit pycnogenol/.

Natural Health Science Inc., (NHS) based in Hoboken, New Jersey, is the North American distributor for Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all) brand French Maritime Pine Bark Extract on behalf of Horphag Research. Pycnogenol® is a registered trademark of Horphag Research Ltd., Guernsey, and its applications are protected by U.S. patents #5,720,956 / #6,372,266 and other international patents. NHS has the exclusive rights to market and sell Pycnogenol® and benefits from more than 35 years of scientific research assuring the safety and efficacy of Pycnogenol® as a dietary supplement. For more information about Pycnogenol® visit our web site at pycnogenol/.

Contact: Melanie Nimrodi
MWW Group

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency are urging all users of a batch of walking frames manufactured by Days Healthcare UK Limited to have them modified to remove the potential for them to tip or collapse in use.

The manufacturer has issued a notice to inform users that between September and November 2008, approximately 6,500 aluminium frames with batch number E08/30 were produced with defective adjustment spring clips. If the clips fail whilst the frame is in use the frame may tip or collapse and could cause the user to fall. Users of walking frames with this batch number are requested to contact their supplier to arrange for the clips to be replaced.

Clive Bray, Director of Device Technology and Safety at the MHRA said, “Following investigations by the MHRA, the manufacturer has checked that all new frames are fitted with the correct specification spring clips and has also agreed to replace all clips on the batch of affected frames already in use.

“People should continue to report any faulty medical devices to the MHRA by calling our Adverse Incident Hotline on 0207 084 3080 or mhra.”

A Medical Device Alert (MDA) has also been issued to those involved in the provision and maintenance of walking frames to trace these particular models and contact Days Healthcare UK Ltd to arrange for a replacement spring kit. These include nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and managers of equipment stores.

Notes

1. Frames with batch number ER8/30 are not affected as they were manufactured or reworked with spring clips of the correct quality.

2. The manufacturer’s details are as follows:

Mr Colin Thorne
Days Healthcare UK Ltd
Tel: 01656 664 763
E-mail: c.thornedayshealthcare

3. The MHRA is the government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe. No product is risk-free. Underpinning all our work lie robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits to patients and the public justify the risks. We keep watch over medicines and devices, and take any necessary action to protect the public promptly if there is a problem. We encourage everyone – the public and healthcare professionals as well as the industry – to tell us about any problems with a medicine or medical device, so that we can investigate and take any necessary action.

MHRA