Virtual reality exercises with the Nintendo Wii system could represent a useful adjunctive therapy to traditional treatment to improve static and dynamic balance in stroke patients.

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Aim To investigate the frequency of fatigue and musculoskeletal symptoms and their correlation with laboratory data in patients with COVID‐19. Methods This study included 80 patients hospitalised and treated for COVID‐19 in the infectious diseases clinic between March 2020 and May 2020. Data analysis was performed retrospectively from the hospital medical charts. Demographic data, clinical symptoms, and laboratory findings were noted. Clinical symptoms and correlations with laboratory results were assessed. Besides, an analysis of patients with and without chronic disease was performed for clinical symptoms and laboratory findings. Results The frequencies of myalgia and fatigue were 46.1% and 50%, respectively. In the laboratory data, there was a significant increase in creatinine kinase (CK) level and lymphocyte count in the patients with myalgia symptoms (P < .05). There were no other significant results in the laboratory data. Of the patients with chronic disease, it has been shown that hemoglobin levels were significantly decreased (P < .05), while D‐dimer was markedly increased (P < .05). Conclusion The laboratory findings of COVID‐19‐related myalgia suggested that patients might have a risk of progressive muscle injury. Therefore, these patients should also be followed up in terms of the myopathic process.

Ankylosing spondylitis can lead to balance deterioration due to postural changes.

Context: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic joint condition. Muscle dysfunction plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of knee OA. Objective: It has been suggested that the agonist–antagonist strength relationship for the knee may be better described by a functional hamstring/quadriceps (H/Q) ratio (Hconcentric/Qeccentric: the representative of knee flexion and Qeccentric/Hconcentric: the representative of knee extension). Therefore, in this study, the authors aimed to investigate this ratio and its importance for knee OA. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Research clinic. Patients or Other Participant(s): Twenty healthy women and 20 women with grade 2 or grade 3 primer knee OA between the age of 50 and 80 years were included in this study. Intervention(s): Concentric and eccentric peak torque of quadriceps and hamstring muscles were evaluated for all individuals in patient and control groups with a Cybex isokinetic device. Functional H/Q ratio is calculated manually. Main Outcome Measure(s): Functional H/Q torque ratios were analyzed between the patients with OA and healthy individuals by using the isokinetic system. Results: The values of peak torque of hamstring concentric and eccentric and quadriceps concentric for the patient group were significantly lower than the control group (P < .05). No statistically important difference was found for quadriceps eccentric peak torque between 2 groups (P > .05). H/Q ratio for extension in the patient group was significantly higher than the control group (P < .05), whereas the H/Q ratio for flexion in the patient group was significantly lower than the control group (P < .05). Conclusion: This study showed the weakness of both quadriceps and hamstring muscles in patients with knee OA. The combination of functional H/Q ratio with hamstring and quadriceps muscles concentric and eccentric strength values can help to analyze the knee functions and develop preventive-therapeutic approaches for knee OA.

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Background Fibromyalgia is a common rheumatic disease, which is thought to be a neuroendocrine dysregulation disorder. Patients’ quality of life (QOL) is severely affected by this disease. Though neural therapy, as a treatment option, attempts to correct the underlying neuroendocrine dysfunction, yet there is no proven evidence of its effect on this disease. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of neural therapy on pain and functionality in patients with fibromyalgia. Methods The study was a 1‐year retrospective cohort study and held in physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics. A total of 60 female patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia were included. Sixty female patients with fibromyalgia were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups; the first group (n = 30) received neural therapy, the second group (n = 30) received conventional physical therapy and each of the two groups received the same home exercise (stretching, strengthening and aerobic exercises) programme for four weeks. The primer outcomes were visual analogue scale (VAS), Short Form‐36 (SF‐36) and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) scores after the treatment. Results The social functioning score exhibited a significant improvement only in the intra‐group comparison of the neural therapy group (P < .001). However, after treatment, the VAS, FIQ and all the SF‐36 parameters, except role limitations because of physical health, were detected to be significantly improved in the neural therapy group compared with the exercise group (P < .001). Conclusions Neural therapy may be an effective alternative treatment for improving the QOL in patients with fibromyalgia.