In stroke patients, excessive oxidative stress impairs brain nerve cells and leads to arteriosclerosis. On the other hand, rehabilitative exercise is necessary for the functional improvement and maintenance after stroke, and exercises themselves increase reactive oxygen species production simultaneously. Therefore, it is essential to elucidate how exercises influence oxidative stress in stroke patients. We assessed the effects of exercises on 29 Japanese subacute-phase stroke patients (exercise group, 20; control group, 9), in terms of oxidative stress by examining changes in reactive oxygen metabolite (ROM) level (i.e., oxidative stress) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) level (i.e., antioxidant capacity) in blood plasma. The exercise group performed two sets of 1-hour exercises 6 days/week for 56 days. The control group performed the same 1-hour exercises, but only on days 1 and 56. ROM and BAP levels in blood plasma in both groups were measured immediately before and after the exercises and at rest on days 1 and 56. ROM level significantly decreased and BAP level significantly increased at rest from days 1 to 56 in the exercise group. However, no significant change was observed in these levels in the control group. Conclusion: Regular rehabilitative exercise can improve antioxidant capacity and attenuate oxidative stress even in stroke patients.
Oxidative Stress ; Stroke ; Arteriosclerosis

Physical fitness of 900 volunteers over 60 years of age were analyzed using a 6-item battery test to obtain fundamental data on the fitness status of the aged Japanese. The test battery consisted of stepping, vertical jump, grip strength, breath holding, body flexion and one-leg balancing, and could be performed safely with relatively mild physical stress in the elderly after simple screening by measurement of resting blood pressure and oral check on mobility problems of the knee and the hip. Males showed significantly higher values in vertical jump, grip strength and breath holding, while females showed significantly higher values in body flexion. There were no sex differences in stepping and one-leg balancing. Lowing trend was found in the score with age in all items except breath holding, but the extent of the reduction differed among the measure elements of fitness. Most of measured items showed significant correlations each other. The values obtained with this test are considered to be useful for future analysis of the fitness of aged people and also to determine the exercise appropriate for them.

[Objective]The present study investigated the relationship between subjective symptoms of katakori (shoulder stiffness) and shoulder hardness which was examined both with clinical palpation and a mechanical device, as well as the correlation between these two measurements.
[Methods]Subjects were enrolled to the study if they had a stiff shoulder on the day of the visit (katakori group, n = 60) or if they had no experience of katakori in their lifetime (non-katakori group, n = 10). The intensity of the katakori was evaluated with a visual analogue scale (VAS). Shoulder hardness was evaluated at acupoint Jianjing (GB21) and at the point where the subject felt the most intensive symptom by both palpation of experienced acupuncturists who were unaware of the allocation and a hardness meter. The method of acupuncture treatment was decided by acupuncturists who were not an evaluator of the hardness.
[Results and Discussion]There was no significant relationship in the hardness measured with the device and palpation between the katakori group and non-katakori group. Also, the intensity of katakori (VAS) and the changes after treatment showed no significant correlation with the hardness and its changes. These results support the validity of our clinical experience that patients who complain of severe shoulder stiffness do not always have a hard shoulder.