ScienceDaily (June 1, 2012) — Exercise helps to alleviate pain related to nerve damage (neuropathic pain) by reducing levels of certain inflammation-promoting factors, suggests an experimental study in the June issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

The results support exercise as a potentially useful nondrug treatment for neuropathic pain, and suggest that it may work by reducing inflammation-promoting substances called cytokines. The lead author was Yu-Wen Chen, PhD, of China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Exercise Reduces Nerve Pain and Cytokine Expression in Rats Neuropathic pain is a common and difficult-to-treat type of pain caused by nerve damage, seen in patients with trauma, diabetes, and other conditions. Phantom limb pain after amputation is an example of neuropathic pain.

Dr Chen and colleagues examined the effects of exercise on neuropathic pain induced by sciatic nerve injury in rats. After nerve injury, some animals performed progressive exercise — either swimming or treadmill running — over a few weeks. The researchers assessed the effects of exercise on neuropathic pain severity by monitoring observable pain behaviors.

The results suggested significant reductions in neuropathic pain in rats assigned to swimming or treadmill running. Exercise reduced abnormal responses to temperature and pressure — both characteristic of neuropathic pain.

Exercise also led to reduced expression of inflammation-promoting cytokines in sciatic nerve tissue — specifically, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1-beta. That was consistent with previous studies suggesting that inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokines play a role in the development of neuropathic pain in response to nerve injury.

Exercise also led to increased expression of a protein, called heat shock protein-27, which may have contributed to the reductions in cytokine expression.

Neuropathic pain causes burning pain and numbness that is not controlled by conventional pain medications. Antidepressant and antiepileptic drugs may be helpful, but have significant side effects. Exercise is commonly recommended for patients with various types of chronic pain, but there are conflicting data as to whether it is helpful in neuropathic pain.

The new results support the benefits of exercise in reducing neuropathic pain, though not eliminating it completely. In the experiments, exercise reduced abnormal pain responses by 30 to 50 percent.

The study also adds new evidence that inflammation contributes to the development of neuropathic pain, including the possible roles of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The results provide support for exercise as a helpful, nondrug therapy for neuropathic pain — potentially reducing the need for medications and resulting side effects.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine
May 6, 2012

How to Recover from Muscle Soreness Caused by Intense Exercise

Muscle soreness should be part of every exercise
program.  If you don’t exercise intensely enough on one day to
have sore muscles on the next, you will not gain maximum fitness
and you are also losing out on many of the health benefits of
exercise. The benefits of exercise are much greater with
intense exercise than with casual exercising.
You must damage your muscles to make them grow and
become stronger.  When muscles heal, they are stronger than they
were before you damaged them. All athletes train by “stressing
and recovering”. On one day, they take a hard workout in which
they feel their muscles burning.  Eight to 24 hours after they
finish this intense exercise, their muscles start to feel sore.
This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).  Then they
take easy workouts until the soreness is gone, which means that
their muscles have healed.
DOMS IS CAUSED BY MUSCLE DAMAGE.  Muscles are made up of fibers.  The fibers are made up of a series of protein blocks
called sarcomeres that are lined in a long chain. When you
stretch a muscle, you stretch apart the sarcomeres in the chain.
When sarcomeres are stretched too far, they tear.  Your body
treats these tears in the same way that it treats all injuries,
by a process called inflammation.  Eight to 24 hours after an
intense workout, you suffer swelling, stiffness and pain.
The most beneficial  intense exercise program  is:
* severe enough to cause muscle pain on the next day, and
* usually allows you to recover almost completely within 48 hours.
ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE, RECOVERY:  When athletes feel soreness in their muscles, they rarely take days off.  Neither should you.
Keeping sore muscles moving makes them more fibrous and tougher
when they heal, so you can withstand greater forces and more
intense workouts on your hard days.  Plan to go at low intensity
for as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away. Most
athletes try to work out just  hard enough so that they recover
and are ready for their next hard workout in 48 hours.
TIMING MEALS TO RECOVER FASTER:  You do not need to load
extra food to recover faster.  Taking in too much food fills
your muscle cells with fat, and extra fat in cells blocks the cell’s
ability to take in and use sugar.  Sugar is the main source of
energy for your muscles during intense exercise. Using sugar to
drive your muscles helps them to move faster and with more strength.
Timing of meals is more important than how much food you
eat.  Eating protein- and carbohydrate-containing foods helps you
recover faster, and the best time to start eating is as soon as
you finish a hard workout.
At rest, muscles are inactive.   Almost no sugar enters
the resting muscle cell from the bloodstream (J. Clin. Invest. 1971;
50: 2715-2725).  Almost all cells in your body usually require
insulin to drive sugar into their cells. However during exercise
your muscles (and your brain) can take sugar into their cells
without needing insulin.  Exercising muscles are also incredibly
sensitive to insulin and take up sugar into their cells at a
rapid rate.  This effect lasts maximally for up to an hour after
you finish exercising and disappears almost completely in around
17 hours.  The best time to eat for recovery is when your cells
are maximally responsive to insulin, and that is within a short
time after you finish exercising.
Not only does insulin drive sugar into muscle cells, it
also drives in protein building blocks, called amino acids.  The
sugar replaces the fuel for muscle cells. The protein hastens
repair of damaged muscle.  Waiting to eat for more than an hour
after finishing an intense workout delays recovery.
WHAT TO EAT AFTER YOUR INTENSE WORKOUTS: Fatigue is caused by low levels of sugar, protein, water and salt.  You can replace
all of these with ordinary foods and drinks.   If you are a
vegetarian, you can replace your protein with combinations of
grains and beans.  You can replace carbohydrates by eating
virtually any fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and
nuts. A recovery meal for a vegetarian could include corn,
beans, water, bread, and fruits, nuts and vegetables.  If you
prefer animal tissue, you can get your protein from fish, poultry
or meat.   Special sports drinks and sports supplements are made
from ordinary foods and therefore offer no advantage whatever over
regular foods.
BODY MASSAGE:  Many older studies have shown that massage
does not help you recover faster from DOMS.  Recently,
researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario showed
that deep massage after an intense workout causes muscles to
enlarge and grow new mitochondria (Science Translational
Medicine, published online Feb, 2012). This is amazing. Enlarging
and adding mitochondria can help you run faster, lift heavier
weights, and even prevent heart attacks and certain cancers. See
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine021212.html (second article)
 NSAIDS DELAY DOMS RECOVERY:  Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as ibuprofen, may help relieve pain, but they also can block muscle repair and delay healing.  See
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine090609.html
 HOT BATHS:  Most research shows that a hot bath is
not much better than doing nothing in helping muscles recover
from exercise (European Journal of Applied Physiology, March 2006)
COLD OR ICE BATHS:  A recent review of 17 small trials,
involving 366 participants, showed a minor decrease in DOMS with
ice water baths.  They found “little quality research” on the
subject and “no consistent method of cold water immersion”
(Cochrane Library, published online February 15, 2012).  Cold
water immersion can reduce swelling associated with injury,
but has not been proven to speed the healing of DOMS.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine
May 13, 2012

You Do Not Need Protein during Endurance Exercise

A study from California State University, Fullerton
shows that taking protein during exercise does not help you race
faster (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research/National
Strength & Conditioning Association, May 2012; 26(5):1361-5).
A study from Denmark shows that taking protein during endurance
exercise does not increase muscle growth (Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise, September 2011; 43(9):1635-42).  On the
other hand, taking protein after you finish exercising helps you
recover faster so you can exercise again sooner.
MUSCLE TIREDNESS AND FATIGUE:  Muscle tiredness and
weakness during and after prolonged exercise are caused by lack
of water, sugar, salt and calories.  Your body stores very little
sugar and an almost infinite amount of fat and protein.  These
studies confirm many other studies which show that you don’t need
to take protein during exercise to improve performance or to
hasten recovery.  You will recover faster by taking sugar and
protein within an hour after finishing your exhausting exercise.
Here’s the recommended formula for taking food and drink
during exercise:
* LASTING LESS THAN AN HOUR — fit athletes do not need to take
any food or drink, except they may need water on the hottest
days.
* LASTING MORE THAN AN HOUR AND A HALF — Take sugared drinks
frequently.
* LASTING MORE THAN THREE HOURS — Take sugared drinks
frequently, and eat the food of your choice (fruit or sugar-
added foods such as whole grain bars, etc.), plus a source
of salt. We use potato chips or peanuts.  You cannot get
enough salt in a drink because it would taste awful.

Kacey has neurological problems in her hind end. I have been performing laser therapy on her and working on finding exercises that will benefit her quality of life. The owner and I discovered during one visit that she would walk one direction across a particular section of bar top to get to some place her kitty brain holds special…so special that she will repeat this action many times.

I placed 5-6 remotes across the bar top, and Kacey is to make 5-6 passes over all of them, every other day, doing it all at one time.

She has improved much around the home, and we made some other exercises work for her too.

She is working on losing some of her “extra”.

Click on the link above to view the video.

Blessings-

http://rehabilitationandconditioningforanimals.wordpress.com/2011/08/28/sullys-story-granuloma-spinal-infection-probable-paralysis-ulcer-pneumonia/

Excerpts from the first report a week after my first visit with MXXX:

“MXXX is doing well on her new food, increased fish oil and joint supplements, and her new exercise regime. She’s doing really well with the 3-4 shorter walks per day. She has also done well with the hills. I have not been as good with the cavalettis. We went to the park and walked over some railroad ties. These were a bit too tall for her. She got over about 5 of them before she got tired and started hanging up on them. We rolled up blankets and walked over them in the house one day, and that seemed just fine. All and all she seems more energetic to me which I really like seeing. She is still pooping only once a day, but the quality of her poop seems better.”

“The massager is kind of a mixed bag.  Sometimes she seems to tolerate it really well and enjoy it.  Sometimes it seems to really annoy her.  It’s not clear to me what the clues are yet for when she’s going to accept it vs. when it’s going to annoy her.  Also she tends to lay on one side and not the other so her right side has gotten more massage time than her left.  But we’re working on it.”

and my reply:

That’s a great feedback report.
Yay!
The blankets seem like a good idea until she gets more used to the project. Then maybe some tree branches before railroad ties The railroad ties may always be too big for her…I had one client use a row of several of those folding chairs one takes to sporting events. She had a Golden and they were able to do cavaletti work in the carpeted garage. Some people buy things to use from the home fix-it warehouse when I instruct them on what to buy and if we can’t find free stuff that is suitable around the house to use. You don’t usually need to go to a lot of trouble.
Good job keeping up trying the massager. My preference, if you were to get any of it done, would be along the spine to increase circulation where she is probably guarding the most.
I am letting Dr. D know how things are going, too.
Sounds great!
Blessings-

…and from additional comments I placed on Facebook:

She had already done quite a bit of water treadmill walking, but it just wasn’t dynamic enough to improve her neuro-muscular status, at least, not to the degree it could be or necessary for better function at this point. In this case, solid program design of land-based drills and exercises that are easy to do in the home environment have made rapid improvements!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=16806710

Link to more laser research:

http://blog.thorlaser.com/?awt_l=KeMxg&awt_m=3VRYlDalxwOgljW&newsletter

That being said, here is the Q & A, mostly for the purpose of getting you thinking about this situation for yourselves…

Hi Deborah,
How are you? I’m wondering if you know of any options for longer term care/fostering of dogs? Versus boarding. My mom has Parkinson’s and fell and dislocated and broke her shoulder. We expect she is going to be in some sort of rehab care facility for the next 3-6 weeks. We will ask our vet too but thought you might have some insight. Thanks!

(Now, I will add that I am also 4.5 yrs out from a breast cancer diagnosis, and I am very active in the local cancer community as well. This note comes from a cancer sister who has moved out of the area and is really seeking help. Many of the people who contact me have not given this type of situation much thought, however many others have a multiplicity of issues, dynamic lives, and the answers may not be as cut and dry as one might assume…)

My answer:

I don’t think I have any really “great” ideas, however here I usually tell people to contact a rescue group associated with the breed they are trying to get cared for, if there is a specific breed. Otherwise, there are a couple of good rescues that may have a better answer, like XXX, XXX, & XXX.
It’s a good question, and I think that over time, somehow, it’s an issue that needs to be better addressed…maybe…I actually get a mail about this at least once per month, it seems. Someone will be sick or will have died and the animal needs care…I guess that once an animal has a home, it is assumed that the owner has friends or family to take care of the pet. I know that people would have fought over taking care of Grace. Perhaps the bigger issue is that people need to be made aware that they probably need to find “godparents” for their pets, much like we would do with children should we die.
yup.
That seems to be the best answer…otherwise, letting them go is like giving a kid to CPS (no offense to the gals I know working in the system ) (and that is essentially where my answer ended)

Most people probably wouldn’t want their child to be a true orphan, and I just don’t think we have been challenged to think much the same about our pets.  Most of the rescues and shelters are chock full…unwanted pets, pets from homes of people under duress, lack of spay & neuter (back to unwanted litters), etc, etc…Boarding costs money, and if the owner can afford it, boarding at a play-care facility might be a good option, if the owner is expected to be able to return to the care of their pet.

But, that part of the equation is often an unknown.

Hospice care is up and coming, and relative to that would be orphan or interim pet care…but this needs donations from a tapped community and/or owner-pay to sustain the care. A will would/could take care of the sustained care, however the majority of people I hear from are speaking about interim care of indeterminate time value. Ideally, shelters and rescues in a community that experienced almost no unwanted pet births and had a high rate of owner compliance with spay and neuter could then be more free to care for the animals that are surrendered for reasons pertaining to housing issues or owner health or other unexpected life complications.

Just some thoughts…

Forty competitive athletes, aged 40-81, who trained four
to five times a week, had the same size muscles, the same absence
of fat around their muscles, and close to the same strength as much
younger athletes (The Physician and Sportsmedicine, September 2011).
Many of the diseases and debilitating conditions associated
with aging are caused by lack of exercise. “Exercise decreases
body fat and obesity, increases muscle strength, improves
balance, gait, and mobility, decreases likelihood of falling,
improves psychological health, reduces arthritis pain, and heart
attacks, osteoporosis, cancer, and diabetes.”
After age 40, the average person loses more than eight
percent of muscle size per decade. This loss increases to 15
percent per decade after age 75 years. Older people who lose
muscles are four times more likely be disabled, have difficulty
walking, and need walkers and other mechanical devices to help
them walk (Am J Epidemiol, 1998; 147(8):755-763).

This post was taken from Dr. Mirkin’s eZine on health and fitness.The primary benefit my practice brings to animals, human or otherwise, is the knowledge of how to exact the right types of movement to improve health. In short. The primary attribute that YOU bring is follow-through, compliance. Thank you.