University Hospitals Case Medical Center has been recognized for its achievement in implementing the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The GuidelinesSM for coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.

University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) has received the Get With The Guidelines Gold Performance Achievement Award in coronary artery disease, Silver Performance Achievement Award in heart failure, and Bronze Performance Achievement Award for stroke. This level of achievement shows UHCMC’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart disease and stroke patients.

Get With The Guidelines helps ensure that patients treated and discharged receive quality care in accordance with guidelines that will reduce the risk of secondary events. It takes advantage of the “teachable moment,” the time soon after a heart attack or stroke, when patients are most likely to listen to their healthcare professionals’ treatment recommendations. Studies demonstrate that patients who are taught how to manage their risk factors while still in the hospital reduce their risk of a second heart attack or stroke.

This accomplishment signifies that UHCMC has reached an aggressive goal of treating coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure patients with 85 percent compliance to core standard levels of care outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology secondary prevention guidelines and recommendations.

According to GWTG treatment guidelines, patients are started on aggressive risk reduction therapies such as cholesterol-lowering drugs, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, diuretics and anticoagulants in the hospital, or in the case of stroke, they may receive tPA, antithrombotics and DVT prophylaxis. They also receive alcohol/drug use and thyroid management counseling as well as referrals for cardiac rehabilitation before being discharged.

UHCMC has consistently and successfully implemented these quality measures for four years coronary artery disease, 12 consecutive months in heart failure, and 90 days in stroke since it began participating in the program.

“The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline recommended therapy is a critical step in reducing death and disability of cardiovascular disease patients,” said Gregg C Fonarow, M.D., National Chairman of the GWTG Steering Committee and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. “The goal of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines program is to help hospitals like University Hospitals Case Medical Center implement appropriate evidence-based care and protocols that will reduce the number of deaths in these patients and in their communities. University Hospitals has achieved a high level of performance in terms of implementing these life-prolonging treatments.”

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, each year approximately 300,000 people suffer a recurrent heart attack, 5.2 million people suffer from heart failure and 700,000 people suffer a stroke. “University Hospitals Case Medical Center is dedicated to making our care for heart disease and stroke patients among the best in the country. We will continue in our efforts to build off the success achieved with continued implementation of this valuable program,” said Nathan Levitan, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at University Hospitals. “Get With The Guidelines makes it easier for our professionals to improve the long-term outcomes of our cardiac and stroke patients, and we are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements.”

UHCMC’s staff develop and implement acute and secondary prevention guideline processes. The program includes quality improvement measures such as care maps, discharge protocols, standing orders and measurement tools. This quick and efficient use of guideline tools will enable UHCMC to improve the quality of care it provides heart disease and stroke patients, save lives and ultimately, reduce healthcare costs by lowering recurrence of events.

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University Hospitals Vision 2010: Shaping the Future of Health Care for Our Community

At University Hospitals (UH) our mission To Heal, To Teach, To Discover has inspired our leadership in patient care for more than 140 years. In 2005, UH launched Vision 2010, a plan that delivers an unparalleled patient and family experience through new and enhanced facilities and with careful consideration to the communities’ demographics. Vision 2010 represents investments of more than $1.2 billion over five years and reaffirms a strong commitment to UH Case Medical Center (UHCMC) in Cleveland’s University Circle, along with new construction and enhancements to our suburban ambulatory centers throughout Northeast, Ohio.

Vision 2010 includes the Ahuja Medical Center to serve Cleveland’s east-side communities; a campus transformation at UHCMC which includes a new, free-standing Cancer Hospital; the Adult Center for Emergency Medicine and Marcy R. Horvitz Pediatric Emergency Center; and the Quentin & Elisabeth Alexander Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital.

The Vision 2010 plan for the future also includes more than $100 million in technological enhancements, including system-wide electronic health records to enhance efficiencies and patient safety. The new facilities and the operations that will take place within them represent the creation of a technologically advanced, healing environment that will come to provide the safest and most compassionate care available.

About University Hospitals

With 150 locations throughout Northeast Ohio, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians. At the core of our Health System is University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women’s health, orthopedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, ranked best in the Midwest and first in the nation for the care of critically ill newborns; MacDonald Women’s Hospital, Ohio’s only hospital for women; and Ireland Cancer Center, which holds the nation’s highest designation by the National Cancer Institute of Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information, go to uhhospitals/

Source: George Stamatis

University Hospitals of Cleveland

A new US study found that walking six to nine miles a week may preserve brain size and consequently stop memory
deteriorating in later life.

The study was published online on 13 October in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of
Neurology.

The lead and corresponding author was Dr Kirk I. Erickson, from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; other authors
were also from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and the University of California, Los
Angeles.

Erickson told the press that our brains shrink in late adulthood, and this can lead to memory problems.

Researchers have promoted the theory that physical activity helps to preserve grey matter volume in late adulthood, which in
turns protects memory function, but there have not been enough studies following a sizeable group of elderly people for a good
number of years to back this with evidence.

Grey matter comprises mostly the cell bodies of neurons, as opposed to the axons or fibres that link them together and transmit
signals.

Erickson said he and his colleagues hope their results will now prompt some “well-designed trials of physical exercise in older
adults as a promising approach for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease”.

For their study, the team looked at data on 299 adults of average age 78 years who took part in the Cardiovascular Health
Cognition Study, where researchers had taken measures of grey matter volume as well as physical activity and cognitive
impairment.

Physical activity was assessed at the start of the study (baseline), in terms of number of blocks walked per week. None of the
participants had dementia at baseline.

The participants underwent high-resolution MRI brain scans to assess white matter volume and other brain health characteristics
9 years after baseline, and they underwent cognitive impairment tests, to assess memory and thinking skills and signs of dementia,
13 years after baseline.

The results showed that:

At baseline, walking amounts ranged from 0 to 300 blocks, with an average of 56.
At the 9-year point, participants who had reported walking at least 72 blocks a week (about 6 to 9 miles) at the start of the
study, had more grey matter volume than those who walked less (they had “greater volumes of frontal, occipital, entorhinal, and
hippocampal regions”).
Walking more than 72 blocks did not appear to increase grey matter further.
At the 13-year point, 116 (40 per cent) of the participants had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.
The participants who had walked the most appeared to have halved the risk of developing memory problems.

The researchers concluded that:

“Greater amounts of walking are associated with greater grey matter volume, which is in turn associated with a reduced risk of
cognitive impairment.”

Erickson said:

“If regular exercise in midlife could improve brain health and improve thinking and memory in later life, it would be one more
reason to make regular exercise in people of all ages a public health imperative.”

It is interesting that the researchers did not measure grey matter volume at baseline: presumably this measure was not available to
them in the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study data set.

So strictly speaking, they have not assessed whether walking helped to preserve each person’s brain volume, only that people who
walked the most tended to have larger grey matter volumes than those who walked less.

There is no proof of cause and effect here (this was a longitudinal study and not a controlled trial), only the suggestion of a strong
link, and the reasonable, but still arguable, assumption that it is walking that preserved brain volume rather than having more
brain volume encouraged people to do more walking.

The reasonableness of assuming it is the former is bolstered by the numerous studies that show our brains shrink as we
age.

Funds from the National Institute on Aging in the US helped pay for the research.

“Physical activity predicts grey matter volume in late adulthood: The Cardiovascular Health Study.”
K.I. Erickson, C.A. Raji, O.L. Lopez, J.T. Becker, C. Rosano, A.B. Newman, H.M. Gach, P.M. Thompson, A.J. Ho, and L.H.
Kuller.
Neurology, published online 13 October 2010.
DOI:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181f88359

Additional source: American Academy of Neurology.

: Catharine Paddock, PhD

Efforts to advance technology to help people who have lost communication and movement abilities are getting support from an Arizona Biomedical Research Commission grant for a project combining resources and expertise at Arizona State University and the Children’s Neuroscience Institute at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

David Adelson leads a research team at the institute working on development of “brain-computer interface” technology. The team is collaborating with Stephen Helms Tillery, an assistant professor in the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering, one of ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

The three-year grant of almost $469,000 will help fund refinement of an interface system designed to help children and adults who are unable to perform typical activities such as dressing, walking, talking, typing or writing due to severe brain disorders caused by stroke, severe cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – also known as ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” – spinal cord injury or similar disorders.

“We have been working on these interfaces in the laboratory for a decade, and it’s exciting to finally see our work moving into a clinical setting through the collaboration with Phoenix Children’s Hospital,” Helms Tillery said.

The interface system will allow people to use their own brain signals to communicate or interact indirectly with their environment by controlling a computer.

With improved device technologies and interactive software, people would be able to communicate and interact by using computers to control motorized carts, wheelchairs, artificial limbs, communication devices, or even robots. The technologies also may offer the possibility of communication through use of the Internet.

“This is truly a pioneering technology,” Adelson said, “and we expect that this type of collaborative research in Phoenix between the CNI at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and ASU will continue to spur further potential innovations and associative technologies in the future.”

Source:
Joe Kullman
Arizona State University

Invacare Corporation (NYSE: IVC) and Invacare Top End, the company’s sports and recreation division, are proud to launch an online feature dedicated to the Team Invacare athletes who are participating in the Paralympics in Beijing, China. It may be viewed at www.invacare/2008Paralympics. The Paralympics, held September 6 – 17, is the largest and most celebrated athletic competition in the world for athletes with disabilities.

The website highlights racing, handcycling, tennis and basketball athletes. Viewers may click on their favorite event to read athlete bios and check out their best photos. Some of the athletes have video files that are posted to the website – tune in to hear their stories about why they love sports, their favorite events and more. The website also highlights Top End’s cutting edge sports and recreation technology – the chairs behind the athletes.

Representatives from Top End will be at the Paralympics, so the website will be updated regularly with medal counts, news and event information. Team Invacare athletes embody the “Yes, You Can” attitude that Invacare stands for. That determination combined with Top End “Technology that Wins” makes for an unbeatable combination.

Invacare Corporation (NYSE: IVC), headquartered in Elyria, Ohio, is the global leader in the manufacture and distribution of innovative home and long-term care medical products that promote recovery and active lifestyles. The company has 5,900 associates and markets its products in 80 countries around the world.

Invacare Corporation

BT Business has launched a practical guide – Get fit for mobile working – to help businesses tackle the problems encountered by some of the UK’s 14 million mobile workers. The guide is designed to help mobile workers to avoid the back, neck and arm problems that can arise as a result of working in unfamiliar environments with a poor posture.

Official figures show that back, neck and arm problems are the most common occupational illnesses in the UK. Over a fifth (20.6%) of BT employees’ sickness absence is caused by such illnesses. However, newly published research carried out by BT Business shows that less than half (46%) of mobile workers are receiving guidance about staying safe when working on the move. Furthermore, a quarter (25%) of workers are unaware that all businesses are legally responsible for their health and safety wherever they are working, whether or not they are in the office.

To show workers there is no reason to be suffering discomfort, BT Business has worked with Margaret Hanson, one of the UK’s leading ergonomists, to publish a handy reference guide. Get fit for mobile working helps to identify common issues, their causes, and the solutions to ensure you steer clear of back, neck and arm problems both now and in the coming years. The advice will be communicated internally to more than 100,000 employees at BT itself.

Dr Paul Litchfield, BT’s Chief Medical Officer said “Mobile working can liberate people by giving them more flexibility over their time and more control over their jobs – both are important in helping to make modern life less stressful. As with any technology, people can experience problems with mobile devices if they don’t take note of simple, practical steps, such as those developed by BT Business, before they begin to use their equipment.”

Recent years have seen an explosion in mobile working, and a demonstration of the benefits – 83% of us think flexible working brings competitive advantages in business, whilst 54% of managers believe flexible workers have a better quality of life.

Bill Murphy, Managing Director of BT Business said “Mobile and flexible working has transformed both business and personal lives. By observing a few general principles, workers can ensure they see all the benefits of mobile working, without any downside. Businesses need to be aware of their legal responsibility for the health and safety of employees, wherever they are working.”

“There has been a lack of advice for employees about best practice mobile working, despite the explosion in mobile and remote working in the UK. This is why we have teamed up with leading ergonomist Margaret Hanson to produce the advice within Get fit for mobile working which we are making available to customers, and sharing with all BT employees.

Here are ten top tips from Get fit for mobile working on how you can avoid mobile misery:

1. Use the backrest of your chair. Don’t slouch forwards. Keep shoulders in line with your hips.

2. Hold your head so ears are above shoulders. Don’t stick your chin forward or bend or twist your neck.

3. Alternate between thumbs and fingers when typing on smartphones.

4. Don’t rest wrists or forearms on the edge of desks.

5. Position items so you don’t twist your back; screens should be at a comfortable viewing height in front of you. Ensure your back is supported.

6. Exercise your hands, wrists and neck regularly.

7. Make sure there is nothing underneath your workstation that restricts your posture.

8. Take regular breaks away from the keyboard and screen.

9. Don’t hold the phone between ear and shoulder – you’re likely to get a sore neck.

10. Adjust settings on your software so that the image and text are large enough for you to see comfortably.

The advice has been packaged in a handy, at-a-glance overview, as well as a detailed report. See both at bt/getfitformobileworking

About Margaret Hanson

Margaret Hanson, Principal Ergonomics Consultant, has 15 years experience of providing advice and support to organizations on how to reduce the risk of discomfort through the ergonomic design of workplaces and equipment. She has undertaken research for the Health and Safety Executive and the Scottish Government. She is a Fellow of the Ergonomics Society and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

About BT

BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2008, BT Group’s revenue was ВЈ20,704 million with profit before taxation and specific items of ВЈ2,506 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

BT

Scientists at the University of Maryland and Tulane University have developed a computational model of a swimming fish that is the first to address the interaction of both internal and external forces on locomotion. The interdisciplinary research team simulated how the fish’s flexible body bends, depending on both the forces from the fluid moving around it as well as the muscles inside. Understanding these interactions, even in fish, will help design medical prosthetics for humans that work with the body’s natural mechanics, rather than against them. This research is published in the October 18, 2010 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“When a fish moves in a fluid, muscles contract, but the fluid also moves against the body. So, the amount the body moves depends on the internal muscle force and the external reaction of fluids,” explained Eric D. Tytell, who conducted this research as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Professor Avis Cohen, Department of Biology. “Previous studies examined body mechanics separately from fluid mechanics because it is a very hard problem to solve. This is the first time that anyone has put together a computational framework to simulate this for large, fast animals like fishes.”

Understanding the general principles of animal movement could help to design and inspire engineered systems, including robots and medical prosthetics. This simulation was developed for the lamprey, a primitive vertebrate whose nervous system is being used as a model by Cohen and colleagues to develop prosthetic devices for people with spinal cord injuries.

“The devices may one day help people regain control over their legs and walk again,” Cohen said. “We understand to first order the neural circuit that controls the muscles for swimming or walking. Now, for neuroprosthetics, we need to understand how the muscles interact with the body and the environment – our model helps us do that.”

Chia-yu Hsu, a postdoctoral researcher at Tulane University, and Tytell performed simulations with different values for various body and fluid properties. One property that they discovered was particularly important in determining how well a fish swims is body stiffness.

“Take a lamprey and a barracuda as examples — if you hold a freshly dead lamprey, it just drops, because it is a very floppy fish,” Tytell explains. “But if you take a fish like a barracuda, their bodies are stiffer and don’t flop much. We wanted to know what difference does the floppy vs. stiff body make? If their muscles produced the same amount of force, then the floppy body, since it bends more, should accelerate more rapidly, but also expend more energy. And the stiff body should accelerate more slowly because it bends less, but once it gets going, it should use less energy.”

But in reality, this doesn’t happen — barracudas generally accelerate faster than lampreys. The simulations show that barracudas’ muscles are probably stronger than lampreys’, matched to the higher body stiffness. That may be why barracudas strike so quickly, Tytell said.

Lisa Fauci, professor of mathematics at Tulane University, has been developing the mathematical models and computational simulations required to gain insight into complex biological systems where flexible structures interact with a surrounding fluid.

“It is incredibly rewarding to work with biologists who embrace scientific computing as an essential facet of research, and to see that our simulations can address fundamental questions in physiology,” Fauci said.

The simulations demonstrate that matching the mechanical properties of future prosthetic devices to the body’s natural mechanics will be crucial. “We’ll have to get the mechanics right,” Cohen said.

But the research also provides biologists with quantitative information that can be applied to understand the biodiversity and evolution of fishes.

“Evolutionary biologists are interested in figuring out what the selective pressures were that led to a species having certain characteristics, and one of the things that it very important is locomotion. How animals move relates to their ability to find food, locate mates, and to escape predators,” explained Tytell. “So this information is likely to have evolutionary importance in how fish evolved mechanically.”

The team plans to continue working with the model, using it to examine why different fishes are shaped differently.

“What difference does it make to be shaped like an eel or shaped like a trout?” Tytell says. “We understand pretty well the difference that shape makes for things like submarines that don’t bend, but not so well for fishes.”

They will also simulate sensory systems to try to figure out how fish maneuver so agilely through turbulent water.

“The first line of defense against external perturbations such as eddies in the water for fishes, or tripping on a rock for humans, isn’t the nervous system, but rather the body’s mechanics, kind of like the shocks on a car. If we can translate the mechanical stability that living organisms exhibit into the design of robots or prosthetics, we could really advance the technology,” Tytell said.

Source:
Kelly Blake

University of Maryland

91 percent of people with
disabilities think they receive less attention than other minority
groups from the presidential candidates, according to a poll recently
conducted by Disaboom (OTCBB: DSBO), the premier
online community for people with disabilities.В  With the current
conventions and upcoming debates, people with disabilities are
looking to the presidential candidates to present opinions, insights
and solutions about topics that affect them, the largest minority
group in America.

A recent Kelton Research study, commissioned by Disaboom, also
indicated that one in four Americans believe that people with
disabilities receive less support from the presidential candidates.

“This community is made up of 54 million Americans and can
significantly impact the popular vote.В  And still, most members of our
community feel that they receive little attention from the
presidential candidates and from the political system as a whole,”
said Dr. Glen House, founder of Disaboom and a quadriplegic himself.
“Our national research indicates that our unheard voice is eager to
be heard on topics such as healthcare, accessibility, veterans’
issues and unemployment.”

This announcement follows Disaboom’s recent findings that 57 percent
of people with disabilities support Barack Obama in the 2008
presidential election.

For more information about the political issues of interest to people
with disabilities, visit Disaboom’s political blog, “Disabled
Politico” at disaboom/disabledpolitico.В  Throughout the
Democratic National Convention, Disabled Politico bloggers will
chronicle their experiences and observations from the Democratic
National Convention Blogger Tent, as they pertain to the key issues
affecting people with disabilities.В  Disaboom is also presenting “The
Unheard Voice,” at the Democratic National Convention, a series of
disability-related events and activities aimed at showcasing the
political and social issues of importance to people with
disabilities.

For more information, please visit
disaboom/Living/Election08/Default.aspx.

About Disaboom

Disaboom is an interactive online community that combines
lifestyle and medical information, discussion boards, a career center
and social networking opportunities for those with disabilities as
well as their family, friends, caregivers and health providers.В  It
was founded by Dr. Glen House, a physician specializing in physical
medicine and rehabilitation who is also quadriplegic. His firsthand
knowledge of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities
and those whose lives they touch has driven the Disaboom mission: to
create a comprehensive, evolving source of information, inspiration,
insight, and personal engagement for the disability community.

About the Kelton Research Survey

The Disaboom Survey was conducted by Kelton Research between August
14 and August 21, 2008 using an email invitation and an online
survey. Quotas are set to ensure reliable and accurate representation
of the total U.S. population ages 18 and over. Results of any sample
are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is
measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level
of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study,
the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or
minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would
be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the
universe represented by the sample.

About the Disaboom Poll

The Disaboom poll was conducted by disaboom using Vizu
polling technology between July 31, 2008 and August 22, 2008 using a
survey posted here.В  Poll results
are based on the responses of 604 respondents.В  Poll technology
ensured that each respondent was limited to voting once.

disaboom

Landmark Study published in Ostomy Wound Management September 2010, Vol. 56, Issue 9 demonstrates that patients receiving wound management under the VOHRA physician bedside wound care program, showed statistically significant decreases in wound-related hospitalization, decreased wound infection and 21 days faster healing times than comparison group patients. The improved outcomes resulted in Medicare savings of $19,229 per patient.

The study divided 4,020 Medicare beneficiaries into matching study and control sub-groups of Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) residents with a diagnoses of pressure, venous, ischemic, or diabetic ulcers whose wounds healed during a 10-month study period based on 2006 Medicare Chronic Condition Warehouse claims data for SNF, inpatient, outpatient hospital, and physician supplier settings along with 2006 Long-Term Care Minimum Data Set (MDS) information to compare Medicare expenditures between the groups.

The matching study group consisted of SNF patients managed by a structured, comprehensive, evidence based wound management protocol provided by a wound physician from the VOHRA Wound Physicians group. The matched comparison group of similar size consisted of SNF residents who did not receive wound care from the VOHRA wound team.

This study was conducted by The Lewin Group and Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC. to examine the significance of utilizing the VOHRA Wound Physicians structured approach to wound care in SNFs and Rehabilitation Centers.

Vohra Wound Physicians is a national wound care physician group that delivers wound care at bedside to residents in more than 800 skilled nursing, rehabilitation and long term care facilities across the United States.

Vohra Wound Physicians partners with Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Facilities in providing weekly bedside physician wound care. The facilities benefit from improved healing rates, reduced wound infections, and a decrease in hospitalizations. This type of bedside approach to wound care delivered by physicians negates the need to send the patients to wound care centers and improves the quality of care and satisfaction for residents in SNFs.

“Wound care has become especially prominent in long-term care and rehabilitation facilities where wound prevalence ranges from seven-25%. These geriatric patients require a holistic medical approach coupled with bedside minor procedures. It is this population that Vohra Wound Physicians seek to serve with a mission to bring them quality physician wound management, all the while being acutely focused on keeping costs in check,” A. Vohra MD, President and founder Vohra Wound Physicians.

Source: Vohra Wound Physicians

High impact activities such as jumping and skipping that can easily be incorporated into warm-ups before sports and physical education classes, have been shown to benefit bone health in adolescents.

The 10 minute school-based intervention, provided twice a week for about eight months, significantly improved bone and muscle strength in healthy teenagers compared to regular warm-ups.

Physiotherapist Ben Weeks said the warm-up which included tuck jumps, star jumps, side lunges and skipping with gradually increasing complexity and repetitions, was specifically designed to apply a bone-stimulating mechanical load on the skeleton. Students worked up to about 300 jumps per session by the end of the study.

“Eighty per cent of bone mass is accrued in the first 20 years and especially around puberty due to the circulating hormones. This study targets a window of opportunity in adolescence to maximise peak bone mass with high-intensity, weight-bearing activity.”

The study of 99 adolescents with a mean age of almost 14 years found boys in the intervention group improved whole body bone mass while the girls’ bone mass specifically improved at the hip and spine.

Boys in the bone-friendly warm-up group also lost significantly more fat mass than the other boys.

Mr Weeks said the gender-specific response to the exercise program may be related to the different rates of physical development with girls reaching maturity at an earlier age than boys.

“Peak height velocity is at different ages in boys and girls. Most boys in the group were right at that stage while most girls in the study were past puberty.”

He said the improved bone strength at the hip and spine in girls was promising as those were the typical sites for osteoporotic fractures in the elderly.

While the study showed that a simple, practical exercise intervention can result in worthwhile skeletal benefits in adolescents, Mr Weeks said larger, longitudinal studies were required to determine whether the beneficial effects could persist into adulthood and reduce the risk of future bone fractures.

###

Mr Weeks is a member of the Bone, Muscle and Movement Group within the Griffith Institute of Health and Medical Research.

Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2008; 23 (7) 1002-11.

Source: Ben Weeks
Research Australia

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the recognized leader in children’s dental and oral health, is one of only 21 organizations nationally to receive an Award of Excellence in the second round of the 2010 Associations Advance America (AAA) Awards program, a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership, Washington, D.C.

AAPD received the award for its AAPD Head Start Dental Home Initiative. This program is now in the running to receive a Summit Award, ASAE & The Center’s top recognition for association programs, to be presented in ceremonies at ASAE’s 11th Annual Summit Awards Dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., on September 29, 2010.

AAPD and Head Start (HS) are partnering at national, regional, state and local levels to develop a national network of dentists to link Head Start children with dental homes. A dental home means that each child’s oral health care is delivered in a comprehensive, ongoing, accessible, coordinated, family-centered way by a dentist.

This partnership also provides parents, caregivers and HS staff with the latest evidence-based information on how they can help prevent tooth decay and establish a foundation for a lifetime of oral health.

The AAPD Head Start Dental Home Initiative, which is in its third year of a five-year contract, will establish dental homes for the approximately 1 million children enrolled annually in Head Start across the United States. The five-year plan relies on five key components:

- Providing project leadership, administration and organizational support;
- Providing oral health expertise and technical assistance;
- Developing networks of dentists to provide access to dental homes;
- Training dentists to enhance their capability to meet the oral health needs of young children and their understanding of HS programs; and
- Enhancing HS oral health staff training and parent education programs.

Now in its 20th year, the prestigious Associations Advance America Awards program recognizes associations that propel America forward – with innovative projects in education, skills training, standards-setting, business and social innovation, knowledge creation,

citizenship and community service. Although association activities have been a powerful impact on everyday life, they often go unnoticed by the general public.

“AAPD’s program truly embodies the spirit of the Associations Advance America campaign. It is an honor and an inspiration to showcase this activity as an example of the many contributions associations are making to advance American society,” said the 2009-2010 Associations Advance America (AAA) Committee Chair Ping Wei, director of educational opportunities for the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“AAPD is deeply honored to receive this award on behalf of our members, professional partners and Head Start programs throughout America. Through this initiative we are combining their professional and creative talents, and developing the infrastructure necessary to provide Head Start children with the foundation for a lifetime of optimal oral health,” noted Project Director Dr. Jim Crall.

Source:
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry