71 gazette English good.qxd

Hamaspik Gazette
December
2005 . • Issue
IssueNo.
No. 71
24
May 2010
News of Hamaspik Agencies and General Health
New Shvesterheim Hosts Mezuzah-Placing Event
Parents, staff converge on Borough Park home to mount sacred scrolls
You never get a second chance
to make that first impression—or set
that first mezuzah to the front door.
After all, like main entrances,
first impressions can tell you everything you need to know—especially
when that first impression is not fingers wrapping palms but nails piercing wood.
That’s why Hamaspik of Kings
County recently held a ceremonial
mezuzah placing on new front door
of the equally new 38th St.
Shvesterheim IRA, the agency’s
newest IRA.
At 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday,
March 17, 2010, over 50 Hamaspik
staff, consumers and their parents
gathered at 1115 38th St. in the
Borough Park neighborhood of
Brooklyn for a traditional kevias
mezuzah, or mezuzah placing.
Guests first socialized at an outdoor reception under balmy blue
skies, chatting around tables and
enjoying catered food and background music.
The event officially began as
Hamaspik of Kings County
Executive Director Joel Freund
Driving the point home: Kings County Executive Director Joel Freund (left) stands by as Mr.
Meyer Wertheimer helps his father attach a mezuzah to the front door of 1115 38th Street
Putting Anti-Allergy Steps In Your Spring
The Gazette looks at allergy-season prevention and protection
Spring is the air—and so is
pollen. Lots of it, as a matter of fact.
Pollen, those tiny egg-shaped
grains that proliferate in droves
come spring, is Nature’s way of rejuvenating itself. With the onset of the
warm spring season, billions of
plants release clouds of pollen into
the wind, which scatters them for
miles around to pollinate other
plants of the same species, allowing
them to reproduce.
Trouble is, a lot of people are
allergic to pollen. You may be one
of them. (And you may not even
know it—see side bar.)
With the spring season—and the
allergy season—upon us, the Gazette
takes a look at the most common
allergies of spring (and beyond), and
how to avoid or at least minimize
them in the first place.
What are allergies?
Allergies are caused when various parts and systems of the body
react adversely to contact with or
ingestion of an endless variety of
substances. Common allergy-triggering items include wheat, milk,
pollen and dust. Individuals in
extreme cases have been known to
be allergic to virtually everything,
necessitating the constant wearing of
a protective body suit and air filter.
There is even a rare allergy to light,
forcing victims to literally stay in the
dark most of the time.
The most common symptoms of
exposure to allergenic substances are
sneezing, itchy and/or runny nose,
watery eyes, itchy throat, skin rash
and indigestion.
More serious
symptoms include allergic rhinitis,
or hay fever, allergic conjunctivitis,
or eye allergies, difficulty breathing
and/or asthma.
Severe allergies, such as allergy
to dairy products, can cause death.
Allergies are generally manageable with a combination of prevention and medication.
With springtime, however, the
estimated 35 million or more
Americans who suffer from seasonal
allergies are gearing up for another
pollen-heavy season.
Mis-“tree”-ting
your health
Spring allergies usually are
caused by pollen from trees, which
Continued on Page E10
asked guests to gather around as the
first mezuzah was to be placed.
The honor of placing the first,
largest and most prominent
mezuzah, that of the front door, went
to Rabbi Israel Wertheimer, a
Holocaust survivor and distinguished father of Hamaspik founder
and Executive Director Mr. Meyer
Wertheimer.
After reciting the religious blessing, Rabbi Wertheimer affixed the
sizable scroll case to the doorpost
with a hammer, pounding in the two
nails with several hearty blows.
Afterwards, a silver tray containing about two dozen smaller mezuzos was passed around, with grateful
parents and staffers honored with
mounting the scrolls to the doorposts
of the IRA’s various bedrooms,
offices and other chambers.
One consumer, whose parents
were unable to attend, was thrilled as
Hamaspik staff psychologist Dr.
Alan Blau gladly agreed to put a
brand-new mezuzah on the door of
her equally brand-new bedroom.
Continued on Page E5
I N S I D E
*
Turning 13 at
Hamaspik — E2, E6
*
The Road to
Piscataway — E3
*
A Hamaspik
Passover — E8
*
What’s Happening In
Your Health — E11, 12
Hamaspik Hosts Bar Mitzvah Party
for Special-Needs Child and Family
Event furthers agency’s mission of communal inclusion
Hamaspik has always gone the
extra mile for its consumers, and the
13-year-old lad is no different.
The handsome young man,
whose winning personality shines
through his severe conditions, was
the center of attention this past
Thursday, April 8 at 58 Route 59 in
Monsey.
That’s the address of Hamaspik
Terrace, the classy social hall on the
premises of Hamaspik of Rockland
County’s offices—and occasions
like this are exactly why Hamaspik
Terrace exists. (Less than two
months ago, Hamaspik Terrace hosted a surprise Saturday-night Bar
Mitzvah party for a profoundly challenged boy, who squealed in utter
joy upon being surprised by his
entire summer-camp direct care
team.)
The young man has been a consumer at Hamaspik’s Grandview
Briderheim for over five years now.
And as his 13th birthday recently
approached, Hamaspik arranged his
Bar Mitzvah party.
During the week approaching
said
Thursday,
Grandview
Briderheim manager Mr. Joel Rubin
busily oversaw catering, live music,
guest lists and other arrangements.
At 6:00 p.m., the young man’s
family—loving father and mother,
supportive siblings and doting
grandmother—appeared at the
Terrace. The consumer, though nonverbal, radiated delight and appreciation as his relatives greeted and
embraced him on his big day.
As the crowd took their seats
and the Bar Mitzvah boy and his
father sat down at the hall’s head
table, Hamaspik Director of Public
Affairs Joseph Landau thanked
guests for attending.
Speaking from the podium,
Landau commented on the enhanced
aura of spirituality present around
individuals with special needs—a
spirituality that more than compensates for their disabilities.
During the evening’s four-course
meal, the boy’s grateful father also
took the stand to share words of
thanks and appreciation for his son’s
improvement
since
entering
Grandview.
Other speakers included Shaya
Wercberger, Hamaspik’s Director of
Residential Services, who thanked a
list of staffers for their ongoing dedication, and Mr. Rubin himself, who
commented on the personal enrichment and growth gained from his
line of work.
For a round of entertainment,
Kiryas Joel, New York community
member Mr. Sholom Lazer Dym
took the microphone to deliver a
string of one-liners and word plays
that had the crowd in stitches.
In between speakers and courses, hardworking Hamaspik Direct
Care Worker (and professional
singer) Chezky Levy, backed by
vocalists (and fellow Hamaspik
employees) and a live band, set an
appropriate mood with his renditions
of several popular tunes.
Throughout it all, a Hamaspik
Direct Care Worker stood by, gently
but ever-vigilantly protecting the
precious consumer from himself.
The event wound down at 9:00
p.m., as happy family members,
guests and Hamaspik staffers slowly
made their way to the door.
If you hadn’t known that the Bar
Mitzvah boy was a child with serious special needs, you would have
never noticed anything out of the
ordinary—which, at Hamaspik, is
exactly the way it should be.
A cut above: At the elegant head table, a proud father demonstrates the slicing of
the ceremonial challah while his thoughtful son absorbs
OMRDD considering dropping
annual PPD shots
Tedious anti-TB requirement would be waived for special-needs consumers, caregivers
If you’re looking for a simple,
effective health care reform proposal
that’s short on prose and long on
practicability, look no further than…
Albany?
A proposal by the New York
State OMRDD, would do just that—
by eliminating the annual PPD test
for special-needs consumers and
caregivers who interact directly with
them.
The tedious test currently gener
Verification of PPD Test
Last Name
First Name
Date of Test
Administered on
Date Read
Measured
Read By:
Administered by
For Your Information
A Hamaspik PPD form
PPD stands for purified protein derivative. The test is done to find out if you have been infected with tuberculosis.
There is no special preparation for this test.
The test site (usually the forearm) is cleansed. The PPD extract is then injected under the top layer of skin, causing a
blister to form on the skin.
The reaction will take 48 - 72 hours to develop. You must return to your health care provider within that time to have
the area checked. This will determine whether you have had a significant reaction to the PPD test. A reaction is
E2
ates hours of doctor-scheduling tests
for consumers and staff, not to mention piles of paperwork—the tracking of which also consumes countless hours.
The PPD test requirement was
originally mandated in the era of
large, overcrowded institutions for
the mentally and developmentally
disabled—frequently squalor-filled
facilities where diseases such as
tuberculosis could, and did, spread
like wildfire.
Nowadays, however, tuberculosis epidemics have been virtually
eliminated thanks to decades of adequate public health programs, rendering fears of infections in today’s
group homes no more substantial
than those in society at large.
As a result, an OMRDD panel
has proposed to permanently eliminate the requirement.
Besides trimming a sizable
chunk of bureaucracy, the proposal
would also dispose of the outdated
May ‘10 | Hamaspik Gazette
four-prong needle prick, a skin test
which is inspected 48 hours after
administration for signs of infection.
That test has been commonly
replaced with a far more comfortable
injection.
The OMRDD would now merely require the new shot—which
needs administration once, not annually—for consumers receiving state
services and direct care workers
serving them. The only exception
would be for those with signs of TB
infection or recent contact with carriers.
While the proposal is only a proposal now, with the OMRDD having
requested feedback from the public
on the plan up to May 10, 2010, it is
expected to be adopted without
protest, resulting in a huge reduction
in bureaucracy at Hamaspik alone,
let alone other agencies.
Whether Albany can find more
bureaucracy-busting, funds-saving
reforms remains to be seen.
Taking the cake: This chocolate-tefillin-topped pastry
helped complete the celebratory atmosphere
From the heart: Wercberger (left) and Rubin (right)
share their feelings on the occasion
Fosse and Arcadian IRAs Pass Latest State Audit
Inspections of IRAs newly emphasize fire safety, find homes in proper working order
Want to know what it’s like to
live in a Hamaspik group home?
Just ask an OMRDD inspector.
Answering that question is just what
their job is in the first place.
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010,
two such officials walked through
two Hamaspik IRAs’ front doors to
conduct their regular state-mandated
reviews of the premises.
The Arcadian Briderheim, located at 8 Arcadian Drive in Wesley
Hills, as well as the Fosse
Shvesterheim at Airmont’s 1 Fosse
Court, were subjected to their regular scrutiny, this time by veteran
OMRDD
surveyor
Barbara
Alexander.
State inspections typically comb
through a group home’s paperwork,
including records of the daily activities of both consumers and direct
care staff, and all consumer medical
and financial records, to ensure that
the group home is satisfactorily discharging its all-important, state-conferred and ’round-the-clock responsibilities of caring for its charges.
Filling out the state agency’s
Form 400 upon completing both
inspections, Ms. Alexander gave the
two group homes the following
equivalent grade: “The house is
beautifully maintained and provides
a very comfortable setting for the
eight gentlemen [or: ladies] who
reside in the home… Staff are
respectful to and knowledgeable
about the individuals they work
with.”
Additionally, in her Fosse report,
Ms. Alexander added, “The ladies
who reside in the home express a
great deal of contentment and satisfaction with their residential settings.”
The audits were especially
notable in light of the state’s heightened scrutiny for all things fire safety-related and the resulting tougher
regulations.
These renewed targets of scrutiny include frequency and efficacy of
fire drills, adequate and effective
evacuation plans, and on-site fire
safety measures like strategically
placed fire extinguishers, clearly
marked exit signs, and all necessary
fire-safety documentation.
The following day, e-mails were
sent by Executive Director Meyer
Wertheimer congratulating the entire
staffs of both homes, including
Fosse Home Manager Mrs. Landau,
Arcadian Home Manager Solomon
Lebowitz, Maintenance Manager
Israel Katina and Director of
Residential
Services
Shaya
Wercberger.
Also playing a critical role in the
audits’ positive outcome were the
homes’ nursing staff: Riva Naiman,
RN and Evie Steinhardt, RN,
assigned respectively to Arcadian
and Fosse.
For the inspectors, the visit captured but one day out of 365 in the
lives of both IRAs.
But for
Hamaspik, it’s a labor of 24-hour, 7day love—fueled mainly by the
exemplary “front line” Direct Care
Workers—that keeps Fosse and
Arcadian operating without a
hitch.
Hamaspik of Orange County EI
Program Passes Rigorous IPRO Audit
Home safe home: Thanks to yet another successful audit, consumers at Hamaspik’s
Fosse IRA, pictured here, can sleep securely
Hamaspik of Orange County’s Early Intervention Program, under the
leadership of Director Mrs. Leah Klar, passed a painstaking, important
audit this past Thursday, March 25, 2010.
The audit, conducted by the independent non-profit Island Peer
Review Organization, or IPRO, found a meticulously maintained program
that met all state requirements for its consumers.
The successful results are due to the hard work of Mrs. Klar, backed
by Special Projects Coordinator Mrs. Brenda Katina and the entire hardworking EI staff. Congratulations!
The Long Road to Piscataway
For the Hamaspik family, making it there is part of making it
It’s a long, lonely road to
Piscataway. It’s a longer road to a
Hamaspik weekend retreat.
It begins with a child, or multiple children, with special needs. Or
with a traumatic brain injury that
radically redefines a family. It
never ends.
It’s
adding
neurotherapy
appointments and orthotic fittings to
the list of errands. It’s becoming
familiar with the rest of the hospital.
It’s drifting from family and community.
Lights occasionally appear
along the way, torches illuminating
the path ahead: A doctor who cares,
a neighbor who helps, a stranger
who knows. Otherwise it’s dark.
A Hamaspik beneficiary is
stricken with Tourette’s.
The
agency fought for him for years.
Today he is covered by Medicaid.
Tonight he dances.
It’s Saturday night, March 6,
2010 as live music pumps into the
atmosphere of the Radisson Hotel.
The man is surrounded by his peers
on the road to Piscataway. He has
arrived.
Among those men is a teacher
of men, a stalwart father and family
man. His child has nothing more
than a mild case of spastic cerebral
palsy and related disabilities.
Along his way to Piscataway,
the biggest test in his instructional
career was not one he gave his stu-
dents but one G-d gave him. And
his most important lesson was one
he learned, not taught.
It was on the road to Piscataway
that signs held up by Hamaspik told
him and his family where to turn.
Tonight he stands before his broth-
ers and shares his sojourn.
One such brother is a severely
retarded boy’s father. He will never
hear his son call him Dad. The best
the boy can do is screech—yet a
rosh yeshivah reported palpable
kedushah, he said.
Every road has its highway
patrol, its traffic cops. The road to
Piscataway has its own too. These
are the husband-and-wife Hamaspik
team who make the annual family
getaway possible.
Their own path to Piscataway
included a miracle on the FDR, they
allow: A bottleneck once threatened
Shabbos adherence, but a prayer by
their special-needs daughter parted
the traffic sea.
They are imperfect vehicles of
perfect souls, the pilgrims to
Piscataway are reminded in speech
after inspiring speech. We are but
caretakers. We care. Sometimes Gd takes. Yet we drive on.
For there are many long roads to
Piscataway. Every parent has his or
her own, each with its own roadblocks. But they all make it there.
And when they do, they share how
they made it—and how they continue to make it.
Because their paths may converge once a year on a pleasant little
hotel in New Jersey. But the road to
Piscataway doesn’t end there, but
continues on forever towards the
horizon.
Hamaspik Gazette May ‘10
E3
Bringing Passover Home
Hamaspik group residences meet consumer needs at Passover holiday
Few holidays evoke such
enchanting luxuriance as does
Passover and its axis, the family
Seder table, at which children and
adults in their crisp finest encircle a
tableau of tasteful opulence, a forest
of gold, silver, crystal, velvet and
silk fit for kings and queens.
That’s the picture of the quintessential Seder, or at least its spirit—a
spirit that was captured in ample
measure at every Hamaspik group
home this Passover.
The Seder’s every nuanced component was on full display at the two
Sedarim held at every Hamaspik
IRA. From universally accepted
ground rules to endlessly variant
communal and familial customs,
plans for each Hamaspik Seder were
tweaked by diligent staff to satisfy
consumers’ every exacting tradition.
But the Seder (Hebrew for
“Order”), the regimented, symbolism-rife ritual meal that marks the
first two of the holiday’s eight
nights, was just part of the total
Hamaspik Passover experience—an
experience that, for most group
homes, began around Purim and
ended with the post-holiday stowage
of the last Passover utensil for the
next 11 months.
And an experience that con-
veyed the Passover spirit, and the
Hamaspik touch, throughout.
At the Ready
Any cook will tell you that
before you cook, you have to clean.
And what is true for a tidy kitchen
workspace is infinitely all the more
true when you’re trying to cook up
Passover in a home, primarily due to
the Biblical prohibition of leavened
items in the home come Passover.
That’s why all Hamaspik group
homes began what the vernacular
would call spring cleaning around
one month before Pesach [pronounced PAY-sahkh], as Passover is
traditionally called.
Each residence carried out
cleaning activities tailored to the
function level of its consumers.
“It wasn’t easy. We worked
hard. Each one had a job,” says
Shulem Felberbaum, who, together
with his wife, is a full-time on-site
staffer at the Concord Briderheim,
noting that Hamaspik consumers
made all the difference.
Residents of the Forshay
Briderheim, for example, joined the
fun by emptying their bedroom
drawers of the junk that tends to collect in drawers. They also assisted
in vacuuming out their home’s transport van. Both tasks were later
topped off by a professional cleaning
crew.
At the 38th St. Shvesterheim,
Assistant Manager Mrs. Landau
reports that “We had wonderful
help” in the form of Marisol, one of
38th’s capable maids. With music
playing, consumers got into the
cleaning spirit as they got their
rooms into Passover shape.
However, “it didn’t take long,” Mrs.
Landau adds, noting that among the
girls’ daily activities are clean-up
responsibilities.
That spic-and-span spirit was in
evidence at the South 9th Inzerheim,
where four huge plastic tubs filled
with sudsy warm water rendered the
consumers’ collections of Lego
blocks and other washable toys free
of any caked-on crumbs. Standing
over the oversized bins in adorable
aprons, the consumers restored each
item to a Pesach-perfect pristine
state.
Once finished with the toys, the
girls of South 9th turned their attention to their dining room, where they
went over every piece of furniture
with a fine-toothed comb, from
china closet to chairs to closet and
everything between.
Small wonder each Hamaspik
home looked like a palace when
Passover arrived—“The same as
every year,” notes Acres Home
Manager Lipa Laufer.
“They did everything!” says
Dinev ICF Home Manager Mrs.
Weiss, proudly recounting her capable consumers’ cleaning efforts.
“Like every Jewish home.”
Everything in Order
The tables were set. The candles
were burning. Plump, satin-trimmed
pillows, evocative of royalty, were
appropriately placed on each chair.
As consumers stood or sat around
their Seder tables, dressed in brandnew clothes for which they had
shopped with their caregivers, Direct
Care Workers lovingly led their tender charges through the hallowed
institution that is the Seder.
Among the Seder’s central features are the Four Questions, a FAQ
of sorts that exemplify the Seder’s
theme of interactive Jewish history
lesson. The quartet of queries, titled
by their famous opening phrase Mah
Nishtanah, or “Why is this [night]
different,” comes early in the
Seder—and is a vehicle of immense
pride to parents when children recite
it by heart.
Thus, across Hamaspik’s group
homes, scenes of pride were played
out as consumers communicated the
Mah Nishtanah to the best of their
abilities—only the parental pride
was felt by staff, the next best thing
in many consumers’ lives.
As the Seders proceeded, matzah
was broken, the “Bitter Herbs”—
usually ground raw horseradish—
were consumed in tolerable amounts
by consumers capable of handling it,
and a full-course meal was served.
And throughout it all, that palpable,
exciting spirit of Passover—a sense
of spiritual closeness with one’s
ancestral identity, and the noble,
regal pride that it triggers—was felt
and expressed by each consumer in
his or her own way.
“They all sang and danced,”
recalls Mrs. Gutman, a full-time
staffer (along with her husband) at
Hamaspik’s Grandview Briderheim
who attended and helped lead that
IRA’s seder. “They smiled and
clapped and got so involved... There
was a lot of laughter. Everything
was so happy. They were so excited
about everything.”
A lengthy meal that goes well
into the wee hours of the morning is
part and parcel of the experiential
workshop that is the Seder. As such,
most Hamaspik group homes report
completing their Seders well after
1:00 a.m., which some closing up
shop at three in the morning, eventualities that had been planned for by
having consumers nap soundly the
preceding afternoon.
Getting Out and About
Ready, set…: At a Seder table set down to the tiniest details (note the matzah-patterned napkins), a Concord
Briderheim consumer gets into the Passover spirit about one hour before the holiday’s start
E4
May ‘10 | Hamaspik Gazette
The Intermediate Days of
Passover, which occupy the holiday’s four middle days, are defined
by time spent with family in activities intended to heighten the holiday
spirit of happiness—for example,
going to an amusement park.
That’s why Hamaspik organized
a grand group trip to Fun Time
America on Thursday, April 1, 2010.
For an entire day, the entire
sprawling indoor facility was rented
exclusively for usage and enjoyment
by Hamaspik consumers, families
and some Hamaspik staff.
Charter buses filled with gleeful
thrill-seekers departed Thursday
morning from the Borough Park and
Williamsburg neighborhoods of
Brooklyn, as well as from upstate
New York’s Monsey and Kiryas Yoel
communities, all home to substantial
populations of Hamaspik consumers.
In addition to the convenient
buses, which provided direct transportation to and from Fun Time
America for those Hamaspik community members in said population
centers, numerous Hamaspik benefi-
Continued on Page E5
Mezuzah-Placing Event
Continued from Page 1
Within 30 minutes, the tray was
empty.
After all the mezuzos were put
up, the crowd reassembled in the
backyard for a handful of speeches.
Microphone in hand, Mr. Freund
addressed the crowd by first extensively thanking Mr. Wertheimer for
“all his hard work,” highlighting the
executive director’s passion for
Following in our fathers’ doorsteps: Rabbi Aron Malik
watches as his father posts a mezuzah at the office of
his own grandson, Home Manager Yomtov Malik
Continued from Page 4
ciaries and their families arrived via
private transportation, with dozens
of minivans and cars rolling out to
New Jersey from surrounding areas
as well.
As the buses and other vehicles
pulled into Fun Time America’s
parking lot, the excitement mounted
as travelers got out and entered the
facility. Standing just inside the
entrance were Hamaspik’s capable,
hardworking
Special
Events
Coordinator Mrs. Brenda Katina and
Hamaspik of Orange County EI
Director Mrs. Leah Klar, who graciously volunteers her assistance at
Hamaspik events.
Accompanied by a uniformed
Fun Time employee, Mrs. Katina
and Mrs. Klar smiled and greeted
every arrival, providing each with a
wristband and a packet of tokens to
be used for the center’s numerous
coin-operated games. The arrivals
quickly collected their entry items
and dispersed throughout the facility, where hours of fun lay ahead.
For the next two-and-a-half
hours, until the completion of the
morning shift (Hamaspik scheduled
two groups of visitors), the young
(and young at heart) could be seeing
trying their hands at any of Fun
Time’s dozens of prize-generating
games of chance—little delights that
had visitors attempting to catch flying balls in cups, snare stuffed animals with hooks and so on.
To the left of the entrance area, a
warren of indoor rides thrilled visitors. The center of the rectangular
facility was occupied by what is
billed as New Jersey’s largest indoor
Lazer Tag arena, a venue that was
extensively enjoyed by the young
Hamaspik visitors.
To the right of the entrance were
two lunch areas and a cafeteria, all
of which were in constant use by
Hamaspik guests who flitted in and
out to grab bites to eat. Leaving no
stone unturned, Hamaspik had put
out ample fruits, water bottles,
chocolate puddings and other light
food items to keep guests’ hunger
and thirst at bay. By day’s end, most
items were gone.
Further past the food area were
additional attractions, including a
motion simulator ride that proved
popular to the Hamaspik crowd, a
rock-climbing wall and several other
video games.
All three areas of the facility
were soon filled with laughing,
happy parents and children shuttling
from ride to ride and game to
game—mothers with little girls in
tow and fathers proudly and freely
strolling about with their sons with
special needs.
At 12:30 p.m., the first of two
performances by The Twins was
held in Fun Time’s private-events
ballroom. That ample side space
was soon filled as the two identical
young performers, back by popular
demand, thrilled the Hamaspik
crowd with their unicycling, juggling and clowning antics.
At 2:30 p.m., the first group of
arrivals reassembled on their
assigned buses for the sad but satisfied journey back home as the second wave of Hamaspik guests—
these most IRA residents—arrived.
A second performance by The
Twins at 3:00 p.m. brought down the
doing whatever possible to help individuals with special needs.
A
father
of
a
new
“Shvesterheimer” then took the mike
to speak at length. The grateful parent thanked Hamaspik for helping
his daughter in ways well above and
beyond the call of its daily duties,
and praised the organization for its
“love and patience.”
Mr. Wertheimer then rose to
remark that Hamaspik’s staffers in
general, and Direct Care Workers in
particular, not only give but also get
as they serve their charges, this in
the form of increased personal
growth and merit.
Mr. Wertheimer also thanked
Mr. Freund, 38th St. Shvesterheim
home manager Yomtov Malik and
Hamaspik home designer Moses
Wertheimer, as well as South 9th
Inzerheim Assistant Manager Mrs.
Walter.
Wrapping up the remarks, Mr.
Malik took the stand to credit both
Messrs. Wertheimer and Freund for
“their hard work and achievement,”
also mentioning the Hamaspik fami-
Rallying ‘round: a table set for the festive reception
ly.
“We couldn’t wait any longer,”
Malik later told the Gazette.
Mezuzos are generally put up
within 30 days of occupying the
premises. The event, he added, was
geared for “family”—meaning par-
ents, relatives and Hamaspik staff.
“We’re all family,” he said.
Mezuzah actually means “doorpost” in Hebrew, but refers to the
sacred scroll inside the case mounted
on doorframes.
Pre-Pesach Prep: Orange County Day Hab consumers enjoy a matzah workshop
house again, as consumers clapped,
cheered and thrilled to their astonishing feats of acrobatics, balance
and object-passing.
The group remained on the
premises until 5:30 p.m., at which
point a thoroughly satisfying day
came to a close.
The remaining Intermediate
Days of Friday and Sunday
(Saturday, being the Sabbath, saw no
travel or activity), were marked by
various group homes taking in visits
to venues such as local lakes, malls,
Passover-equipped restaurants, petting zoos, and even the New York
Aquarium at Brooklyn’s Coney
Island beach area.
Wrapping It Up
Another tradition of the Seder is
to “steal” the Afikoman, the piece of
matzah that must be eaten at the
meal’s end—a piece of matzah traditionally held for “ransom” by household children (so that they remain
awake to the Seder’s end and) so
that they might garner a bicycle, doll
or some other desired toy or prize.
As such, many Hamaspik grouphome consumers, who had eagerly
participated in the fun tradition,
found themselves going shopping
during the Intermediate Days to collect their promised recompense—a
children’s video for one, a new
Purim costume for next year for
another, and even a romp through
Tuvia’s, a popular Monsey Judaica
store, for a third.
With the fall of night on
Tuesday, April 6, the holiday came
to a weary but happy close. As one
consumer from a tragically broken,
dysfunctional home said, “This was
the best Pesach I ever had!”
The
sentiment
reflected
Hamaspik’s ongoing drive to provide its consumers with the best—a
drive captured by meticulous attention to family-oriented detail across
all Hamaspik group homes, at
Passover, and all year ‘round.
Hamaspik Gazette | May ‘10
E5
Like Father, Like Son
Meir Shalom Mauda celebrates Bar Mitzvah with “brothers”
Who is Meir Shalom Mauda
(and what does he have to do with
Hamaspik), you ask?
Why, he’s one of the best friends
of the residents of the Forshay
Briderheim. He’s been around them
since he’s eight, as a matter of fact.
The Forshay consumers know him
and love him like a brother.
Oh, and he’s also the son of
long-time Forshay Briderheim
Direct Care Workers Mr. and Mrs.
Ayalon Mauda (pronounced mahOO-da), who serve as the home’s
live-in couple, under the capable
direction of home manager Mrs.
Sarah Fisher. (Mrs. Mauda also
serves as Forshay’s full-time chef.)
For the Maudas, caring is the
family business.
Growing up in the shadow of his
compassionate,
non-judgmental
father and mother, Meir Shalom (and
his siblings) can boast a childhood
featuring none of the fear, discomfort or preconceived notions that
socially stigmatize individuals with
special needs. For him, there was,
and is, no “us” and “them”—there is
only home, and the worthy people
who live in it.
Upon becoming a man in his
own right at the pivotal age of 13, it
was only natural that young Mr.
Mauda celebrate his coming of age
with the beloved members of his
extended family.
“They felt like it was their own
brother’s Bar Mitzvah,” proudly
notes the elder Mr. Mauda. “My son
virtually grew up with them.”
Well before Meir Shalom’s 13th
birthday, which fell on April 7th,
2010, the Maudas sent out party
invitations to family and friends,
A family affair: Forshay Briderheim consumers pose with Meir Shalom and his father
(right) in front of their residence…
including, of course, separately
mailed envelopes to each Forshay
resident, formally requesting their
participation in the family affair.
At the Nikolsburg Hall social
venue in Monsey, consumers took
their rightful places around satinbedecked tables as the cherished
family members that they are, enjoying the fine cuisine and upbeat
atmosphere just like any other guest.
Later, the residents joined the
crowd in spirited singing and dancing, with one even taking to the
microphone to merrily sing along to
everyone’s delight. And as the event
wound down, no consumer left
before dancing with the “Bar
Mitzvah boy,” as well as paying a
visit to the head table, where Meir
Shalom presided over the proceed-
ings like a prince, to bestow personal blessings upon the young man.
Additionally, the junior Mauda
participated in the Torah reading the
following Saturday. Following said
services at a local synagogue, the
Forshay residents and the crowd
joined the Mauda family for an elegant full-course meal complete with
“L’chaim!” toasts and good cheer.
“You have no idea how much
they were waiting for this Bar
Mitzvah,” Mr. Mauda says of his
charges. “Their simcha [joy—ed.]
was so great and loud”—which is
only understandable. After all, when
you give special-needs consumers
the communal integration they need
to thrive, they respond in kind—like
the important part of the family that
they are.
...and with the Bar Mitzvah boy (center) at the hall
King County Consumers
Enjoy Unseasonably
Warm Weather
While the Big Apple baked in
unexpectedly high temperatures the
first week of April, Hamaspik of
Kings County consumers lost no
time getting out and about to enjoy
the balmy atmosphere.
Having completed their daily
habilitation goals, seven regular consumers at the Hamaspik of Kings
County Day Habilitation center, pictured here with three accompanying
Direct Care Workers, gladly agreed
to exploit the irresistible opportunity
and take to the pleasant outdoors.
Seen in this photo, the young
men imbibe the glorious weather and
the breathtaking views of the historic Williamsburg Bridge, a short
hop, skip and jump away from their
well-appointed quarters on Division
Avenue.
“We have a schedule, but a lot of
times we can work around it,” says
Day
Hab
Manager
Israel
Lichtenstein, telling the Gazette that
the consumers normally enjoy a
walk across one of the area’s bridges
to Manhattan once a week come
spring and summer. “The weather
was beautiful, so why not?”
We couldn’t agree more.
E6
The boys of summer: Direct Care Workers Yoel Appel (left), Moshe Samuel (third from left) and Motti Tirnauer
(right), and a group of consumers, take in the warmth whilst basking in the cool shade (and cool shades?).
May ‘10 | Hamaspik Gazette
1
In the Know
All about… cerebral palsy
The Hamaspik Gazette is
pleased to present In the Know: A
new column of concise, comprehensive and current overviews on
dozens of disorders, diseases and
diagnoses. We’ll be looking at a different health subject every month.
When you need to know, all you need
to know will be… In the Know.
What is cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy (suh-REEB-ruhl
PALL-zee) is brain damage that
affects movement. Cerebral means
“of the cerebrum,” a part of the
brain. Palsy means “disorder of
movement or posture.”
Put otherwise, cerebral palsy is a
brain problem that causes musclecontrol problems. The disorder is
not caused by problems in the muscles or nerves.
Cerebral palsy was first known
as “Little’s Disease.” It was first
identified in a research paper by
English orthopedic surgeon Dr.
William John Little in 1861. It later
became known as “cerebral paralysis.” In 1887, Sir William Osler
popularized the term cerebral palsy.
Today, cerebral palsy is known
to be mostly caused by damage to
the motor control centers of the
developing brain during pregnancy,
childbirth, or after birth up to about
age three.
In turn, conventional wisdom
dictates that this damage is mostly
caused by temporary lack of oxygen
flow to an otherwise healthy brain
before or during childbirth.
However, “it’s not true,” says
Ruth Nass, MD, a professor of child
neurology and child and adolescent
psychiatry at NYU School of
Medicine. Dr. Nass notes that MRI
scans of most CP newborns will
reveal pre-existing brain structure
problems not caused by oxygen deprivation or other medical errors.
“Most cerebral palsy cases are
caused by genetic disorders and
brain malformations,” Dr. Nass
explains.
Dr. Nass further points out that
cases of cerebral palsy indeed
caused by hypoxic aschemic insult,
or injury to the brain due to temporary lack of oxygen during childbirth, are readily identifiable when
the newborn requires resuscitation in
the delivery room, or feeds poorly, is
floppy, lethargic or otherwise sick in
the nursery.
However, viral infections of an
infant’s brain, or blunt-force impacts
to the head, even in adulthood, can
also cause cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy causes many
symptoms, including weak muscles,
slow reflexes, slow growth, lowered
coordination, joint and bone deformities, balance problems, depth perception problems, walking problems, vision problems, hearing problems, speaking problems, involuntary movement or inability of movement. Cerebral palsy can also cause
epilepsy.
Cerebral palsy, or CP, can be
very mild, very severe, or anything
between. The mildest CP cases consist of slight clumsiness or even less.
The severest CP cases consist of
complete inability to speak or move.
Cerebral palsy is a disorder, not
a disease or illness. There is no CP
virus. It isn’t contagious.
People with CP will have the
condition all their lives.
CP is not a progressive disorder.
The brain damage neither improves
nor worsens. For example, a case of
CP that affects only the legs will not
later spread to the arms or back.
However, symptoms of CP can
become worse with age.
People with CP do not by definition suffer from mental retardation
or disability, though many do. Many
people with CP have IQs that are
normal (and often higher than average). Others suffer mentally from
nothing more than some developmental delays and/or learning difficulties, mainly because of the inability to express whatever healthy cognitive abilities they do possess.
According to 2008 figures from
United Cerebral Palsy, a leading CP
support organization, 764,000 U.S.
adults and children have one or more
of the symptoms associated with CP.
Of the dozens of common disabilities, cerebral palsy is one of the
most visible and most misunderstood.
About three out of every 1,000
children are born with CP. It is more
prevalent among males, and also
more common in multiple births.
Cerebral palsy also gave rise to
the popular negative phrases “spastic” and “spaz” (and “spaz attack”).
A British charity called The Spastics
Society was formed in 1952, with
“spastics” meaning people with CP.
However, the words “spastic” and
“spaz” have been extensively used
ever since as a general insult to disabled and enabled people alike
whenever they seem overly uncoordinated, anxious, or unskilled in
sports or any other activity.
Types of CP
There are four types of cerebral
palsy (CP): Spastic, athetoid, ataxic
and hypotonic.
Spastic CP is the most common
type of CP. Seventy to 80% of all
CP cases are spastic.
Athetoid CP is the second-most
common type of CP. Ten to 20% of
all CP cases are athetoid.
Ataxic CP is the third-most common type of CP. Only 10% of all CP
cases are ataxic.
Hypotonic CP is the least common type of CP. Less than 10% of
all CP cases are hyptonic.
Many CP patients have a combination of two or more types of CP.
For example, 30% of athetoid, ataxic
and hypotonic CP patients also have
spastic CP.
The most common combination
of cerebral palsy is spastic and
athetoid. The least common mix is
athetoid and ataxic. However, any
mix may occur.
Each type affects a different part
of the brain and therefore creates
different symptoms. However, all
CP patients have damage to the area
of the brain that controls muscle
tone, or the muscles’ ongoing contraction that constantly maintains the
body’s overall posture.
As a result, CP patients may
have increased muscle tone, reduced
muscle tone, or both. Which parts of
their bodies are affected by the
abnormal muscle tone depends upon
where the brain damage occurs.
Another symptom common to
most CP patients is bent or elongated
bones. A CP patient, for example,
may have curved leg bones because
the stiff (or weak) leg muscles put
unequal pressure on one side of a leg
bone during childhood growth, causing it to bend during childhood
growth. Alternatively, muscles may
restrict bones from growing to their
full normal length, giving CP
patients one limb slightly shorter
than its twin. This, in turn, can
make walking or otherwise using the
limbs difficult if not impossible.
Bottom line? CP mainly causes
physical problems, not mental problems.
Spastic CP
Spastic CP may generally be
defined by stiff and difficult movement.
Spastic CP is caused by spastic,
or stiff, muscles and tendons.
Patients with spastic CP have one or
more tight muscle groups which
limit movement, produce stiff and
jerky movements, and make it hard
to move from one position to another or to hold and release objects.
This is because normal muscles
work in pairs: when one group of
muscles contract, the other group
relaxes—allowing healthy, flowing
body movement. But with spastic
CP, complications in brain-to-nerveto-muscle communication throws off
the normal balance of muscle tension, with all muscles contracting (or
relaxing) together, hindering effective movement.
Spastic CP patients have damage
t o
t h e
brain’s
corticospinal
tract
or
motor cortex.
This affects the
nervous
system’s ability to
receive
gamma
amino butyric acid in
the area(s) affected by
the disability, which in
plain English means the
brain cannot properly send
movement instructions to the
muscles.
As a general rule, there are three
subcategories of spastic CP: spastic
diplegia, spastic hemiplegia and
spastic quadriplegia.
Spastic
diplegia
generally
affects the body below the waist,
causing the tightening of leg and hip
muscles and the legs to scissor, or
cross at the knees, making it difficult
to walk. Most spastic CP patients
have some level of spastic diplegia—and most CP spastic diplegia
patients also have strabismus, or
crossed eyes, making most crossedeyed to some degree.
Spastic hemiplegia affects one
side of the body, stiffening muscles
on that entire side. This is caused by
damage to the brain’s opposite side.
(The brain’s right half controls the
body’s left half and vice versa.)
Spastic quadriplegia, the severest form of spastic CP, is characterized by the inability to move or feel
both arms, both legs, and other body
parts. Spastic quadriplegia is caused
by an injury to the spinal cord, and
usually includes mental retardation,
problems with mouth and tongue
muscles, and difficulty in speaking.
Continued on Page E8
Hamaspik Gazette | May ‘10
E7
In the Know: cerebral palsy
Continued from Page 7
Occasionally, terms such as
monoplegia, paraplegia, triplegia,
and pentaplegia may also be used to
refer to specific manifestations of
spastic CP.
Athetoid CP
Athetoid CP may generally be
defined by involuntary and uncontrolled movement.
Athetoid CP is caused by damage to the cerebellum or basal ganglia, areas of the brain that enable
smooth, coordinated body movements and proper body posture. (As
such, it is sometimes called choreoathetoid cerebral palsy or dyskinetic
cerebral palsy.)
Athetoid CP patients have difficulty controlling their muscles. The
arms and legs of an athetoid CP
patient may move or twitch on their
own with no warning. Athetoid CP
tends to primarily affect the face,
arms, and trunk.
These involuntary movements
often interfere with speaking, feeding, reaching, grasping, and other
skills requiring coordinated movements. Athetoid CP can also cause
dysarthia, or difficulty speaking,
because of difficulty controlling the
tongue, breathing and vocal chords.
Athetoid CP patients often also
have low muscle tone and problems
maintaining correct sitting and walking posture.
Ataxic CP
Ataxic CP may generally be
defined by low muscle tone and poor
coordination of movement.
Ataxic CP is caused by damage
to the cerebellum.
Ataxic CP
patients tend to appear unsteady and
shaky because ataxic CP affects
sense of balance and depth perception.
Ataxic CP patients often have
poor coordination and walk
unsteadily with a wide based gait,
placing their feet unusually far apart.
It is also common for ataxic CP
patients to have difficulty with visual and/or auditory processing, as
well as with such common tasks as
writing or drinking from a cup.
The most significant characteristic of ataxic cerebral palsy is tremor,
especially when attempting quick or
precise movements, such as writing
or buttoning a shirt. These tremors
tend to worsen when attempting voluntary movements such as reaching
for a book. The hand and arm will
typically begin to shake, becoming
more severe as the hand gets closer
to the object and increasing the completion time necessary for the task.
Hypotonic CP
Hypotonic CP may generally be
defined as CP that causes severe low
muscle tone.
Hypotonic CP patients tend to
appear floppy and limp, and can
move only a little if at all. In early
infancy, hypotonia can be easily
seen by the inability of the infant to
gain any head control when pulled
by the arms to a sitting position (this
symptom is often referred to as head
lag).
Hypotonic CP patients may display a variety of symptoms, primarily motor-skills delay, poor reflexes,
decreased strength, decreased activity tolerance, rounded shoulder posture and poor attention and motivation.
Since hypotonic CP is most
often diagnosed during infancy, it is
also known as floppy infant syndrome or infantile hypotonia.
Low muscle tone is not to be
confused with low muscle strength,
however: The patient with low tone
merely has healthy muscles that are
just slow to contract and cannot
remain contracted for normal lengths
of time.
What causes CP?
Cerebral palsy is caused by brain
damage.
The more severe the brain damage, the more severe the symptoms,
and the less severe the brain damage,
the less severe the symptoms.
Known causes of brain damage
include toxins, lead poisoning, physical brain injury, bleeding in the
brain, Shaken Baby Syndrome, high
blood pressure and exposure to radiation.
Infections in the mother, even
infections that are not easily detected, may triple the risk of the child
developing CP. This is mainly
because infections trigger the body’s
release of cytokines, infection-fighting cells that can also damage the
fetus’ brain if too many are released.
Such infections include rubella
(German Measles), bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, Rh disease
(jaundice), and flu.
Another factor is that 40% to
50% of CP children are preemies.
However, it is not clear why so
many CP children are preemies. It
may be because their lungs and other
organs are not fully developed, creating a higher risk of oxygen starvation—and the resulting brain damage that may appear as CP. But it
also may be caused by preexisting
brain damage which in turn triggers
premature birth—compounded by
oxygen starvation and further damage immediately before, during or
after birth.
Additionally, some CP cases are
mild enough to make detection and
diagnosis difficult and/or not even
visible to the eye.
It should be noted that these are
risk factors, not determinants, of
cerebral palsy—there is no sure way
of predicting or preventing cerebral
palsy.
Diagnosing CP
Cerebral palsy is usually diagnosed between the first few days and
months of birth.
Birth indicators of CP may be
any of the following:
• Crossed eyes
• Spinal curvature
• Low muscle tone
• Blue or dusky skin
• Abnormal reflexes
• Body arching to one side
• Tremors in arms and/or legs
• Lethargy or lack of alertness
• Small jawbone or small head
• Seizures within 24 to 48 hours
• Poor sucking or feeding
• Poorly formed heart, kidneys
or other organs
The Great American Outdoors: Hamaspik of Orange County Day Hab Manager Moshe Kraus sent the Gazette
these two fabulous shots from an April 7 outing. The friendships, and natural vistas, speak for themselves.
E8
May ‘10 | Hamaspik Gazette
• Absence of breathing, requiring resuscitation
• Problem maintaining body
temperature after birth
• Abnormal or high-pitched cry,
or absence of crying
• Meconium staining on the baby
at time of delivery
• Excessive stiffness in the arms,
legs or both, or one on side of the
body
• Excessive floppiness in those
same areas
Cerebral palsy is also diagnosed
in infants or toddlers when developmental milestones like rolling over,
sitting up, crawling, walking and
talking are missed. Such diagnoses
are usually are made between six
and 12 months, when these developmental milestones would otherwise
show.
Parents are more likely than doctors to notice such signs of cerebral
palsy, especially if this is not their
first child.
Other infant CP symptoms are:
Difficulty controlling the head when
picked up, stiff legs that scissor
when picked up, reaching with only
one hand while keeping the other in
a fist, or crawling with one hand and
leg while dragging the opposite hand
and leg.
There is no one single specific
test for cerebral palsy.
A cerebral palsy diagnosis is not
made overnight. Doctors may first
order X-rays and blood tests to find
out if some other disease may be
causing the problem. Tests like CTs
and MRIs may be ordered.
Symptoms are then usually monitored for some time by an interdisciplinary team: a group of professionals with specialties in different areas.
Doctors may delay CP diagnoses
because groups of tests and assessments are needed to rule out such
other conditions like neuromotor
dysfunction, or delay in the maturation of the nervous system; motor
disability, indicating a long-term
movement problem; central nervous
system dysfunction, which is a general term to indicate the brain’s
improper functioning; or static
encephalopathy, meaning abnormal
brain function that is not getting
worse.
Doctors may sometimes delay
diagnosing CP because a child’s central nervous system can sometimes
recover partially or even completely
after an injury occurs. A child’s
brain has a much greater capacity to
repair itself than adult brains: If
brain injury occurs early, the uninjured areas can sometimes at least
partially take over some of the
injured areas’ functions.
Doctors may also hesitate to
diagnose CP because motor symptoms such as muscle tone or involuntary movement can change over
your child’s first two-three years
before stabilizing. After this age,
symptoms will probably not change
dramatically.
To comfortably diagnose CP,
doctors usually wait to see how a
child develops. This takes time.
Contact your child’s doctor
immediately if you suspect CP.
Treatments
Since no two children are affected by cerebral palsy in exactly the
same way, individual treatment programs vary widely.
If your child has just been diagnosed with CP, join a support group
and start connecting with other CP
parents immediately. You’ll thank
yourself later for it.
In the meantime, here’s a CP
rule of thumb: The more therapy
and surgery you get in while your
CP child is young—even in the
NICU immediately after his or her
birth—the better the chance he or
she has of living as normal a life as
possible.
So if your child has been diagnosed with CP, get therapy early—
and often.
Be your child’s best advocate:
Talk to as many experts as possible.
Even severely involved patients can
show improvement with appropriate
intervention.
There is currently no cure for
cerebral palsy. Treatment for CP
today consists mainly of management, mostly in the form of numerous therapies and surgeries which
can reduce or even minimally
reverse symptoms as the child
grows, preventing symptoms from
worsening with age.
For example, CP commonly
stiffens tendons and prevents toes,
ankles and/or knees from bending,
making walking difficult—but careful tendon-cutting surgeries can
allow CP children the needed flexibility.
Regardless of the patient’s age
and which therapies and surgeries
are implemented, caring for CP children is a full-time, life-long position.
Treatment does not end when the
patient leaves the office.
As such, the two most important
parts of each patient’s treatment
team are the patient himself, and the
family unit. Family members should
be intimately involved in all aspects
of treatment—because when it
comes to caring for children with
cerebral palsy and achieving longterm goals, family support and personal determination are the two most
important factors.
In the meantime, here are some
basic popular forms of CP treatment.
Physical therapy
Physical therapy is a pillar of CP
treatment. It is used to improve the
flexibility, strength, mobility, function and development of the large
muscles of the body, such as those in
the legs, arms and abdomen.
Physical therapy also decreases
spasticity and teaches proper motor
patterns.
Physical therapy programs use
specific sets of exercises to prevent
the weakening or deterioration of
muscles due to lack of use, or their
becoming fixed in rigid, abnormal
positions.
A good physical therapist will
design and implement a customized
exercise program for your child. He
or she will also teach your family
and your child’s caregivers how to
best help him or her.
Physical therapists may help
children with learn to walk, use a
wheelchair, stand by themselves, or
go up and down stairs safely. They
will also work on fun skills like running, kicking and throwing, or learning to ride a bike.
Physical therapy can take place
in clinics, hospitals and schools, and
should also continue with an athome exercise program. Cerebral
palsy patients will not be successful
without an ongoing daily physical
therapy program.
At part of ongoing physical therapy, it is extremely important to perform daily stretches to keep the arms
and legs limber, allowing your child
to continue moving and functioning.
Stretching works specific muscle
groups, enabling them to better support the body and increase function.
A CP child with hemiplegia
should be treated as normally as possible. Include the weaker side in
play, sports, hobbies and everyday
activities of your child’s choosing to
make him or her as balanced and
developed as possible.
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is another
mainstay of cerebral palsy treatment,
used to teach and improve fine
motor skills like moving the small
muscles of the hands, feet, face, fingers and toes, as well as daily living
activities like dressing, eating, writing
and
brushing
teeth.
Occupational therapists will also
help you find the right equipment to
make your child’s daily life easier.
Exercise therapy
Exercise therapy can greatly
enhance the mindset of the patient
and give him or her a great sense of
accomplishment. Whether indoor or
outdoor, exercise increases the
amount of oxygen delivered to the
brain and can alleviate stress.
Swimming, and swim therapies, can
be quite beneficial during cerebral
palsy treatment, preferably in a
warmer
than
average
pool.
Movements performed in water will
be easier and more effective at exercising muscles.
Gait analysis
For CP patients with case mild
to moderate enough to allow them to
walk, several hospitals offer gait
analysis laboratories. These centers
will run numerous scans and tests on
the patient, some while the patient
moves various limbs, to analyze all
the factors involved in a healthy
gait, or walking motion, so as to isolate the best management and treatment of the CP symptoms. For
example, part of a gait analysis laboratory is electromyography equipment, which analyzes muscle activity while a person walks to determine
if a muscle is working at the right
time and at the right level. With
results from a gait analysis laboratory, caregivers are better equipped to
make the best decisions.
Speech therapy
Speech therapists help children
with cerebral palsy by improving
their communication skills, whether
verbally speaking, using sign language, or using communication aids.
(Communication aids include books
or posters with pictures that show
things the child might want, or
alphabet boards that the child can
use to spell out their message.
Computers with picture-to-voice or
text-to-voice software are also available.)
Speech therapists also help build
language skills by teaching CP
patients new words, how to speak in
sentences, and/or improve their listening skills. Speech therapy also
improves the patient’s ability to
breathe, bite, chew and swallow.
Speech therapy often starts before a
child begins school and continues
throughout the school years.
Other forms of therapy
• Injections of Botulinum Toxin
A, commonly known as Botox,
which actually is also used to effectively reduce spasticity in muscles
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
(HBOT), in which pure oxygen is
inhaled inside a hyperbaric chamber
to oxygenate damaged brain cells
and reactivate some of them to higher function
• Space suit therapy, an increasingly popular therapy that uses formfitting suits that keep the body properly aligned and force movement
within the normal range to effectively allow the user to learn to properly
walk, stand, or maintain position
• Chiropractic, the popular discipline that uses “adjustments” of
the spine’s vertebrae to optimize
spinal-cord signal flow to the body,
thus enhancing healing and health
•
The Feldenkrais Method,
named
for
inventor
Moshe
Feldenkrais, which combines physical therapy, psychology, and martial
arts to develop movement and physical growth
• Hippotherapy, or horse riding
under the guidance of a specially
trained physical and/or occupational
therapist
• Therapeutic electrical stimulation, which is administered at night
while the patient sleeps and has been
proven to add more muscle fiber
(which must be followed by exercise
and therapy)
• Dolphin therapy, in which
patients interact with live dolphins
in a special pool in a constructive
and playful way (two U.S. dolphin
therapy centers are located in Key
Largo, Florida)
• Craniosacral therapy (CST), a
treatment involving fluid that encases the brain and spinal cord using
massage and other minor non-invasive techniques
• Nutritional counseling, which
may help when dietary needs are not
met because of eating problems
caused by CP
• Conductive education (CE),
which is believed to improve mobility, self-esteem, stamina, independence and daily living/social skills
(available at specialized centers)
• Biofeedback, an alternative
therapy in which CP patients learn to
control affected muscles
• Social services, counseling,
and behavioral therapy to help reinforce positive and discourage negative behavior, help locate community assistance and educational programs for patients and their families,
and help patients and families cope
with stresses and demands of CP
• Neurocognitive therapy, which
helps the brain alter its own structure
and function to meet the demands of
any particular environment, and
helps the CP patient improve by
interacting with more enabled peers
Surgery
Surgery is not always necessary,
but it is sometimes recommended to
improve muscle development, correct contractures, and reduce spasticity in the legs. Before selecting any
surgical procedure, make sure the
doctor thoroughly discusses the risks
involved, long-term effects and postoperative follow-up. Also, always
get a second opinion and speak with
other parents whose children have
had the same surgical procedure.
Orthopedic surgery usually
involves lengthening tendons, loosening tight muscles and releasing
fixed joints to improve range of
motion, and is most often performed
on the hips, knees, hamstrings, and
ankles. In rare cases, orthopedic
surgery may be used for people with
stiffness of the elbows, wrists,
hands, and fingers.
Orthopedic surgery will not
reduce spasticity directly, but does
reduce the consequences of it.
Because muscles and tendons do not
grow fast enough to keep pace with
children’s lengthening bones, orthopedic surgery may help correct a
tight heel cord by lengthening the
tendon, improving CP patients’ ability to walk, improving balance, and
preventing further deformity. A surgeon may also perform a tenotomy,
or the cutting or dividing a tendon or
muscle to relieve spasticity.
Surgery can also insert a
Baclofen Pump, usually in the left
abdomen and usually when the
patient is a young adult, which connects to the spinal cord and constantly release small amounts of
Baclofen, a relaxant, to alleviate
muscle spasticity.
Orthopedic surgery can also
straighten abnormal twists of the leg
bones caused by spastic muscles
placing disproportionate forces on
the bones. The surgery, derotation
osteotomy, cuts the bone and then
resets it in the correct alignment.
Neurosurgery may also relieve
spasticity in the legs and hips by
identifying sensory nerve fibers
behind the spinal cord and then
selectively cutting them. This highly delicate, relatively new surgical
procedure is called selective dorsal
rhizotomy (SDR).
Drug Therapy
Drugs like Tegretol, Dilantin and
Phenobarbital may be prescribed to
prevent or control the seizures associated with CP. Other drugs, like
Diazepam, Baclofen, and Dantrolene, can help reduce spasticity.
Cooling
A relatively new technique in
treating the tremors of ataxic cerebral palsy is cooling—wrapping the
forearm, excluding the wrist and
hand, in a cryomanchet, a low-temperature sleeve, which reduces
tremors for approximately 30 minutes after the procedure and better
allows ataxic CP patients to perform
activities of daily life like washing,
eating, or writing.
Adaptive and
assistive technology
Adaptive and assistive technology include such common items as
canes, walkers, wheelchairs and various braces and orthotics that
improve CP patients’ lives—as well
as less common items like special
utensils for eating, specially made
bicycles and tricycles, electronic
door openers, grab sticks, and environmental control systems.
Augmentative communication
devices include simple picture
boards and electronic speech synthesizers. This technology can help a
child with cerebral palsy communicate, feel more independent, and
take part in activities with other children.
Your child’s physical therapist
can also design, modify and order
adaptive equipment.
There are a number of state and
federal programs that provide assistive technology devices and services
under the Assistive Technology Act
of 1998. Under the ATA, each state
runs a Protection and Advocacy
Agency that is geared toward helping persons who use assistive technology with legal representation,
employment, outreach to underserved populations and other services. Contact Hamaspik or your
Hamaspik MSC for more info.
School
Meet with your child’s school
and teachers. Your primary joint
goal should be to make your child
feel as comfortable as possible, so
that the child does not feel different
from his or her peers.
Bottom line
Kids with cerebral palsy are just
like other kids, but with some
greater challenges that make it harder to do everyday things. More than
anything else, they want to fit in and
be liked. The primary goal and
objective of cerebral palsy treatment
should be focused on the individual
reaching the highest level of independence.
Hamaspik Gazette | May ‘10
E9
Anti-Allergy Steps In Your Spring
Continued from Page 1
generally start pollinating anytime
from January to June, depending on
the climate, location and species.
Of the 50,000 different kinds of
trees, less than 100 have been shown
to cause allergies. These include:
ash, box elder, birch, catalpa, cottonwood, cypress, date palm, elm, hickory, maple (red), maple (silver),
olive, pecan, Phoenix palm, poplar,
sycamore, walnut, and willow.
Some people are also allergic to
trees in the alder, beech, birch, cedar,
juniper and oak families.
Most allergies are specific to one
type of tree—meaning, a person will
suffer spring seasonal allergies due
to his or her allergy to walnut-tree
pollen, not willow and oak too.
In some areas of the world, some
weeds will also pollinate in the
springtime.
Indoor molds, for their part, are
found in musty, moist, humid, warm
and dark environments like damp
basements, cellars, attics, bathrooms
and laundry rooms. They are also
found where fresh food is stored, in
refrigerator drip trays, garbage pails,
air conditioners and humidifiers.
Mean, green
allergy machine
Later, during the late spring and
summer, pollen from grass, not trees,
will trigger summertime allergies.
Pollen released by grass, by far the
world’s most common plant, is highest at these times, although grass
may cause allergies throughout
much of the year if someone mows
the lawn or lies in the grass. Contact
with grass can result in itching and
hives in allergic people; this is
known as contact urticaria.
Breaking out of the mold
Other sources of allergy
But trees (and other plants), and
the pollen they produce, are not the
only cause of spring allergies. Mold
can also be a seasonal allergy trigger.
Several indoor and outdoor
molds produce allergenic substances
which can be found in mold spores.
While there is no regular seasonal
pattern for known indoor molds, outdoor molds are seasonal, first
appearing in early spring and growing until winter’s first frost.
Outdoor molds proliferate in
moist, shady areas such as in soil,
decaying vegetation, compost piles,
rotting wood and fallen leaves.
Allergies are not limited to specific seasons, of course—a number
of commonplace things can trigger
allergic reactions all year ‘round.
The saliva, droppings and bodies
of roaches, one of the most common
indoor pests, contain allergenic proteins. Recent studies have found a
strong association between these
proteins and severity of asthma
symptoms in individuals who are
sensitive to roach allergens.
Cigarette smoke contains a number of toxic chemicals and irritants—and individuals with allergies
may not only be more sensitive to
cigarette smoke than others, but
Children’s picture haggadah? That’s exactly right.
Hamaspik of Orange County After-School Respite
consumers, in full mock regalia, adorably reenact various
Seder steps for a photo haggadah they each took home
E10
May ‘10 | Hamaspik Gazette
research studies also indicate that
smoking may aggravate these very
same allergies. Furthermore, exposure to secondhand smoke can
increase the risk of allergic complications like sinusitis and bronchitis.
Common symptoms of irritation by
cigarette smoke are burning or
watery eyes, nasal congestion,
coughing, hoarseness and shortness
of breath that presents as a wheeze.
Dust mites, those microscopic,
spiderlike insects that live on mattresses and feed on the flakes of skin
that people and pets shed daily, can
trigger allergic reactions too.
Propogating allergy
prevention
Pollen and other proliferating,
airborne allergens can land in an
unwitting victim’s eyes, nose,
mouth, lungs or on the skin come
spring, triggering a reaction that is
usually respiratory in nature. With
the balmier season, more Americans
also take to more outdoor activities,
compounding their exposure, and
reaction, to pollen.
(The reverse is true for the
indoor-heavy winter season and the
common cold virus—with more people indoors during the winter
months, cold viruses, which thrive in
warm, unventilated spaces like
rooms whose windows and doors are
closed against the cold, spread more
easily.)
So the first step towards springtime pollen prevention is to check
your local weather reports for daily
pollen counts and types of pollen
currently found in your area. Pollen
levels in the air can vary dramatically from day to day and from area to
area, even within the same city.
Completely avoiding these pollens is virtually impossible, but there
are precautions allergy sufferers can
take to reduce their exposure:
• Minimize early and mid-morning activity between 5:00 and 10:00
a.m., and on dry, hot and windy
days, when pollen levels tend to be
the highest
• Keep windows closed to prevent pollens from drifting into your
home
• Keep your car windows closed
when traveling
• Avoid mowing the lawn and
freshly cut grass
• Machine dry bedding and
clothing; pollen may collect in laundry hung outside to dry
• Take vacations at your area
pollen season’s height. Go to lesspollinated places like beaches
To minimize and/or prevent
mold allergic reactions:
• Use a dehumidifier or air conditioner to maintain relative humidity below 50% and to keep cool
• Vent bathrooms and clothes
dryers to the outside, and run bathroom and kitchen vents while
bathing and cooking
Probing the Possibility of Pollen
Not sure if you’re allergic? Been sneezing and tearing a lot lately—
and don’t know why? An allergist can help determine if you have seasonal allergies, and to which types of pollens you may be allergic. This is
accomplished through allergy testing, which typically involves skin testing
or a blood test (RAST). Allergy testing can be helpful in predicting the
times of the year that you are likely to experience allergy symptoms, and is
needed if you are interesting in taking allergy shots.
• Regularly check faucets, pipes
and ductwork for leaks
• When first turning on home or
car air conditioners, leave the room
or drive with the windows open for
several minutes to allow mold spores
to disperse
• Remove decaying debris from
the yard, roof and gutters
• Avoid raking leaves, mowing
lawns or working with peat, mulch,
hay or dead wood. If you must do
yard work, wear a mask and avoid
working on hot, humid days
If you have a grass lawn, have
someone else do the mowing. If you
must mow the lawn yourself, wear a
mask, keep grass cut short, and
choose ground covers that don’t produce much pollen, such as Irish
moss, bunch, and dichondra.
To eliminate roaches, keep food
and garbage in closed, tight-lidded
containers, never leave food out in
the kitchen, do not leave out dirty
dishes, and eliminate water sources
that attract these pests, like dripping
drain pipes and leaky faucets. Also,
mop the kitchen floor and wash
countertops at least once a week,
plug up crevices around the house
through which roaches may enter,
and restrict the spread of food
around the house, especially in the
bedrooms. Don’t forget to use bait
stations and other pesticides to
reduce roach infestation.
Because of their size and explosive rate of proliferation, completely
getting rid of dust mites is virtually
impossible. However, there are
steps you can take to keep their presence to a minimum:
• Use a dehumidifier or air conditioner to maintain relative humidity at about 50% or below
• Encase your mattress and pillows in dust-proof or allergen impermeable covers (available from specialty supply mail order companies,
bedding and some department
stores)
• Wash all bedding and blankets
once a week in hot water (at least
130° to 140°F) to kill dust mites.
Non-washable bedding can actually
be frozen overnight to kill dust mites
• Replace wool or feathered bedding with synthetic materials and
traditional stuffed animals with
washable ones.
• If possible, replace wall-towall carpets in bedrooms with bare
floors (linoleum, tile or wood) and
remove fabric curtains and upholstered furniture
• Use a damp mop or rag to
remove dust—dry cloths just stir up
mite allergens
• Use a vacuum cleaner with
either a double-layered microfilter
bag or a HEPA filter to trap allergens
that pass through a vacuum’s
exhaust
• Wear a mask while vacuuming
to avoid inhaling allergens, and stay
out of the vacuumed area for 20
minutes to allow any dust and allergens to settle after vacuuming
Counteraction
for the reaction
So here’s the situation: It’s a fine
spring day, you and the kids are raring to get out and enjoy the great
outdoors, you’re feeling fit as a fiddle—but you’re also quite allergic to
pollen. What do you do?
Doctors recommend using eye
drops, nasal sprays or other allergy
medications before you go outside
and risk a massive flare-up. Such
over-the-counter and prescription
antihistamines include Benadryl,
Clarinex, Claritin, Zyrtec, or
Allegra; oral decongestants like
Sudafed; nasal decongestants like
Afrin and Dristan; steroid nasal
sprays
including
Beconase,
Rhinocort, Nasonex, Flonase, and
Veramyst; and drugs that combine
antihistamines and decongestants
like Allegra-D, Claritin-D, or
Zyrtec-D.
When symptoms are not adequately controlled by medications,
allergy
shots,
also
called
immunotherapy, are also an option.
The American Academy of Allergy,
Asthma and Immunology reported
that allergy shots can reduce the
symptoms in up to 85 percent of
patients. Treatment often occurs
over a three- to five-year time span,
but many people begin to experience
significant relief within the first
year.
Other options you may want to
discuss with your doctor include the
use of nasal irrigation with saline
solution, which is available without
a prescription, acupuncture, and
herbal preparations such as butterbur.
Regardless of your specific
allergy symptoms, with a little
patience, planning, and prescriptions, if necessary, you can keep that
spring in your step as you step into
spring.
So, What’s Happening in Your Health Today...?
Less invasive heart valve
surgery devised
A new, clothespin-like clip has
been developed that fixes leaky
mitral valves without major surgery.
The tiny clip, which is guided into
place through an incision in a vein
elsewhere, is said to be the first
device that mends major heart
defects without surgically slicing
open the chest to reach the heart.
Over 250,000 people are diagnosed
with leaky mitral valves in the U.S.
each year and as many as 100,000
have mitral valve surgery annually.
The MitraClip device, which is currently available in Europe and is
awaiting FDA approval in the U.S.,
is expected to primarily benefit
patients too frail for regular surgery.
Zinc not shown
to help against
kids’ ear infections
If you’re a parent, you’ve had to
deal with your child’s painful, and
recurring, ear infections—and you
may have heard that zinc helps.
However, recent studies have not
found a lot of substance to that
claim. Combined results from ten
different studies, published last
month in The Cochrane Database,
found that children given zinc did no
better than those given placebos.
According to experts, about 85 percent of bacterial ear infections clear
up by themselves, with antibiotics
called for if symptoms do not fade
after a few days.
Arthritis drug salsalate
may also battle diabetes,
arterial narrowing
The generic anti-inflammatory
drug salsalate, normally prescribed
to counteract symptoms of arthritis,
has been found by researchers to
help control glucose levels. The
finding came from a three-month
clinical trial of 108 Type 2 diabetics
in which participants who took salsalate enjoyed a 0.5 percent drop in
levels of hemoglobin A1C, a measure of blood glucose levels.
According to a researcher, the
drug could also help combat atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries—the study found that people
who took the drug had higher levels
of adiponectin, a protein believed to
help protect against heart problems.
The findings were published online
March 16 in the Annals of Internal
Medicine.
Bill Clinton: school soda
consumption is dropping
Former President Bill Clinton
and officials from the American
Beverage Association and the
American
Heart
Association
appeared at a Manhattan press con-
ference on Monday, March 8, 2010
to discuss the final results of their
three-year effort to improve healthy
beverage options to schools across
America. According to the report,
there has been an 88% reduction in
calories from beverages shipped to
schools since 2004 and a 95% reduction in the shipment of full-calorie
drinks to campuses. In other words,
high school students have gone from
drinking an average of one 12-ounce
can of full-calorie soft drinks per
week at school in 2004 to now consuming the equivalent of one and a
half cans (18 ounces) per year.
Clinton said he is “stunned by the
results.”
The Alliance for a Healthier
Generation, created by Clinton and
the AHA in 2005 to address childhood obesity, created the Alliance
School Beverage Guidelines in
2006. Participating schools allow
only 100 percent juice, low-fat milk
and bottled water in elementary and
middle schools, and diet beverages
and calorie-capped sports drinks,
flavored waters and teas in high
schools.
“A critical component of the
Alliance’s national effort to end
childhood obesity has been our work
with the beverage industry to reduce
the amount of calories our kids consume in schools,” said Clinton, who
co-leads the Alliance with California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and
AHA President Clyde Yancy. “We
are encouraged by the significant
progress we’ve made and look forward to continuing our work with
participating schools, companies and
the American Beverage Association
to give young people the options and
opportunities they need to lead
healthier lives.”
Arteries improve after
smokers quit, study finds
A year after kicking the habit,
smokers’ arteries showed signs of
reversing a problem that can set the
stage for heart disease, according to
the first big study to test this.
The improvement came even
though smokers gained an average
of 9 pounds after they quit,
researchers found. Their levels of
so-called good cholesterol improved,
too.
“A lot of people are afraid to
quit smoking because they’re afraid
to gain weight,” said the study’s
leader, Dr. James Stein, a University
of Wisconsin-Madison cardiologist.
The new research shows these
people gain a health benefit even
though they pick up pounds that
hopefully can be shed once they’ve
gotten used to not smoking, he said.
Results were recently published in
the Journal of the American College
of Cardiology.
Smoking is one of the top causes
of heart disease, and about one third
of smoking-related deaths in the
U.S. are due to heart disease.
CPSC warns on baby slings
On Friday, March 12, the
Consumer
Product
Safety
Commission warned that baby slings
can pose suffocation hazards. The
government agency said it has investigated at least 13 suffocation deaths
associated with sling-style infant
carriers over the last 20 years,
including three deaths last year and
12 involving babies younger than
four months. The CPSC is concerned that the sling’s fabric can
press against a baby’s nose and
mouth and block its breathing, or
push chin to chest and restrict the
infant’s ability to breathe. In its official announcement, the CPSC “is
advising parents and caregivers to be
cautious when using infant slings for
babies,” particularly for preemies
and other low-weight babies, or
babies with colds or breathing
issues. The CPSC is also “working
with ASTM International to quickly
complete an effective voluntary
standard for infant sling carriers.”
Most importantly, the CPSC recommends that the infant’s face is not
covered and visible at all times to
the sling’s wearer.
Music relaxation
therapy: free, effective
A recent three-month study at
the Group Health Research Institute
that had all participants listen to
relaxing music for ten one-hour periods—but divided into groups that
either received massages, received
thermotherapy (heating pads and hot
towel wraps) or simply lay down
doing nothing at all—found that
those merely lying down and listening to enjoyable music registered the
same results as the other participants. The groups didn’t show any
difference in their level of relief after
three months. The findings were
published recently in the journal
Depression and Anxiety.
Nursing workforce
growing, more diverse
According to the National
Sample Survey of Registered
Nurses, an important study undertaken every four years by the Health
Resources
and
Services
Administration (HRSA), a division
of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Resources, the number
of licensed registered nurses (RNs)
in the United States grew by over
5% to a new high of 3.1 million
between 2004 and 2008.
The
increase also reflects growing diversity in the backgrounds of nurses in
the United States: In 2008, 16.8% of
nurses were Asian, black, Hispanic
or other ethnicities; an increase from
12.2% in 2004.
Additional
initial
findings
include that 50% of RNs have
achieved a baccalaureate or higher
degree in nursing or a nursing-related field in 2008, compared to 27.5
percent in 1980, and that average
annual earnings for RNs in 2008
were $66,970—a 15% rise since
2004. A final report with the complete findings will be published in
summer 2010.
Two drugs show
Hepatitis C promise
Protease inhibitors are drugs
that prevent unwanted viruses from
multiplying. Currently, protease
inhibitors for serious cases of the
Hepatitis C virus are being tested by
two U.S. pharmaceutical firms.
Recent research showed that of one
of the drugs, Telaprevir, cured about
half of Hepatitis C patients who had
not responded to a first round of
standard treatment—a 48-week
course of two drugs, peginterferon
alpha and ribavirin, which cures
about 40 percent to 50 percent of
patients but is accompanied by side
effects, such as a severe rash, that
makes many discontinue the treatment.
About 4 million Americans are
infected with hepatitis C, a virus that
is the leading cause of cirrhosis and
liver cancer and the most common
reason for liver transplantation. It is
usually transmitted by infected
blood, most often by using a contaminated needle.
Both Telapevir and the other
drug, Boceprevir, are in close contention for FDA approval. The
research was reported in the April 8
issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine.
9/11 rescue workers
suffered permanent
lung damage
Research published in the April
8 issue of the New England Journal
of Medicine shows that World Trade
Center rescue workers exhibit lingering and probably permanent lung
damage—more than six years after
exposure to the toxic dust cloud on
Sept. 11, 2001. Researchers measured the lung function of about 92
percent of the almost 14,000 firefighters and EMS workers who
responded to Ground Zero between
Sept. 11-24 in the wake of the terrorist attacks—finding that about 13%
of firefighters and 22% of EMS
workers continued to have abnormal
lung function six years later with little or no recovery in lung function.
Low scores on the lung function
tests can mean obstruction of the airways or inflammation in the lungs.
In addition to heavy normal smoke,
the firefighters and paramedics at
Ground Zero inhaled burning jet fuel
and particulate matter from the
World Trade Center itself. The fine
particles overwhelmed the normal
filtration systems of the nose and
throat and settled deep into the
lungs.
“This is the largest study done to
date of the most severely exposed
workers—firefighters and EMS
workers,” said Dr. David J. Prezant,
senior author of the study and
FDNY’s chief medical officer. “The
greater exposure you had, the more
decline you had.”
On March 19, a federal judge
rejected a settlement that would have
given WTC rescue workers at least
$575 million to compensate them for
their ailments, saying the compensation wasn’t enough.
U.S. infants
“vitamin D-ficient”
A new study has found that the
vast majority of infants in the U.S.
are not getting the vitamin D that
they need, even if they are fed vitamin-enriched formula. Roughly nine
out of ten naturally fed babies
receive less vitamin D than experts
recommend, according to the study,
which was conducted by researchers
at the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Among formula-fed babies, fewer
than 37% consume the recommended amount. “We have to educate
moms and the health-care community that vitamin D supplementation is
something that they should do [and]
recommend,” says the lead author of
the study, Cria Perrine, PhD, of the
CDC’s division of nutrition, physical
activity, and obesity. The study was
published in the last week of March
in the journal Pediatrics.
Calorie data to be posted
at most chain restaurants
As reported in the December
2009 issue of the Gazette, the fine
print of President Obama’s healthcare reform bill would legally
require certain restaurants to post
calorie amounts next to every food
item on their menus. Having now
passed, the law may actually require
some food venues to begin revising
their menus as early as 2011.
In another related requirement
tucked deep into a mammoth bill
ostensibly about affordable health
insurance, snacks and other items in
vending machines will also now
require calorie labels. Similar earlier state laws were initially fought by
the national restaurant industry; the
industry, however, backed the
Obama law because of the universal
national standard it would create.
Such a law is already on the books in
New York. The new national law,
for its part, would only affect chain
restaurants and not single privatelyowned establishments.
Hamaspik Gazette | May ‘10
E11
So, What’s Happening in Your Health Today...?
issue of Molecular Pharmacology.
Drug-resistant TB
strains still spreading
According to a report by the
World Health Organization (WHO),
two strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis killed about 150,000 people in
2008, and half of all the world’s
cases are thought to be in China and
India. The two types of drug-resistant TB are called MDR and XDR for
multidrug-resistant and extensively
drug-resistant.
Blocking progression
of Alzheimer’s
Slowing the accumulation of a
particular protein in the blood-brain
barrier may slow or prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease in
patients, a new study shows—and it
may even prevent it altogether.
The blood-brain barrier separates the brain from circulating
blood. It also removes toxins from
the brain and blocks the entry to the
brain of blood-borne toxins.
Alzheimer’s is an irreversible,
progressive brain disease that slowly
destroys memory and thinking skills,
and eventually disrupts function of
major organs. Estimates vary, but
experts suggest that as many as 2.6
million to 5.1 million Americans
may have Alzheimer’s.
In Alzheimer’s patients, the
blood deposits beta-amyloid proteins
in the brain. These gradually form
protein clumps that destroy neurons,
leading to cognitive impairment,
memory loss and other brain damage.
Experiments on mice showed
that beta-amyloid protein accumulation in the brain could be reduced by
activating a certain receptor in the
brain known as the pregnane X
receptor, or PXR, according to
David S. Miller, Ph.D., chief of the
Laboratory of Toxicology and
Pharmacology at NIEHS. By activating the PXR in mice, researchers
found that the blood-brain barrier
increased production of P-glycoprotein, another protein. P-glycoprotein, in turn, flushes beta-amyloid
proteins from the brain.
Anika Hartz, Ph.D., lead author
of the study, notes that it is also likely that lower P-glycoprotein levels in
the blood-brain barrier may be an
early indicator of Alzheimer’s.
One of the challenges confronting the diagnosis and treatment
of Alzheimer’s is being able to clearly diagnose the disease process when
brain damage is minimal, before any
symptoms occur.
The recently-completed study on
mice was supported by the National
Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), part of the
National Institutes of Health (itself
part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and
Human Services). A paper detailing
the findings will appear in the May
E12
Robotic fingers
replace missing digits
Move over, science fiction: For
many finger amputees, the future has
arrived—in the form of ProDigits.
In December 2009, a Livingston,
Scotland-based company called
Touch Bionics released ProDigits, a
device that may be the world’s firstever commercially available bionic
hand.
According to a recent article in
the New York Times, the ProDigits
device “can replace any or all fingers on a hand; each replacement
digit has a tiny motor and gear box
mounted at the base. Movement is
controlled by a computer chip in the
prosthesis.”
The ProDigits device is donned
like a glove when needed, and is
based on several key breakthroughs
in recent years, primarily stronger
and small motors and batteries that
allow for a prosthetic hand that not
only works like a natural hand, but
looks like one too.
ProDigits’ sensors detect the
flexing and relaxing of palm muscles, signaling computer chips to
activate motors that close or open
the fingers. With the device, users
can engage in such daily activities as
holding cups, operating microwaves
or cell phone, or even writing.
Long-term care program
included in “Obamacare”
A little-publicized provision of
the recently-passed Obama health
care bill is the Community Living
Assistance Services and Supports
Act, better known as the Class Act.
The Class Act is essentially a government-run long-term care insurance program that will provide $50 a
day, or more, to qualifying individuals who need long-term care. The
advantages of the Class Act include
the fact that payments may be used
at recipients’ discretion, allowing
them to spend them for home health
care,
handicapped-accessibility
remodeling, assistive devices, adult
day programs, assisted living, nursing homes or other case-based
needs.
Like private long-term care
insurance plans, participants in the
Class Act, which will launch in
January 2011, will pay monthly premiums—and become eligible for
benefits after five years, regardless
of age.
New laser bleaching
treatment may
correct cataracts
In a common form of cataracts,
proteins in the eye’s lens develop
chromophores that reduce the
amount of light that reaches the
eye’s retina and also give the lens a
yellow-brown
appearance.
Chromophores also disrupt the structure of the lens proteins, causing
light to scatter. These cataracts can
be treated by lens-replacement surgery, but the procedure is invasive
and costly, requiring special equipment and skilled eye surgeons.
However, ophthalmologists at
Glostrup Hospital in Copenhagen,
Denmark have now developed what
they consider a promising, affordable and accessible alternative to this
surgery: Laser bleaching.
Current laser cataract surgery
uses ultraviolet, or UV, light beams
to correct problem-causing chromophores, but UV light can damage
the retina. By using beams of
infrared
light
instead,
the
Copenhagen researchers were able
to replicate the effects of UV lasers
without their dangers.
The new laser treatment
“bleaches” chromophores, reducing
their absorption of light so as to
allow the eye to maintain its healthy
natural colors. It also helps restore
the lens proteins to their proper
structure.
The development was described
recently in the open-access journal
PLoS ONE.
Cataracts are the leading cause
of blindness in the world, and are
often related to aging.
Stopping glaucoma
on contact?
At the same time, a team of
researchers are experimenting with
new vitamin E-loaded contact lenses
that would treat glaucoma, the second-leading cause of blindness after
cataracts, by administering the necessary nutrient directly into the eye
instead of the eye drops currently
used.
Vitamin E is thought to aid
vision because of its antioxidant
capacities. However, other experts
questioned the need for a slowrelease, medicated contact lens,
especially since excessive wearing
of contacts is not recommended and
today’s most effective anti-glaucoma
drops must only be administered
once daily.
Meanwhile, a research team out
of Iowa State University is working
on a new technology that might be
able to catch glaucoma in its presymptomatic, early stages. Led by
Iowa State assistant professor
Chenxu Yu, the team said they
believe they are on the verge of a
diagnostic “breakthrough” with the
aid of infrared laser light—via a
method
called
Raman
spectroscopy—that shines through
the eye’s pupil to take a “snapshot”
of the retina. They hope the hightech picture could one day be used to
identify biochemical signs of glaucoma in its infancy.
Cigarette industry
to go up in smoke?
A new FDA regulation that went
public March 19, 2010 takes public
anti-smoking efforts farther than
they’ve ever gone, with the sale of
cigarettes to individuals under 18
illegal as of June 22, 2010. The new
regulation also: Prohibits the sale of
cigarette packages with fewer than
20 cigarettes; bars the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in
vending machines, self-service displays, or other impersonal modes of
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sales, except in very limited situations; prohibits free samples of cigarettes; and limits distribution of
smokeless tobacco products.
Most significantly, in what will
certainly have devastating effects on
the industry, tobacco companies will
now be prohibited from sponsoring
any athletic, musical, or other social
or cultural event, or any team or
entry in those events. Big Tobacco
will also be prohibited from using
music or sound effects in audio ads
(words only), or to sell or distribute
items like hats and tee shirts bearing
tobacco brands or logos.
Swindlers exploit confusion over health care law
Days after President Obama
signed the $938 billion bill into law,
scammers were already hawking
“limited enrollment” ads and even
going
door-to-door
peddling
“Obamacare” insurance policies.
Some scam warning signs to look
for? Invasive sales pitches, pushy
pitchmen, evasive answers, a
requirement to join an association or
union to get coverage, or a deal that
just seems flat-out too good to be
true. “The fraudsters read the headlines just like anybody else,” says
Sally Hurme, senior project manager
for health education at the AARP.
“They’ll take a realistic chunk of
what’s in the news—and in the
law—and twist it so the money
comes to them.”
Live at presstime:
• FDA approves Botox A for
spasms in elbow, wrist and fingers of
adult stroke patients
• Experimental, cellophane-thin,
electrode-loaded films may improve
diagnosis and control of variety of
internal organ conditions
• Nationwide, H1N1 has faded,
yet the Southeast is reporting more
cases; 124 million vaccine doses are
still available
• The number of doctor-owned
practices slid sharply due to malpractice concerns, pay reductions
and costly electronic record-keeping
• Stimulus-financed, statesdirected TANF funds may be used
for summer food service programs,
the government said
• Curcumin, a main ingredient in
curry powder, may delay the liver
damage that leads to cirrhosis,
according to a new study
• FAA allows pilots to fly while
on antidepressants Prozac, Zoloft,
Celexa or Lexapro, or generic equivalents
• Seventeen states have now
joined Florida in challenging
Obama’s health care reform law
• HHS and HUD partnering to
offer 5,300 Housing Choice rent
vouchers to non-elderly persons with
disabilities nationwide