Concussion

Concussion

Non-surgical spinal decompression therapy: does the scientific literature support efficacy claims made in the advertising media?

Background

Traction therapy has been utilized in the treatment of low back pain for decades. The most recent incarnation of traction therapy is non-surgical spinal decompression therapy which can cost over $100,000. This form of therapy has been heavily marketed to manual therapy professions and subsequently to the consumer. The purpose of this paper is to initiate a debate pertaining to the relationship between marketing claims and the scientific literature on non-surgical spinal decompression.

Discussion

Only one small randomized controlled trial and several lower level efficacy studies have been performed on spinal decompression therapy. In general the quality of these studies is questionable. Many of the studies were performed using the VAX-D^® unit which places the patient in a prone position. Often companies utilize this research for their marketing although their units place the patient in the supine position.

Summary

Only limited evidence is available to warrant the routine use of non-surgical spinal decompression, particularly when many other well investigated, less expensive alternatives are available.

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1887522/

Parkinson's Voice Initiative - Please make a 3 minute phone call & help!

Neurological disorders such as Parkinson's destroy the ability to move. There is no cure available for over 6 million people worldwide struggling with this disease.

Unfortunately, there are no biomarkers (e.g. blood tests) available to get objective information. They present with incurable weakness, tremors and rigidity. Currently the neurological test available is very costly and most do not get it as a result. Like the extremities, the voice also is affected by Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's Voice Initiative intends to change that. 

Dr Max Little who is a Wellcome Trust-MIT Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston has come up with a technology to get this objective data for Parkinson's disease using voice. They started with about 86% accuracy and now have achieved 99% accuracy. This test will be ultra low cost and anyone (general population) will be able to administer this test when it becomes available.

Here is the contact number for USA: 1-857-284-8035 

Everyone can help!…Whether you are healthy or living with Parkinson’s, all you have to do is record your voice and that information is collected to build a system to screen for and monitor the symptoms of this debilitating disease. This is a global call and contact numbers for 9 countries are available which equates to about 750,000 people in the world.

All you need to do: make a low-cost, anonymous, three-minute phone call. They aim to collect 10,000 voice recordings. You can call using your mobile / land line telephone. In case someone has questions about privacy - all recordings are non-identifiable, and no personal information is stored. 

Please share this information with as many people as you can. You can also post your comments below. Please call now!

Source:http://www.aveeratstaffing.com/1/post/2012/08/parkinsons-voice-initiative-please-make-a-3-minute-phone-call-help.html

STROKE DAD LEARNS TO WALK AND TALK AGAIN BY COPYING HIS BABY DAUGHTER

A YOUNG father who became trapped in his body after a devastating stroke has learned to walk and talk again – by copying his baby daughter.

Mark Ellis was just 22 when he suffered a stroke and locked-in syndrome – a nightmarish condition which leaves a victim’s brain alert but the body paralysed.

His wife Amy, 32, had given birth to their daughter Lola-Rose just two weeks earlier in August 2010.

Mark found himself completely helpless and only able to communicate by rolling his eyes.

But despite being put into an induced coma and given a slim chance of survival, Mark has astounded doctors.

Amy said: “It’s amazing that he and Lola-Rose have learned to do things together – there wasn’t much time between them both taking their first steps. 

"They use toys, books, games and the iPad together to learn how to do things and communicate.”

Just days before his stroke, Mark, from Clay Cross, Derbyshire, was working at a mobile phone shop when he had a severe headache.

Doctors gave him paracetamol and told him to go to bed, but a scan the next day showed he had suffered a stroke.

Amy said: “It was just so hard to take in. We had been married two months and Lola-Rose was just two weeks old. It was a dream turned into a nightmare. 

"He’s young and healthy, who’s never smoked, taken drugs or drunk excessively, so it was hard to understand.

“The doctors didn’t expect him to survive but his youth and mental strength helped him pull through.”

Mark’s family were at his bedside a week after his stroke when he woke up. But he could still only communicate

by rolling his eyes up for “yes” and down for “no”.

Doctors said a blood clot in his brain meant it was unlikely he would ever walk or talk again.

But Mark, now 23, sat up and fed himself within months.

Amy said: “Lola-Rose had started blabbering and making baby noises. Mark’s therapist told him he should copy her.

“He started to make the same sounds and then words came too.”

Mark left hospital eight months later. 

“He can use his frame to get around and the physiotherapist is positive he can get Mark walking fully again,” said Amy, who gave up working as a hairdresser to look after him.

“I was told not to expect anything from Mark after his stroke. Anything and everything he does now is just amazing.”

Sue Potter, matron at Chesterfield Royal Hospital where Mark was sent, said: 

“We have 500 people who have had a stroke each year, but never anyone as young as Mark.

“His determination and having a baby have surely contributed to his recovery.”

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/333758/Stroke-dad-learns-to-walk-and-talk-again-by-copying-his-baby-daughter

Severe Sleep Loss Affects Immune System Like Physical Stress Does

Sleep deprivation and physical stresshave similar effects on the immune system of human beings, researchers from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom reported in the journal SLEEP. Both physicalstress and severe sleep loss jolt the immune system into action, the authors explained.

The scientists , from Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, compared the number of white blood cells in 15 healthy young adult males who were subjected to normal sleep and severe sleep loss.

The greatest impact was on granulocytes - types of white blood cells - which lost their day-to-night time rhythmicity as numbers shot up, especially during nighttime.

Lead author, Katrin Ackermann, PhD, said:

"Future research will reveal the molecular mechanisms behind this immediate stress response and elucidate its role in the development of diseases associated with chronic sleep loss.

If confirmed with more data, this will have implications for clinical practice and for professions associated with long-term sleep loss, such as rotating shift work."

The authors explained that prior studies had found a link between lack of sleep and the development of certain diseases and conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension),diabetes and obesity. Other studies have demonstration that adequate sleep helps keep the immune system working properly, and that long-term sleep loss is a major risk factor for immune system problems.


Source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247320.php

Kids With Learning Disorders Might Not Benefit From Memory Training Programs

Children with disorders, such as dyslexia or attention-deficit/hyperactivity, are not likely to benefit from working memory training, say researchers. 

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Oslo and University College London and published online in The British Journal of Developmental Psychology, also found that memory training tasks have limited effect on healthy children and adults seeking to improve their cognitive skills or do better in school.

Monica Melby-Lervåg, PhD, of the University of Oslo, and lead author of the study, explained:

"The success of working memory training programs is often based on the idea that you can train your brain to perform better, using repetitive memory trials, much like lifting weights builds muscle mass.

However, this analysis shows that simply loading up the brain with training exercises will not lead to better performance outside of the tasks presented within these tests."

Working memory allows an individual to hold and use a limited amount of information in their head for a short amount of time. Tasks designed to enhance working memory usually involve trying to get the person to retain the information presented to them as they perform distracting activities. For instance, participants may be presented with a series of numbers simultaneously on a computer screen. The screen then presents a new number and prompts participants to recall the number immediately preceding. 

In this study, the team analyzed 23 different studies that involved young children, children with cognitive impairments, such as ADHA, and healthy adults. The studies were either experiments or randomized controlled trials and had some sort of working memory treatment and a control group.

The researchers found that although working memory training enhanced participants performance on tasks related to the training itself, the training did not affect the participants attention, verbal skills, reading or arithmetic.

Melby-Lervåg, explained: "In other words, the training may help you improve your short-term memory when it's related to the task implemented in training but it won't improve reading difficulties or help you pay more attention in school."

Several commercial, computer-based working memory training programs have been developed in recent years in order to help students suffering from poor academic performance, dyslexia, language disorders, ADHA, or other issues. Some of the programs also claim to increase people's IQs. 

The programs, used globally in clinics and schools, mainly involve tasks in which participants are given many challenging memory tests. 

Melby-Lervåg concluded: 

"In the light of such evidence, it seems very difficult to justify the use of working memory training programs in relation to the treatment of reading and language disorders. Our findings also cast strong doubt on claims that working memory training is effective in improving cognitive ability and scholastic attainment."

Written By Grace Rattue 
Copyright: Medical News Today 
Courtesy Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246266.php 

Language Skills In Stroke Patients Improve With Magnetic Treatment

A study by The University of Queensland has revealed that language skills of individuals who survived a stroke with aphasia could be improved with magnetic stimulation of the brain. The study was conducted by Dr. Caroline Barwood, who recently completed her PhD at the University of Queensland School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Barwood discovered that the language skills of stroke patients following Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) were significantly improved. 

TMS is a non-invasive technique that aims to target activity in the brain in order to help restructuring brain areas with the goal of changing language behaviors. 
Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237857.php