Traditionally recognized factors, such as age and biomechanics (abnormal physical loading), may play a role in the manifestation of intervertebral disk degeneration, according to researchers in the department of orthopaedics & traumatology at the University of Hong Kong. However, additional factors also may contribute.

Constitutional alignment of the leg (varus or valgus knee or foot rotation) may be a significant factor in determining the development and distribution of knee osteoarthritis (OA) but not isolated hip OA.

Ankle taping not only increases mechanical stability at the ankle joint during the performance of open sports tasks (in an unpredictable situation) but also provides protective benefits to the knee, according to researchers at Fremantle Hospital; the University of Western Australia; and other centers in Fremantle, Western Australia. Taping helps ankle stability by limiting motion and protects the knee by reducing internal rotation moments and varus impulses during both planned and unplanned maneuvers.

Walking with short, quick steps results in a small but significant increase in metabolic cost that may be beneficial for weight reduction or maintenance in obese persons and reduce the risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to researchers at the Biomechanics and Energy Metabolism Laboratories, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Use of a treadmill may help infants who have prenatal complications or were injured at birth walk earlier and better, according to researchers at the School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Angulo-Barroso and associates1 studied developmental changes in treadmill stepping and physical activity in 15 infants at risk for neuromotor delay and explored these changes by diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

A healthy gait pattern is based on an array of biomechanical features orchestrated by the CNS for economy and stability, according to investigators in the departments of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Injuries and pathologies may alter these features and result in substantial gait deficits, often with detrimental consequences for energy expenditure and balance. Therefore, an understanding of the role of biomechanics in the generation of healthy gait may provide insight into these deficits that may be applied to clinical gait pathologies.

Prolonged standing on a sloped surface rather than on a level surface results in decreased subjective low back pain (LBP) and associated biomechanical changes, according to researchers at the Regis University School of Physical Therapy in Denver. Nelson-Wong and Callaghan1 noted that occupations that require prolonged periods of standing have been associated with increased reports of musculoskeletal disorders, including LBP.

The chronic inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) leads to impairment of bone biomechanics in terms of stiffness, ductility, and ultimate strength (fracture), according to researchers at the Rheumatology Research Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, in Portugal. The direct effect of inflammation on bone is difficult to study in patients with RA, they noted, because the skeleton also is affected by corticosteroids and other drugs, as well as aging and menopause, which contribute to bone fragility.

Plantar pressures measurement, frequently used in rehabilitation and related research, is highly reliable in evaluating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to researchers at the University Rehabilitation Institute, Republic of Slovenia, in Ljubljana. On the basis of their findings, they concluded that such measurement is suitable for clinical practice, as well as for research, and recommended taking several measurements and using the average.

The jump protocol with analysis of time to stabilization (TTS) can discriminate between persons with and those without functional ankle instability (FAI), according to researchers in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Persons with FAI have delayed trunk muscle reflexes to a sudden perturbation, supporting theoretical and experimental descriptions of proximal adaptations associated with ankle injury.

The mechanism of whiplash injuries remains less than completely understood, partly because obvious tissue damage detectable by radiography or MRI may not accompany the injury, according to researchers at Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, in Chongqing, China.

Persons who have patellofemoral pain (PFP) exhibit higher peak levels of patellofemoral stress than those who do not, according to work conducted at the University of Southern California's Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research Laboratory (MBRL), and a long-term history of PFP in older adults yields a higher probability that patellofemoral osteoarthritis (OA) will occur.