fighting CMT with exercise

[Guest guest]

If you mean " fighting CMT " with tons of exercise to ward off

progression, I would not recommend this. However, I do believe

exercise within limits, such as what I do, is a good idea. 3 days a

week I am in the pool for an aquatic circuit, combined with pilates.

I follow a program medically established for me and also monitored.

When not at the gym, I bike, garden, walk and snorkel/scuba when I

can. (Well, I am still learning scuba) Aquatics has really increased

my muscle mass over these last few years and given me muscle where I

didn't know muscle existed. I sleep very well and am in a good mood

from this consistent/planned program. Plus I enjoy it all. The key to

me is having a planned medical program, monitoring it and keeping it

fresh without overwork.

I have never found it necessary to " fight CMT " . Once I quit running

from the " what ifs " , I found acceptance and peace with myself and CMT.

There was a recent study on exercise and CMT done - see below.

Gretchen

Abstract from Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004 Aug;85(8):1217-23.

Resistance training effectiveness in patients with Charcot-Marie-

Tooth disease: recommendations for exercise prescription.

Chetlin RD, Gutmann L, Tarnopolsky M, Ullrich IH, Yeater RA.

Department of Human Performance & Applied Exercise Science, School of

Medicine, West Virginia University, town, WV 26506-9139, USA.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of a 12-week, home-based

resistance exercise program on strength, body composition, and

activities of daily living (ADLs) in men and women with Charcot-Marie-

Tooth (CMT) disease and to design an ADL-based resistance exercise

prescription template.

DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

SETTING: Testing in a university setting; exercise in patients'

homes.

PARTICIPANTS: Twenty CMT patients who volunteered.

INTERVENTION: Subjects progressively strength trained at home 3 d/wk

for 12 weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Timed ADLs, isometric strength, and body

composition.

RESULTS: Absolute strength was greater in men with CMT in only 4 of

10 baseline measures (P<.05), but not when strength was normalized by

lean mass. Training compliance was 87% with no gender differences. At

baseline, women had 80% of normal strength in 4 of 10 measures,

whereas men did not achieve 80% of normal strength in any measure.

After training, women had 80% of normal strength in 8 of 10 measures,

whereas men only had 80% of normal strength in 1. Training volumes

and strength change scores showed no gender differences. ADLs

improved after training with no gender differences (P<.05). An

exercise prescription template was developed by using chair-rise time

to estimate starting weights for lower body and supine rise for upper

body.

CONCLUSIONS: Resistance training improved strength and ADLs equally

in men and women. We designed an exercise prescription

recommendation, based on ADL performance.