Background:Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has different prevalence rates in various parts of the world and is a risk factor for diabetes and cardiovascular disease that could progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure.Objectives:The current study aimed to investigate the effect of Aerobic Training (AT) and resistance training (RT) on hepatic fat content and liver enzyme levels in Iranian men.Patients and Methods:In a randomized clinical trial study, 30 men with clinically defined NAFLD were allocated into three groups (aerobic, resistance and control). An aerobic group program consisted of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at 60% - 75% maximum heart rate intensity, a resistance group performed seven resistance exercises at intensity of 50% - 70% of 1 repetition maximum (1RM ) and the control group had no exercise training program during the study. Before and after training, anthropometry, insulin sensitivity, liver enzymes and hepatic fat were elevated.Results:After training, hepatic fat content was markedly reduced, to a similar extent, in both the aerobic and resistance exercise training groups (P ≤ 0.05). In the two exercise training groups, alanine amino transferase and aspartate amino transferase serum levels were significantly decreased compared to the control group (P = 0.002) and (P = 0.02), respectively. Moreover, body fat (%), fat mass (kg), homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMI-IR) were all improved in the AT and RT. These changes in the AT group were independent of weight loss.Conclusions:This study demonstrated that RT and AT are equally effective in reducing hepatic fat content and liver enzyme levels among patients with NAFLD. However, aerobic exercise specifically improves NAFLD independent of any change in body weight.

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BackgroundTennis elbow (TE) is a common musculotendinous degenerative disorder of the extensor origin at the lateral humeral epicondyle. Different modes of treatment are used for management of tennis elbow.ObjectivesThis study investigated the effect of the taping technique (TT) on pain, grip strength and wrist extension force in treatment of tennis elbow.Patients and MethodsThirty patients (16 men /14 women with a mean age of 32.2 years) with tennis elbow of their dominant arm participated in this study. Outcome measures were assessment of pain at the lateral aspect of the elbow, grip strength and wrist extension force before and five to ten minutes after application of elbow tape on the affected and unaffected arms. A Visual Analog Scale was used to assess pain. A dynamometer and a hand-held dynamometer were used for evaluation of grip strength and wrist extension force, respectively.ResultsAmong the variables, significant differences were found in wrist extension forces between effected and unaffected arms (P = 0.02). Changes in grip strength showed statically significant improvements in the affected arm compared to the unaffected arm (P = 0.03). Also, in assessment of pain at the lateral epicondyle, the mean change between affected and unaffected arms was significant, with P = 0.001.ConclusionsThe taping technique, as applied in this study demonstrates an impressive effect on wrist extension force and grip strength of patients with TE. Elbow taping also reduces pain at the lateral aspect of the elbow in these patients.

Context: Advent of smartphones has brought a wide range of clinical measurement applications (apps) within the reach of most clinicians. The vast majority of smartphones have numerous built-in sensors such as magnetometers, accelerometers, and gyroscopes that make the phone capable of measuring joint range of motion (ROM) and detecting joint positions. The iHandy Level app is a free app which has a visual display alike with the digital inclinometer in regard to numeric size. Objective: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate available evidence in the literature to assess the psychometric properties (ie, reliability and validity) of the iHandy Level app in measuring lumbar spine ROM and lordosis. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Ovid, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were searched from inception to September 2018 for single-group repeated-measures studies reporting outcomes of lumbar spine ROM or lordosis in adult individuals without symptoms of low back pain (LBP) or patients with LBP. The quality of each included study was assessed using the Quality Appraisal of Reliability Studies checklist. Results: A total of 4 studies with 273 participants were included. Two studies focused on measuring active lumbar spine ROM, and 2 studies evaluated lumbar spine lordosis. Three studies included asymptomatic subjects, and one study recruited patients with LBP. The results showed that the iHandy Level app has sufficient psychometric properties for measuring standing thoraco-lumbo-sacral flexion, extension, lateral flexion, isolated lumbar spine flexion ROM, and lumbar spine lordosis in asymptomatic subjects. One study reported poor concurrent validity with a bubble inclinometer (r = .19–.53), poor intrarater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .19–.39), and poor to good interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = .24–.72) for the measurement of active lumbar spine ROM using the iHandy Level app in patients with LBP. Conclusions: This review provided a valuable summary of the research to date examining the psychometric properties of the iHandy Level app for measuring lumbar spine ROM and lordosis.

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