Justina Barzdaitė, Rasa Bacevičienė
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – it is a neurodegenerativedisease, which manifests into progressive muscular paralysis(13). The disease is more common among men than women (14).The symptoms usually first appear at the age of 58-63, while onlyapproximately 5% of the patients experience symptoms untilthe age of 30 (13). The amount of muscle groups that no longerperform their function keeps increasing as the disease progresses(10), therefore physical exercises are important in slowing muscleatrophy, while preserving mobility (5).Aim: to measure the voluntary and involuntary forces and theanthropometric index changes by applying physical therapy topeople suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Methods. In the research a 51-year old woman suffering fromamyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was diagnosed at the age of23, was the test subject. The patient participated in the researchvoluntarily. Before the research began, the process and protocolswere explained to the woman and her written consent was obtained.During the experiment, physical therapy was given to thepatient for 5 months in a gym. Physical exercises of 45 minutes,were performed 4 times per week. After 5 months, an examinationof the woman was carried out and physical therapy in a pool wasstarted. Physical exercises in water were performed once per weekand each session lasted 45 minutes. This continued for 2 months.The total number of sessions (combined) was 88.Conclusion: The body mass index and the amount of body fatwhile applying physical therapy in the water, decreased at a fasterrate than in a gymnasium. Physical therapy in a gymnasium andin a pool increased the force of the 1Hz contraction, however, the20Hz and 100Hz isometric force in the gym and the pool decreased.Applying physical therapy in the water, maximum voluntary forceincreased more than during physical therapy in a gymnasium andthe maximum voluntary force central activation coefficient alsoincreased during therapy in the water. Maximum voluntary forceexhaustion index after physical therapy in a gymnasium decreasedmore than during physical therapy in the water.
Keyword(s): amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, involuntary force and voluntary force, anthropometric index, physical therapy
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2014.131
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