Context: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are becoming increasingly popular yet their effects on health remain unknown. Objective: To conduct the first comprehensive and standardized assessment of the acute impact of active and passive e-cigarette smoking on serum cotinine and lung function, as compared to active and passive tobacco cigarette smoking. Materials and methods: Fifteen smokers (≥15 cigarettes/day; seven females; eight males) and 15 never-smokers (seven females; eight males) completed this repeated-measures controlled study. Smokers underwent a control session, an active tobacco cigarette (their favorite brand) smoking session and an active e-cigarette smoking session. Never-smokers underwent a control session, a passive tobacco cigarette smoking session and a passive e-cigarette smoking session. Serum cotinine, lung function, exhaled carbon monoxide and nitric oxide were assessed. The level of significance was set at p ≤ 0.001 to adjust for multiple comparisons. Results: e-Cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes generated similar (p > 0.001) effects on serum cotinine levels after active (60.6 ± 34.3 versus 61.3 ± 36.6 ng/ml) and passive (2.4 ± 0.9 versus 2.6 ± 0.6 ng/ml) smoking. Neither a brief session of active e-cigarette smoking (indicative: 3% reduction in FEV1/FVC) nor a 1 h passive e-cigarette smoking (indicative: 2.3% reduction in FEV1/FVC) significantly affected the lung function (p > 0.001). In contrast, active (indicative: 7.2% reduction in FEV1/FVC; p < 0.001) but not passive (indicative: 3.4% reduction in FEV1/FVC; p = 0.005) tobacco cigarette smoking undermined lung function. Conclusion: Regarding short-term usage, the studied e-cigarettes generate smaller changes in lung function but similar nicotinergic impact to tobacco cigarettes. Future research should target the health effects of long-term e-cigarette usage, including the effects of nicotine dosage.

VOLIANITIS, S., A. K. MCCONNELL, Y. KOUTEDAKIS, L. MCNAUGHTON, K. BACKX, and D. A. JONES. Inspiratory muscle training improves rowing performance. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 33, No. 5, 2001, pp. 803–809. To investigate the effects of a period of resistive inspiratory muscle training (IMT) upon rowing performance. Performance was appraised in 14 female competitive rowers at the commencement and after 11 wk of inspiratory muscle training on a rowing ergometer by using a 6-min all-out effort and a 5000-m trial. IMT consisted of 30 inspiratory efforts twice daily. Each effort required the subject to inspire against a resistance equivalent to 50% peak inspiratory mouth pressure (PImax) by using an inspiratory muscle training device. Seven of the rowers, who formed the placebo group, used the same device but performed 60 breaths once daily with an inspiratory resistance equivalent to 15% PImax. The inspiratory muscle strength of the training group increased by 44 ± 25 cm H2O (45.3 ± 29.7%) compared with only 6 ± 11 cm H2O (5.3 ± 9.8%) of the placebo group (P < 0.05 within and between groups). The distance covered in the 6-min all-out effort increased by 3.5 ± 1.2% in the training group compared with 1.6 ± 1.0% in the placebo group (P < 0.05). The time in the 5000-m trial decreased by 36 ± 9 s (3.1 ± 0.8%) in the training group compared with only 11 ± 8 s (0.9 ± 0.6%) in the placebo group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the resistance of the training group to inspiratory muscle fatigue after the 6-min all-out effort was improved from an 11.2 ± 4.3% deficit in PImax to only 3.0 ± 1.6% (P < 0.05) pre- and post-intervention, respectively. IMT improves rowing performance on the 6-min all-out effort and the 5000-m trial.

This systematic review investigates the effectiveness of exercise interventions in improving disease-related characteristics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It also provides suggestions for exercise programmes suitable for improving the cardiovascular profile of RA patients and proposes areas for future research in the field. Six databases (Medline, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Google Scholar, EMBASE and PEDro) were searched to identify publications from 1974 to December 2006 regarding RA and exercise interventions. The quality of the studies included was determined by using the Jadad scale. Initial searches identified 1342 articles from which 40 met the inclusion criteria. No studies were found investigating exercise interventions in relation to cardiovascular disease in RA. There is strong evidence suggesting that exercise from low to high intensity of various modes is effective in improving disease-related characteristics and functional ability in RA patients. Future studies are required to investigate the effects of exercise in improving the cardiovascular status of this patient population.

Study Design: Prospective, descriptive single-cohort study. Objective: To assess the incidence and severity of injuries to a professional ballet company over 1 year. Methods: Data for an elite-level ballet company of 52 professional dancers were collected by an in-house medical team using a time-loss injury definition. Results: A total of 355 injuries were recorded, with an overall injury incidence of 4.4 injuries per 1000 hours (female, 4.1; male, 4.8; P>.05) and a mean of 6.8 injuries per dancer (female, 6.3; male, 7.3; P>.05). Mean injury severity was 7 days (female, 4; male, 9; P<.05). Most injuries were classified as overuse (64%; female, 68%; male, 60%; P>.05); mean severity of injury was 3 days for females and 9 days for males (P<.05). The percentage of traumatic injuries was 32% for females and 40% for males (P<.05); the corresponding severity was 6 and 10 days, respectively (P<.05). Conclusion: The relatively high number of injuries reported and the resulting loss of dance time support the need to introduce interventions to reduce the risk of injury in professional dancers. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2012;42(9):781–790. Epub 19 July 2012. doi:10.2519/jospt.2012.3893