Every year, around the world, between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI). Those with an SCI are two to five times more likely to die prematurely than people without a spinal cord injury, with worse survival rates in low- and middle-income countries. Dynamic aerobic requires integrated physiologic responses across the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, autonomic, pulmonary, thermoregulatory, and immunologic systems. Moreover, regular aerobic exercise beneficially impacts these same systems, reducing the risk for a range of diseases and maladies. This book will present comprehensive information on the unique physiologic effects of SCI and the potential role of exercise in treating and mitigating these effects. In addition, it will incorporate work from scientists across a number of disciplines and have contributors at multiple levels of investigation and across physiologic systems. Furthermore, SCI can be considered an accelerated form of aging due to the severely restricted physical inactivity imposed, usually at an early age. Therefore, the information presented may have a broader importance to the physiology of aging as it relates to inactivity. Lastly, the need for certain levels of regular aerobic exercise to engender adaptations beneficial to health is not altered by the burden of an SCI. Indeed, the amounts of exercise necessary may be even greater than the able-bodied due to ‘passive’ ambulation. This book will also address the potential health benefits for those with an SCI that can be realized if a sufficient exercise stimulus is provided.

Offers a solid foundation in understanding the importance of physical fitness and the ways in which people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) can achieve, maintain, and enjoy keeping fit. Several different levels of SCI are covered and variations on how the desired exercises can be accomplished are included. Meant to inform SCI patients and clinicians that routines can be created to allow SCI sufferers to exercise independently. Includes papers written by experts about the importance and factors that affect physical fitness in persons with SCI. Photos.

Physical rehabilitation for walking recovery after spinal cord injury is undergoing a paradigm shift. Therapy historically has focused on compensation for sensorimotor deficits after SCI using wheelchairs and bracing to achieve mobility. With locomotor training, the aim is to promote recovery via activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of the lesion. What basic scientists have shown us as the potential of the nervous system for plasticity, to learn, even after injury is being translated into a rehabilitation strategy by taking advantage of the intrinsic biology of the central nervous system. While spinal cord injury from basic and clinical perspectives was the gateway for developing locomotor training, its application has been extended to other populations with neurologic dysfunction resulting in loss of walking or walking disability.

From a hospital admittance to discharge to outpatient rehabilitation, Spinal Cord Injuries addresses the wide spectrum of rehabilitation interventions and administrative and clinical issues specific to patients with spinal cord injuries. Comprehensive coverage includes costs, life expectancies, acute care, respiratory care, documentation, goal setting, clinical treatment, complications, and activities of daily living associated with spinal cord patients. In addition to physical therapy interventions and family education components, this resource includes content on incidence, etiology, diagnosis, and clinical features of spinal cord injury. - Case Studies with clinical application thinking exercises help you apply knowledge from the book to real life situations. - Thoroughly referenced, evidence-based content provides the best evidence for treatment based on the most current research. - Tables and boxes throughout each chapter organize and summarize important information for quick reference. - Clinical Note boxes provide at-a-glance access to helpful tips. - Over 500 clinical photos, line drawings, radiographs, and more bring important concepts to life. - Highly respected experts in spinal cord injury rehabilitation, editors Sue Ann Sisto, Erica Druin, and Martha Sliwinski, provide authoritative guidance on the foundations and principles of practice for spinal cord injury. - Companion DVD includes video clips of the techniques described throughout the book that demonstrate how to apply key concepts to practice.

Combining 25 years of clinical, research and teaching experience, Dr Lisa Harvey provides an innovative 5-step approach to the physiotherapy management of people with spinal cord injury. Based on the International Classification of Functioning, this approach emphasises the importance of setting goals which are purposeful and meaningful to the patient. These goals are related to performance of motor tasks analysed in terms of 6 key impairments. The assessment and treatment performance of each of these impairments for people with spinal cord injury is described in the following chapters: - training motor tasks - strength training - contracture management - pain management - respiratory management - cardiovascular fitness training Dr Harvey develops readers' problem-solving skills equipping them to manage all types of spinal cord injuries. Central to these skills is an understanding of how people with different patterns of paralysis perform motor tasks and the importance of differentmuscles for motor tasks such as: - transfers and bed mobility of people - wheelchair mobility - hand function for people with tetraplegia - standing and walking with lower limb paralysis This book is for students and junior physiotherapists with little or no experience in the area of spinal cord injury but with a general understanding of the principles of physiotherapy. It is also a useful tool for experienced clinicians, including those keen to explore the evidence base that supports different physiotherapy interventions.

A practical guide to the most important techniques available for longitudinal data analysis, essential for non-statisticians and researchers.