Search results for "Hand strength"

Motor Conduction Studies and Handgrip in Hereditary TTR Amyloidosis: Simple Tools to Evaluate the Upper Limbs

2022

PurposeHereditary transthyretin amyloidosis with polyneuropathy (ATTRv) is caused by mutations in the TTR gene, leading to misfolded monomers that aggregate generating amyloid fibrils. The clinical phenotype is heterogeneous, and characterized by a multisystemic disease affecting the sensorimotor and autonomic functions along with other organs.Materials and MethodsAll the patients were assessed by complete neurological assessment, neurophysiological evaluation, of the median nerve, and handgrip analysis. The data are presented as means and standard deviations. Parametric and non-parametric assessments have been performed to identify differences between groups. Pearson's correlation has been…

Effect of Oral Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methylbutyrate (HMB) Supplementation on Physical Performance in Healthy Old Women Over 65 Years: An Open Label Rando…

2015

Although older people are particularly liable to sarcopenia, limited research is available on beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation in this population, particularly in healthy subjects. In this parallel-group, randomized, controlled, open-label trial, we aimed to evaluate whether an oral supplement containing 1.5 g of calcium HMB for 8 weeks could improve physical performance and muscle strength parameters in a group of community-dwelling healthy older women. Eighty healthy women attending a twice-weekly mild fitness program were divided into two equal groups of 40, and 32 of the treated women and 33 control completed the study. We considered a change in the Short Physical …

Response to The Letter “Overadjustment in Regression Analyses: Considerations When Evaluating Relationships Between Body Mass Index, Muscle Strength,…

2014

Assessment of maximal handgrip strength: how many attempts are needed?

2017

© 2017 The Authors. Background: Handgrip strength (HGS) is used to identify individuals with low muscle strength (dynapenia). The influence of the number of attempts on maximal HGS is not yet known and may differ depending on age and health status. This study aimed to assess how many attempts of HGS are required to obtain maximal HGS. Methods: Three cohorts (939 individuals) differing in age and health status were included. HGS was assessed three times and explored as continuous and dichotomous variable. Paired t-test, intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis were used to test reproducibility of HGS. The number of individuals with misclassified dynapenia at attemp…

Fitness testing in tennis: Influence of anthropometric characteristics, physical performance, and functional test on serve velocity in professional p…

2021

The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between anthropometric variables, physical performance, and functional test with serve velocity regarding tennis players’ level and to design regression models that effectively predict serve velocity. A sample of sixteen male tennis players participated in this study (national level = 8, professional level = 7). Anthropometric measurements (body mass, height, body mass index and body segments) and physical test (hand strength, countermovement jump, jump on serve, and serve velocity) and functional test (medicine ball throw overhead and shot put) were performed. No differences in anthropometrics and physical test were found between nati…

Sarcopenia reduces quality of life in the long-term: Longitudinal analyses from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2022

Abstract Purpose Mixed findings exist for sarcopenia/quality of life (QoL) relationship. Moreover, the majority of studies in this area have utilized a cross-sectional design or specific clinical populations. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the association between sarcopenia at baseline and QoL at 10 years follow-up in a large representative sample of older English adults. Methods Sarcopenia was diagnosed as having low handgrip strength and low skeletal muscle mass index. QoL was measured using the CASP (control, autonomy, self-realisation and pleasure)-19, with higher values reflecting higher QoL. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess pro…

Grasp-specific motor resonance is influenced by the visibility of the observed actor

2016

AbstractMotor resonance is the modulation of M1 corticospinal excitability induced by observation of others' actions. Recent brain imaging studies have revealed that viewing videos of grasping actions led to a differential activation of the ventral premotor cortex depending on whether the entire person is viewed versus only their disembodied hand. Here we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) and abductor digiti minimi (ADM) during observation of videos or static images in which a whole person or merely the hand was seen reaching and grasping a peanut (precision grip) or an apple (whole hand grasp). Part…

Effect of Calcifediol on Physical Performance and Muscle Strength Parameters: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2022

There is general agreement that optimal vitamin D status is necessary for bones, muscles, and general health, particularly in older adults, who are at higher risk of negative consequences of vitamin D deficiency, including sarcopenia; vitamin D supplementation is proposed as a potential intervention to mitigate sarcopenia. Several RCTs have reported that calcifediol (25(OH)D) was more potent than cholecalciferol in increasing plasma 25(OH)D. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the effects of calcifediol on physical performance and muscle strength. We searched databases from inception to 1 January 2022 for studies investigating calcifediol on physical performan…

Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy modifies skeletal muscle composition and function: a study with monozygotic twin pairs

2009

We investigated whether long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with mobility and lower limb muscle performance and composition in postmenopausal women. Fifteen 54- to 62-yr-old monozygotic female twin pairs discordant for HRT were recruited from the Finnish Twin Cohort. Habitual (HWS) and maximal (MWS) walking speeds over 10 m, thigh muscle composition, lower body muscle power assessed as vertical jumping height, and maximal isometric hand grip and knee extension strengths were measured. Intrapair differences (IPD%) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. The mean duration of HRT use was 6.9 ± 4.1 yr. MWS was on average 7% (0.9 to 13.1%, P = 0.019) and muscle…

The role of synergies within generative models of action execution and recognition: A computational perspective. Comment on "Grasping synergies: A mo…

2015

Controlling the body – given its huge number of degrees of freedom – poses severe computational challenges. Mounting evidence suggests that the brain alleviates this problem by exploiting “synergies”, or patterns of muscle activities (and/or movement dynamics and kinematics) that can be combined to control action, rather than controlling individual muscles of joints [1–10]. D’Ausilio et al. [11] explain how this view of motor organization based on synergies can profoundly change the way we interpret studies of action recognition in humans and monkeys, and in particular the controversy on the “granularity” of the mirror neuron system (MNs): whether it encodes either (lower) kinematic aspects…