[The modern applications of radon therapy for the medical rehabilitation of the patients].

Radon therapy is one of the methods of physiobalneotherapy the mechanism of action of which is believed to consist of the influence of the small radiation doses of radon and its daughter products on the nervous, vascular, and immune apparatuses of the skin and mucosal membranes that eventually enhances the protective and adaptive potential of the body and thereby its ability to resist pathological impacts. At present, the high effectiveness of radon therapy is universally recognized and this method is widely applied for the combined treatment of various diseases in different fields of medicine. These include (1) diseases of the musculoskeletal system and locomotor disorders in the patients presenting with recurrent rheumatic fever, reactive arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, post-traumatic osteoarthrosis and knee joint synovitis, the sympathico-tonic course of vegetative dystonia associated with connective tissue dysplasia, etc.; (2) neurological disorders in the patients presenting with cervical dorsopathy, neurological manifedstations of degenerative lesions of the cervical and lumbar spine, etc.; (3) cardiological disorders in the patients presenting with hypertensive disease, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis of different localization, etc.; (4) gastrointestinal disorders in the patients presenting with gastric and duodenal ulcers, irritated bowel syndrome, etc.; (5) gynecological problems in the patients presenting with primary and secondary dysmenorrhea, genital endometriosis, uterine myoma, dysregulated reproductive function, polycystic ovary - syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome and ovulatory disorders of proinflammatory origin, etc.

Abdominothoracic mechanisms of functional abdominal distension and correction by biofeedback.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: In patients with functional gut disorders, abdominal distension has been associated with descent of the diaphragm and protrusion of the anterior abdominal wall. We investigated mechanisms of abdominal distension in these patients. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of 45 patients (42 women, 24-71 years old) with functional intestinal disorders (27 with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, 15 with functional bloating, and 3 with irritable bowel syndrome with alternating bowel habits) and discrete episodes of visible abdominal distension. Subjects were assessed by abdominothoracic computed tomography (n = 39) and electromyography (EMG) of the abdominothoracic wall (n = 32) during basal conditions (without abdominal distension) and during episodes of severe abdominal distension. Fifteen patients received a median of 2 sessions (range, 1-3 sessions) of EMG-guided, respiratory-targeted biofeedback treatment; 11 received 1 control session before treatment. RESULTS: Episodes of abdominal distension were associated with diaphragm contraction (19% ± 3% increase in EMG score and 12 ± 2 mm descent; P < .001 vs basal values) and intercostal contraction (14% ± 3% increase in EMG scores and 6 ± 1 mm increase in thoracic antero-posterior diameter; P < .001 vs basal values). They were also associated with increases in lung volume (501 ± 93 mL; P < .001 vs basal value) and anterior abdominal wall protrusion (32 ± 3 mm increase in girth; P < .001 vs basal). Biofeedback treatment, but not control sessions, reduced the activity of the intercostal muscles (by 19% ± 2%) and the diaphragm (by 18% ± 4%), activated the internal oblique muscles (by 52% ± 13%), and reduced girth (by 25 ± 3 mm) (P ≤ .009 vs pretreatment for all). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with functional gut disorders, abdominal distension is a behavioral response that involves activity of the abdominothoracic wall. This distension can be reduced with EMG-guided, respiratory-targeted biofeedback therapy.

[Effect of secondary prophylaxis on quality of life in gerontologic patients at the rehabilitation center for the disabled Patriotic war veterans in local sanatorium]. / Vliianie vtorichnoi profilaktiki na kachestvo zhizni gerontologicheskikh bol'nykh v usloviiakh tsentra reabilitatsii invalidov Otechestvennoi voiny na baze mestnogo sanatoriia.

AIM: To study efficacy of sanatorium treatment of aged patients with gastroenterological and locomotor diseases in the heriatric center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 100 patients were investigated for effects of sanatorium treatment on quality of life. RESULTS: Clinical symptoms depended on the patients' age. Patients under 70 years of age had leading symptoms from gastrointestinal organs and locomotor system. These patients were most responsive to rehabilitation measures. In 70-year-olds and older patients cardiovascular and cerebral pathologies are of special importance limiting usage of physiotherapy and necessitating wider application of medicines: hypotensive, antianginal, circulation correcting, etc. The sanatorium stage of rehabilitation creates a positive emotional background in these patients. CONCLUSION: Sanatorium treatment resulted in improvement of life quality in gerontological patients.

Hardware-software co-design of portable functional gastrointestinal stimulator system.

In the recent years, functional electrical stimulation has been applied to restore impaired motility in the gastrointestinal tract. Unlike other methods of electrical stimulation of the gut, microprocessor-controlled, sequential electrical stimulation has been shown to induce peristalsis and enhance emptying in acute canine gastric and colonic models. This study aims at completing the development of a portable microprocessor-based functional stimulator system consisting of a microelectronic stimulator, patient-specific computer-based real-time software and a programming interfacing device. The ultimate goals of the design are to ensure that (1) the portable stimulator can be efficiently utilized in chronic animal experiments; and (2) the device can be further miniaturized into an implantable version. The designed portable stimulator generates four channel sequential bipolar rectangular pulse trains with programmable parameters within the stimulation requirements obtained from a previously developed computer model. Real-time simulation of colonic peristalsis and a case-specific stimulation model were implemented using patient-specific computer-based software. A chronic canine case study confirmed the feasibility of this microprocessor-controlled stimulation method for future clinical applications in humans.

[The effect of reflex muscle massage on the body regulatory processes of peptic ulcer patients with concomitant diseases]. / Vliianie reflektorno-myshechnogo massazha na reguliatornye protsessy v organizme u bol'nykh iazvennoi bolezn'iu s soputstvuiushchimi zabolevaniiami.

Compared to conventional treatment, the proposed method of deep reflex muscular massage for treatment of ulcer patients with associated diseases in combination with exercises for muscle strain, produce stronger positive changes in adaptive-compensatory systems. This may result in prolongation of the remission and in a decreased number of recurrences of ulcer and associated gastrointestinal diseases.

[Effect of spa therapy on the endocrine system. I. Stress reaction hormones]. / Wp-yw leczenia uzdrowiskowego na uk-ad endokrynny. I: Hormony reakcji stresowej.

UNLABELLED: The present study aimed to assess a.) the influence of spa treatment in Wysowa on the circadian rhythm of plasma concentration of ACTH, cortisol, growth hormone and prolactin, and b.) the influence of kind of pathology on the hormonal profile of the above mentioned hormones. Four groups of patients were examined. The first one comprised 48 patients with essential hypertension, the second one--47 patients with inflammatory renal disease with normal excretory renal function, the third one--39 patients with gastrointestinal diseases and cholelithiasis and the fourth one--41 patients with neurovegetative neurosis. The hormonal parameters were assessed during a clinical check-up, and after 4 and 20 days of spa therapy in Wysowa respectively. In all examined groups spa treatment was accompanied by a significant increase of serum concentrations of all examined hormones. Spa treatment did not influence the circadian rhythm of ACTH, cortisol, growth hormone and prolactin plasma concentration in all examined groups of patients. CONCLUSION: spa therapy shows a marked influence on secretion of "stress" hormones, but does not influence the circadian rhythm of plasma concentration of these compounds.

[The influence of spa therapy on the endocrine system. II. Erythropoietin]. / Wp-yw leczenia uzdrowiskowego na uk-ad. Endokrynny. II: Erytropoetyna.

UNLABELLED: The stimulatory effect of spa therapy on erythropoiesis is well documented. The present study aimed to elucidate the pathogenesis of this effect. The influence of spa therapy on plasma erythropoietin and erythropoiesis was studied in four groups of patients: 35 patients with essential hypertension, 35 patients with inflammatory renal diseases at a stabilized stage and normal excretory renal function. 25 patients with gastrointestinal pathology or cholelithiasis and 33 patients with neurovegetative neurosis. Spa therapy for 20 days in Wysowa was accompanied by a significant increase of plasma erythropoietin, iron, ferritin and saturation of transferrin with iron and by an increase of blood haemoglobin and haematocrit value. These alterations were especially marked in patients with essential hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Spa therapy exerts a stimulatory effect on erythropoiesis caused, among other factors, by increased erythropoietin secretion and iron mobilization. 2. This stimulatory effect is especially marked in patients with essential hypertension.

[Physical therapy in gastroenterology]. / Physiotherapie in der Gastroenterologie.

During the last 30 years physiotherapy increased in size and value, is integrated into nearly all subjects of medicine and has its justification and significance like pharmacotherapy. The use of physiotherapy in gastroenterological diseases has in most cases empirical character, though increasingly objectifiable modes of action are proved. Of the massage treatment predominantly the segmental massage, the massages of the connective tissue and the treatment of the colon are therapeutically effective in gastroenterology. Electrotherapeutically, ultrasound and infrared may be used. The field of therapy for short-wave and exciting current is narrowed in gastroenterological diseases. Good results of treatment are obtained with peloid packs, which, however, above all are yielded in the health-resort. In chronic gastroenterological diseases more attention should be paid to kinetotherapy and it should more frequently be used. It not anyway acts only on the locomotor system, but always on the general organism, especially on the vegetative functional system and should be prescribed particularly in rehabilitation after a long stay in sick-bed. In its variety the group therapy concerns the general organism physically and psychically and has above all a vegetative regulation effect.