Efficacy of exercise treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To review the efficacy of exercise treatments on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Ebscohost, SPORTDiscus, ProQuest, Web of Science. REVIEW METHODS: A systematic review was performed to identify the relevant studies published from 2011 to 2023. Studies were selected using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 5170 articles were retrieved and assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. The risk of bias in individual studies was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. RESULTS: A total of 38 eligible studies were included. Eight studies evaluated the effects of Tai Chi, followed by Liuzijue (five studies) and yoga (three studies). The duration of the exercise programmes ranged from 8 weeks to 3 years, and the frequency was between 2 and 7 times a week. Exercise sessions lasted between 20 and 90 min. Low-intensity exercise improved lung function after six months. Whole-body exercise improved dyspnea more than local exercise. Water-based exercise improved physical endurance more than land exercise, and quality of life was unaffected by long-term exercise. CONCLUSION: This systematic review highlights the benefit of exercise treatments as a potential adjunct treatment for COPD patients.

What can we learn from the Baduanjin rehabilitation as COVID-19 treatment?: A narrative review.

AIM: To understand Baduanjin rehabilitation therapy in mild COVID-19 patients. DESIGN: A narrative review. METHODS: A literature search for COVID-19 and Baduanjin treatments was conducted on Chinese and English electronic databases: China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Ebscohost, SPORTDiscus and ProQuest. RESULTS: Twelve studies on the Baduanjin rehabilitation for COVID-19 patients have been included. We acknowledged the considerable published research and current clinical practice using Baduanjin for COVID-19 treatment in the following areas: anxiety, depression, insomnia, lung function rehabilitation, immunity and activity endurance. CONCLUSION: The use of Baduanjin as adjuvant therapy for COVID-19 patients' rehabilitation is still limited, therefore, more clinical studies are needed to confirm its efficacy.

Acute massage stimulates parasympathetic activation after a single exhaustive muscle contraction exercise.

BACKGROUND: Heart rate variability (HRV) is one of the tools that can assess autonomic activities during exercise or recovery. Massage is an often-used recovery method with varying recovery outcome. This study was to investigate the effect of lower limb massage on recovery HRV following repeated knee flexion and extension exercise-to-exhaustion. METHODS: Nine healthy men aged between 20 and 30 years old were recruited and randomly assigned to a control group (n = 5) and massage group (n = 4). The HRV spectral analysis was performed at baseline, pre-exercise, post-exercise and immediately post-intervention. For intervention, the participants in the massage group received a 10-min massage on the quadriceps and hamstring muscles of the dominant leg whereas the control group received none. The HRV was presented as low-frequency (LF) peak (Hz), power (ms2), power (normalised unit; n.u.) and high-frequency (HF), peak (Hz), power (ms2), power (n.u.) as well as LF/HF ratio. RESULTS: Spectral power analysis showed there were no significant differences in the LF indices and LF/HF ratio with massage. HRV normalisation data revealed a within-subject difference with massage. CONCLUSIONS: Massage caused an immediate parasympathetic activation during recovery from a single exhaustive muscle contraction exercise. Hence, massage may be used to potentiate recovery.