Life Sciences Commons^™

Laboratory Versus Daily Life Gait Characteristics In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’S Disease, And Matched Controls, Vrutangkumar V. Shah, James Mcnames, Martina Mancini, Patricia Carlson-Kuhta, Rebecca I. Spain, John G. Nutt, Mahmoud El-Gohary, Carolin Curtze, Fay B. Horak

Journal Articles

Background and purpose

Recent findings suggest that a gait assessment at a discrete moment in a clinic or laboratory setting may not reflect functional, everyday mobility. As a step towards better understanding gait during daily life in neurological populations, we compared gait measures that best discriminated people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) from their respective, age-matched, healthy control subjects (MS-Ctl, PD-Ctl) in laboratory tests versus a week of daily life monitoring.

Methods

We recruited 15 people with MS (age mean ± SD: 49 ± 10 years), 16 MS-Ctl (45 ± 11 years), 16 people with …

The Effects Of White-Nose Syndrome On Cave-Dwelling Bats During Their Pre-Hibernation Season In Eastern Nebraska, Maggie Bockart

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is currently the leading cause of death to North American bats and was first documented in the United States in 2006 on the East Coast. Infection with the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) causes bats to arise from hibernation with unnecessary frequency, leading to depletion of fat reserves that are imperative for extended periods of torpor. In October 2014, biologists surveyed the activity levels of bats at Fontenelle Forest in eastern Nebraska using acoustic detectors and determined what species of bats were present and their relative abundance before being exposed to WNS. By returning to the …

Psychological Pathways Linking Public Trust During The Coronavirus Pandemic To Mental And Physical Well-Being, Ayokunle Olagoke, Olakanmi Olagoke, Ashley M. Hughes

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

The well-being of the public during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is deeply rooted in institutional trust in the government’s risk communication effort. The objective of this study was to examine the psychological pathway through which public trust in the government is associated with mental and physical well-being. We collected cross-sectional data from 501 participants aged ≥18 years using an online panel. Public trust in the government was assessed as our exposure variable. We screened for psychological distress by combining the Patient Health Questionnaire and the General Anxiety Disorder scale. Physical well-being was examined using self-rated health. We further assessed …

Intention To Vaccinate Against The Novel 2019 Coronavirus Disease: The Role Of Health Locus Of Control And Religiosity, Ayokunle Olagoke, Olakanmi Olagoke, Ashley M. Hughes

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

The urgency to develop a vaccine against the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) has waxed stronger in speed, scale, and scope. However, wisdom dictates that we take a vantage position and start to examine the demographic predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The objective of this study was to examine the role of health locus of control (HLOC) in the relationship between religiosity and COVID-19 vaccination intention. In a cross-sectional survey (N = 501), we found a significantly negative association between religiosity and COVID-19 vaccination intention. This relationship was partially mediated by external HLOC. Collaborative efforts with religious institutions may influence COVID-19 vaccine …

Comparable Human Reconstitution Following Cesium-137 Versus X-Ray Irradiation Preconditioning In Immunodeficient Nog Mice, Anna Halling Folkmar Andersen, Stine Sofie Frank Nielsen, Rikka Olesen, Jakob Le Fèvre Harslund, Ole S. Søgaard, Lars Østergaard, Paul Denton, Martin Tolstrup

Biology Faculty Publications

Humanized mouse models are used extensively in research involving human pathogens and diseases. However, most of these models require preconditioning. Radio-active sources have been used routinely for this purpose but safety issues have motivated researchers to transition to chemical or X-ray based preconditioning. In this study, we directly compare 350 kV X-ray and Cs-137 low-dose precondition of NOG mice before human stem cell transplantation. Based on flow cytometry data, we found that engraftment of human cells into the mouse bone marrow was similar between radiation sources. Likewise, human engraftment in the peripheral blood was comparable between Cs-137 and three different …

Differences Between Joint-Space And Musculoskeletal Estimations Of Metabolic Rate Time Profiles, Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonabadi, Prokopios Antonellis, Philippe Malcolm

Journal Articles

Motion capture laboratories can measure multiple variables at high frame rates, but we can only measure the average metabolic rate of a stride using respiratory measurements. Biomechanical simulations with equations for calculating metabolic rate can estimate the time profile of metabolic rate within the stride cycle. A variety of methods and metabolic equations have been proposed, including metabolic time profile estimations based on joint parameters. It is unclear whether differences in estimations are due to differences in experimental data or due to methodological differences. This study aimed to compare two methods for estimating the time profile of metabolic rate, within …

Correlation Of Pre-Hypertension With Carotid Artery Damage In Middle-Aged And Older Adults, Jinkee Park, Yongseong Na, Yunjung Jang, Song-Young Park, Hyuntae Park

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

The intima–media thickness (IMT), luminal diameters (LDs), flow velocities (FVs), compliance, and β-stiffness of the carotid artery (CA) are considered as independent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Pre-hypertension (PHT) is also an independent CVD risk factor. This study investigated the association between CA damage (CAD) and PHT. A total of 544 adults participated; their blood pressures (BPs) and CA characteristics were measured using a mercury-free sphygmomanometer and ultrasound. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to assess the differences in the CA characteristics according to the BPs, multinomial logistic regression to evaluate the risk of CAD associated with PHT. In …

Stochastic Resonance Reduces Sway And Gait Variability In Individuals With Unilateral Transtibial Amputation: A Pilot Study, Aaron Likens, Jenny A. Kent, C. Ian Sloan, Shane R. Wurdeman, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

Sub-threshold (imperceptible) vibration, applied to parts of the body, impacts how people move and perceive our world. Could this idea help someone who has lost part of their limb? Sub-threshold vibration was applied to the thigh of the affected limb of 20 people with unilateral transtibial amputation. Vibration conditions tested included two noise structures: pink and white. Center of pressure (COP) excursion (range and root-mean-square displacements) during quiet standing, and speed and spatial stride measures (mean and standard deviations of step length and width) during walking were assessed. Pink noise vibration decreased COP displacements in standing, and white noise vibration …

Gait Complexity Is Acutely Restored In Older Adults When Walking To A Fractal-Like Visual Stimulus, Joao R. Vaz, Brian Knarr, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

Typically, gait rehabilitation uses an invariant stimulus paradigm to improve gait related deficiencies. However, this approach may not be optimal as it does not incorporate gait complexity, or in more precise words, the variable fractal-like nature found in the gait fluctuations commonly observed in healthy populations. Aging which also affects gait complexity, resulting in a loss of adaptability to the surrounding environment, could benefit from gait rehabilitation that incorporates a variable fractal-like stimulus paradigm. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of a variable fractal-like visual stimulus on the stride-to-stride fluctuations of older adults during overground walking. Additionally, …

Effect Of Bout Length On Gait Measures In People With And Without Parkinson’S Disease During Daily Life, Vrutangkumar V. Shah, James Mcnames, Graham Harker, Martina Mancini, Patricia Carlson-Kuhta, John G. Nutt, Mahmoud El-Gohary, Carolin Curtze, Fay B. Horak

Journal Articles

Although the use of wearable technology to characterize gait disorders in daily life is increasing, there is no consensus on which specific gait bout length should be used to characterize gait. Clinical trialists using daily life gait quality as study outcomes need to understand how gait bout length affects the sensitivity and specificity of measures to discriminate pathological gait as well as the reliability of gait measures across gait bout lengths. We investigated whether Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects how gait characteristics change as bout length changes, and how gait bout length affects the reliability and discriminative ability of gait measures …

Strength Of Plantar- And Dorsiflexors Mediates Step Regularity During A High Cognitive Load Situation In A Cross-Sectional Cohort Of Older And Younger Adults, Farahnaz Fallah Tafti, Kristen Watson, Julie Blaskewicz Boron, Sara A. Myers, Kendra K. Schmid, Jennifer M. Yentes

Journal Articles

Background and Purpose:

Completing simultaneous tasks while standing or walking (ie, a high cognitive load situation [HCLS]) is inevitable in daily activities and can lead to interference in task performances. Age-related physical and cognitive changes may confound performance variability during HCLS in older and younger adults. Identification of these confounding effects may reveal therapy targets to maintain optimal physical function later in life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of increasing the difficulty levels of an additional motor task and restricting visual information, on gait parameters in younger and older adults while considering the effect of …

Age Induced Modifications In The Persistency Of Voluntary Sway When Actively Tracking The Complex Motion Of A Visual Target, Haralampos Sotirakis, Nick Stergiou, Dimitrios A. Patikas, Vassilia Hatzitaki

Journal Articles

Movement persistency, reflected in systematic cycle to cycle fluctuations of a rhythmical task such as walking or voluntary sway, is compromised with increasing age, making older adults more susceptible to falls. In the present study, we tested whether it is possible to improve rhythmic voluntary sway persistency in old age by actively tracking the complex (i.e. persistent) motion of a visual target. Twenty healthy young and 20 older adults performed 132 cycles of anterior-posterior sway under two conditions: a) self-paced sway and b) sway while tracking the vertical motion of a complex visual target. The persistency of sway cycle amplitude …

Functional, Proteomic And Bioinformatic Analyses Of Nrf2- And Keap1- Null Skeletal Muscle, Lie Gao, Vikas Kumar, Neetha Nanoth Vellichirammal, Song-Young Park, Tara L. Rudebush, Li Yu, Won-Mok Son, Elizabeth J. Pekas, Ahmed M. Wafi, Juan Hong, Peng Xiao, Chittibabu Guda, Han-Jun Wang, Harold D. Scultz, Irving H. Zucker

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Key points

• Nrf2 is a master regulator of endogenous cellular defences, governing the expression of more than 200 cytoprotective proteins, including a panel of antioxidant enzymes.
• Nrf2 plays an important role in redox haemostasis of skeletal muscle in response to the increased generation of reactive oxygen species during contraction.
• Employing skeletal muscle-specific transgenic mouse models with unbiased-omic approaches, we uncovered new target proteins, downstream pathways and molecular networks of Nrf2 in skeletal muscle following Nrf2 or Keap1 deletion.
• Based on the findings, we proposed a two-way model to understand Nrf2 function: a tonic effect through a Keap1-independent mechanism under basal …

Cytokine Signature Of Inflammation Mediated By Autoreactive Th-Cells, In Calf Muscle Of Claudicating Patients With Fontaine Stage Ii Peripheral Artery Disease, George P. Casale, Johnathan R. Thompson, Lauren C. Carpenter, Julian Kyung-Soo Kim, Timothy J. Lackner, Constance Mietus, Duy M. Ha, Sara A. Myers, Katyarina E. Brunette, Shuai Li, Christina Shields, Gregory Wilcockson, Iraklis Pipinos

Journal Articles

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), a severe atherosclerotic condition primarily of the elderly, afflicts 200 million individuals, worldwide, and is associated with lower extremity myopathy. Circulating markers of inflammation have been linked to risk and severity of PAD but the contribution of local inflammation to myopathy remains unknown. We evaluated, by ELISA, calf muscle of PAD patients (N = 23) and control subjects (N = 18) for local expression of inflammatory cytokines including Granulocyte/Monocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF), Interleukin 17A (IL-17A), Interferon ϒ (IFN-ϒ), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and Interleukin 6 (IL-6). One or more of these cytokines were expressed in …

Acute Mitochondrial Antioxidant Intake Improves Endothelial Function, Antioxidant Enzyme Activity, And Exercise Tolerance In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease, Song-Young Park, Elizabeth J. Pekas, Ronald Headid Iii, Won-Mok Son, Tesean Wooden, Jiwon Song, Gwenael Layec, Santosh K. Yadav, Paras K. Mishra, Iraklis Pipinos

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a manifestation of atherosclerosis in the leg arteries, which causes claudication. This may be in part due to vascular mitochondrial dysfunction and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. A mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant (MitoQ) has been shown to improve vascular mitochondrial function that, in turn, led to improved vascular function in older adults and animal models. However, the roles of vascular mitochondria in vascular function including endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with PAD are unknown; therefore, with the use of acute MitoQ intake, this study examined the roles of vascular mitochondria in endothelial function, arterial …

Folk Physics In The Twenty-First Century: Understanding Tooling As Embodied, Dorothy M. Fragaszy, Madhur Mangalam

Journal Articles

Povinelli’s (2000) studies with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) reported in “Folk Physics for Apes” were firmly grounded in a Cartesian view of knowledge, which posits that humans use abstract concepts such as force, gravity, and shape to reason causally about events and plan our actions (with tools in the case of Folk Physics for Apes). Povinelli set out to examine if chimpanzees, like humans, used causal concepts to solve mechanical problems, as the Cartesian view predicts. However, Povinelli’s findings uniformly challenged his expectations. Povinelli’s book stimulated research and contributed to the development of alternate understandings of how animals (including humans) use …

Combined Anthocyanins And Bromelain Supplement Improves Endothelial Function And Skeletal Muscle Oxygenation Status In Adults: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Randomised Crossover Clinical Trial, Elizabeth J. Pekas, Jaehyun Shin, Ronald Headid Iii, Won-Mok Son, Gwenael Layec, Santosh K. Yadav, Steven D. Scott, Song-Young Park

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Anthocyanins and bromelain have gained significant attention due to their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Both have been shown to improve endothelial function, blood pressure (BP) and oxygen utility capacity in humans; however, the combination of these two and the impacts on endothelial function, BP, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and oxygen utility capacity have not been previously investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of a combined anthocyanins and bromelain supplement (BE) on endothelial function, BP, TAC, oxygen utility capacity and fatigability in healthy adults. Healthy adults (n 18, age 24 (SD 4) years) received BE or …

To Walk Or To Run – A Question Of Movement Attractor Stability, Peter C. Raffalt, Jenny A. Kent, Shane R. Wurdeman, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

During locomotion, humans change gait mode between walking and running as locomotion speed is either increased or decreased. Dynamical systems theory predicts that the self-organization of coordinated motor behaviors dictates the transition from one distinct stable attractor behavior to another distinct attractor behavior (e.g. walk to run or vice versa) as the speed is changed. To evaluate this prediction, the present study investigated the attractor stability of walking and running across a range of speeds evoking both self-selected gait mode and non-self-selected gait mode. Eleven subjects completed treadmill walking for 3 min at 0.89, 1.12, 1.34, 1.56, 1.79, 2.01, 2.24 …

Assessing The Temporal Organization Of Walking Variability: A Systematic Review And Consensus Guidelines On Detrended Fluctuation Analysis, Deepak K. Ravi, Vivien Marmelat, William R. Taylor, Karl M. Newell, Nicholas Stergiou, Navrag B. Singh

Journal Articles

Human physiological signals are inherently rhythmic and have a hallmark feature in that even distant intrasignal measurements are related to each other. This relationship is termed long-range correlation and has been recognized as an indicator of the optimal state of the observed physiological systems, among which the locomotor system. Loss of long-range correlations has been found as a result of aging as well as disease, which can be evaluated with detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Recently, DFA and the scaling exponent α have been employed for understanding the degeneration of temporal regulation of human walking biorhythms in, for example, Parkinson disease …

Postural Control Is Altered In Females With Excessive Medial Knee Displacement, Joao R. Vaz, Nikolaos Stergiou, Ana Diniz, Ricardo Dinis, Pedro Pezarat-Correia

Journal Articles

Knee valgus motion observed during landing tasks has been proposed as a predictor of future knee injury. It mainly involves excess motion in the frontal plane and is known to be greater in individuals with excessive medial knee displacement (MKD). This affects postural control during sports manoeuvres. Previous sports medicine-related research suggests that the nature of these fluctuations provide rich and more sensitive information to identify risk of (re)injury. We aimed to investigate the fluctuations of the centre of pressure (CoP) in individuals with and without excessive MKD. Twenty females (12 controls; 8 excessive MKD) were instructed to perform single-leg …

Habitual Combined Exercise Protects Against Age-Associated Decline In Vascular Function And Lipid Profiles In Elderly Postmenopausal Women, Elizabeth J. Pekas, Won-Mok Son, Ronald Headid Iii, Song-Young Park, John Shin

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Postmenopausal status is associated with increased risks for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study investigated differences in vascular function, lipids, body composition, and physical fitness in elderly postmenopausal women active in combined resistance and aerobic exercise (CRAE) training for 1 year versus a sedentary cohort of similar-in-age counterparts. Elderly postmenopausal women performing habitual CRAE training for 1 year (age ~75 year; CRAE, n = 57) and elderly sedentary postmenopausal women (age ~78 year; SED, n = 44) were recruited. Arterial stiffness (brachial-to-ankle pulse-wave velocity, baPWV), blood pressure, blood lipids, anthropometrics, 2-min walking distance, and muscular strength were assessed for both groups. …

Filtering Affects The Calculation Of The Largest Lyapunov Exponent, Peter C. Raffalt, Ben Senderling, Nicholas Stergiou

Journal Articles

The calculation of the largest Lyapunov exponent (LyE) requires the reconstruction of the time series in an N-dimensional state space. For this, the time delay (Tau) and embedding dimension (EmD) are estimated using the Average Mutual Information and False Nearest Neighbor algorithms. However, the estimation of these variables (LyE, Tau, EmD) could be compromised by prior filtering of the time series evaluated. Therefore, we investigated the effect of filtering kinematic marker data on the calculation of Tau, EmD and LyE using several different computational codes. Kinematic marker data were recorded from 37 subjects during treadmill walking and filtered using a …

Exposure To Coronavirus News On Mainstream Media: The Role Of Risk Perceptions And Depression, Ayokunle Olagoke, Olakanmi Olagoke, Ashley M. Hughes

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Objective

The mainstream media tend to rely on news content that will increase risk perceptions of pandemic outbreaks to stimulate public response and persuade people to comply with preventive behaviours. The objective of this study was to examine associations between exposure to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news, risk perceptions, and depressive symptoms.

Methods

Cross-sectional data were collected from 501 participants who were ≥18 years. Exposure to COVID-19 news was assessed as our exposure variable. We screened for depression (outcome variable) with the Patient Health Questionnaire and examined the roles of risk perceptions. Multiple linear regressions and mediation analysis with 1000 bootstrap …

Comparative Analysis Of Metabolic Pathways Of Bacteria Used In Fermented Food, Keanu Hoang, Kiran Bastola

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This study presents a novel methodology for analyzing metabolic pathways. Utilizing KEGG REST API through a Biopython package and file parser, data about whether or not a bacteria has an enzyme or not was extracted. The results found that differences in metabolic pathway enrichment values follow along the lines of genera and pathway type. In particular, bacteria found in food spoilage and commercial nitrogen fixing products had high values of enrichment.

The Effects Of Mat Pilates Training On Vascular Function And Body Fatness In Obese Young Women With Elevated Blood Pressure, Alexei Wong, Arturo Figueroa, Stephen M. Fischer, Reza Bagheri, Song-Young Park

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND

Effective nonpharmacological interventions targeting the enhancement of vascular function and decline of body fatness (BF) in obese individuals are indispensable for the prevention of hypertension and cardiovascular events in young adults. Mat Pilates training (MPT) has gained significant popularity worldwide, yet its effects on vascular function and body composition are understudied. We examined the effects of MPT on vascular function and BF in young obese women with elevated blood pressure (BP). METHODS

Twenty-eight young obese women with elevated BP were randomized to an MPT (n = 14) or a nonexercising control (CON, n = 14) group for 12 …

Gene-Based Clustering Algorithms: Comparison Between Denclue, Fuzzy-C, And Birch, Martin C. Nwadiugwu

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

The current study seeks to compare 3 clustering algorithms that can be used in gene-based bioinformatics research to understand disease networks, protein-protein interaction networks, and gene expression data. Denclue, Fuzzy-C, and Balanced Iterative and Clustering using Hierarchies (BIRCH) were the 3 gene-based clustering algorithms selected. These algorithms were explored in relation to the subfield of bioinformatics that analyzes omics data, which include but are not limited to genomics, proteomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics data. The objective was to compare the efficacy of the 3 algorithms and determine their strength and drawbacks. Result of the review showed that unlike Denclue and …

The Impact Of Aspirin Intake On Lactate Dehydrogenase, Arterial Stiffness, And Oxidative Stress During High-Intensity Exercise: A Pilot Study, Sang-Ho Lee, Elizabeth J. Pekas, Seungyong Lee, Ronald Headid Iii, Song-Young Park

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Aspirin is a common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used to reduce fever, pain, and inflammation. However, aspirin's anti-inflammatory properties may also prevent increased levels of blood lactate dehydrogenase, vascular arterial stiffness and oxidative stress induced by high-intensity exercise. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 4 weeks of aspirin supplementation on lactate dehydrogenase activity, lactate, arterial stiffness, and antioxidant capacity during high-intensity exercise in Taekwondo athletes. Participants were randomly divided into two groups: aspirin supplementation (n = 10) and placebo-control (n = 10). Blood levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) enzyme activity and lactate were assessed to examine …

Vasodilatory And Vascular Mitochondrial Respiratory Function With Advancing Age: Evidence Of A Free Radically Mediated Link In The Human Vasculature, Soung Hun Park, Oh-Sung Kwon, Song-Young Park, Joshua C. Weavil, Jay R. Hydren, Van Reese, Robert H. I. Andtbacka, John R. Hyngstrom, Russell S. Richardson

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Recognizing the age-related decline in skeletal muscle feed artery (SMFA) vasodilatory function, this study examined the link between vasodilatory and mitochondrial respiratory function in the human vasculature. Twenty-four SMFAs were harvested from young (35 ± 6 yr, n = 9) and old (71 ± 9 yr, n = 15) subjects. Vasodilation in SMFAs was assessed, by pressure myography, in response to flow-induced shear stress, acetylcholine (ACh), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) while mitochondrial respiration was measured, by respirometry, in permeabilized SMFAs. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was significantly attenuated in the old, induced by both flow (young: 92 ± 3, old: 45 ± 4%) …

Mmp9 Mediates Acute Hyperglycemia-Induced Human Cardiac Stem Cell Death By Upregulating Apoptosis And Pyroptosis In Vitro, Santosh K. Yadav, Tyler N. Kambis, Sumit Kar, Song-Young Park, Paras K. Mishra

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Providing a conducive microenvironment is critical to increase survival of transplanted stem cells in regenerative therapy. Hyperglycemia promotes stem cell death impairing cardiac regeneration in the diabetic heart. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of high glucose-induced stem cell death is important for improving cardiac regeneration in diabetic patients. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), a collagenase, is upregulated in the diabetic heart, and ablation of MMP9 decreases infarct size in the non-diabetic myocardial infarction heart. In the present study, we aim to investigate whether MMP9 is a mediator of hyperglycemia-induced cell death in human cardiac stem cells (hCSCs) in vitro. We created MMP9−/− hCSCs …

Effects Of Heated Water-Based Versus Land-Based Exercise Training On Vascular Function In Individuals With Peripheral Artery Disease, Song-Young Park, Alexei Wong, Won-Mok Son, Elizabeth J. Pekas

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic disease that is associated with poor vascular function, walking impairment, and reduced quality of life. Land-based exercise therapy (LBET) is frequently recommended to improve walking and reduce symptoms. Recently, evidence has suggested that heated-water exercise therapy (HWET) is an effective intervention for PAD. However, the efficacy of LBET versus HWET in PAD patients had not been elucidated. Therefore, we sought to compare effects of LBET with HWET on cardiovascular function, exercise tolerance, physical function, and body composition in PAD patients. PAD patients (n = 53) were recruited and randomly assigned to a …