Expiratory muscle strength training may improve swallowing, breathing, speech deficits in elderly

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 19 May 2005 - 15:00 PDT

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This study discusses the affect of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) on lung and chest wall decline in the elderly.

EMST, a technique of respiratory muscle strengthening, may improve breathing, coughing, swallowing, and speech.

As people age, skeletal muscle strength is reduced, which is caused in part by muscle mass loss and neuromuscular changes.

Strength training of limb muscles has been shown effective for increasing muscle hypertrophy, suggesting that strength training of respiratory muscles may induce the same effect as strength training of limb muscles. Investigators recommend that the elderly maintain their skeletal muscle functions to prevent age-related regression.

Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development Tipsheet
The current issue of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) includes four articles on measurement, treatment, and causes of low back pain and five articles on prosthetic research, including the affect of practitioner knowledge and technique on prosthetic fit; rapid, low cost prosthetic production; and increase of skin temperature after a prosthetic limb is donned.

Contact: Judith LaVoie
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VA Research Communications Service
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