Concussion-related visual memory and reaction time impairment in college athletes improved after osteopathic manipulative medicine: a randomized clinical trial.

CONTEXT: Concussion is an acute, transient disruption in brain function due to head injury. Previous studies suggest osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) improved recovery from concussion. OBJECTIVES: The hypothesis was that new-onset impairments (NOI) of neurological functions identified by Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) will improve more so after OMM than after concussion-education. METHODS: College athletes presenting to the outpatient academic healthcare center (AHCC) with concussion due to head injury within the preceding 2 weeks were recruited for this IRB-approved, randomized, single-blinded trial. Consented men and women were randomized into groups receiving two OMM treatments or two concussion-education sessions to control for social effects. Preseason, Baseline, ImPACT was compared to Post-Injury scores to determine NOI. Baseline, Post-Injury, and Post-Interventions ImPACTs were compared by analysis of variance (ANOVA, α≤0.05). Post-Injury correlations and mean changes in King-Devick (KD) scores were analyzed. RESULTS: Post-Injury NOI were found in 77.8% (14/18) men and 85.7% (6/7) women, including ImPACT subscore indices for verbal and visual memory, processing speed (PS), and reaction time (RT). Of those with NOI, mean visual memory recovered by 50.0% following one and by 104.9% (p=0.032) following two OMM treatments in men and by 82.8% (p=0.046) following one treatment in women. Following two interventions, the mean RT in men receiving OMM improved by 0.10 more than education (p=0.0496). The effect sizes of OMM were large (Cohen's d=1.33) on visual memory and small (Cohen's d=0.31) on RT. CONCLUSIONS: The NOI in visual memory and RT following concussion significantly improved in the OMM group compared to the education group. Integrating OMM utilizing physical exam and this treatment was a safe individualized approach in athletes with acute uncomplicated concussions. Further research is warranted to improve the utilization of OMM for individuals with concussion.

Gut Microbiome Changes with Osteopathic Treatment of Constipation in Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study.

INTRODUCTION: The gut microbiome appears to be predictive of Parkinson's disease (PD) with constipation. Chronic constipation frequently manifests prior to motor symptoms and impairs quality of life. An osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) sequence used physical exam assessment and manual treatment of neuromusculoskeletal dysfunctions pertinent to constipation in PD for this prospective ABA-design study, IRB-NYITBHS1065. The effects of 4 weekly treatments on the gut microbiome among men and women over 40 years old with chronic constipation and PD were investigated. Severity of PD was rated with the Movement Disorders Society-Unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) in six subjects with constipation. Also, the Bristol stool scale and questionnaires validated for constipation were administered for diagnosis, symptom severity, and quality of life during a 4-week control-period (A), 4-weekly OMM-treatments (B), and 2-weeks no-intervention (A). Biweekly stool samples were assessed for normalized microbiota abundance. RESULTS: The mean Bristol rating improved from type 2 (± 1) Pre-OMM to 3 (± 1; p = .167; d = 0.677) Post-OMM. Mean constipation severity significantly decreased (p = .010; d = 1.508) Post-OMM. Mean quality of life significantly improved (p = .041; d = 1.072) Post-OMM. The Pre-OMM mean number of families within the phylum Firmicutes decreased by 3 (p = .043; d = 1.177) Post-OMM. There were significant changes in the normalized abundance of phyla Actinobacteria (p = .040; d = 0.845) and Verrucomicrobia (p = .024; d = 0.675) as well as in genus Roseburia (p = .033; d = 1.109), Intestinimonas (p = .035; d = 0.627) and Anaerotruncus (p = .004) Post-OMM. CONCLUSION: The gut microbiome shifted among individuals with constipation and PD after four weekly treatments with the OMM-sequence. Changes in the gut microbiome Post-OMM were associated with UPDRS results and constipation measures. Clinical trials and studies to develop the gut microbiome into a validated biomarker for PD are necessary to understand the impact of OMM in patients with PD and constipation.

Integration of Osteopathic Manual Treatments in Management of Cervical Dystonia with Tremor: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: Cervical dystonia, also known as spasmodic torticollis, is a chronic disorder in which patients exhibit involuntary repetitive contractions of neck muscles resulting in abnormal postures or movements. Occasionally, there is also a dystonic head tremor. The underlying mechanisms for cervical dystonia and dystonic tremor are not clear, and treatments are limited. CASE REPORT: In the present cases, two females with head tremor starting in adolescence developed worsening symptoms of cervical dystonia with dystonic tremor in their 60s. On osteopathic physical examination, both had a vertical type strain to the sphenobasilar synchondrosis. DISCUSSION: Vertical strains are more frequently found in patients after head trauma, congenital or later in life, than in healthy patients, and head trauma may have been a precipitating factor in these patients. There were improvements in cervical dystonia symptoms, including tremor, in both patients after osteopathic manual treatment.

The Glymphatic-Lymphatic Continuum: Opportunities for Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.

The brain has long been thought to lack a lymphatic drainage system. Recent studies, however, show the presence of a brain-wide paravascular system appropriately named the glymphatic system based on its similarity to the lymphatic system in function and its dependence on astroglial water flux. Besides the clearance of cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial fluid, the glymphatic system also facilitates the clearance of interstitial solutes such as amyloid-ß and tau from the brain. As cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial fluid are cleared through the glymphatic system, eventually draining into the lymphatic vessels of the neck, this continuous fluid circuit offers a paradigm shift in osteopathic manipulative medicine. For instance, manipulation of the glymphatic-lymphatic continuum could be used to promote experimental initiatives for nonpharmacologic, noninvasive management of neurologic disorders. In the present review, the authors describe what is known about the glymphatic system and identify several osteopathic experimental strategies rooted in a mechanistic understanding of the glymphatic-lymphatic continuum.