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Living with Secondary Conditions
Misc.
EXECUTIVE MESSAGES: September 2007
Taking Precautions
Good Health Is Independence
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: September 2007
Getting Somewhere?
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Requiem for “Reasons and Remarks”
NEWSROOM: September 2007
Compiled by Peggy Hathaway
Keeping the Promise to End Unfair Employment Discrimination
RESEARCH FRONT: September 2007
Degeneration
Obesity Increases Risk of Having Children With Spina Bifida
Features
New Video Series on Secondary Conditions of SCI
An eleven-part educational series from the University of Alabama Birmingham is available free over the Internet.
By Phil Klebine, MA; James F. Roper, MD; Susan Camp, ARNP; Cheryl Lane, CRNP, CWCN; Beth L. Dinoff, PhD; [...]
Taking Precautions
Most of us have figured out how to live without walking, or how to open a water-bottle without a hand that can grip. But the daunting task remains: how do we stay well? How do we take care of infections, pressure sores and, as we age, the breakdown of parts of our body, such as hands, arms, shoulders, that suffer from overuse.
Preventing secondary conditions means doing our best to prevent undue stress on our body and internal organs. We can easily scratch our legs and not notice, or have a sore we do not feel. Therefore, taking the time [...]
Getting Somewhere?
Well, I’m not sure exactly how to respond to your recent articles on public transit accessibility (July 2007), other than to say, you are referencing only the most advanced and progressive regions while ignoring the bulk of the United States, which appears to be ignoring the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Anyone who has read PN-more formally known as Paraplegia News-will recognize in the title of this letter the name PN’s editor Cliff Crase gave to his own monthly address to his readers. For me, Cliff’s warm and witty “Reasons and Remarks”were always a highlight of the magazine.They reflected the personal style of their author very well.
I first met Cliff at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Seattle in 1996. I was new to the organization and, while enjoying myself thoroughly covering the largest annual wheelchair sports event in one of the most beautiful and delightfully eccentric cities in the country, I [...]
Compiled by Peggy Hathaway
Keeping the Promise to End Unfair Employment Discrimination
Four Congressional leaders have introduced a bill to restore the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to its original intent.
The ADA Restoration Act was introduced in the House and the Senate on July 26, which was the seventeenth anniversary of the ADA with sponsors from both parties in both chambers. Paul J. Tobin, president and CEO of United Spinal Association, said “We are proud that United Spinal Association played a role in obtaining 143 original co-sponsors in the House, and we’re working on persuading even more Representatives to sign on [...]
Degeneration
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recently discovered that a specific form of estrogen can prevent degeneration (a process by which a tissue deteriorates, loses functional activity, and may become converted into or replaced by other kinds of tissue) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) without increasing their risks of developing estrogen-induced cancers. Although there are numerous anti-inflammatory drugs on the market that help prevent MS flare-ups and physical symptoms such as loss of coordination and numbness, there are none that specifically combat degeneration of the brain and spinal cord.
In a recent article published in UCLA Today, [...]
An eleven-part educational series from the University of Alabama Birmingham is available free over the Internet.
By Phil Klebine, MA; James F. Roper, MD; Susan Camp, ARNP; Cheryl Lane, CRNP, CWCN; Beth L. Dinoff, PhD; and Marca L. Sipski, MD
Management of secondary conditions is one of the more significant concerns of individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). With shorter hospitalization lengths of stays following acute injuries, health care professionals have less time to provide patient education directed at preventing and managing the short- and long- term effects of impairment. Although the full effects of these shorter lengths of stay have yet [...]
HO is a devastating condition that turns soft tissue into hardened bone.
By Tiffiny Carlson
It had been six years since the accident that resulted in my becoming a C-6 quadriplegic. And it was one of the most bizarre things I had ever experienced.
I realized something wasn’t quite right when I woke up one morning to find that the skin covering my entire right hip- area and right femur was red, blotchy, and warm. After closer examination, it was pretty clear that the muscles underneath the skin were also inflamed.
Over time, after developing into a harder form of bone matter, [...]
Two decades after a cervical spinal cord injury, Ken Ryno became determined to walk again.
by Michael Lee
Even though he’s been in a wheelchair for the past 23 years, Kenneth Ryno, 46, never let his spinal cord injury get the best of him. His doctors told him he would never walk again. He knew that within time, medicine and technology would improve, giving him and others a chance to walk again, but he wasn’t going to wait around for the next revolution in science technology. He simply focused on himself. “If I can’t get it done now then I’ll figure [...]
North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) is a project of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), a not-for-profit professional organization for MS healthcare providers and researchers. The administrative office of NARCOMS, located at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, maintains the largest voluntary, patient driven Multiple Sclerosis (MS) registry in the world. Over the past 10 years, more than 32,000 people with MS, including over 4,000 veterans, have participated in the registry by submitting health-related data by mail or online. Registry data have already been featured in 17 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 50 scientific posters and presentations.
The purpose [...]
September is National Preparedness Month. Are you ready in the event of an emergency?
By Kelly Rouba
The devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the coastal areas of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the late summer of 2005 is something many of us will never forget. Yet as time passes, the public’s interest in seeing that effective emergency preparedness plans have been implemented in their own towns, and even their own homes, seems to be lessening.
As a reminder to those who have gone on with their busy lives, officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Low unemployment rates offer more opportunities for people with disabilities to find rewarding jobs. And right now the national unemployment rate is at a historic low of 4.5 percent.
The gap between the percentage of people with disabilities who are employed and the percentage of those without disabilities who are employed is 40.3 percentage points, according to the 2005 Annual Disability Status Report. The employment rate of working-age people without disabilities was 77.6 percent in 2003, compared with 37.9 percent for working-age people with disabilities that year.
In 2004, the employment rate for people without disabilities rose 0.2 [...]
By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
The egress solution that the author has chosen is the ScapeWEL® Window Well System.
When building a home with a basement it is important that an emergency escape route be included in the design. In addition to using the stairway, emergency exits can be provided through doors and windows.
When the occupant in the home uses a wheelchair, special thought must be given to basement design. Some homes include elevators, stairway lifts, or vertical platform lifts to transport wheelchair users to and from the basement.
Some homes are designed with walkout basements. These exterior doors create [...]
By Ed Lash
One of the most common complications with multiple sclerosis (MS) is a tricky bladder, primarily regarding frequency and urgency. This may cause some people to limit their fluid intake, thereby reducing the flushing action to eliminate waste products through the urinary tract and often resulting in a low-grade bladder infection, which only makes their bladder problem worse. An average of three pints of fluid goes out through urine daily. If the infection persists, a full-blown bladder infection may occur, which could not only bring on further MS symptoms, but may even lead to a life-threatening kidney infection. The symptoms [...]
By Kathleen M. Muldoon
It’s only September and already I’m excited about the 2008 Olympics. I love everything about the Olympics, not because I’m a jock-in fact, I’m an athletic zero-but because I admire those who are. Even more inspiring for me are the games that begin after the Olympics, the Paralympics- international athletic competitions for athletes from six different physical disability groups. These games follow the closing ceremonies of the Olympics and are hosted by the same country that hosted that year’s Olympics.
Not to be confused with Special Olympics, which are for athletes with developmental disabilities, the Paralympics are competitions [...]
The 2007 United Spinal Navigators
United Spinal Association Helps Give MLB Fans a Showcase of Wheelchair Softball
On July 7 and 8, United Spinal Association helped promote the game of wheelchair softball during the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Fan Fest, which was held this year at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, California.
Wheelchair softball athletes from around the country participated in several games at the venue to demonstrate to MLB fans that you can compete in the great game of baseball even if you use a wheelchair.
Thirteen players from various MLB-sponsored wheelchair softball teams were represented at Fan Fest, including [...]
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