Abstract
Fatigue and exercise intolerance are symptoms in children with metabolic myopathy. Frequently this is combined with muscle pain in children with mitochondrial myopathy. Offering therapeutic advice remains challenging in this patient group. Here we describe five children above the age of four years, with normal intelligence, myopathy, exercise intolerance, motor developmental delay, and fatigue, who were diagnosed with a mitochondrial dysfunction. Based on the positive experience of condition training in adults with mitochondrial disease and inactivity, aerobic exercise training was advised for all the children. Because of the lack of clear protocols for individualized mitochondrial myopathies, regular training was initiated. The Movement Assessment Battery of Children, the Jamar dynamometer for grip force, and the Bruce protocol treadmill test were applied for evaluation. No patient showed significant disease progression on a weekly scheme of strength training or on aerobic training during periods varying between 6 and 18 months. Only one out of the five patients has shown an improvement after a period of structured, aerobic training, demonstrating good compliance and motivation over the course of 18 months. Some patients developed severe muscle pain after explosive exercise. Even in a relatively homogenous, intelligent group of patients and motivated parents, we could not reach full compliance. With our case studies, we would like to draw attention to the importance and pitfalls of movement therapy in children with mitochondrial disease.
Highlights
Strength training or aerobic exercise programs might maximize muscle and cardiorespiratory function and prevent additional disuse atrophy in patients with diverse forms of neuromuscular disease
Patients usually suffer from exercise intolerance owing to their
Of five children, above the age of four years, Fatigue, exercise intolerance, muscle pain, through exercise training, the incorporation of with a congenital myopathy. These five children or muscle cramps are common symptoms in satellite cells can be enhanced, increasing the had normal intelligence, motor developmental children diagnosed with a metabolic myopa- ratio of wild-type to mutant mtDNA-mitochon- delay, exercise intolerance, and fatigue accord
Summary
Strength training or aerobic exercise programs might maximize muscle and cardiorespiratory function and prevent additional disuse atrophy in patients with diverse forms of neuromuscular disease. We evaluated a clinically homogenous group functional ability.9 It is hypothesized that, of five children, above the age of four years, Fatigue, exercise intolerance, muscle pain, through exercise training, the incorporation of with a congenital myopathy. The gross and fine motor skills, the latter developing above the 15th percentile and the grip force was boy underwent the Bruce protocol treadmill test normally, while problems arose in static and –2 SD for age and gender.
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