Huiru Wang has completed his PhD at the age of 44 years from Shanghai Sport University.He is the vice director of the Sport department of Shanghai Jiaotong University. He is major in Classic Yoga, Yoga Therapy and Power Yoga both in theory and practice. He has published more than 15 papers in core journal.

Department of Sport and Physical Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, China, Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a common inflammatory rheumatic disease that mainly affects the sacroiliac joint, apophysis, spinal and soft tissue of the spine and peripheral joints. The pathogenesis of AS is complex, and is currently considered to be caused by many factors such as immune genetic and biological, inflammatory or infectious factors, but the precise immunopathological mechanisms and ultimately the histopathological features are still unclear. Chinese traditional physical fitness, including Tai Chi, Qigong, and Dao Yin Shu, have many positive features such as body building and disease prevention. This study is a randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of regular supervised exercise using a modified Chinese traditional fitness program as an adjunct to standard care in stabilized AS patients of the functional class I and II. Methods/Design: Forty patients between the ages of 18 to 55 years with stabilized AS in functional class I and II, according to the modified New York Criteria, will be recruited. Patients will be randomly allocated to a modified Chinese traditional fitness group (MCTF) or a control group. Interviewers blinded to the participants’ treatment group will assess outcomes at baseline and 8, 16 weeks. Blood samples will be taken to assess T-lymphocyte subsets at baseline and 16 weeks. Trial registration: This trail is registered in Clinical Trail.gov with the ID number of ChiCTR-TQR-14004860

Dr. Stasinopoulos Dimitrios is an Assistant Professor of Physiotherapy, coordinator of the programme MSc in Sports Physiotherapy and co-coordinator of the programme BSc in Physiotherapy. His primarily teaching areas include electrotherapy, sports physiotherapy, physiotherapy in musculoskeletal injuries of upper and lower extremities and how to write a scientific essay. He worked as a part-time Lecturer, from 2007 to 2011, at T.E.I. Lamias School of Physiotherapy (modules electrotherapy I and physical therapy in musculoskeletal injuries of upper and lower extremities) and, from 2010 to 2012, at the European University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus (modules electrotherapy I and II). He completed his PhD studies in the Leeds Metropolitan University, UK where his research focused on the management of tendinopathy using electrotherapeutic and non-electrotherapeutic modalities. He has presented his research findings in many seminars and symposiums. He is a reviewer in fourteen journals and member of the editorial board in six journals. His current research and clinical interests focus on tendinopathy management, electrotherapy, rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries of upper and lower extremities, epidemiology of sports and musculoskeletal injuries, validity and reliability of questionnaires in Greek and systematic reviews in the area of musculoskeletal injuries assessment, prevention, and rehabilitation.

Background: Home and supervised exercise programmes consisting of stretching and eccentric exercises have been recommended for the management of lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET). No studies have examined their comparative efficacy effectiveness. Objective: In this study, whether a home exercise programme is more successful than a supervised exercise programme in treating patients with LET was investigated. Methods: Patients with unilateral LET for at least 4 weeks were included in this trial. They were sequentially allocated to receive either a home exercise programme or a supervised exercise programme five times a week for 12 weeks. The exercise programme consisted of slow progressive eccentric exercises of wrist extensors and static stretching of the extensor carpi radialisbrevis tendon. Outcome measures were pain, using a visual analogue scale, and function, using a visual analogue scale and the pain-free grip strength. Patients were evaluated at baseline, at the end of treatment (week 12), and 3 months (week 24) after the end of treatment. Results: 70 patients met the inclusion criteria. At the end of treatment, there was a decline in pain and a rise in function in both groups compared with baseline (p,0.0005, paired t test). There were significant differences in the reduction of pain and the improvement of function between the groups at the end of treatment and at the 3-month follow up; the supervised exercise programme produced the largest effect (p,0.0005, independent t test). Conclusions: Supervised exercise programme is superior to home exercise programme to reduce pain and improve function in patients with LET at the end of the treatment and at the follow-up. Further research is needed to confirm our results.