Saturday News

Contents of This Week Saturday News:

• Headline - Ataxia (Lack of Coordination of Muscle Movements)

Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum. Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction. Dystaxia is a mild degree of ataxia. Friedrich's ataxia has ataxia of gait as the most common presenting symptom. A definition from Wikipedia and video clips from YouTube / Vimeo.

• Eclectic - Many articles from many Guest Bloggers about Stroke
• My Ataxia
• Neuropsychology and the Cerebellum: Part I
• Cerebellar Stroke
• What Changed…and What Hasn’t
• Trunk Ataxia
• Killing Cancer
• 50 Shades of Stroke – Aphasia
• RT? Don’t Talk About Me Without Me. Patient Engagement Tweetchat 14th April 16.00
• A New Stroke Neuroprotectant Drug Being Tested
• Heady Stuff
• More Links Between Air Pollution and Stroke Risk
• Peter's Stroke of Luck, part 3, X-rated, Men Only!!!
• Success Secrets for Caregivers: Aphasia Speech Therapy
• The Chances of Getting a Second Stroke, aka Who Me? Worry?
• Arthritis + Stroke = Modified Joint Protection
• Weekly Columnists
• Musing: Chantix Shows Promise for Ataxia
• Sunday Stroke Survival: Ataxia. It's That Time Again
• Caregiver: Begone, Old Bed!
• Jackie The Jester: The Italian Lover
• TED Talks - Dame Stephanie Shirley: Why Do Ambitious Women Have Flat Heads?
• Rick Mercer Report: Rick and Mayor Nenshi
• Laid-Back Administration: No Posts This Week
• Daily Comics: FB Or FW, Dilbert, Mayes, Doonesbury

Definition: Ataxia (Lack of Coordination of Muscle Movements)

Ataxia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ataxia (from Greek α- [a negative prefix] + -τάξις [order] = "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements. Ataxia is a non-specific clinical manifestation implying dysfunction of the parts of the nervous system that coordinate movement, such as the cerebellum. Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction. Dystaxia is a mild degree of ataxia. Friedrich's ataxia has ataxia of gait as the most common presenting symptom.

Types

Cerebellar

The term cerebellar ataxia is used to indicate ataxia that is due to dysfunction of the cerebellum. The cerebellum is responsible for integrating a significant amount of neural information that is used to coordinate smoothly ongoing movements and to participate in motor planning. Although ataxia is not present with all cerebellar lesions, many conditions affecting the cerebellum do produce ataxia. People with cerebellar ataxia may have trouble regulating the force, range, direction, velocity and rhythm of muscle contractions. This results in a characteristic type of irregular, uncoordinated movement that can manifest itself in many possible ways, such as asthenia, asynergy, delayed reaction time, and dyschronometria. Individuals with cerebellar ataxia could also display instability of gait, difficulty with eye movements, dysarthria, dysphagia, hypotonia, dysmetria and dysdiadochokinesia. These deficits can vary depending on which cerebellar structures have been damaged, and whether the lesion is bilateral or unilateral.

Video: Ataxia (Lack of Coordination of Muscle Movements)

SSTattler: There is lots of YouTube for Ataxia. Please look at YouTube parameters, for example, “ataxia stroke”...

A/cme Minute: Stroke - Limb Ataxia

Published on Aug 28, 2013

When a stroke occurs in the brainstem or cerebellum, patients may not display the classic signs we have come to rely on. Check out our free continuing medical education at www.AmericanCME.com.


Standard YouTube License @ AmericanCME

Eclectic Stuff

Definition: Eclectic(noun) a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

My Ataxia

Grace Carpenter
My Happy Stroke

Monday, February 17, 2014

There's a stunning lack of data about recovery for someone who's in my situation--healthy (pre-stroke); in their forties; and more than a year out from the stroke.  Often I just make up my own theories about the process of recovery.

For instance, I have ataxia (Amy's blog talks about cerebellar ataxia, but from what I understand, my stroke didn't touch my cerebellum). My physiatrist has noted my ataxia seems more noticeable now than a few years ago, but we haven't talked about why that might happen.

This is my theory about it: the ataxia is a good sign of pushing to the limits of my range of movement. Very slowly, I'm gaining more range of movement. But each millimeter (or so) of increased range takes a huge amount of effort and exercise. It takes a while for my muscles and joints get used to the new way of moving. The ataxia gets better with exercise--until I gain a tiny bit more of range of movement, and the cycle will start again.

That's my theory.

I made a video to show how tiny changes of position can set off my ataxia. The video is probably confusing, because I blabber on about "good" and "bad" positions. When I say a position is "bad," I mean that I'm compensating a lot for weak muscles (even though most viewers can't see much a difference); a "good" position challenges my stability--leading to more strength in the long run. I think.


Standard YouTube License @ Grace Carpenter

See the original article:

My Ataxia

in

My Happy Stroke

Neuropsychology and the Cerebellum: Part I

Bill Yates
Brain Posts

7th November 2011

Cerebellum Highlighted in Purple

When in medical school I remember memorizing the functions of the cerebellum with the acronym ETC standing for equilibrium, tone (motor) and coordination.

I won't mention how long ago that was but I will note that until about the last 20 years or so, this was the common view of the limits of the cerebellum.

Within the last twenty years, the function of the cerebellum is being understood to expand to a much more complex list of domains.

This increased understanding of the role of the cerebellum stems from study of patients with hereditary cerebellar disorders, i.e. spinocerebellar ataxia, localized strokes involving the cerebellum, advances in neuroanatomy and brain imaging studies related to brain function such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).

Christopher O'Halleran and colleagues from Australia have recently reviewed the neuropsychological functions linked to the cerebellum in an article published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology.  Additionally, they have pointed out this brain region appears linked to several clinical neuropsychiatric conditions including: autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.

Cerebellar Stroke

Peter G. Levine
Stronger After Stroke

Saturday, November 30, 2013



Somebody gave my book a crappy review because there's nothing specifically about  cerebellar strokes. But there is. A stroke can happen in the cerebrum, cerebellum or brain stem. I don't have anything specifically about the cerebrum or brain stem strokes or cerebellar strokes. I just have stuff about stroke.

Is there something inherently different about cerebellar stroke vis-a-vie strokes in the cerebrum or brain stem? No. What about a stroke that hits the posterolateral thalamus? Maybe the folks who have had a stroke that hit the posterolateral thalamus (or was exclusive to white matter or only hit the pituitary gland, or any of the other dozens of structures in the brain) should get their own chapters or books.  Actually, I'd love to see that happen. In the mean time, my book is a review of the neuroplastic process that encompasses all of those. Recovery from all of them fall under the same neuroplastic model of stroke recovery.

I don't like the template for recovery being contingent on where the stroke is. Again and again I stress that the view that the brain is NOT cordoned off into specific compartments that necessarily control specific functions. This notion, that the brain is sectioned off into independent exclusive sections is called the "mechanistic view of the brain". In fact, in my book there is a whole section (NEUROPLASTICITY AND HOW SCIENCE GOT IT WRONG) about this (brain=machine) mistaken perspective.

What Changed…and What Hasn’t

Robin
Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor

February 18, 2013

It is terrifying to realize that in one brief moment, my life completely changed.  I didn’t realize how much until I was back home with my family and trying to live life again.  I am writing this over a month after my discharge from the hospital, and I think I have discovered all my deficits and struggles, but I am not sure.  In case you’re interested in a list (arranged somewhat chronologically by when I discovered the problem), here it is:

* Pain.  Thankfully, the neck pain and headaches are continuing to get better.  However, since I can’t take ibuprofen with warfarin, can’t turn my neck too far with the dissection, and can’t see a chiropractor, my options for coping with the remaining pain are limited.  And with the financial ramifications of the strokes, I’m only seeing my massage therapist because I had happened to pay for several sessions in advance prior to the strokes.  My husband says he’d make me go anyway, but I’d find it hard to justify to myself.

* Exhaustion.  Fatigue is not a strong enough word.  I am more tired than I’ve ever been in my life.  And I was enormously pregnant on night float working 80 hours a week in up to 30 hour long shifts as a resident.  I’m more tired now.

* Vertigo and ataxia.  This one seems to have two parts.  There was that original horrible vertigo with the stroke I didn’t recognize as a stroke until later.  But that was fairly manageable once I got used to it.  With the final stroke, it became disabling.  If I move my eyes too fast, turn my head, have people moving around me (or cars when driving), have a blank wall in front of me, have to walk too much (which isn’t very much), get tired, try to do anything in the dark or in the snow, look at the water falling when I take a shower, ride in the car for more than about ten minutes (and even worse, ride in the car on curvy mountain roads…or even worse drive those curves), look at multiple objects at once (for example, the clutter on a table after a meal), or experience any number of other random triggers, I get “swimmy.”  It’s not straight-out dizzy.  I can feel it come on and have come to think of it as a sensation of shooting out of my body up and to the left and then spinning there while my body falls to the right.  I’ve learned the motor control to not actually fall unless I’m in an odd position or really tired, but it’s exhausting to manage and makes me really queasy and ill.

Trunk Ataxia

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

February 16, 2014

I told a couple of people that I would research trunk ataxia and see if I could make any specific suggestions other than just strengthening the trunk.  I never had trunk ataxia.  I had ataxia BAD, still do but it’s not so bad anymore, and it did not affect my trunk.  It affected my right arm and leg.  I have a friend who has significant ataxia in the trunk and told me that for a while, she felt her trunk shaking even when she was just sitting down.

Here’s what I think………………balance exercises would be extremely important because balancing engages the postural muscles.  But balance exercises require standing….and balancing….and that’s too much to ask of some people.  Soooo here’s an exercise that I used to give to people right after back surgery to help engage, be aware of, and strengthen those muscles.  It’s fun and it’s a mental game too.  Ok maybe I’m stretching the truth by calling it fun.  Lie on your back and put a blood pressure cuff under your low back.  Then inflate the cuff to about 80 mmHg.  Then you contract both the muscles in your belly and in your low back.  They work together.  Once these muscles are contracted, you do leg lifts and different things with your limbs while trying to keep the blood pressure cuff at 80.  Ataxia is a problem with control and this exercise is all about controlling those muscles.

See the original article:

Trunk Ataxia

in

My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Killing Cancer

2015 Mar 29

Correspondent: Scott Pelley

60 Minutes follows brain cancer patients in a Duke University clinical trial of a therapy that uses a re-engineered polio virus to kill cancer cells.

"The following script is from "Killing Cancer" which aired on March 29, 2015. Scott Pelley is the correspondent. Michael Radutzky and Denise Schrier Cetta, producers. The long war on cancer has left us well short of victory. Radiation flashed on in the 19th century, chemotherapy began to drip in the 20th but, for so many, 100 years of research adds up to just a few more months of life. Well tonight, you're about see a discovery for the 21st century that may be a big leap forward -- awakening the power of the body's immune system...”

Please see the original program: 60 Minutes - Killing Cancer.

50 Shades of Stroke – Aphasia

Sas Freeman

March 15, 2015

Another complication stroke survivor’s are faced with is Aphasia. This is a terribly frustrating complication, we can hear conversations as before, know how we would wish to respond or join in, yet we are unable to participate, the words we would like to say just wont come out. People often then begin to do one of two things they believe will help, yet truly they don’t. They talk to us in baby speak as if we have rewound our intellect back to toddler days; or they speak or answer questions for us by guessing what we are attempting to say. Don’t get me wrong , I’m not blaming them, none of us know how to handle the situation. Its just that although we appear to be displaying difficulty and are slow, we wish to get there unaided and finally get the words out. We can use pictures to illustrate things we are trying to say and help conversation this way.

One way to help improve the situation is music and singing. Somehow when we try to sing we tap into a different part of the brain plus we relax and we are able to participate in song. Yet when attempting simple sentences of normal speech, we concentrate so hard, it’s almost as though the breaks go on and speech becomes impossible.

One thing that helps me when I am having difficulty communicating with someone new is to focus with my eyes on something else other than who I am talking to.  I apologise and explain that I am not being rude but need to use the focus to concentrate on my response,  it works.

Music, song, practice, patience and self belief #50shadesofaphasia

See the original article:

50 Shades of Stroke – Aphasia

in

Sas Freeman

RT? Don’t Talk About Me Without Me. Patient Engagement Tweetchat 14th April 16.00

Kate Allatt
Stroke Recovery Tips

March 24, 2015














So we have a new NHS buzz term ‘patient engagement.Well, The Kings Fund says,

‘The role of the patient is no longer as a passive recipient of care. Nowadays doctors are expected to engage patients in their own health, care and treatment. There are also a number of initiatives to encourage patient involvement in the design, planning and delivery of health services.’

So let’s see what my own experience was in 2010, albeit before the new hype started, around the phrase ‘patient engagement.’

Well, I was very much a passive recipient of life-saving care in ICU, although I was mistakenly conscious. Sporadically, ‘my nice nurses’, would often make me aware of the vast array of medical procedures I had no choice but to endure.

‘Engagement’ was nigh-on none-existent at a time when I was wrongly considered semi-conscious (for two weeks after my stroke), though in reality I was fully conscious the after week from emerging from my medically induced coma!

A New Stroke Neuroprotectant Drug Being Tested

Friday, March 27, 2015

Surprised by Researcher's Remarks in News Article About a new Stroke Neuroprotectant Drug Being Tested

Andy Tasker photo credit - CBC

Here is what Andy actually said... Tasker said this phase three trial is also a proud moment for the team at UPEI.

"To know that the part we played was critical in the development of this drug, to demonstrate that fundamental research really can lead to tangible benefits that benefit people in the real world in real time, and also frankly to show that a small university way out in the edges of the country can actually contribute to something which has the enormous potential to be a major impact worldwide," he said.

Congratulations Andy!

Andy and his team is proving that even if others may think of us as limited in what we can do, it is only an attitude and does not limit us from what we are truly capable of accomplishing.

If there ever were barriers because of location, those barriers either no longer exist or have been vastly reduced given the communication tools we have today.

As, Jeff Jarvis notes in his book "Geeks Bearing Gifts".

Although it is written for the news and media industry, it contains much valuable content for all of us in the stroke community.

Be careful of the attitude you share.

Click here to read the entire article.

See the original article:

A New Stroke Neuroprotectant Drug Being Tested

in

Prince Edward Island Stroke Recovery

Heady Stuff

Tim Seefeldt
Brain Food Cafe for the Mind

March 22, 2015

The response to Blog # 1 blew my mind.

I knew that there was loads of interest in all things brain. But I didn’t dream that my first effort would get to so many readers or that the feedback would be so heady.

And after connecting with many of you, I realize that I have to do a bit more stage setting before going any further.

In the first helping of Brain Food I gave a sample of what the stroke fried in my mind. I want to be certain that I didn’t gloss over this. When I wrote that I lost the ability to read and write, I meant that I really lost it. That bit of brain was dead to me. It wasn’t a matter of snapping out of it. It meant firing up new brain bits and starting from scratch. Like a kid. But like a kid with a fried melon that may not be up to the task.

I’m not saying this to make you feel sorry for me. I just want to be crystal clear how devastating, damaging and life changing this mind sizzle was.

In the hospital, when I finally accepted that I’d had a stroke – and that took a while — this is how a poster on the wall of my hospital room looked to me: Eslmlsfslsmflsflsflosf CCCDOJIFOSFSJ.

More Links Between Air Pollution and Stroke Risk

Jeff PorterStroke of Faith

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Chengdu, China, 2006

This isn't the first posting here about the link between air pollution and stroke risk.

Of course, air pollution generates many, many other problems. I remember visiting London several years ago and, when blowing my nose, found a tissue full of dirt. In visiting Chengdu, China, later, the city was covered with smog.

I ran in both cities, but couldn't help but notice the affect on my breathing.

Here's one more piece of evidence that air pollution is linked to increased stroke risk:

"Our study adds to the growing body of evidence that air pollution is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease," said lead author Dr. Jonathan Newman, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. 

"It shows that a person's cardiovascular risk is not only associated with their genes, health behaviors and lifestyle choices, it also depends to some extent on the world we live in and the air we breathe," he said in an ACC news release. 

The results draw attention to the importance of reducing air pollution, Newman said. 

"If you're in good health, the level of air pollution we see in most parts of the United States probably doesn't pose a significant health risk to you. But for people who are very young, very old or have other medical problems, air pollution could be a significant source of cardiovascular disease risk," he added.

See the original article:

More Links Between Air Pollution and Stroke Risk

in

Stroke of Faith

Peter's Stroke of Luck, part 3, X-rated, Men Only!!!

Peter Corfield

February 6, 2015

I chose the name of the latest instalment of my book series to try and reach out to more people with a clever title.

It's an important stage in my re-education, possibly yours too if you are male or a female unfortunate enough to need to shave and also unfortunate enough to have had a stroke. I was left hemiplegic paralysed down the left side of my body. I feel lucky that it wasn't worse.

Hemiparesis is weakness of the entire left or right side of the body. Hemiplegia is its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medical conditions, including congenital causes, trauma, tumour, or stroke.

Now, where do I start?

I wanted to produce a book for people who haven't got a great deal of money to join a gym or have physiotherapy or whatever other costly process is recommended. People nowadays don't have much money to spare, especially if the breadwinner cannot work anymore.

Those of you expecting this to be a rude book I am sorry to tell you that you are in for a surprise. The title was all part of my cunning marketing plan. From here on in though I am going to be completely honest. Those that have read the first two books will know my background but for those that don't here it is.

Success Secrets for Caregivers: Aphasia Speech Therapy

April 2 / 2015

I know you will enjoy this video.  There is much truth in it.  We all know that success is often fostered early in life by Mom's and Dad's, and success in speech therapy for aphasia and developmental speaking difficulties is similar.

Sometimes it is not the method or the treatment that makes the most significant contribution to speaking improvement for those with aphasia or developmental speech and language delay.

Moshe Mark Ittleman, M.S., CCC/SLP
Speech Langage Pathologist
Author Teaching of Talking
Creator:  Teaching of Talking Video Training Course

Standard YouTube License @ Mark Ittleman

E-Mail:       markittleman@teachingoftalking.com
Website:     http://www.teachingoftalking.com
Pinterest:   http://pinterest.com/markittleman/boards/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/moshe.mark.ittleman
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/teachingoftalking
Amazon Author Central:  http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Ittleman/e/B00F6CA73C

See the original article:

Success Secrets for Caregivers: Aphasia Speech Therapy

in

The Teaching of Talking

The Chances of Getting a Second Stroke, aka Who Me? Worry?

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

Mar 12, 2015

You probably don't know James Wilson, but the folks at Lighthouse Baptist Church do. In 2000, the Pastor wrote a sermon called "Who Me? Worry?" that has absolutely no connection to the gap-toothed, poster boy of MAD Magazine, Alfred E. Neuman, who said sort of the same thing. Alfred substituted "what" for "who." But I digress.

Anyway, in the sermon, Pastor Wilson took Matthew's words in the New Testament (chapter 6, verse 34) and brought them up to date:

Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

His sermon was about how much we worry about real things, like children worrying about death and adults worrying about leaving their children too early when death knocks on their door.

In my world, a second stroke was the real thing. After almost six years since my stroke which happened April 8, 2009, my top worry was about getting a second stroke. Of course, I Googled it, and I found the following article reported by HealthDay in 2005:

"People who have had a minor stroke have a 43 percent risk of another, potentially fatal stroke within 10 years, Dutch researchers report."

Arthritis + Stroke = Modified Joint Protection

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

March 26, 2015

Five years ago an x-ray showed early signs of arthritis in my sound thumb.  I did not worry about it until this thumb started to ache.  I have overused my sound hand for 11 years and need it to last for another 20 years.  Below are examples of joint protection principles for the thumbs of stroke survivors.  I had to modify these principles which were written for two-handed people with arthritis.

1. Use Stronger Joints.  Pouring from a full milk container forces me to squeeze the sides of the container tightly so it will not slip out of my hand.  Squeezing tightly makes my thumb ache.  So I pour milk two-handed.  The arrow is pointing at my hemiplegic (paralyzed) hand.  The muscles of my hemiplegic shoulder, elbow, and wrist are doing the heavy lifting while my sound hand makes sure the spout is aimed correctly.  I appreciate not feeling pain every morning when I prepare cereal for breakfast.

2. Minimize Force.  I cannot swallow pills with liquids so every day I open a container of yogurt.  Manufacturers put strong glue on the lid to maintain a tight seal.  Opening the lid makes my thumb ache because I have to grip the tab so tightly.  My hemiplegic hand cannot help my sound thumb on this task.  I reduce the force I exert by wearing a rubber finger cot used for counting money.  Greater traction means my thumb can pinch less forcefully.

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