* For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. (See as well the author Lynn Johnston).
** I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons. It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very low. Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using GoComics.com and Dilbert.com.
*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.
By Regina Price
These are the ELLA courses that were on May, 2012. There were different courses in other years. People were asked about the courses at the end of the sessions each year and the program development committee then decided which courses to include this year because of the feedback of participants. There are various courses through each time slot.
The courses in the first class in the morning included those about religious issues, law and politics; the history and significance of childhood; writing and preserving your memories; the history of the concerto; another journey through science; tai chi; and working with photos on your computer. In the morning there are also two period art classes including intermediate watercolor painting; exploring your inner artist, and life studies and portraiture in pencil and paint. For me, it was too hard to choose but I ended up in the concerto class.
The second period included learning about the courses about values, ethics and sustainability; not just a fairy tale: forms and functions of fantasy; tracing tendencies in art; meet you at the agora; mobile tendencies and social media; and a joyful noise. Being in a class learning about singing and practising singing was important to me because I have problems with aphasia so I went to a joyful noise course.
After the noon speaker and lunch, students went to the afternoon classes. The choices were learning about new issues in Canadian foreign policy; Ukrainian culture; it’s all about books; water-the precious resource for life; cardio salsa, zumba gold; computer and internet basics; introduction to cartooning. Also, afternoon art classes were beginner watercolor; and beginner sketching and journaling. These classes were very interesting but I decided I needed to be out of a chair for a while and I ended up in cardio salsa class.
The final classes were: you’ve come a long way baby; topics in Canadian Native history; iconic 20th century Canadian poets; hoarding culture: possessing the past; the Astronomical Universe; and a class of Hatha Yoga. I decided to take about hoarding the past which was very interesting and illuminating about museums around Europe. It helped my brain and I was very interested about learning about past art and culture items, which helped me to think about things I never thought about earlier in my life.
I wrote this article to emphasize that ELLA has very different, interesting courses which can help us through our 4 phases (for me - through these courses): spiritual (learning about the concerto), emotional (the joyful noise), physical (the cardio salsa) and mental (learning about hoarding the past). These phases come from the Aboriginal culture and it helped me immensely after and through my brain aneurysm (a kind of stroke).
In the future:
I will write about these 4 phases and how we can make our lives meaningful to us using these tools or phases.
A Newfie is driving down a back road in Newfoundland. A sign in front of a restaurant reads:
HAPPY HOUR SPECIAL Lobster Tail and Beer
"Lord tundering Jesus", he says to himself, "my three favorite things!!"
and ...
A Priest Teaching Natives to Speak English.
He takes the chief for a walk in the forest. He points to a tree and says to the chief, "This is a tree."
The chief looks at the tree and grunts, "Tree."
The Priest is pleased with the response. They walk a little further and he points to a rock and says, "This is a rock."
Hearing this, the chief looks and grunts, "Rock."
The Priest was really getting enthusiastic about the results when he hears a rustling in the bushes. As they peek over the top, he sees a couple of natives in the midst of heavy sexual activity.
The Priest is really flustered and quickly responds, "Man riding a bike."
The chief looks at the couple briefly, pulls out his blowgun and kills them.
The Priest goes ballistic and yells at the chief that he has spent years teaching the tribe how to be civilized and be kind to each other, so how could he kill these people in cold blood that way?
Can you imagine the many hours of training these men endure? Should keep them out of mischief for some time! Given some of the information about prisons in 3rd World nations, the cleanliness and modern facility, the 'uniforms' and generally healthy appearance of the inmates is remarkable.
Amazing Dance Though!
What a wonderful way to give these men a different, successful view of themselves. This may be the first time many of them feel they have any worth... These dancers are prisoners in the Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Province of Ceb in the Philippine Islands. The dances are obligatory for all of the 1600 prisoners except the old or the sick. (By the way, The sound comes from a Michael Jackson song).
The largest and most comprehensive travelling exhibition on the history, biology and evolution of dogs, Wolf to Woof sniffs out the facts on man's best friend. This exhibit has four themed sections including multi-media displays, artifacts, photo murals and dioramas along with interactive, hands-on components.
For centuries, dogs and people have worked side by side. Dogs have served as hunters, herders, warriors. Over time, the breeding of domestic dogs has resulted in animals whose size, temperament and loyalty made them far better suited as human companions than as members of a pack. Dog breeders would select for physical traits like size and hunting ability, and also for personality traits that make a dog trainable, friendly, communicative and loyal. They were bred for speed, stamina, aggression, strength or size. Dogs were also bred for looks and style.
While most dogs today hold the primary role of pet and friend, some will work as assistants for people with disabilities or as important members of search and rescue teams.
No other single species in the animal kingdom has their variety of shapes and sizes and no other has captured our hearts quite like the dog!
In your newspaper and on the television news, you often hear news about stem cells and how sometime they will be used to cure diseases like spinal cord injury, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis. Stem cells are the body’s version of a blank slate. They are cells that haven’t yet been told what to do or how to function. They are simply waiting for the right time and place to develop into a cell the body requires like heart cells, or muscle cells or even brain cells.
Let’s face it – most people are looking forward to when stem cells can be used to help people.
While we know a lot more about stem cells than we did 10 years ago, stem cell research is still in its infancy. It is not unlike where heart transplants were 40 years ago. Do you remember when Christiaan Barnard did the first heart transplants? That was way back in 1967. Think about it --
His first patient didn’t live long after the transplant.
The relative success of Barnard's second heart transplant was followed by a period of uncontrolled copycat operations in many countries, with predictably poor results.
In 1967 there were no guidelines for the diagnosis of death of beating heart donors.
So when can we expect to see stem cell research live up to the promises that scientists have made and cure stroke, Parkinson’s, and MS? University of Alberta researcher, Tim Caulfield thinks it will be a long time before stem cells will be a health option, but recently on CBC radio he talked about people going “offshore” – to the Caribbean, India, or China for unproven stem cell treatments.
Going to third world countries for stem cell transplants is not unlike many of the copy-cat heart-transplant operations. Surgeons started to do heart transplants before they were ready for prime time.
People go offshore for stem cell transplants because newspapers, radio and TV tells us about the good things that stem cells might do, but doesn’t do a good job about informing us of the risks. People think that the science of stem cells is further ahead than it is.
In Dr. Caulfield’s research on the media coverage that scientists could produce viable stem cells from skin, 71% of the articles covered the stem cell research in positive terms. For example, the Globe and Mail headlines read: “Stem cells hailed as a massive breakthrough” and the London Times ran a similar headline — “Breakthrough as stem cells are produces from skin, not embryos.”
Only 6 articles included any suspicion about the scientific potential and belief that the new technology is not suitable for medical application.
It is important to remember that all of these stem cells are patented. Many different research teams are developing their own lines of stem cells from various tissues — skin, human bone marrow, umbilical cord, and human teratocarcinoma (A malignant teratoma, most often of the testes).
When these stem cell lines are implanted into the brains of rats that have had a stroke induced by the researchers, some of these stem cell live and grow. Some of these stem cell experiments have produced some recovery in the rats. But there are risks. Scientists worry about:
growth of tumors or even cancer,
a host immune response where the body rejects the transplanted cells, or,
dyskinesia, Parkinson like symptoms , an abnormality in performing voluntary muscle movements.
As well, although the stem cells transplanted into brains may grow, they many not actually connect to anything. Sometimes people recover function and sometimes they don’t. Stem cell transplants may connect better if the person receives intensive physiotherapy after the stem cell transplant (Bonnamain, Neveu, & Naveihan, 2012).
So maybe, it is not time to rush off for one of those stem-cell operations you see on the internet. Better knowledge of mechanisms involved in stem cell transplantation will hopefully lead to successful treatments, but we are not there yet.
You can listen to CBC interview University of Alberta Researcher Tim Caulfield:
Timothy Caulfield, Christopher Scott, Insoo Hyun, Robin Lovell-Badge, Kazuto Kato & Amy Zarzeczny
The field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) will be subject to a wide range of laws and research ethics policies, many of which exist as a result of the controversies associated with research on human embryonic stem cells. Understanding this potentially complex regulatory environment will help iPSC research move forward and will inform future policy.
Big scientific developments have always been spun to meet particular social agendas. We have seen it in the context of global warming, nuclear power, and genetically modified organisms. But few stories illustrate the phenomenon of spin as well as the reaction, and concomitant media coverage, that surrounded the November 2007 announcement regarding the reprogramming of skin cells to produce cells with qualities comparable to those of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
Improvement of Deficits by Transplantation of Lentiviral Vector - Modified Human Amniotic Mesenchymal Cells After Cerebral Ischemia in Rats
Jiang Tao, Fang Ji, Baojun Liu, Feng Wang, Feng Dong, Yaqin Zhu
Introduction
Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability; approximately 20% of people who suffer from a stroke die within the first week. However, although 70% of stroke patient survive considerably longer after a stroke, and despite intensive research, few treatment options are available.
Experimental animal models and human trials have demonstrated great promise for stem cell transplantation to restore brain function post-injury. Embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can be differentiated into cells of various organs, including cardiomyocytes, there are many underlining problems to overcome before clinical applications can be used. Among them, tumorigenicity is a serious concern. Autografts of iPS cells may not cause immunologic rejection; ironically, this will also cause possible neoplasm formation to escape from immune surveillance, ethical and political concerns have limited the use of fetal stem cells and ES cells.
Virginie Bonnamain, Isabelle Neveu and Philippe Naveilhan
Neural transplantation is a promising therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases and other disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) such as Parkinson and Hunting- ton diseases, multiple sclerosis or stroke. Although cell replacement therapy already went through clinical trials for some of these diseases using fetal human neuroblasts, several significant limitations led to the search for alternative cell sources that would be more suit- able for intracerebral transplantation. Taking into account logistical and ethical issues linked to the use of tissue derived from human fetuses, and the immunologically special status of the CNS allowing the occurrence of deleterious immune reactions, neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) appear to be an interesting cell source candidate. In addition to their ability for replacing cell populations lost during the pathological events, NSPCs also display surprising therapeutic effects of neuroprotection and immunomodulation. A better knowledge of the mechanisms involved in these specific characteristics will hopefully lead in the future to a successful use of NSPCs in regenerative medicine for CNS disorders.
July: Collaboration is at the heart of the CSR’s approach to research August: Translating research into practice, bedside to bench to bedside, part 1: How exercise can accelerate and enhance recovery. Exercise in Stroke VIDEO. We are pleased to share our newest video collaboration as Part I of a three part series. PART I: The importance of exercise and stroke recovery.
Helen Brown had a TIA (transient ischemic attack) at her birthday party...
Coming soon:
PART II: Goal Management Training: helping survivors of covert stroke and white matter disease (this Fall) PART III: Helping the brain rebuild itself after stroke: stimulating neurogenesis and angiogenesis (2013)
Promoting the need for funding stroke recovery research
In May, the Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) released a series of ads promoting their Lottery. Proceeds will go, in part, to the HSF Centre for Stroke Recovery (CSR). This 60-second spot, produced by the HSF, showcases some of the research underway at the CSR Baycrest site.
On June 15-17, the Heart and Stroke Foundation is hosting, in part, its Polo for Heart annual event. The Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery will be one of two recipients of the proceeds resulting from this year’s event. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.poloforheart.org. More details on the results of this event in the JUNE issue of RECOVERY News.
Recovery NEWS (June) and the Scientific Bulletin (July)
Coming soon! Issues include: details of the CSR’s 10th Annual Scientific Meeting including the 2012 Hakim Award recipient, an interview with Sandra Black, partner profile on Baycrest and much more.
StrokePAD: Canadian students develop innovative technology for stroke rehabilitation
Posted on June 4th, 2012
Clinicians needed to test new iPAD app with stroke patients.
Morgan Moe is a Kinesiology graduate from Calgary AB who has also been a long-time volunteer, practicum student, and employee at the Association for the Rehabilitation of the Brain Injured (arbi.ca). It was through her work there that an idea first sparked her interest: “I wanted to create an app that would empower patients with better resources to be more engaged in rehabilitation, even from the comfort of their own homes.” It was shortly thereafter that Morgan was accepted into a prestigious entrepreneurship program called The Next 36 (thenext36.ca). This program selects 36 top undergraduates from across Canada and provides seed funding, incredible mentorship and MBA-level education for an entrepreneurial venture.
Through The Next 36, Morgan was teamed up with Simon Jalbert, Commerce graduate from Saint-Mary’s University, Anne-Marie Paquette, Architecture graduate from McGill, and Ben Docksteader, a Computer Science student from PEI. Together the team has worked diligently to pursue their mission of empowering stroke patients and caregivers. Morgan explains, “Alone this would have never been possible. The Next 36 has provided us with a phenomenal opportunity to blend a variety of individual strengths to create a truly transformative piece of technology that can have a tremendous impact on people’s lives.“
StrokePAD is a tablet application designed for patient use, which provides support in navigating care options, individualized health reference materials to prevent a secondary stroke, and personalized rehabilitation programs. The application connects with a web portal through which professionals can design, deliver, remotely change, and monitor rehabilitation programs.
The StrokePAD team is currently looking for healthcare professionals to get involved, institutions to trial the app with their patients, and academic partners looking for research opportunities. All interested individuals are encouraged to contact Morgan at morgan@strokepad.ca
Hemispatial neglect, also called hemiagnosia, hemineglect, unilateral neglect, spatial neglect, unilateral visual inattention, hemi-inattention or neglect syndrome is a neuropsychological condition in which, after damage to one hemisphere of the brain, a deficit in attention to and awareness of one side of space is observed. It is defined by the inability for a person to process and perceive stimuli on one side of the body or environment that is not due to a lack of sensation. Hemispatial neglect is very commonly contralateral to the damaged hemisphere, but instances of ipsilesional neglect (on the same side as the lesion) have been reported......
High School Project: Simulation of a car accident of a person with unilateral visual neglect, not paying attention to the left side of their visual field.
(SSTattler: The scream is a bit odd but otherwise a good video).
Brain Damage affecting Perception in Multiple Ways
Brain damages give us a window in the way our brains deal with the outside world. This concept explained and much more in the documentary series "Brain Story" (2000) by the extraordinary British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.
Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.
A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.
A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.
Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.
Author Lisa Genova Discusses Left Neglected on Canada AM TV
* For Better and For Worse" is a serious topic of stroke but with a very nice cartoons. It is all about Grandpa Jim had a stroke and 88 further cartoon "strips" that happened to Grandpa Jim. (See as well the author Lynn Johnston).
** I tried to get low or free price at the people http://www.UniversalUclick.com/ for the images for the cartoons. It was too high for Stroke Survivors Tattler i.e. we are not a regular newspaper and our budget is very low. Fortunately, you will have to do only 1-click more to see the cartoon image, it is legit and it is free using GoComics.com and Dilbert.com.
*** Changed from "Pickles" to "Betty" -- "Betty" is a excellent cartoon and Gary Delainey & Gerry Rasmussen are authors/artists/cartoon-strips and they live in Edmonton.
It is amazing to
participate in courses to learn new things and expand our brains. Two years ago
in the fall, I found out about ELLA — Edmonton Lifelong Learners Association. Two
people were talking about ELLA at a table at Sherwood Park Mall at an organization
fair. I had never heard about ELLA before, they talked about the courses coming
in May of each year. At first, I thought that the timing wasn’t very good because
it was gardening time for gardeners and my garden was so important to me and my
healing.
Although I wasn’t a senior (65+), I was qualified because I was older
than 50. I had my brain aneurysm when I was 52 so the people at the table said
I could go if I was interested in learning new things. I went home and looked
at ELLA on my computer and became very excited and enthused. Website: http://web.extension.ualberta.ca/extcms/index.php/ella/ and I found out these things about ELLA:
The organization is
volunteer driven and everyone interested in the courses needs to become a
member of the organization ($20.00 a year).
The courses were in the
Education Building at the University of Alberta (I completed my Master’s degree
in the building and I was used to it).
Every person can take 4 courses if they want (or 3 or 2 or 1 if one
isn’t able to do 4) for about $225 (it could cost less if you write a
letter about your disability).
The courses run for 3-weeks in May every year -- for many years now.
Every year there are so many different courses — people would enjoy
going to new courses every year.
You don’t need to write any exams or papers — it is for interested,
enthusiastic people and the instructors are retired or current professors
or other competent professional people.
You can take a bus to the University or drive and park at different
parking locations near the education building (parking costs about $70.00
for the 3 weeks).
Besides meeting new interesting people in courses or spare time,
there are luncheon meetings where we can eat and listen to other speakers
talking about interesting things.
There are also two events—a lunch and wind-up party during the ELLA
courses (which are do-able it you have some extra money).
I was so excited about
the ELLA organization and became a member that fall. In February of the
following year, I picked my courses and was very happy that I was going to
school again. I also got my parking pass paid early so I could park close to
the education building. Then I waited until the start of May. The first year
was very exciting; the second phenomenal (See different kinds of ELLA courses --part
3 -- next week). I will keep going to ELLA courses as long as I am able.
TAKE A BOW is the extraordinary life story of Ingrid Clarfield, a remarkable music educator and highly respected Professor of Piano at Westminster Choir College at Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. Ingrid has traveled the country giving hundreds of workshops and lectures, inspiring thousands of music students and teachers from coast to coast.
On March 29 2007, after returning from the Music Teacher National Association conference in Toronto, Ingrid was stuck down by a devastating stroke that paralyzed the left side of her body. This should have been the end of her career. But, it wasn't. The film depicts how Ingrid's love for piano, passion for teaching and dedication to her students allowed her to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
The film takes an intimate look into Ingrid's childhood; her musical gifts; and the support of her family, colleagues, and students. TAKE A BOW inspires with its insight into Ingrid's struggle and the sheer determination it took for her to become a champion in the end.
Launched in December, 2004, the Access 2 Entertainment program seeks to help businesses provide quality customer service to customers with disabilities. Through the program, people with disabilities who require a support person carry a personal Access 2 Entertainment card with them. The card indicates to the ticket seller that the individual does indeed require the support of an attendant.
The card provides free admission (or a substantial discount) for the support person at all participating entertainment venues. The person with the disability pays the regular admission fee.
Many people with disabilities require the assistance of a support person to help them with daily activities. Over the years, different ticketed venues have had varying policies on admission fees for someone acting as a support person. Often it ended up being left to an employee at the ticket counter to determine the validity of someone’s disability, their need for an attendant, and the discount – if any.
Eclectic: Randy
Recreation and leisure activities are an important component of good health and well-being. Through education, businesses have begun to recognize that there are special needs for their customers with disabilities and that it’s necessary to accommodate them in order to provide the best possible customer service. This makes a big difference to the community.
In order to obtain a card, an application form must be submitted by a person with a disability who requires the assistance of a support person. The application must be authorized by a registered health care or disability service provider.
Easter Seals Canada administers the application and delivery of the card.
2012 Freewill Shakespeare Festival June 26 to July 22, 2012
Since 1989, Free Will Players have brought Shakespeare’s heart-stopping romances, chilling tragedies and side-splitting comedies to Hawrelak Park. As a staple of Edmonton's festival season, the FSF offers great summer nights, shelter from storms under the amphitheatre tent, and the magic of the Bard as it was meant to be seen: in Edmonton's beautiful river valley.
An article published on May 24, 2012 in the American Heart Association journal Stroke reports a protective effect for greater vitamin D intake against the risk of ischemic stroke in Japanese-American men. To the authors' knowledge, there has only been one other longitudinal cohort study (which had fewer subjects and a shorter follow-up) that evaluated dietary vitamin D intake and stroke risk.
Gotaro Kojima, MD of the University of Hawaii and colleagues utilized data obtained from 7,385 Japanese-American men residing in Oahu who were between the ages of 45 to 68 upon enrolling in the Honolulu Heart Program between 1965 and 1968. Dietary recall interviews conducted upon enrollment were analyzed for the intake of vitamin D from food. (The authors note that regular use of dietary supplements was uncommon in the 1960s.)
Over the 34-year follow-up period, stroke was documented in 960 subjects. For men whose vitamin D intake was among the lowest 25 percent of participants, the adjusted risk of stroke was 22 percent higher than the risk experienced by those whose intake was among the top 25 percent. When stroke was analyzed by type, the risk of thromboembolic stroke was 27 percent higher for those whose vitamin D intake was lowest in comparison with the highest group, and no significant association was found between the vitamin and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
Constraint Induced Therapy has been used with great success for over a decade. CIT restricts the use of the less affected upper extremity usually by means of a mitt. Worn on the hand of the unaffected upper extremity, the mitt restricts the stronger hand's use while intense repetitive therapeutic tasks are performed with the more affected hand and arm. CIT Therapy is directed by a trainer working one-on-one with a subject. The therapy is conducted for ten consecutive weekdays with evaluations performed at the outset, immediately after and again four months post-intervention.
What would you think if you met a person who had lost his ability to speak after having a stroke, but who could sing with perfect clarity?
Harvey Alter, president and founder of the International Aphasia Movement, spoke regarding his first-hand experience on music's power to heal at the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function's 2008 Music Has Power Awards Benefit.
To find out more about the therapeutic use of music in speech rehabilitation, visit http://www.imnf.org or call (718) 519-5840.
