Is resistance training beneficial for people with hip or knee osteoarthritis?

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Does exercise training improve strength in knee osteoarthritis in the short, medium and long term and what about function? This systematic review gives us an insight.

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Exercise for depression in adults with rheumatic diseases

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In her first blog for the Musculoskeletal Elf, Pamela Andrews a sports therapist and a PhD candidate at Glasgow Caledonian University discusses a recent systematic reiew of meta-analyses evaluating the effectiveness of exercise for depression in adults with arthritis, fibromyalgia and other rheumatic diseases.

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Woodland walks and your ‘Elf

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Kirsten Lawson dons her walking boots and reports on the national Walks for Health (WfH) programme, which has been investigated in an observational study looking at the mental, emotional and social well-being of people who participate in woodland walks.

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Lifestyle changes for cognition and dementia: better than a new drug?

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Should all molecular research institutes looking at neurodegenerative diseases be replaced by parks, playgrounds and cycle paths? Mark Horowitz highlights a recent systematic review of modifiable risk factors associated with cognition and dementia, which suggests that from a public health perspective, there may be some sense in this idea.

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Does depression make us lethargic, or does lack of exercise make us depressed?

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Helge Hasselmann highlights a new cohort study in JAMA Psychiatry, which finds a bidirectional relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms; strengthening the case for exercise as a recommended intervention for people with mild depression.

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Exercise for the prevention and treatment of antenatal depression

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Meg Fluharty summarises a recent systematic review looking at exercise for antenatal depression. The review finds preliminary evidence to suggest that exercise may be effective in reducing depression during pregnancy, but the quality of included trials is low to moderate.

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Physiotherapy led falls pathway service for adults with learning disabilities showed reduced falls in evaluation

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Recent NICE guidance suggested that 30% of people over 65 and 50% of people over older than 80 fall at least once a year and there is evidence that in people with learning disabilities there is some increased risk and this impacts on people of younger age. Finlayson, in a prospective cohort study suggested that [read the full story…]

Cognitive and exercise interventions for older adults with and without cognitive impairment

Jake Crawshaw reports on a recent systematic review of cognitive and exercise interventions for older people with and without cognitive impairment.

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