Every year around the world between 250 000 and 500 000 people suffer a spinal cord injury
(SCI). Those with an SCI are two to five times more likely to die prematurely than people
without a spinal cord injury with worse survival rates in low- and middle-income countries.
Dynamic aerobic requires integrated physiologic responses across the musculoskeletal
cardiovascular autonomic pulmonary thermoregulatory and immunologic systems. Moreover
regular aerobic exercise beneficially impacts these same systems reducing the risk for a range
of diseases and maladies. This book will present comprehensive information on the unique
physiologic effects of SCI and the potential role of exercise in treating and mitigating these
effects. In addition it will incorporate work from scientists across a number of disciplines
and have contributors at multiple levels of investigation and across physiologic systems.
Furthermore SCI can be considered an accelerated form of aging due to the severely restricted
physical inactivity imposed usually at an early age. Therefore the information presented may
have a broader importance to the physiology of aging as it relates to inactivity. Lastly the
need for certain levels of regular aerobic exercise to engender adaptations beneficial to
health is not altered by the burden of an SCI. Indeed the amounts of exercise necessary may be
even greater than the able-bodied due to 'passive' ambulation. This book will also address the
potential health benefits for those with an SCI that can be realized if a sufficient exercise
stimulus is provided.
