(Press-News.org) DETROIT — Wayne State University postdoctoral research fellows Patrick Monaghan, Ph.D., and Michael VanNostrand, Ph.D., along with Nora E. Fritz, Ph.D., PT, DPT, NCS, director of the Neuroimaging and Neurorehabilitation Lab and associate professor of physical therapy in the Department of Health Care Sciences in WSU’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, recently published a study on mobility assessments in the journal, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.
The study, “Backwards walking speed reserve in persons with multiple sclerosis,” focused on developing a new methodology — called the backward walking speed reserve — to measure the capacity of individuals to increase their walking speed on demand in the backward direction. This assessment may improve clinical screening for mobility impairments, fall risk and cognitive decline in individuals with multiple sclerosis.
“We found that the backward walking speed reserve is linked to disease severity,” said Monaghan. “Individuals more affected by multiple sclerosis had a reduced ability to modulate their backward walking speed. This measure also correlated with other common clinical mobility assessments. Additionally, a reduced ability to increase backward speed on demand was associated with lower cognitive functioning, including decreased information processing speed and attention, suggesting its potential use in screening for cognitive decline, which is also prevalent in multiple sclerosis.”
The team’s research is focused on better understanding mobility and cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis by examining the neural and cognitive underpinnings of mobility impairments. They hope to develop sensitive clinical measures, such as the backward walking speed reserve, to advance understanding and treatment.
“One of the unique and novel aspects of this paper was that it provided new insights in finding more sensitive outcomes and measures for screening function mobility in people with multiple sclerosis,” said Monaghan. “We came up with a new assessment during backwards walking, reflecting speed modulation. The hope is that this could be a sensitive metric to measure how people can handle their mobility options and detect those who are at risk of falls and mobility impairments. It’s being more proactive than reactive to these potential issues.”
“This project is a great example of the important work our postdoctoral scholars and faculty are doing together to initiate innovative ways to improve the lives of others,” said Ezemenari Obasi, Ph.D., vice president for research at Wayne State University. “This is not only cutting-edge research, but work that will have an impact on communities and community health in the future.”
“Investigating markers of fall risk and cognitive decline that can be easily implemented into clinical practice are key for detecting and preventing falls before they happen,” said Fritz. “I am extremely proud of the ongoing work of Dr.’s Monaghan and VanNostrand. They are truly poised to become the next generation of multiple sclerosis rehabilitation researchers.”
This study was supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society through a Mentor-Based Postdoctoral Fellowship in Rehabilitation Research award (MB-2017-38295). This work was also supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (R21HD106133) and a pilot grant from the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.
# # #
About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is one of the nation’s pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit research.wayne.edu.
Wayne State University’s research efforts are dedicated to a prosperity agenda that betters the lives of our students, supports our faculty in pushing the boundaries of knowledge and innovation further, and strengthens the bonds that interconnect Wayne State and our community. To learn more about Wayne State University’s prosperity agenda, visit president.wayne.edu/prosperity-agenda.
END
Backward walking speed reserve assessment offers improved clinical screening for risks and decline in MS patients
2024-06-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Clinical trial evaluates economic impact of changing how healthcare is delivered to older people in the emergency department
2024-06-25
The evaluation of the OPTI-MEND trial demonstrates that investing in an additional dedicated professional team to the already existing ED care increases patients’ quality of life and will save, on average per person, a staggering €6,128.
Crowding in emergency departments (EDs) is a growing problem in Ireland and internationally and, coupled with long waiting times, affects healthcare outcomes and patient satisfaction. A new study from researchers at Trinity College Dublin and University of Limerick examined the economic impact of adding a specific, appropriate, and dedicated team of professionals to the care already available ...
Uncovering the drivers of a million-year-old glacial transition
2024-06-25
The climate modeling community has been particularly vexed by the glacial/interglacial cycles of the past three million years, when the Northern Hemisphere oscillated between times with and without large ice sheets.
From about 1.25 million to 750,000 years ago—in the Pleistocene epoch—a change in glacial cycles called the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) occurred. During this time, glacial/interglacial cycles shifted from occurring every 41,000 years to every 100,000 years, with an increase in the amplitude and asymmetry of the cycles. Scientists are working to understand why these changes happened, considering that insolation forcing—variation ...
Surprising vortex behind new solar cell and lighting materials
2024-06-25
Metal-halide perovskites have quickly advanced in the last decade since their discovery as a semiconductor that outshines silicon in its conversion of light into electric current.
Simulations on TACC's Frontera and Lonestar6 supercomputers have revealed surprising vortex structures in quasiparticles of electrons and atoms, called polarons, which contribute to generating electricity from sunlight.
This new discovery can help scientists develop new solar cells and LED lighting. This type of lighting is hailed as eco-friendly, sustainable technology ...
Should you eat more dietary fiber? New study says it depends.
2024-06-25
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nutritionists generally advise everyone to eat more dietary fiber, but a new Cornell University study suggests that its effects on health can vary from person to person. The findings indicate that recommendations should be tailored to each individual’s gut microbiome.
The study, published in Gut Microbes, focused on resistant starch, a category of dietary fiber found in such foods as bread, cereals, green bananas, whole-grain pasta, brown rice and potatoes.
The researchers identified ...
Researchers evaluate the benefit of dual therapy for children at risk for spinal muscular atrophy
2024-06-25
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers compared the efficacy of preventative therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) between two well-matched study groups, using either gene therapy (onasemnogene abeparvovec) alone or in combination with risdiplam (oral medication) or nusinersen (intrathecal injection) administered before apparent signs of disease emerged. The study included presymptomatic infants with two or three copies of SMN2 at risk for developing SMA type 1 or 2, respectively. SMA is a devastating ...
Analysis suggests 2021 Texas abortion ban resulted in increase in infant deaths in state in year after law went into effect
2024-06-25
A study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers estimates that infant deaths in Texas increased more than expected in the year following the state’s 2021 ban on abortion in early pregnancy, especially among infants with congenital anomalies.
The Texas law prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected—as early as five or six weeks—went into effect September 1, 2021. At the time, the law—Senate Bill 8, or S.B. 8—was the most stringent state abortion law in the country. It did not allow exemptions for congenital ...
Large integrative medicine center implements processes to measure and understand clinical effectiveness
2024-06-25
CLEVELAND - Led by a team of researchers at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health, a new study finds that collecting paper-based patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures of pain, anxiety, and stress is feasible – and that provider, operational, and clinical-level factors impact successful completion more so than patient factors.
Patients often seek integrative health and medicine (IHM) modalities such as acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage in the outpatient setting, most commonly for concerns of pain, anxiety, and stress. In contrast to ...
Empathetic children may have poorer health in the face of interparental conflict
2024-06-25
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Children who report being more empathetic are more likely to show signs of poorer health in the face of more interparental conflict than less empathetic children, according to a new study led by researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.
The study, led by Hannah Schreier, associate professor of biobehavioral health and co-funded faculty member in the Social Science Research Institute, was recently published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
“For children this age, 7 to 9 years old, the family home and parents are important, so observing conflict ...
Marsquakes may help reveal whether liquid water exists underground on red planet
2024-06-25
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — If liquid water exists today on Mars, it may be too deep underground to detect with traditional methods used on Earth. But listening to earthquakes that occur on Mars — or marsquakes — could offer a new tool in the search, according to a team led by Penn State scientists.
When quakes rumble and move through aquifers deep underground, they produce electromagnetic signals. The researchers reported in the journal JGR Planets how those signals, if also produced on Mars, could identify water miles under the surface. The study may lay the groundwork for future analyses of data from Mars missions, according to ...
Unexpected diversity of light-sensing proteins goes beyond vision in frogs
2024-06-25
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Frogs have maintained a surprising diversity of light-sensing proteins over evolutionary time, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher. Light-sensing proteins, called opsins, enable vision in sighted animals, and are responsible for many more biological functions like regulating circadian rhythms. The researchers explored the evolution of nonvisual opsins in frogs, finding that most modern species examined in this study retained a shocking number of these proteins.
The findings were published in the June issue of the journal Molecular ...