College of Medicine

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the use and documentation of herbal remedies used by Hispanic women with Type II diabetes enrolled in two Community Health Centers in the Southwest USA. A secondary purpose was to review the literature on identified herbs to assess their likely effects on diabetes. Open-ended structured interviews were conducted on a convenience sample (n = 23) of participants. Medical and medication charts were reviewed for the interviewed participants, and for a random sample of enrolled Hispanic diabetic patients (n = 81) who were not interviewed. Two Community Health Centers in the Southwest USA. Enrolled patient, Hispanic females with Type II diabetes. Subjects were interviewed about their use of herbal therapies and supplements. Information collected from medical and pharmaceutical charts included documented use of herbal remedies; standard therapies prescribed and diabetes control (hemoglobin A1C values). For those herbal remedies reported, literature reviews were conducted to determine if there was supporting evidence of harm or efficacy for the stated condition. Reports of herbal use, and types of remedies used. Among the interviewed participants, 21 of 23 (91%) reported using one or more herbal remedies. Among a random sample of patient medical charts, seven (6.7%) contained documentation of diabetes-specific herbs, and 16 (15.4%) had documented general herb use. A total of 77 different herbal remedies were identified, most of which were contained as part of commercial preparations, and appeared to supplement, rather than replace standard medical therapy for diabetes. Use of herbal therapies is not uncommon among diabetic patients. Many of the herbs reported have potential efficacy in treating diabetes or may result in adverse effects or interactions. In practical use, however, the herbs reported in this study are unlikely to have a significant effect on clinical outcomes in diabetes, either positively or negatively.

... The sensor uses the magnetoresistive effect, which corresponds to a change of resistance under a magnetic induction.18 Magnetor-esistors, which detect the earth's magnetic field, are used to measure rotations with respect to the earth's magnetic field. Kemp et al. ...

... I can be performed through an efficient, computationally fast algorithm that require only order N operations, called the fast DWl' [8). b. The thresholding rule T: The classical rules for applying the threshold to wavelet coefficients are 'keep or-kill' hard ...

Footwear is supposed to have influence on postural control and is a potential aspect to address in the prevention of falls in the elderly. This study aimed to show whether measurements of static balance and gait are different with habitual shoes compared to new special senior shoes with different heel height and whether these results change after adaptation.    In a randomized controlled intervention study, 26 subjects (median age 87 years) were recruited from two nursing homes and one facility of assisted living. Measurements of static balance and gait were performed with habitual shoes and two types of new special senior shoes differing in heel height. Measurements were repeated after five weeks.    There was no difference in static balance and gait with habitual shoes compared to either of the new footwear offered. Results of performance with higher heels were not different compared to lower heels. No further effect of adaptation after wearing a new shoe over five weeks could be demonstrated.    With respect to static and dynamic balance, there seems to be a wide range of acceptable footwear as long as the heel height is below a critical value. A standardized shoe can be used in the assessment of balance because the effect of adaptation can be neglected. Mehrere Untersuchungen haben den Einfluss von unterschiedlichem Schuhwerk auf die Balance und das Gangbild gezeigt. Dies zeigt die Bedeutung der Schuhversorgung im Kontext der Sturzprävention bei älteren Menschen. Daher sollte untersucht werden, ob das Tragen eines speziellen Seniorenschuhs Auswirkungen auf die Standbalance und das Gangbild hat. Weiterhin sollte die Gewöhnung an einen neuen Schuh beschrieben werden.    In einer randomisierten und kontrollierten Untersuchung wurden bei 26 ältere Bewohnerinnen aus zwei Pflegeheimen und einer Einrichtung des betreuten Wohnens (mittleres Alter 87 Jahre) die Balance im Stand und das Gangbild untersucht. Die Messungen wurden mit dem habituellen Schuh und zwei speziellen Seniorenschuhen, die nur in der Absatzhöhe differierten durchgeführt und nach fünf Wochen wiederholt.    Bezüglich der unterschiedlichen Schuhtypen konnten keine Unterschiede in der Standbalance und dem Gangbild gezeigt werden. Auch änderten sich die erhobenen Parameter nicht nach fünf Wochen Gewöhnung an einen neuen Schuh.    Die Untersuchung legt die Vermutung nahe, dass Schuhe sich nicht negativ auf die Standbalance und das Gangbild auswirken, soweit sie einen festen Fersenhalt haben und die Absatzhöhe nicht zu hoch ist. Weiterhin kann gefolgert werden, dass sich die Benutzung eines „Standardschuhs” bei diesen Untersuchungen nicht auf die Ergebnisse auswirkt.

In this study we describe an ambulatory system for estimation of spatio-temporal parameters during long periods of walking. This original method based on wavelet analysis is proposed to compute the values of temporal gait parameters from the angular velocity of lower limbs. Based on a mechanical model, the medio-lateral rotation of the lower limbs during stance and swing, the stride length and velocity are estimated by integration of the angular velocity. Measurement's accuracy was assessed using as a criterion standard the information provided by foot pressure sensors. To assess the accuracy of the method on a broad range of performance for each gait parameter, we gathered data from young and elderly subjects. No significant error was observed for toe-off detection, while a slight systematic delay (10 ms on average) existed between heelstrike obtained from gyroscopes and footswitch. There was no significant difference between actual spatial parameters (stride length and velocity) and their estimated values. Errors for velocity and stride length estimations were 0.06 m/s and 0.07 m, respectively. This system is light, portable, inexpensive and does not provoke any discomfort to subjects. It can be carried for long periods of time, thus providing new longitudinal information such as stride-to-stride variability of gait. Several clinical applications can be proposed such as outcome evaluation after total knee or hip replacement, external prosthesis adjustment for amputees, monitoring of rehabilitation progress, gait analysis in neurological diseases, and fall risk estimation in elderly.

A new method of physical activity monitoring is presented, which is able to detect body postures (sitting, standing and lying) and walking period in the elderly from only one kinematic sensor attached to the chest. Wavelet analysis in conjunction with a simple kinematics model was used to recognize different postural transitions and walking periods during daily physical activity. The method was tested on 11 elderly subjects (all community walkers) in a gait laboratory where an optical motion system (Vicon) was used as reference. A close correspondence was found between the two systems. The efficiency of the system for ambulatory monitoring outside of the laboratory was tested on 3 old subjects. High sensitivity (>90%) was obtained for the classification of usual physical activities