We look much forward to welcome you to the 6th International Biophilia Rehabilitation Conference which is organized Warsaw, Poland on September 5, 2008. Hopefully, this conference will show that the Academy continues to prove its excellence and standing within the rehabilitation field.

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I celebrate to hold the 6th International Biophilia Rehabilitation Conference by substantial contents under the chair of IBRC 2008, Professor Mieczyslaw Pokorski in Warsaw of the Republic of Poland.

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In order to clarify the determinants of longevity in Japan, I investigated the influencing factors such as diets, daily exercises, mental status, or socio-economical factors in Japanese centenarian.

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The present work is a part of the Polish Centenarians Program, PolStu2001, a multidisciplinary study aiming at analysis of genetic and environmental factors of longevity, conducted in Poland in the period between 2002 and 2004.

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This article tackles the role of sensory output from the nose in modulating cough elicited from other regions of the respiratory system. Guinea pigs were used for the experiments. We addressed the issue by inducing cough from the tracheo-bronchial region on the background of capsaicin-stimulated and mesocain-blocked nasal mucosa. We found that knocking out the nasal sensorium with local anesthesia abolishes the capsaicin-induced enhancement of tracheo-bronchial cough. We then examined the possibility of cough modification by systemic pharmacotherapy with a bioflavonoid, rutinoscorbin, in a guinea pig model of allergic rhinitis/sinusitis. We found that improvement of the rhinorrhea symptoms markedly diminished the cough response to chemical stimulation of the tracheo-bronchial region. We conclude that the cough reflex is subject to central convergence of peripheral neural pathways originating at distant anatomical locations. Our findings give credence to the notion of a substantial role of nasal mucosa, although it does not itself initiate cough, in cough regulation. That should be taken into account when designing respiratory rehabilitation paradigms.

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There is a concept which is "acceptance of disability" as one aspect of rehabilitation medicine, and there are many patients that contracture was left, have difficulty walking and become bed-ridden after the medical procedure of rehabilitation medicine. Furthermore, some of outstanding doctors who engage in the rehabilitation medicine state positively that the rehabilitation medicine aims for social rehabilitation due to utilization of residual function by the training more than the physical restoration regarding functional recovery is not carried out even if they received rehabilitation medical treatment. These are the fundamental problems.

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Working together in global partnership to improve the quality of life for all people with spinal cord injuries.

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The purpose of the present study was to determine the physiological response of resistance exercise on hormonal and insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I, freeIGF-I) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) concentrations in men with and without a diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy. M-mode and two-dimensional Doppler-echocardiography were performed in 18 resistance trained men and a control group of 10 healthy untrained subjects. Both groups were subjected to isometric, eccentric and concentric resistance exercise. Venous blood samples were drawn before and immediately after the test and during a 1-hour recovery for determination of hormonal and somatomedin concentrations. Eccentric muscle contraction resulted in a significant increase of serum IGF-I concentration (p<0.05) in subjects diagnosed to have left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) when compared to those with normal upper limit of left ventricular wall thickness (LVN) and control group (CG), (p<0.01). Our results seem to have demonstrated that concentric and eccentric muscle actions stimulate circulating IGF-I increase. Increased serum IGF-I concentration might be responsible for physiological heart hypertrophy seen in trained subjects predominantly engaged in eccentric resistance exercise.

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Respiratory diseases, in particular the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are an important health-related problem worldwide. About 2m patients are treated due to COPD in Poland, and the number of women suffering from COPD rises every year. Nicotinism is the main reason for COPD developement. Primary and secondary prevention, smoking cessation and the pulmonary rehabilitation programs are equal to pharmacological treatment of COPD.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a slow and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that exhibits major symptoms of resting tremor, rigidity, akinesia, and posture reactive disturbance along with dopamine deficit. Among subjective symptoms, "Dullness of action" and "It is not easy to walk" are reported in the early stages of the disease, and the so-called stooped posture, decreased step length and walking speed are distinctive features of PD. Although pharmacotherapy is the first choice of treatment for PD, from the standpoint of physical therapy, the objective is to delay the disease progression by positively taking part in sports and ambulatory exercise at an early stage, and constructing an active lifestyle. The purpose of this study was to examine ambulatory ability and physical fitness, and to determine whether the introduction of backward treadmill walking (BTW) exercise had a beneficial influence for early PD patients.

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Benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been well documented. It is unclear whether such benefits also hold true in patients with severe pulmonary impairment due to other than COPD pulmonary diseases. Well controlled prospective studies are lacking in the literature.

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The aim of this study is to show the usefulness of a new rehabilitation tool that has been constructed on the basis of a posturographic platform with full utilization of visual biofeedback. The proposed physiotherapeutic program includes exercises of visual-motor coordination and balance, which consist of repeated visual, vestibular, and somatosensory stimulation for conscious control of body balance.

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Idiopathic scoliosis is the most common disorder of the structural vertebral curvature of unknown reason. In Poland, it concerns 4-14% schoolboys and schoolgirls aged of 10-14 years, i.e., 1 in 10 children. Disturbances of static and symmetry of the bony chest structure induces changes in mobility of costovertebral joints, which impairs mutual spatial relations of bronchi and pulmonary alveoli. As a consequence, ventilatory insufficiency of a restrictive type develops which may lead, with time, to the symptoms of the cor pulmonale. In the present study, research was conducted on a group of thirty-two 14-18 years old girls with idiopathic scoliosis, one year after the surgical treatment with the Cotrel-Dubousset method. Before rehabilitation and after its completion, the spiroergometric test was performed together with the determination of the ventilatory threshold (VT) and the level of lactic acid. The rehabilitation program consisted of the endurance training, general, relaxing exercises, and swimming in a pool. After the rehabilitation camp, the results showed an increase of the load at which the VT was reached and a decrease of the lactic acid concentration in the arterialized blood at the VT. Also, improved exercise tolerance was revealed after a 4-week rehabilitation. We conclude that rehabilitation, on an annual basis, can be recommended, to raise exercise tolerance in patients with idiopathic scoliosis after surgical treatment.

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Decubitus ulcer has been the well-known but unsolved problem ever before. We medical staffs have seemed to give up the prevention or recurrences or even complete healing of decubitus ulcer, justifying ourselves that they are complicated with basically severe fatal diseases or bedridden disabled. But it is true that once a decubitus ulcer comes up, the medical expenses are certainly run up higher if neither the earlier treatment nor nursing care taken timely and adequately. And the deep ulcer always makes us feel guilty and tragic.

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Malignant tumors are the most dangerous diseases that affect the whole mankind. Although medical and pharmacological methods of treatment improve constantly, the treatment of malignant tumors is still connected with a high risk of adverse effects of the treatment. It is mostly related to radiotherapy, which causes general (e.g. discomfort and ill-being) and local side effects - it damages the patient's skin in the area that is directly exposed to radiation. Very serious side effect is radiodermatitis as a post-radiation skin damage. Such damages of the skin require appropriate treatment and nursing care, both during the therapy and after the treatment is finished. Many patients search for cosmetic products that could restore the healthy state of their skin, previously damaged by radiation.

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Physical activity in preventing age related disorders.(Session III-5-A)

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Complex physical therapy in treatment of lymphedema.(Session III-5-B)

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