Epilepsy NZ Appoints National Pacific Health Manager Epilepsy New Zealand, the countrys largest epilepsy service provider, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Susan Ravelich, as national Pacific Health Manager. Dr Ravelich joins Epilepsy New Zealand in this role with the support of the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), the world governing body for epilepsy. The IBE has recently provided Epilepsy New Zealand with funding for the project that Dr Ravelich will be undertaking. This project will involve research to be conducted in the Pacific Island region to ascertain the services available to people with epilepsy in the Islands and the treatment, if any, they are currently receiving. Dr Ravelich comes from an extensive background in research and development. Most recently Dr Ravelich has been involved in using cutting-edge technology to enable early detection of prostate cancer, the most common cancer amongst men in Western societies. I am really excited about this position. The organisation is going through some exciting changes and being part of that will benefit the Pacific Island community. I look forward to working with people with epilepsy and developing and understanding how we can best provide services for Pacific people, said Dr Ravelich. Nationally, the … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2012) Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that oxytocin -- a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body -- increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A Yale Child Study Center research team that includes postdoctoral fellow Ilanit Gordon and Kevin Pelphrey, the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry and Psychology, will present the results on May 19 at the International Meeting for Autism Research. "Our findings provide the first, critical steps toward devising more effective treatments for the core social deficits in autism, which may involve a combination of clinical interventions with an administration of oxytocin," said Gordon. "Such a treatment approach will fundamentally improve our understanding of autism and its treatment." Social-communicative dysfunctions are a core characteristic of autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that can have an enormous emotional and financial burden on the affected individual, their families, and society. Gordon said that while a great deal of progress has been made in the field of autism research, there remain few effective treatments and none that directly target the core … Continue reading →

By Joe Rios CREATED 9:47 AM (AP) In most developed countries, children with autism usually are sent to school, where they get special education classes. But in France, they are more often sent to a psychiatrist, where they get talk therapy meant for people with psychological or emotional problems. Things are slowly changing, but not without resistance. Last month, a report by France's top health authority concluded there was no agreement among scientists about whether psychotherapy works for autism, and it was not included in the list of recommended treatments. That provoked an outcry from psychiatrists. Groups including Freudian societies, the World Association of Psychoanalysis and France's Child Institute started a petition calling on the French government to recognize their clinical approach, focused on psychotherapy. "The situation in France is sort of like the U.S. in the 1950s," said Fred Volkmar, a U.S. expert who directs the Child Study Center at Yale University. "The French have a very idiosyncratic view of autism, and for some reason, they are not convinced by the evidence." Behavioral methods, which focus on helping autistic children communicate with others and develop social skills, are the norm in Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States and elsewhere … Continue reading →

When Mark Jameson walks across the stage May 30 to receive his diploma from Chapin High School, it will be the grand finale of an educational journey that took him from a near-silent toddler and frustrated first grader to a loquacious and personable young man. The milestone will be cheered by his family, parents Donnie and Theresa Jameson, and brothers, Matthew and Michael, and the dozens of teenage friends Mark has come to know as he learned to master a regular school and take control of his autism. There will be his football team friends, whose birth dates he knows by heart. (He demonstrated that feat at a football camp talent show Lets just say that overloaded my memory, Mark noted.) There will be his teachers, who championed him and his classmates who nominated him for prom king and crowned him Biggest Flirt among the senior superlatives. But it may be Mother Theresa, as 19-year-old Mark jokingly dubs his mom, who will register the most emotion. It was she who noticed early on that her second son, born 20 months after older brother Matthew, was not focusing on her face or her movements, as most infants do at birth. It … Continue reading →

LOCAL stroke services which are currently split between at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital and the Worcestershire Royal could all be based in Worcester under a controversial proposal to be discussed on Tuesday (May 22). Although a number of options were outlined for the meeting of the Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), the recommendation is to centralise the services for the whole county in Worcester, removing those now based in Redditch. Alternatives included keeping the provision the way it is at the moment, split between Redditch and Worcester, and one to move them all to the Alex. It follows a review of local hospital-based stroke services to see how they could be improved for the whole county. Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid slammed the decision, saying Redditch would have been a better option than Worcester. "If stroke services are to be centralised, then the Alexandra Hospital is surely the best option. "It would build upon local established capacity for stroke care, particularly with the country's first specialist Life After Stroke Centre nearby, and help build a centre of excellence in this field in Worcestershire." Simon Hairsnape is the Chief Operating Officer for Wyre Forest Clinical Commissioning Group and Redditch and Bromsgrove … Continue reading →

Stroke centre opens in RAK Ahmed Shaaban / 20 May 2012 The specialised Acute Stroke Unit set up at the RAK Hospital will be a boon to patients since only three per cent of patients with brain attacks manage to reach the hospital on time for effective treatment. A stroke or brain attack occurs when a blood clot blocks the blood flow in a vessel or artery or when a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain. It is critical that the patient be attended to within one to three hours, or the Golden Hour in order to reverse the damage. Beyond that, the damage may be permanent, said Dr Hillol K Pal, Head - Neurosurgery department at RAK Hospital. The consequences of a stroke can be cruel, lifelong, painful and impairing, leading to loss of livelihood or family life, drastically affecting the quality of life or causing immediate death. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Pal said there was a need to start the stroke unit because 25 per cent of the Ras Al Khaimah population is diabetic and also suffer from hypertension, which means one in four people are at risk. Since the start … Continue reading →

Guest Columnist Every day in the United States, more than 2,000 people suffer a stroke. Stroke is also the leading cause of long-term disability in this country, and remains of particular concern in the South, where higher rates of stroke and stroke mortality persist. MANY OF US may know a loved one, a friend, a co-worker or a public figure who has suffered a stroke. And we wonder: What will life be like now for this person? Will he or she ever work again? Will he or she ever live independently again? Stroke, after all, is a brain injury. A clot forms in a vessel of the brain, blocking the flow of blood to brain cells. These cells die and, as a result, abilities housed in that part of the brain are lost. But these abilities are not necessarily lost forever. Care after stroke is dependent upon two things. First is getting the stroke patient to the hospital as soon as possible if you suspect a stroke. Treatment given within the first three hours of stroke onset can bust the clot and help patients regain more function, more quickly. Second is ensuring that patients begin stroke rehabilitation as soon as … Continue reading →

DALLAS, May 20 (UPI) -- Getting treatment quickly can make all the difference after a stroke, so it is important to be able to recognize the signs of stroke, a U.S. physician says. Dr. Mark Goldberg of The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said not enough people recognize the symptoms of a stroke, and as a consequence only 5 percent of stroke victims receive an effective clot-busting drug called tPA, which should be administered within 3 hours of a stroke. Sudden problems with vision, walking and speaking are stroke indicators, as well as sudden paralysis, droopiness, or numbness on one side of the face or body, Goldberg said. Another potential symptom of stroke is a sudden, severe headache that can be accompanied by vomiting or dizziness. The neurologist said most strokes don't immediately render people unconscious, so many victims simply think they are tired and in need of a nap. Stroke-victim advocates have developed the acronym FAST to describe both what should be done and when it should done. FAST stands for: -- Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? -- Arms: Ask the person to raise their arms parallel to … Continue reading →