A fifth of stroke survivors questioned in England for a recent survey didn’t receive any post-hospital physiotherapy on the NHS, meaning they either had to pay for private treatment or go without any.

The results also showed that almost three quarters of physiotherapists surveyed in the UK believe they aren’t able to deliver the best outcomes for stroke patients.

The survey conducted by The Stroke Association and The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy asked 1160 physiotherapists and stroke survivors about their experience.

One in four stroke survivors surveyed in England said they had to wait more than a month for their first physiotherapy session after they left hospital.

74% of physiotherapists questioned in the UK felt that current systems and resources limited what they could achieve with their stroke patients, with only 22% of them saying they had been able to fully meet their client’s goals.

The survey results are contained in a new report called ‘Moving on’, a joint publication by The Stroke Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy to highlight the importance of access to physiotherapy for stroke survivors after they are discharged from hospital.

The report is being launched at the Houses of Parliament today (9 March), calling for all stroke survivors to have access to physiotherapy once they leave hospital and for more to be done with current resources to meet the needs of stroke patients.

Physiotherapy plays a key role in helping patients’ regain mobility and independence after their stroke.

While improvements have been made in the acute care of stroke since the introduction of the National Stroke Strategy for England in 2007, the picture is different when stroke patients leave hospital.

83% of physiotherapists questioned in the survey believed that the process of transfer of care for stroke survivors from hospital to home could be improved. More than half (52%) said that the outcomes for about half of their clients could have been improved if physiotherapy could be tailored to each patient’s needs.

Phil Gray, Chief Executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said:

“Our members are frustrated that they can’t always deliver the outcomes that stroke survivors want to achieve. It’s important that commissioners use resources as effectively as possible to achieve a high quality post-hospital stroke care pathway. We believe more can be done to improve stroke care in the community and we have developed new guidance to help commissioners.”

Jon Barrick, Chief Executive of The Stroke Association said:

“Contrary to public belief, people can recover after a stroke and physiotherapy plays a key part in helping survivors regain mobility and get back to normal activities. Rehabilitation can make a huge difference to stroke survivors’ recovery, so we must ensure that everyone receives physiotherapy if they need it, both in hospital and when they get back into the community.”

Notes

The ‘Moving on’ report and the ‘Aspiring to excellence: services for the long term support of stroke survivors. Guidance for commissioners’ are being launched by The Stroke Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy at a Parliamentary reception at the Houses of Parliament on 9 March 2010.

The Stroke Association questioned 663 stroke survivors in England who had their most recent stroke less than two years ago.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy surveyed 497 physiotherapists in the UK who work with stroke survivors to find out patient experiences from their professional perspective.

Both surveys took place in Summer/Autumn 2009.

The ‘Moving on’ report is available from The Stroke Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. ‘Aspiring to excellence: services for the long term support of stroke survivors. Guidance for commissioners’ is also available from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

An educational grant was provided by Allergan to The Stroke Association to support this independent project.

Allergan is a global speciality pharmaceutical and medical device company that discovers, develops and commercialises innovative products for neurosciences, ophthalmology, medical dermatology and medical aesthetics.

The company employs more than 6,500 people worldwide and operates world-class research and development facilities and state-of-the-art manufacturing plants. Allergan has global marketing and sales capabilities in more than 100 countries.

The Stroke Association is the only UK charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages.

The charity funds research into prevention, treatment, better methods of rehabilitation and helps stroke patients and their families directly through its community services which include communications support, family and carer support, information services, welfare grants, publications and leaflets.

The Stroke Association also campaigns, educates and informs to increase knowledge of stroke at all levels of society acting as a voice for everyone affected by stroke.

A stroke is a brain attack which causes brain damage. A stroke can be diagnosed by using FAST – Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech problems, Time to call 999. If any of these symptoms are present call an ambulance straight away.

About The Chartered Society Of Physiotherapy

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is the professional, educational and trade union body for the UK’s 49,000 chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and support workers. For previous press releases visit csp/.

Source
The Stroke Association

More than 13 million Americans have survived a heart attack or have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CHD), the number one cause of death in the United States. In addition to medications, lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and exercise, are known to reduce the risk for subsequent cardiac events. Despite this evidence, a high proportion of heart attack survivors do not follow their doctor’s advice to adhere to a healthy diet, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS).

Many studies have centered on determining dietary risk factors for developing CHD, but few investigations have studied the diets of CHD patients following diagnosis. In “Dietary Quality 1 Year after Diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease,” published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers measured the diet quality of 555 CHD patients one year after a diagnostic coronary angiography. Using the Alternative Health Eating Index (AHEI) to assess diet quality, they found that a high proportion of those patients had not made the necessary improvements to their diets to help reduce the risk of a secondary CHD event. Proven to be a strong predictor of CHD, the AHEI is a measure that isolates dietary components that are most strongly linked to CHD risk reduction.

“This study found that CHD patients’ diets had not improved in the year after being diagnosed,” said Yunsheng Ma, MD, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine and one of the study’s lead authors. “We know that a healthy diet is one of the most important components of a healthy lifestyle, especially for patients following a cardiac event, and yet patients are not acting on this knowledge.”

To determine the quality of CHD patients’ diets, Dr. Ma and colleagues collected data from a 24-hour dietary recall one year after the participants’ CHD diagnoses. The dietary recall is an assessment tool administered by a dietitian, who interacts with the patient to examine the patient’s entire food intake from a 24-hour period, including complete food descriptions, preparation and amount. Prior to the recall, patients were given food models that identified different foods and serving sizes, to improve recall and estimation. Nutrient scores were computed, and the AHEI was then calculated to determine dietary quality, which included intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts and soy, ratio of white to red meat, cereal fiber, trans-fat, ratio of polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat, and alcohol.

Of a maximum 80 points – which indicates the healthiest diet – the average AHEI score was 30.8, with individual scores ranging between 5.1 and 69.8. The mean AHEI score was poorer than scores reported for samples of healthy individuals from the Health Professional’s Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study. In a previous study by Ma and colleagues, the AHEI of several popular weight loss plans was calculated; the highest scoring diet was the Ornish Diet (AHEI = 64.6) and lowest scoring diet was the Atkins diet (AHEI= 42.3). The fact that one year after a coronary event patients with known CHD still have lower AHEI scores than these popular diets may be indicative of the complex issues of effecting and sustaining behavioral change and the confusion patients may face in navigating through dietary recommendations. When examining AHEI components, only 12.4 percent of the participants met the optimal daily consumption of vegetables and 7.8 percent for fruit. Only 8 percent of the patients met the cereal fiber recommendation, and 5.2 percent of the participants limited their trans-fat intake to 0.5 percent of total calories or less.
“In addition, nearly 11 percent of calories were from saturated fat (less than 7 percent is recommended), while total fiber was only 16.8 grams per day (25 grams or more per day is recommended).”.

The researchers evaluated the association of each patient’s diet in relation to his or her sociodemographic and clinical standings and found that low dietary quality was associated with smoking, lower educational levels, obesity, high-fat intake and a lower calorie intake. On average, smokers scored six units lower than non-smokers; participants with education beyond high school scored three units higher than participants with a high school education; and obese participants scored four units lower than normal weight or overweight participants.

“An overwhelming number of CHD patients, roughly 80 percent, do not attend cardiac rehabilitation programs, which instruct CHD patients about proper diet and exercise,” said Ira Ockene, MD, the David and Barbara Milliken Professor of Preventive Cardiology and professor of medicine at UMMS and cardiologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center. “Changing one’s eating habits is a long-term process, and optimal care should include cardiac rehabilitation and appointments with dietitians, which can build upon the patient’s initial foundations to improve his or her diet and overall health.”

According to study co-author and UMass Memorial Medical Center registered dietitian Barbara Olendzki, RD, MPH, an assistant professor of medicine at UMMS, “Physicians and health care providers should consider placing more of an emphasis on dietary counseling, along with exercise, for CHD patients. Nutrition counseling and patient dietary changes can lead to significant improvements in subsequent CHD risk and better quality of life.”

Dr. Ma agreed and suggested that, “It is important for physicians to refer CHD patients to the cardiac rehabilitation programs and encourage attendance. Future studies should be conducted and directed toward integrating nutrition education materials in cardiac rehabilitation programs. Nutrition education can have a significant impact on a patient’s overall dietary quality and body-weight control and on subsequent cardiac events and mortality.”

###

This research was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $174 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. UMMS is the academic partner of UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest health care provider in Central Massachusetts. For more information, visit umassmed.edu/.

Source: Nicole Soucy

University of Massachusetts Medical School

A space-based technology may provide an inexpensive and more reliable way to gauge the walking capacity in many patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), whose clogged leg arteries cause them severe pain when they walk, according to a report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

A Global Positioning System (GPS) uses a constellation of at least 24 medium earth orbit satellites that transmit precise microwave signals. This enables a GPS receiver to determine its location, speed, direction and time.

Using the GPS and a simple computer spreadsheet, researchers traced and analyzed the maximal walking distance (MWD) of 24 PAD patients as they strolled through a public park. MWD is the maximum distance a person can walk at one time at a normal pace on a flat surface before leg pain forces them to rest.

“We found that MWD obtained at a person’s usual pace is largely superior to the MWD measured on a treadmill,” said Pierre Abraham, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and a physician in the vascular investigation laboratory at University Hospital in Angers, France. “GPS may allow for a more objective measurement of walking capacity in patients with PAD.”

If additional studies confirm the findings, Abraham envisions the GPS assessing other diseases, including heart failure and low oxygen levels induced by exercise in the blood of respiratory disease patients.

PAD, which is caused by the same build-up of fatty deposits that narrow heart arteries, affects about 8 million Americans. The risk of PAD increases with age, and people with the disorder have a four to five times increased risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.

A treadmill MWD is the standard means to assess PAD severity and a key factor physicians use in proposing treatment. However, treadmill MWDs are time-consuming, must be done in vascular laboratories and don’t correlate with either the maximal walking distance or peoples’ perception of their disability resulting from PAD.

“Patients often report their walking capacity varies from one day to another and also varies from one moment to another within a single stroll,” Abraham said.

Studies using expensive professional GPS devices had previously demonstrated that the satellite-based system could accurately record the distances people walked. However, GPS’s usefulness in following PAD patients had never been tested.

To gain a better understanding of the effect of normal walking on such patients and how this compared with treadmill MWDs, the team equipped 18 men and six women with a $450 commercially available GPS device and analyzed their movements recorded as each walked in a public French park.

“GPS allows for the analysis of the distance walked, of course, but also the speed, duration of resting and the number of walking bouts over a prolonged recording period,” Abraham said.

Study participants, who ranged from 39 to 79 years old, were instructed to walk at their usual speed for at least 45 minutes, including rest breaks required by leg pain. When pain struck, they were told to stop walking rather than slow down. The length of each rest period was left up to the patient.

Analysis of the recorded data revealed that MWDs obtained outdoors were significantly better than treadmill-determined MWDs in three areas:

* GPS-measured distance showed a better relationship to the treadmill than the patient’s self-estimates of how far they could walk on a flat surface before pain forced them to stop.
* When participants walked unsupervised for 45 minutes outdoors, their MWD before they had to stop was greater than when they walked a hallway for six minutes with a researcher encouraging them every two minutes.

* Patients had longer MWDs when they walked in the park than on a treadmill. “Most patients reported that the unconstrained outdoor walking better reflected their usual walking capacity compared to the treadmill,” Abraham said.

Researchers must resolve many clinical and technical questions before measuring MWD via satellite becomes an everyday tool for cardiologists, Abraham said. These include determining:

* The reliability of measurements from one GPS device versus another from the same company, or from different companies.

* The optimal sampling rate for recording data.

* The optimal minimum recording time to determine a MWD under normal living conditions.

* Whether patients would walk differently if asked to do so for a specific distance rather than a minimal time.

Even when all such questions are settled, Abraham does not envision GPS replacing treadmills entirely for measuring MWD. They will be needed to compare patients because the treadmill technique is standardized, he said. They also simultaneously record multiple physiological measurements, such as blood pressure, oxygen consumption and heart rate, and test patients who are uncertain about or can’t participate in GPS-based measurements.

###

Co-authors are: Alexis Le Faucheur, Ph.D.; Vincent Jaquinandi, M.D.; Philippe Bouye, M.D., Ph.D.; Jean Louis Saumet, M.D., Ph.D.; and Benedicte Noury-Desvaux, Ph.D.

The American Heart Association is a member of the National Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition, an alliance of approximately 50 leading health organizations, vascular professional societies and government agencies united to raise public and health awareness about PAD. For more information on the risk factors, symptoms and treatment of PAD, visit americanheart/pad and padcoalition/.

Statements and conclusions of study authors that are published in the American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position. The American Heart Association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability.

Source: Karen Astle

American Heart Association

Currently, foreign-born people make up approximately 13 percent of the total U.S. population. As the immigrant population grows, understanding its disability status and employment characteristics becomes increasingly important. People, both native and foreign-born, with disabilities make important contributions to our society, and many individuals continue to work despite a wide range of impairments. A new study by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital focuses on disability and employment among working-age immigrants in the United States.

According to the study, released online in advance of print as an early view by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, there were an estimated 24 million U.S. working-age adults with disabilities in 2007. Of these, 8.5 million (35 percent) were employed. The study revealed that for each type of disability, including sensory, physical, mental and emotional conditions, both foreign-born citizens with disabilities and non-citizens with disabilities were more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to be employed.

“The employment decisions of immigrants with disabilities may be impacted by eligibility for public assistance,” explained Huiyun Xiang, MD, PhD, the study’s lead author and principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Whereas U.S.-born people with disabilities have greater access to public assistance and may depend less on salary income. Also, eligibility for foreign-born people is complicated by length of residency, citizenship, refugee status, work history and other factors.”

The two most common occupations for foreign-born people with disabilities were in production and cleaning/maintenance, while the two most common occupations for U.S.-born people with disabilities were in sales and office/administrative support. The study also showed that the median income for foreign-born persons with disabilities was $20,000; however, for U.S.-born people with disabilities, $22,000 was the median income.

“People with disabilities often face a variety of barriers to employment, including limited access to public transportation, limited mobility in and around the workplace and societal prejudice or discrimination,” said Dr. Xiang, also a faculty member of The Ohio State University College of Medicine. “However, English language proficiency is likely an additional barrier for immigrants with disabilities and may affect the occupational options available to them.”

Source:
Erin Pope
Nationwide Children’s Hospital

When
it comes to short periods of sick leave, women take almost 50% more
time than men. This was found in a study conducted in Finland,
published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine on February 5,
2008. However, when long term sick leave is evaluated, neither women
nor men are dominant.

Researchers Laaksonen, Martikainen,
Rahkonen, and Lahelma assessed periods of sick leave in a population of
7000 municipal workers in Helsinki, Finland between 2002 and 2005. Aged
between 40 and 60 years, they were surveyed regarding their working
lives and general health.

For short periods of self-certified
sick leave, women were 46% more likely than men to call in. When
certified by a doctor, they were also a third more likely to take a
short term sick leave. However, diagnosed illnesses explained only
about one third of the differences in self certified and one half of
doctor certified sick leave.

But diagnosed illness explained
only about a third of the difference in spells of self certified sick
leave and about half of that certified by a doctor. The authors suggest
in explanation that women may be better at recognizing problems and
going to the doctor for treatment.

For
periods longer than two weeks, the gender differences in sick leave
weakened. By the time a leave is at a period of 60 days or more, men
and women show few differences. This indicates that the divide between
males and female sick leave is largely in short term periods of leave
rather than long term.

Women commonly reported physical health
problems, physical work demands, and work fatigue as reasons for leave.
The psychological conditions of working and family related factors
appeared to affect both genders equally, as did physical problems.

Explanations for gender differences in sickness absence:
Evidence from middle-aged municipal employees from Finland
Mikko Laaksonen, Pekka Martikainen, Ossi Rahkonen and Eero Lahelma
Occup Environ Med. Published Online First: 5
February 2008.
doi:10.1136/oem.2007.033910
Click
Here For Abstract

Anna Sophia McKenney

An already promising initiative to assist start-up firms that commercialize technologies associated with the Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center is now expanding thanks to a three-year, $1.5 million Innovation Award from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Engineering Education and Centers.

The QoLT Center, an NSF Engineering Research Center jointly run by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, develops intelligent systems to improve daily living, particularly for those people whose capabilities have diminished because of age or disability. The new grant will aid the QoLT Foundry, which helps start-up companies move these technologies to the marketplace.

“Quality of Life Technologies may be created with older people and those with disabilities in mind, but they often have broad applications that could enrich the lives of all people,” said Rick McCullough, Carnegie Mellon vice president for research and principal investigator for the new NSF grant. “The QoLT Foundry already has spun off three firms based on QoLT-associated inventions, and we envision even greater success with the help of this new funding.”

Established in 2008, the QoLT Foundry is directed by Curt Stone, a veteran entrepreneur who is an executive-in-residence at Carnegie Mellon. The additional NSF funding will allow the foundry to expand its programs by hiring people with experience as entrepreneurs within particular technology domains and to develop undergraduate and graduate internship programs.

Stone said the foundry is developing a methodology that injects non-technical, market-based considerations into technology and product development at a much earlier stage than traditional academic research, helping start-up companies emerge much faster than might otherwise be possible.

The three companies created with the help of the QoLT Foundry thus far are NavPrescience Inc., VibeAttire Inc. and Invynt LLC.
NavPrescience Inc., founded by Anind Dey, associate professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII), and Drew Bagnell, associate research professor of robotics, is developing GPS-based navigation devices that learn a driver’s preferences and habits so it can personalize route suggestions and warn the driver regarding changes in normal routes. NavPrescience also has received assistance from Innovation Works’ AlphaLab.

VibeAttire Inc., created by Aubrey Shick, a graduate student in HCII, is a vibrating vest that helps people feel music rather than just hear it by transforming acoustical sound from MP3 players or cell phones into vibro-tactile sensations. Originally intended for people with hearing problems, VibeAttire can help anybody enjoy an immersive musical experience similar to a live concert.

Invynt LLC is commercializing technology invented by HCII graduate student Chris Harrison, called “Lean and Zoom.” This allows computer users to change magnification levels of images on a computer screen simply by moving closer to or farther from the computer monitor.

“We’ve evaluated more than 70 technologies associated with QoLT and many of them have commercial promise,” Stone said. “With the greater resources made possible by the NSF, we think we can spin out even more of these as companies and create more than 100 jobs in the Pittsburgh area over the next five years.”

Source:
Byron Spice
Carnegie Mellon University

A husband and wife research team has found a way to use the sleeve-like cover on bone to heal serious bone injuries faster and more simply than current methods. And they’ve developed an artificial sleeve that spurs fast healing when a car wreck, bomb blast or disease leaves too little cover.

Melissa Knothe Tate, a joint professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical & aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University, and Ulf Knothe, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, announce their work at the annual meeting of the Orthopedic Research Society in New Orleans this week.

Knothe used the technique on a wheelchair-bound patient who suffered from cerebral palsy, hip dysplasia and a curved spine exacerbated by legs of differing length. To lengthen her shorter leg while correcting her hip dysplasia, he replaced the hip joint with a long-stemmed prosthesis, in the process cutting and spreading the femur to match the length of its mate. Around the newly-created gap in the femur he left a section of the periosteum, the bone’s sleeve-like cover, intact to envelop and heal the gap.

Inside the sleeve, bone grew and matured around the prosthesis stem. The patient has since learned to walk again.

Why does the sleeve work?

“The sock-like sheath on the outside of the bone is a habitat for stem cells,” Knothe Tate explained.

In testing on sheep in Switzerland, animals that had the periosteum operation to bridge a 1-inch gap in their leg stood within 24 hours and had substantial bone filling the gap within two weeks. In the lab, Knothe Tate and fellow researchers found that direct and angular pressure on stem cells from periosteum stimulated the cells to develop into bone. They believe the pressure of standing and shifting weight drove the bone growth in the sheep.

“Just like in the embryo, given the right trigger, the cells build bone like crazy,” Knothe Tate said.

She tested the periosteum process against the standard bone graft technique of packing the gap with spongy bone taken from the pelvis and included a third model in which the gap was packed with spongy bone and covered with periosteum. The results showed the periosteum alone healed fastest and with the greatest density. “Surprisingly, including the bone graft slowed the healing process.” she said.

In addition to better results, the surgical procedure is simpler for the doctor and patient, the couple says. That’s no small matter: of the nearly 8 million bone fractures that occur in the U.S. annually, about 1.5 million result in bone grafting operations.

Compared to the process called distraction osteogenesis, which uses pins inserted through the skin and into two lengths of bone to pull them together and bridge a large gap, the perisoteum procedure is far less invasive and less likely to result in infection and other complications.

Knothe, who has worked with patients suffering bone cancer or bone loss from traumatic injuries, knows that sometimes there is not enough periosteum to make a sleeve.

With support from the Case-Coulter Translational Research Program, the couple designed an artificial periosteum and Knothe Tate produced the novel implant, a sleeve made of materials approved by the Food & Drug Administration for other treatments. In sheep testing, collagen, collagen and cells scraped from periosteum, and pieces of periosteum were tucked into the artificial sleeves. Sheep treated with pieces of periosteum healed fastest, followed by those with collagen and cells.

“The next step is to bring the technology to the clinic, to broaden its access to the general public beyond the top clinics, for example for patients relying on hospitals in rural areas, as well as for soldiers injured on the battlefield,” Knothe said. “You can sterilize the membrane in an autoclave, along with the surgical tools. Its modular design makes it easily adaptable to a variety of clinical situations.”

The couple has filed for a patent on the artificial periosteum and is now working with other researchers to develop optimum materials to speed healing.

Source:
Kevin Mayhood
Case Western Reserve University

Multi Radiance Medical, in partnership with Rich-Mar Corporation, has announced a breakthrough with the introduction of its new therapeutic laser, Laser Prism with Area Identification Matrix (AIM) and its FDA 510(k)-cleared LaserStim accessory, to speed relief to chronic and acute pain sufferers. Laser Prism’s specially designed LaserStim accessory can provide simultaneous or independent light and electrical stimulation applications for superior clinical applications and outcomes. In addition to its proven pain-relieving qualities, physical therapists and chiropractors can now be reimbursed for the time spent administering light therapy.

“One of the biggest challenges physical therapists and chiropractors faced, up until now, is the fact that laser treatments were not reimbursable by health insurance,” said Douglas Johnson, ATC, EES, CLS, and medical consultant to Multi Radiance Medical. “These professionals knew that therapeutic lasers worked, but struggled with both the initial purchase of the unit and determining what to charge patients for the treatment without reimbursement. The LaserStim accessory and its unique design changes all of that. Time spent administering light therapy with LaserStim is now being reimbursed by insurance. Most physical therapists and chiropractors will see the unit pay for itself in less than one month of treatments.”

The LaserStim is the only FDA-cleared combination emitter available that incorporates multiple radiances, including a super-pulsed laser with 25,000 milliwatts of peak power, red LEDs, infrared and static magnetic field, with electrical stimulation to promote an optimal healing environment.
Distributed exclusively by Rich-Mar Corporation, Laser Prism and LaserStim are FDA-cleared for temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, arthritis and muscle spasm, relieving stiffness, promoting relaxation of muscle tissue, and to temporarily increase local blood circulation where heat is indicated, as well as for the symptomatic relief and management of chronic, intractable pain and adjunctive treatment for post-surgical and post-trauma acute pain.

Physical therapists, chiropractors and other medical professionals are using products such as Laser Prism with Multi Radiance Technology to speed relief of shoulder, joint and carpal tunnel pain, arthritis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia and more. Laser Prism with AIM features four program modes, six setting and sweep frequencies, and a memory function that allows clinicians to save up to 50 individual patient programs.

Low level laser therapy, or therapeutic lasers, have been used for over four decades to help speed pain relief in patients. Similarly, Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) units have been used for over four decades to treat musculoskeletal pain. The combination of these therapies has significant pain-relieving properties for patients suffering from chronic and acute pain.

About the Partners

Rich-Mar has been the leader in innovative and advanced ultrasound, electrotherapy, and light therapy modalities for over 30 years. Rich-Mar focuses on only making the best and most reliable modalities – offering the widest range of options in stimulators, ultrasounds, Hands-Free ultrasounds, combination devices, and light therapy products as well as the accessories to go with them such as electrodes, gels, lotions, and unique GelPads. The Rich-Mar brand of products is now a part of NAImco Medical. For more information visit richmarweb.

Multi Radiance Medical is a leading developer of the world’s most advanced medical devices utilizing Multi Radiance Technology. This exclusive technology uses a unique combination of radiances, including super pulsed laser, visible red and infrared lights and magnetic field, which have been clinically proven to improve the supply of oxygen to affected areas and aid healing. The special combination of radiances enables photons to penetrate up to five inches below the surface of the skin without harming tissue. Multi Radiance Medical’s non-invasive, painless, FDA 510(k)-cleared products are available exclusively through distribution channel partner Rich-Mar.

multiradiance

IPC The Hospitalist Company (Nasdaq: IPCM) announced that it has added Innovative Physician Services, LLC (IPS) to its group of national affiliated practices. IPS is a regional medical group specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation combined with internal medicine hospitalist services. The affiliation marks IPC’s entry into the New England region.

Headquartered in Ludlow, Massachusetts, IPS provides services to rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, and long-term acute care facilities throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The group’s 38 hospitalists care for 300 patients daily, on average. The group practices in more than 12 acute care facilities and a number of skilled nursing facilities across the region.

“We joined forces with IPC because we believe its support capabilities will advance the goals of our team to deliver a comprehensive continuum of care for our patients through all levels,” said Dr. Adnan Dahdul, an internist who founded IPS in 2004 with Dr. AnnMaria Elder, a physiatrist. The two entrepreneurial physicians will remain as IPC Practice Group Leaders.

About IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM) is a leading physician group practice company focused on the delivery of hospitalist medicine services. IPC’s physicians and affiliated providers manage the care of hospitalized patients in coordination with primary care physicians and specialists. The Company provides its hospitalists with the comprehensive training, information technology, and management support systems necessary to improve the quality and reduce the cost of inpatient care in the facilities it serves.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc.

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) is urging residents across the country to contact their local elected officials and members of the media to draw attention to the problem of the nation’s uninsured during “Cover the Uninsured Week,” March 14-20.

APTA is a supporting organization of the observance, designed to raise awareness of the plight of 46 million uninsured Americans, including 9 million children, and the effect it is having on the country’s health care system. The observance comes at a critical time as final health reform legislation is currently being considered by Congress.

“Physical therapists are acutely aware of the impact that the lack of health insurance has on the needs of our patients,” said APTA President R Scott Ward, PT, PhD. “The health of our patients is our number one priority; we are happy to join in the pursuit of raising awareness about the plight our fellow uninsured Americans and how we can be part of the solution.”

For online resources and more information on how you can join this effort, visit covertheuninsured.

Source
American Physical Therapy Association