Background: The health and developmental issues of people with Down syndrome (DS) are complex and are associated with many medical, psychological, and social problems from childhood through into adulthood. DS children have an increased risk of multiorgan comorbidities, including congenital heart disease. Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) is a congenital heart malformation that often occurs in DS people. Aim: Physical activity and exercise are recommended for patients with cardiovascular disease and are considered to be the gold standard of cardiac rehabilitation. Whole-body vibration exercise (WBVE) is considered a form of exercises. The aim of this case report is to show the effects of WBVE on sleep disturbances, body temperature, body composition, tone, and clinical parameters in a child with DS with corrected total AVSD. The subject is a 10-year-old girl, with free-type DS, who underwent surgery to correct a total AVSD at 6 months. She underwent periodic cardiological monitoring and was released to perform any type of physical exercise, including WBVE. WBVE improved sleep quality and body composition. Conclusion: WBVE leads to physiological effects that benefit the DS child.

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is the most common chromosomal disorder and is related to congenital heart disease, sleep disorders and obesity. Sleep problems are common in DS children, including obstructive sleep apnea. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep disorders in a group of 41 DS children and adolescents, by two validated questionnaires. Methods: This is a qualitative observational study. The guardians of DS individuals (1–17 years old) answered two questionnaires (sleep questionnaire by Reimão and Lefévre–QRL and sleep disorders scale for children–SDSC) using the Google forms tool. Results: Most DS children wake up at least once during the night (68.28%), sleep during the day (56%) and fall asleep within 15 to 30 min (36.58%), urinate in the sleep at night (53.65%), move around a lot while sleeping at night (78.04) and snore at night (53.66%). In SDSC, 36.59% (n = 15) have some sleep disorder and 29.3% (n = 12) have sleep-disordered breathing. Conclusions: The DS children and adolescents present sleep-compromising factors. Moreover, obstructive sleep apnea is the most prevalent sleep-disordered breathing. Considering the findings of the current study, Google forms is an important tool to evaluate the sleep disorders of DS children and adolescents.

Human skin wounds pose a gathering threat to the public health, carrying an immense epidemiologic and financial burden. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological (NP) treatments have been proposed to the management of wound healing. Physical exercise is a strong NP intervention considered for patients in wound healing. Particularly, a type of exercise intervention known as whole-body vibration (WBV) exercise has gained increasing interest. WBV exercise is generated due to the transmission of mechanical vibrations, produced by a vibrating platform, to the body. The aim of this review was to summarize studies in experimental animal models using WBV exercise in wound healing. Searches were performed in EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science including publications on 21 November 2022 using the string “whole body vibration” AND “wound healing” (animal or mice or mouse or rat or rodent). The SYRCLE tool was used to assess the risk of bias (RoB). From 48 studies, five studies met the inclusion criteria. RoB indicated that none of the studies fulfilled all methodological analyzed criteria, resulting in possible biases. The studies were homogeneous, and results suggest beneficial effects of WBV exercise in wound healing, mainly related to enhancing angiogenesis, granulation tissue formation, reducing the blood glucose level and enhancing blood microcirculation, by increasing myofiber growth and rapid re-epithelialization. In conclusion, the various biological effects of the response to the WBV exercise indicate the relevance of this intervention in wound healing in animals. Moreover, considering the translation approach, it is possible to speculate that the beneficial effects of this non-pharmacological therapy might justify clinical trials for wound healing also in humans, after criterion evaluation.