Living Well Blog

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

The Good Short Life with ALS

July 29th, 2011 by Doris Bersing
Dudley Clendinen, NY Times

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

DUDLEY CLENDINEN,  a former national correspondent and editorial writer for The Times, and author of “A Place Called Canterbury” talks about living with ALS or “Lou” as he calls it in honor of Lou Gehrig, the great Yankee hitter and first baseman who was told he had it in 1939, accepted the verdict with such famous grace, and died less than two years later. He was almost 38. He also says calling it “Lou” in his honor gives it familiarity that makes it fell less threatening.
Read the article

Tags:
Posted in ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease
1 Comment »

WEBINAR: Medical Aspects of Elder Abuse

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

In May 2011, UC Irvine geriatrician, Dr. Laura Mosqueda, presented a webinar on Medical Aspects of Elder Abuse. In her presentation, Dr. Mosqueda outlined several significant issues, such as the differences between normal and common age-related changes, medication issues and forensic markers of abuse.

Click here for the recording of the webinar session.

Tags:
Posted in Elder Abuse and Neglect
No Comments »

GUIDE: Managing Psychosis and Behavioral Aspects of Dementia

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

A lot has been written about dementia symptoms mimicking the symptoms of mental illness. It is important to understand the specific behavioral and mental aspects of most dementias. The American Geriatrics Association (www.americangeriatrics.org) has prepared a guide stressing the most common behavioral and mental problems and some clinical interventions.

Managing DementiaThis guide has been developed to assist healthcare providers in managing psychotic symptoms and disorders in older adults. It is based on two publications of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) the 2010 edition of The Geriatrics Review Syllabus and 2011 edition of Geriatrics At Your Fingertips.™

This guide was reviewed by a panel of AGS members representing geriatric medicine, geropsychiatry, and geriatric pharmacy. The guide was then reviewed and approved by the AGS Executive Committee in April 2011.

We encourage readers to consult the publications listed in the References Section at the end of this guide for a more in-depth discussion of the information contained here, including evidence concerning the increased incidence of mortality in the use of antipsychotic medications in the treatment of behavioral and psychotic symptoms associated with dementia.

Read the guide.

Tags:
Posted in Adult-onset Brain & Cognitive Disorders, Alzheimer's & Dementia
No Comments »

Stem Cell Research Could be the Answer to Find a Treatment for ALS

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

I'm living with ALSOn January 24, 2011, 63 participants gathered in New York City for the International Consortium of Stem Cell Network (ICSCN) Workshop Towards Clinical Trials Using Stem Cells for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)/Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Dr. Rick Bedlack of Duke University and ALS Untangled moderated a panel discussion comprised of Stephen Byer of ALS Worldwide and Dr. Brian Dickie of the Motor Neuron Disease Association, an extract of which can be read at ALS Worldwide: Breaking News.

Read the entire report from the International Consortium Stem Cell Network.

Tags: ,
Posted in ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease
No Comments »

Neurologist wins $1M prize for ALS biomarker breakthrough

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis[John Carroll, FierceBiomarkers] A Boston neurologist has won a $1 million prize after identifying a new biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and developing a simple gadget that can help researchers track the progression of the disease.

Dr. Seward Rutkove of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center observed that as the muscles of ALS patients deteriorate, they are less capable of transmitting small electrical currents in the body. As the disease progresses, electrical impedance grows. And further animal research demonstrated that investigators could use Rutkove’s device for tracking the condition as they monitored disease progression in patients.

Read more.

Tags: ,
Posted in ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease
No Comments »

A Conversation with Stephen Hawking. His life as a scientist and his living with ALS

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

Sean McCabe; photograph by Abe Frajndlich, NY Times

Claudia Dreyfus of the new York Times (May 9, 2011) interviews Stephen Hawking. She writes: “Like Einstein, he is as famous for his story as for his science.  At the age of 21, the British physicist Stephen Hawking was found to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,” or ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “While A.L.S. is usually fatal within five years, Dr. Hawking lived on and flourished, producing some of the most important cosmological research of his time. In the 1960s, with Sir Roger Penrose, he used mathematics to explicate the properties of black holes. In 1973, he applied Einstein’s general theory of relativity to the principles of quantum mechanics. And he showed that black holes were not completely black but could leak radiation and eventually explode and disappear, a finding that is still reverberating through physics and cosmology.”

Read more.

Tags: ,
Posted in ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease
No Comments »

Living Well with Parkinson’s

July 12th, 2011 by Doris Bersing

Yvetta Fedrova, NY Times

On June 21, 2011 Jane Brody of the New York Times explores the lives and challenges of people living with Parkinson’s disease. She writes: “…For patients with Parkinson’s disease…there still is no cure. But researchers have begun to make progress in identifying causes of the disease, and a new study promises to help identify better treatments. Until then, many patients are getting by on grit and determination. In speaking recently with several of them, two common threads emerged: an initial unwillingness to believe or reveal the diagnosis, followed by acceptance and a determination to pursue whatever it takes to remain as healthy and functional as possible.”

Read more.

Tags:
Posted in Parkinson's
No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »