Multiple Sclerosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Multiple Sclerosis, including details on diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, prognosis.

Effect of acute leg cycling on the soleus H-reflex and modified Ashworth scale scores in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Motl RW, Snook EM, Hinkle ML, McAuley E

Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. robmotl@uiuc.edu

This study examined the effect of a single bout of unloaded leg cycling on the soleus H-reflex and modified Ashworth scale (MAS) in 27 individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) who had spasticity of the leg muscles, but were not currently taking anti-spastic medications. The soleus H-reflex and MAS data were collected before and 10, 30, and 60 min after 20 min of unloaded leg cycling and a control condition. The acute bout of unloaded leg cycling resulted in concomitant and prolonged reductions in the soleus H-reflex and MAS scores compared with the control condition. This provides converging evidence for the anti-spastic potential of acute unloaded leg cycling in individuals with MS.

Published 11 September 2006 in Neurosci Lett, 406(3): 289-92.
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