The effects of progressive resistance training for children with cerebral palsy

Objectives: To investigate the effects of progressive resistance training of quadriceps and hamstrings muscles in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: Pilot study using a repeated measures design with measurements at baseline, immediately after six weeks training then at four-week follow-up.

Setting: The project was undertaken within the physiotherapy department of two special schools in Glasgow.

Subjects: A convenience sample of eight children aged between six and 12 years, with hypertonic CP.

Intervention: The subjects participated three times per week in a six-week, progressive, free-weight, strengthening programme.

Outcome measures: Maximum isometric muscle strength and resistance to passive stretch were measured with a hand-held myometer. The Gross Motor Function Measure and a 10-metre timed walking test, were used to assess function and gait parameters respectively.

Results: Muscle strength increased, with the quadriceps to hamstrings strength ratio moving towards normal. These changes were retained at follow-up. Muscle tone decreased and continued to decrease to follow-up. The standing (D) and walking, running and jumping (E) goal areas of the Gross Motor Function Measure showed improvement that continued towards follow-up. Walking speed and step rate increased.

Conclusions: A future large-scale randomized controlled study would be of value to substantiate these results as the small convenience sample and lack of control group limit this study. However, the finding that no adverse effect accompanied the positive outcomes in strength and function may encourage clinicians to consider resistance training alongside standard therapeutic interventions.

Food sources of added sweeteners in the diets of Americans

OBJECTIVE

To identify food sources of added sweeteners in the US diet.

DESIGN

A descriptive study using data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. Each subject provided one 24-hour dietary recall. Intake of added sweeteners was calculated using the USDA Food Guide Pyramid servings database.

SUBJECTS/SETTING

A national sample of noninstitutionalized persons aged 2 years and older (N = 15,010).

STATISTICAL ANALYSES

Mean intakes of added sweeteners from all food sources and from specific food categories; percentage contribution of added sweeteners to total energy intake; and percentage contribution of each food category to total intake of added sweeteners. All analyses were conducted for the total sample and for 12 age-gender groups.

RESULTS

During 1994 to 1996, Americans aged 2 years and older consumed the equivalent of 82 g carbohydrate per day from added sweeteners, which accounted for 16% of total energy intake. In absolute terms, adolescent males consumed the most; as a percentage of energy, male and female adolescents had the highest intakes (averaging 20% of total energy from added sweeteners). The largest source of added sweeteners was regular soft drinks, which accounted for one third of intake. Other sources were table sugars, syrups, and sweets; sweetened grains; regular fruitades/drinks; and milk products.

APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS

Intakes of added sweeteners exceed levels compatible with meeting current dietary recommendations. Knowing food sources of added sweeteners for the overall population and for specific age-gender groups can help dietitians provide appropriate nutrition education.

Widespread tannin intake via stimulants and masticatories, especially guarana, kola nut, betel vine, and accessories

Tannins are increasingly recognized as dietary carcinogens and as antinutrients interfering with the system's full use of protein. Nevertheless, certain tannin-rich beverages, masticatories, and folk remedies, long utilized in African, Asiatic, Pacific, and Latin American countries, are now appearing in North American sundry shops and grocery stores. These include guarana (Paullinia cupana HBK.) from Brazil, kola nut (Cola nitida Schott & Endl. and C. acuminata Schott & Endl.) from West Africa, and betel nut (Areca catechu L.) from Malaya. The betel nut, or arecanut, has long been associated with oral and esophageal cancer because of its tannin content and the tannin contributed by the highly astringent cutch from Acacia catechu L. and Uncaria gambir Roxb. and the aromatic, astringent 'pan' (leaves of Piper betel L.) chewed with it. In addition to the constant recreational/social ingestion of these plant materials, they are much consumed as aphrodisiacs and medications. Guarana and kola nut enjoy great popularity in their native lands because they are also rich in caffeine, which serves as a stimulant. Research and popular education on the deleterious effects of excessive tannin intake could do much to reduce the heavy burden of early mortality and health care, especially in developing countries.

Mucilaginous plants and their uses in medicine

Throughout the world but especially in the tropical and subtropical zones, there are succulent and non-succulent plants which harbor readily releasable mucilage in their tissues, on the surface of their seeds or in their bark. This mucilage may have diverse practical uses. Among these, it functions as a healing agent, casually or in the practice of traditional-folk or conventional medicine. The mucilage of some of these plants is well known to science and has been studied by pharmacologists and found to possess biologically active principles. However, they all have in common a beneficial effect on burns, wounds, ulcers, external and internal inflammations and irritations, diarrhea and dysentery. This paper presents examples of such plants belonging to 19 botanical families, with a view to calling attention to the similar uses of easily extracted plant mucilages and, particularly, their ability to provide protection from fire, a feature which has already been demonstrated in Australia.

Biological and phytochemical investigation of plants XVI: Strumpfia maritima (Rubiaceae)

An aqueous extract of the flowering tops of Strumpfia maritima exhibited antifertility activity in female rats. The extract also contained the flavonol glycoside narcissin. This article represents the first reported isolation of this flavonoid from the Rubiaceae, as well as the first reported phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of the genus Strumpfia.

Carcinogenicity of some folk medicinal herbs in rats

Twelve medicinal herbs were bioassayed to correlate a high incidence of esophageal carcinoma in natives of different places with their habitual consumption of these products. Outbred NIH Black rats were given 72 weekly sc injections of the total aqueous extracts of the plant materials. The tanninrich plant extracts from Areca catechu and Rhus copallina produced local tumors in 100 and 33%, respectively, of the experimental animals. Other materials included Diospyros virginiana and extracts from plants not rich in tannins. Diospyros and extracts of Sassafras albidum and Chenopodium ambrosiodes were tumorigenic in over 50% of the treated animals.

Hypercalcemia and calcinosis in Florida horses: implication of the shrub, Cestrum diurnum, as the causative agent

A chronic debilitating disease is described in Florida horses. There is progress weight loss and lameness of increasing severity. Plasma calcium is elevated to moderate or severe degree. Anatomical changes include dystrophic calcinosis of elastic tissues, viz. major arteries, tendons and ligaments. A generalized osteopetrosis is present and may be related to hypoparathyroidsim and hypercalcitoninism. The presence of Cestrum diurnum (day-blooming jessamine, day cestrum, wild jasmin) in areas accessible to affected animals, the observation that leaves of the plant were stripped in these areas, and the finding of a potent, active vitamin D-like substance in this plant constitute strong evidence that Cestrum diurnum is the agent causing the abnormalities of mineral metabolism.

Medicinal plants--old and new

The historic role of plants in healing declined early in the twentieth century with the ascendency of synthetic drugs, even though a number of basic medical tools, such as opium, strychnine, and cocaine, are of botanical origin. In recent years, interest in natural products has been restored dramatically by the discovery of penicillin, plant-derived tranquilizers, and plant precursors of cortisone. Contrary to previous beliefs, botanical drugs are proving more economical than synthetics and hold forth encouraging prospects of inhibiting or destroying tumors without undue damage to healthy tissue. Extensive plant screening programs are being conducted by governmental agencies and pharmaceutical houses. Folk remedies, still common in many tropical areas, are being evaluated. As a result of such research by Canadian and American scientists, alkaloids extracted from the Madagascar periwinkle (Vinca rosea) are being effectively employed to achieve regression in childhood leukemia. Potentially more rewarding are investigations of compounds obtained from the Australian tree, Acronychia baueri and a Chinese species, Camptotheca acuminata. Universities are reestablishing medicinal plant gardens and placing more emphasis on pharmacognosy. Experimental work with narcotic plants in psychiatric treatment has given rise to popular fascination with and abuse of certain natural hallucinogens. Among scientists engaged in chemical studies, there is an active demand for information about plants, their properties and therapeutic uses. Even the general public is being made aware that plant drugs are not obsolete but offer new hope for conquering disease.