A CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON MOTOR WEAKNESS IN NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE

Abstract

The effects of exercise on neurological patients with motor weakness and healthy volunteers were studied with emphasis on the 3 following aspects: (1) the effect of a system of exercise on weak muscles, (2) the effect of confinement to bed without exercise and (3) the effect of a deliberately produced fatigue. Muscle strength of the biceps and triceps was measured with a spring dynamometer designed to register isometric tension and these measurements integrated with electromyographic data. It was found that isometric exercise prevented or corrected wasting of muscle due to disuse whereas rest produced muscle weakness and stiffness. Fatigue was unlikely to produce any ill effects except, possibly, in patients where the disease was in a rapidly progressive stage.