JRRD Focuses On Issues Such As Spinal Cord Injury and Prosthetics

The current issue of the JRRD mainly analyses articles related to spinal cord injury, bone mineral density, women's sexuality, chronic pain and prosthetics research.

The current issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) mainly analyses articles related to spinal cord injury, bone mineral density, women's sexuality, chronic pain and prosthetics research.

Under the title that dealt with veterans who reported chronic pain associated with spinal cord injury the author of the study said that 76 % of participants (spinal cord injury) reported chronic pain. He inquired about their pain frequency, duration, intensity, exacerbating factors, and effects on daily activities. The majority of the chronic pain components occurred daily and lasted most of the day.

It was found that two-thirds of the chronic pain components interfered with daily activities. In case of chronic pain pattern among patients with spinal cord injury investigators found that specific pain patterns were stable. They conducted two surveys with a gap of 18 months to examine the stability of pain characteristics and pain-induced interference with sleep and daily activities.

It was found that the results were very contrasting. Hence further research is necessary to improve management of pain among these patients. A team of researchers from Israel suggested that video-capture virtual reality (VR) training has many benefits for patients with paraplegic spinal cord injury. They found that the VR system provided the user with natural movement control, the ability to use many parts of the body and the flexibility to adapt the system to meet specific therapeutic objectives.

In case of women who suffer from the disease they commonly have a decreased ability to achieve genital sexual arousal. A study was done to reveal that vibratory stimulation would increase genital arousal as compared with manual clitoral stimulation in both SCI and nondisabled women. But the difference was not statistically significant.

Accurate estimates of energy expenditure for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) are needed for increased physical activity. The bone mineral density (BMD) of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) increased slightly while taking Hectorol, a synthetic derivative of vitamin D. Vitamin D has been shown to increase BMD and reduce fractures in osteoporosis.

An analysis of how effective is the treatment in patients needing arm-hand reconstruction following SCI showed that surgery combined with functional electrical stimulation is necessary. But the team preferred tendon transfer. Gabapentin, a popular treatment for phantom and residual limb pain, was found ineffective in a recent double-blind trial.

This study identified and resolved problems in color analysis of silicone prostheses. Investigators analyzed various systems that automatically detect human skin color and assessed the possibility of introducing an automatic color detection system. They found that automatic color detection for prosthesis production is complex due to intrinsic factors of the silicone.

The systems tested require further development to meet the needs of prosthetic manufacturers. People with diabetes are at risk for developing foot ulcers due to poor circulation and nerve damage, putting them at risk for amputation. Data suggests a strong relationship between foot deformity and ulceration and between foot deformity and foot type.

A recent study showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) along with work services may help veterans with schizophrenia participate and succeed in existing vocational rehabilitation programs.

It was found that Veterans who received CBT worked more weeks and had better work performance than veterans who received standard support. It was concluded that individuals with severe upper-limb (UL) impairment after many years benefit from robotic rehabilitation.

Study volunteers had reduced UL impairment and improved movement control. In this study researchers outline a multimethod approach to prosthetic prescription for individuals with lower-limb amputations.

An initial study on tactile sensory characteristics of the lips showed that the lips required very low intensities for effective electrotactile stimulation. As the stimulator diameter increased in size, the average stimulation intensity decreased for both upper and lower lips. Results showed that both upper and lower lips possessed high spatial discriminating ability. This study would benefit all those people who have problems with their sensory abilities.