FAQ (from Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor)

Robin
Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor

February 3, 2013

Whose feet are in the banner picture?  Those are my son’s.  He was standing on tiptoe to see a “digger.”  The old banner picture showed my husband’s feet.  The rest of that picture shows him carrying our son on his back while hiking up near Guanella Pass.  The current background photo is of real clouds in a Colorado sky…as seen through the lens of my husband’s camera from our front porch.  The previous background photo showed trees at night and a single lighted window at Robert’s Cabin up in South Park.

Where do you live?  I live in Colorado, south of Denver.  I love Colorado and am so glad I get to do my stroke recovery here!

How old are you?  Aren’t you too young to have a stroke? I was 31 years old when I had my strokes.  They were due to a Vertebral Artery Dissection (VAD), a tear in my right vertebral artery, which then sent clots into my cerebellum.

Is that a mini-stroke? Well, technically there is no such thing as a mini stroke.  Usually people are referring to a TIA (transient ischemic attack).  By definition a TIA has symptoms that resolve in 24 hours.  My symptoms are ongoing.  My strokes were small and thankfully only affected my balance, coordination, and energy level (and occasionally names and word finding).  But as my sister said, when you’re talking about something as important as the brain, if you didn’t have a massive stroke yourself, you’re not allowed to brush off mine as “small.”  :-)

Are you really a doctor? Yes.  I’m a family physician and I have continued to practice medicine after my stroke, just in a different setting that suites me better now.  NOTHING on this website is medical advice.  I’m just writing about my own personal experiences.

I messaged you but I haven’t heard back…  I’m sorry, that’s entirely possible.  I’m trying to juggle work and home just like most moms and am constantly dropping balls.  Please don’t take it personally.  I usually don’t reply to my mom either.  More distant family have to check with people who live close by to find out if I’m still alive.

See the original article:

FAQ

in

Rocky Mountain Stroke Survivor

Brain Bricolage

Steven H. Cornelius
Music and Stroke

January 4, 2013

Neuroscientist Paul Bach-y-Rita is a leading scholar in the field of brain neuroplasticity. One of his inventions is a device that feeds information about physical orientation through the tongue, thereby accomplishing the balancing work normally done by the inner ear’s vestibular apparatus. Bach-y-Rita also invented a machine that allows blind individuals to “see” though camera information delivered tactilely through electrodes attached to the subject’s back.

Many brain areas naturally perform multiple sensory functions. Touch and vision seem to share brain space, for example. Latent polysensory capabilities can be enhanced and developed through focused practice.

For me, this brings to mind the ideas of French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss who in The Savage Mind provided the example of a “bricoleur” putting available tools to unexpected uses in the face of new and unfolding exigencies.

Brains are natural bricoleurs, which means that when it comes to stroke recovery, a great many things are in reach.

See the original article:

Brain Bricolage

in

Music and Stroke

This is for Women Only: It's About Bras

Barb Polan
Barb’s Recovery

27th April 2011

This morning, I stumbled on a "stroke comic book" blog, which, of course, attracted my attention. Written by a woman who had a stroke 4 years ago at the age of 26, the entries, which were all amusing, were thought-provoking too. Each was accompanied by an illustration / photo. For example, in one, a beautiful woman with a large rack and an arm missing from the elbow to the hand, was wearing lingerie and staring at the camera. The caption read something along the lines of, "Look at my eyes, yes, my eyes."

In another entry, she posted a photo of a woman in an old-fashioned full-length bra, along with the question: "How do you put on a bra one-handed? Comments, please."

Among the dozen answers, including one from a man, was one from a stroke survivor I know from online. Her answer was that the day she could put on a bra two-handed would be a milestone [or would let her know she has recovered or something along those lines.]

My response, of course, was to declare to myself," I'm wearing a bra today."

Like many acts now, the decision was easy, but the implementation more challenging than I expected.

Patience & Arriving at a Compromise

Sas Freeman

December 16, 2014

As you are already aware I have been unwell now for some time and having difficulty bouncing back.  Having used all the normal methods & practices through my recovery, I will admit to being frustrated at still feeling unwell and to me so pathetic.

I was not able to get out of bed and attempting a couple of steps was too much for my body as the condition did not allow my heart to function properly.  Okay, I get that bit but what I couldn’t quite accept was that I’ve been doing all the right things, taking everything that’s prescribed, sleeping for England, eating little and often and above all holding onto my positivity yet still nothing was improving.

Kevin the Whippet

Frustration hit.  Last week, I found myself believing I had changed into a pathetic feeble individual who had somehow climbed into a body of a 99 year old, although that said there are some spritely examples of those who would currently put me to shame.

I decided enough was enough; this had to end as I had to recover the real me.  I got dressed and made my way downstairs bearing in mind it was midday by now. I had decided to decorate the Christmas tree, everything was put out for me, how could it be difficult? I had put a couple of baubles onto it and I was light headed, the pain became much worse and to breathe was agony.  As I sat down my body was totally exhausted!! You can imagine how pathetic I felt at this stage looking at the tree reminding me I hadn’t managed that simple task. A few days were like this, the tree gradually looking a little more decorated. What I didn’t realise that I was actually my own worst enemy.

Cramps

Amy Shissler
My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

December 8, 2014

Someone the other day was doing some exercises and his quadriceps muscle got a really bad cramp in it.  So here’s what I did. I had him do this exercise.

I thought that might help because the exercise is to work out the quads.  So using and contracting the muscle would then force it to relax when the exercise is over which would relieve the cramp.  It helped.  But disclaimer: don’t take my advice, I have brain damage and probably don’t know what I’m talking about.

See the original article:

Cramps

in

My Cerebellar Stroke Recovery

Top 3 Exercises For Foot Drop

Ramon Florendo
Life after a "STROKE"

Published on Jan 13, 2014

From http://famouspt.com/ "Famous" Physical Therapists, Bob Schrupp and Brad Heineck, illustrate 3 of the best exercises to improve foot drop, or "foot drag".

CONTACT US! Send us your video requests or suggestions or product samples that you would like us to try out and make a video review on. FamousPTs@Gmail.com


Standard YouTube License @ physicaltherapyvideo

See the original article:

Top 3 Exercises For Foot Drop

in

Life after a "STROKE"

Therapy: Words of Wisdom

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Sunday, December 14, 2014

This past week at therapy, Bob enjoyed a 45 minute, deep-tissue neck massage with a massage therapist...

At his regular session, they continue to work on "small movements" that need to be developed before plunging into standing and walking. These include learning to scoot forward in the chair:

and leaning back into the wheelchair to "open the neural pathways" through his chest, abdomen and butt.

Some other words of wisdom from this new stroke rehab therapist:

1. When trying to move a muscle -- DO NOT look at it! Instead look away, and VISUALIZE the movement flowing smoothly in your imagination. This will help the brain make a better "reconnection" to that muscle.

2. To move the foot, tap the muscles (with your fingers) on top of the thigh. To move the hand, tap the muscles in the bicep and forearm.

3. The body follows the eyes! So look up! Not down. When you look down, all your muscles slump downward. When you look up, you open the energy flow between brain and body. Keep your eyes on the horizon.

4. It all starts with the butt. Once you wake up your butt, everything else will follow and wake up! So squeeze those butt cheeks and do it throughout the day, as often as you can.

See the original article:

Therapy: Words of Wisdom

in

The Pink House On The Corner

Post-TIA Brain Scans Might Yield Vital Information

Jeff Porter
Stroke of Faith

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Nobody likes to hear bad news - but sometimes, bad news might save a life.

Many people have transient ischemic attacks, or mini-strokes, before a larger stroke occurs. Now, imaging after a mini-stroke can help map a plan of treatment and, potentially, preventing a more serious stroke.

You can read here about how brain scans yield clues to future stroke risk:

• Brain scans taken shortly after a mild stroke can help identify patients at risk of suffering another stroke within three months, a new study suggests.
• The study included more than 2,000 people who had CT scans of the brain within 24 hours of suffering a mild, non-disabling stroke or a transient ischemic attack, which are sometimes called "mini-strokes." Of those patients, 40 percent had brain damage due to a lack of sufficient blood flow (ischemia). 
• Compared to people who didn't have an interruption in blood flow to part of their brains, the risk of another stroke within 90 days was almost three times higher in those with new brain damage due to poor blood circulation (acute ischemia), according to the researchers.

And the scans might even be able to predict when risk of stroke is highest:

• But the researchers of this latest study - including Dr. Jeffrey J. Perry of the University of Ottawa in Canada - say that all patients who have a mild stroke should receive a CT scan, given how the brain images can predict when patients will be at highest risk of a subsequent stroke.

So even if the symptoms go away, it's important to get to care quickly - because next time, the symptoms might be permanent.

See the original article:

Post-TIA Brain Scans Might Yield Vital Information

in

Stroke of Faith

What About Bob? Speech Therapy for Aphasia in Baby Steps

December 15, 2014

What About Bob? A Determined Soul

I met Bob when working at a famous outpatient clinic in Houston, Texas, TIRR Kirby Glen. Bob’s wife brought him there from a community about an hour and a half drive for speech evaluation and therapy.

Bob had a severe apraxia and expressive aphasia, and his wife had to do almost all the interpreting for him since few could understand what he was saying. His apraxia was so bad that many words were unintelligible. Each time I tried to comprehend what he was saying, he would attempt to say it over again, numerous times. His wife thought since I was a speech language pathologist, I would be able to understand what he was saying, but for the life of me I could not.

His speech was so indistinguishable that his wife had to interrupt the conversation and tell me what he had said. She was familiar with the context of the situation that Bob was mentioning.

Bob had an intense desire to communicate. We started seeing him 3 times a week and then 5 times a week. His brother in law would bring him every day for therapy and both Bob and his brother in law were trained to decrease Bob’s speech rate, and improve his articulation. Then we stimulated sentences which included those words he had previous difficulty with, and we would converse about food, restaurants, going out to eat, cooking, money, and all the things Bob liked to do.

Who is Getting High in Europe (and Where)?

Bill Yates
Brain Posts

Dec 15 / 2014

My research training is in psychiatric epidemiology.

Alcohol and drug dependence have been two of my topic areas of research.

So I found a recent novel study of the epidemiology of illicit drug use in Europe intriguing.

Typical methods of looking for the prevalence of drug use in populations are direct diagnostic interviews and studies of emergency room attendees or autopsy cases with medical complications of drug use.

However, Christopher Ort from Switzerland along with a host of European colleagues took an interesting approach to studying illicit drug use in European populations.

They conducted population wastewater illicit drug concentration analyses using liquid chromatography. They examined changes in illicit drug concentrations over time and across a number of cities and regions in Europe.

This approach is slightly messy (pun intended) but logically follows a reasonable argument: high illicit drug concentrations in waste water reflects high drug use in the population producing the waste.

Weekly Columnists

Sunday Stroke Survival: All I Want for Christmas...

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Jo Murphey
The Murphey Saga

Actually, there are a lot of things I want for Christmas, but I ain't gonna get 'em. I realize this because I'm the caregiver in this house. You might call me Santa Incognito also because I do all the shopping and budgeting too. There is barely enough cash for groceries, house payments, utilities, and the occasional splurge for Mickey D's each month without borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Drugs and doctor bills eat up the remainder of what would have been disposable income.

What I've been hankering for is a video camera. I started a YouTube channel years ago when I was making book trailers for myself and others. It has been gathering dust since my stroke. Being single (functional) handed takes a lot of time just doing what needs to be done. It's also a lot of trial and error on my part. What I wouldn't have given for someone to show me how to do in the beginning. It might have saved me some gray hairs. Whom am I kidding? I EARNED each and every one the hard way.

Jackie The Jester: Frosty the Snowman...

Jackie Poff
Stroke Survivors Tattler

TED Talks - Jose Miguel Sokoloff: How We Used Christmas Lights to Fight a War

Published on Dec 8, 2014

Colombia is a country of exceptional beauty and promise, and it’s also a country where the F.A.R.C. guerrilla movement has incited violence for 50 years. “In my lifetime, I have never lived one day of peace in my country,” says Jose Miguel Sokoloff. This ad executive and his team saw an opportunity to sway guerrillas' hearts and minds with Christmas trees and personalized messages strategically placed throughout the jungle. A look at the creative messages that have led thousands of guerrillas to abandon the war, and the key insights behind these surprising tactics.


Standard YouTube License @ TED

Rick Mercer Report: Special Olympics Training

Published on Dec 3, 2014

Rick spends a day with the Canadian Special Olympics Swimming and Bowling teams at their training camp in Orangeville, ON as they prepare for the 2015 games.



Standard YouTube License @ Rick Mercer Report

Laid-Back Administration: New Guest Blogger - Sas Freeman

Dr. Beagle C. Cranium
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Welcome the new guest blogger Sas Freeman!! She comes in the UK and you can look at her biography below. See as well:

• About Us (right at the bottom)
• ▶ Guest Bloggers Index (in sub-section in Guest Bloggers in the UK).

Merry Christmas,
Dr. Beagle C. Cranium, FoF, P&CE.


Guest Blogger - Sas Freeman

Sas Freeman

• My name is Sas Freeman; stroke survivor, author, artist and mentor.
• I previously worked as a photographic model, on television and in films. 
• I have now become an artist using my non-dominant hand following my strokes.
• I have sold oil paintings which hang in private homes in various parts of the world and work is also on display in several galleries in the UK. I have donated several pictures for charity.
• I had my water colours turned into cards and sold them in aid of a local stroke group, to help fellow survivors. 
• I am part of a regional Health Focus Group, created to raise awareness and funding for the Functional Electronic Stimulator and Selly Oak Hospital Rehabilitation Centre, which treats people across the UK.
• In 2013, I was given the Courage Award from the Stroke Association.
• My Mission Statement is that: "I believe I was given a choice: either to continue in this blissful state from which there would be no return, or, return and write about my recovery, helping other stroke survivors and their families.”
• Look at my book Two Strokes NOT OUT and visit my blog Sas Freeman.

Daily Comics

For Better and For Worse
Lynn Johnston

Canada Family Events

Dilbert
Scott Adams

Dilbert Office Events

Edmonton Journal
Malcolm Mayes

Politics Views from Canada

Doonesbury
Garry Trudeau

Politics Views from USA

  

** 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, 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, Dilbert.com and EdmontonJournal.com.

---------

Saturday News

Contents of This Week Saturday News:

• Headline - One-Hand Typing with Your Cell Phone
• Eclectic - Many articles from many Guest Bloggers about Stroke
• Judgment Call
• The End of a Myth
• Answering Machines & Aphasia...
• Can an iPhone or other Smartphone Save Your Life?
• How Brain Performs 'Motor Chunking’ Tasks
• Waiting, or Not
• Constraint Therapy is Good and Bad
• Gift Ideas for Survivors
• Video: Be Brave, Try Something New: Aphasia Speech Therapy
• Speech Therapy Is Done, aka I Graduated from Talking School
• Better Speed to Stroke Treatment
• NDT
• Emerging Stroke Recovery Treatments? Yeah NO.
• Weekly Columnists
• Sunday Stroke Survival: Confessions of a Former Techie
• Jackie The Jester: What God Said to Adam !!!!
• TED Talks - David Pogue: Cool New Things You Can Do With Your Mobile
• Rick Mercer Report: Republic of Doyle Special Effects
• Laid-Back Administration: No Posts This Week
• Daily Comics: FB Or FW, Dilbert, Mayes, Doonesbury

Definition: One-Hand Typing with Your Cell Phone

One-hand typing after a stroke used to be very, very slow!
Not now - Minuum, Swype, SwiftKey, Fleksy, Adaptxt, ..., works very fast and very simple!
P.S. I tried 3 of the 5 type of keyboards - all of them are very good!

Minuum and 12 Videos
As well see the different style, keyboard, colour, algorithms, ... etc:
         ▶  Swype From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
         ▶  SwiftKey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
         ▶  Fleksy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
         ▶  Adaptxt From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Minuum [mi-n'yü-əm] not on the Wikipedia YET...

Some quote from the text from Minuum keyboard:

The Minuum keyboard is smarter, faster, and works on any size of device. How does a tiny keyboard work with big fingers? It knows what you want to type, even when you miss every letter.  

Model Your Users:
      Algorithms Behind the Minuum Keyboard

Jan 23, 2014 / Posted by Xavier Snelgrove

When you’re creating a new keyboard technology, there’s a ton of work that goes into both the interaction design, and into the algorithms behind the scenes. While the design of our keyboard is best understood simply by using it, the real “magic” that makes our one-dimensional keyboard possible lies in the statistical algorithms that make it tick. 

If you haven’t already seen or used the Minuum keyboard, the brief summary is that we let you compress the conventional keyboard down to just one row of keys, opening up the possibility of typing anywhere where you can measure one dimension of input.

By shrinking the keyboard in this way we soon had to grapple with a basic fact: human input is imprecise, and the faster you type the more imprecise it gets. Rather than trying to improve user precision, we instead embrace sloppy typing.

This only works because we use disambiguation in addition to auto-correction. While “auto-correction” implies that you made a mistake that needed correcting, “disambiguation” accepts the fundamental ambiguity of human interaction, and uses an understanding of language to narrow things down. Think of it like speech recognition: in a noisy bar, the problem isn’t that your friends are speaking incorrectly; human speech is ambiguous, and the noisiness of the environment sure doesn’t help. You can only understand them because you have prior knowledge of the sorts of things they are likely to say.

Which leads us into the wonderful world of…

See the whole Minuum article by: 
      Xavier Snelgrove - Bayesian statistics! and more....

See the Minuum for the iPhone and the Minuum for the Android.

The Minuum Keyboard Project [updated version!]
Published on Mar 19, 2013

SSTattler - Available now:

• iPhone, iPad,
• Android,
• smartWatch,
• Google Glass (experimental i.e. beta).

You can also follow us on twitter: @minuum

Standard YouTube License @ Minuum Keyboard

Video: One-Hand Typing with Cell Phone

Contents:

1. The Best... 
2. Minuum 
3. Swiftkey 
4. Swype 
5. Fleksy 
6. TouchPal

1. The Best...

iOS 8: Best Third-Party Keyboards!

Published on Oct 1, 2014

In this video:

• Swiftkey 
• Minuum
• Swype 
• Fleksy 
• TouchPal

Although the design still looks the same, Apple’s iOS 8 is different. There are some new features, as expected, but this year Apple’s software is more open than ever. Now developers can tap into things like Sharing Options, Custom Actions, Notification Center, and more. In fact, iOS 8 has introduced more than 4,000 APIs and services, which means we have yet to see the software reach its potential. Apple is already reportedly hard at work on the next big updates, which means there are still many major improvements to come. MORE: http://bit.ly/1uCj7kO

Standard YouTube License @ TechnoBuffalo

Eclectic

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

Judgment Call

22 September 2012

Pamela Hsieh
Rehab Revolution

So I know this is practically the zillionth time I’ve written about it, but I’ve ultimately come to a conclusion about the Gym-Pact app for smartphones: It’s more trouble than it’s worth.

I only pledge $10 a week for five days at the gym. What this means is that for every week I go to the gym at least five days, I earn a portion of the money I wagered.

The sucky part is that if I skip a day, or worse, two, I am charged $10 per day I miss in my pact.

As if that weren’t enough, I always disliked the way that Gym-Pact required you to physically visit the gym. Which I thought would be helped by the fact that they recently partnered up with another app, RunKeeper, which uses your phone’s GPS signal to track how far you walk, jog, or cycle somewhere. However, the integration of RunKeeper with Gym-Pact is still rocky.

The End of a Myth

Barb Polan
Barb’s Recovery

24th February 2013

Yesterday, Tom and I hosted a gathering of rowers; although everyone sees each other often during the rowing season, the out-f-season months often keep us separated from most of the others, so we plan social events in the off-season. We have frequent TGIF gatherings at pizza places or the local brew pub. Last year someone organized a keep-in-shape program in a nearby health club. Tom and I hold an annual Bananagrams party. It's a simple Scrabble-like game dependent more on the speed at which you can assemble words rather than points associated with words. Not as hard to win as I find "Words with Friends" is on my phone. We selected our library as the room to play in. Of course, it's at the opposite end of the house from the kitchen. That meant I made about 30 (or was it 300?) trips the length of our house (90 feet) carrying food, plates, glasses, etc. To carry objects, I walked (lurched along?) without my cane. Walking without my cane overuses my hip flexor, so I try to minimize it. Although my lurching during preparations was about my usual, I felt as though something was different, although I couldn't identify it. Going up the stairs at bedtime, I tried using my hamstring to bend my leg, and everything went as usual, with my leg rising behind me. This morning, while still in bed, I was lying on my right side and decided to roll to my back. To straighten my legs, I tried my left first and - unbelievable - my hamstring flexed and swung my foot behind me. Thrilled, I laid on my back and slid my left foot up toward my bum, then straightened it; I repeated it over and over until the comforter caused too much friction to pull my foot toward my torso. My dreams of being able to walk normally, climb stairs alternating feet on the steps, and kick my feet while sitting on a swing (not really) are now within reach. I am so proud of my hard work and persistence that I'm crying as I type this. Now I am convinced that one day I'll be able to open and close my hand. My philosophizing often includes stories about my daughter, so here's another "Millie story."...although Millie played youth soccer - just like every other kid in Northborough - she was never an athlete. In eighth grade,though, she took up lacrosse. Now, lacrosse is basically just running up and down the field waving a stick around. To get better at lacrosse, running helps. Millie took up running a couple miles a day on days she didn't have lacrosse practice. One day she returned home from a run and announced, "I have just learned that being in shape isn't a myth." Now that she was actually in shape, she felt the difference between being in and out of shape, something she hadn't quite believed before. Now she was convinced. Although since the stroke, I have believed that I would someday again be able to use my hand, now I'm convinced. It is no longer a myth, a pretty story I tell myself.

See the original article:

The End of a Myth

in

Barb's Recovery

Answering Machines & Aphasia...

Diane
The Pink House On The Corner

Friday, December 5, 2014

It was bound to happen, our old cordless telephone bit the dust, bought the big one, just up and died...

And the sad thing about that is -- on the old answering machine was Bob's "greeting" recorded over 7 years ago which was, back in the day, when he could actually speak normally...

This past week, I took Bob to Best Buy to look for a new phone. And while I stood there in front of the tons of different phones trying to figure out which would be the best phone, Bob, in his wheelchair, pointed to the top row and said, "That one!"

So I bought it. Took it home. Set it up. And then had a brilliant idea. (Think lightbulb over my head!)

I would have Bob record the new greeting!

Now I realized we would probably have to rehearse and do some trial runs, but, heck, after six months of speech therapy and everyone is remarking on how much better he is speaking, I am thinking this should be a cinch!

If, that is, I keep it simple enough.

Can an iPhone or other Smartphone Save Your Life?

Bill Yates
Brain Posts

21st June 2010

I enjoyed a recently posted TED talk that has some neuroscience implication. I will summarize a TED MED presentation by David Pogue. The talk was titled "Can the iPhone Save Your Life?". The presentation was presented live in October of 2009 but just recently became available on the website.

David is a key electronics guru and educator with a regular column in the New York Times. He was asked about the potential role for the iPhone and other smart phones in medicine. David has a large Twitter following and asked his audience their best recommendations for medical apps. Here is the list of apps he briefly reviews in the TED MED talk:

1. Jet Lag RX-An application that let's you input your travel schedule. Provides advice on adjusting sleeping schedule to combat jet lag symptoms. This app is not listed as of today in the iTunes store. Four other jet lag apps are available.
2. uHear-An application that can be used to check hearing. Earbuds are used and the app tests hearing across a variety of frequencies. Highly rated by reviewers on the iTunes website.
3. SoundAMP-An application that can be used to amplify ambient sound to help you hear better. This app now comes in a Lite (free) version and one that sells for 99 cents.
4. Proloquo2go- The most expensive app reviewed, this app now costs $189. It is an alternative communication device that allows users to touch screen and communicate with others. Has been used successfully in ALS, mental retardation and autism. Pogue noted it can replace computer devices costing $6000 or more, plus it is portable.
5. Period Tracker/Period Tracker for Men-This app allows for recording and tracking menstrual cycles. Additionally, can be used to record associated symptoms and predict future cycles. Also can be synced to husband/spouses device to assist communication.
6. Lose It!- Free food calorie diary that tracks daily calorie intake and provides database of calorie counts for a variety of foods. Also allows tracking of exercise calories. A good mobile surveillance device for those interesting in weight loss.
7. Osirix-An app for physicians that allows physicians to download a view radiology images. Uses radiology standard image viewing.
8. Anatomy Lab- A $9.99 application that simulates a human cadaver. Allows for moving through a variety of levels as the virtual body is dissected.
9. Epocrates-A physician drug database tool. Allows for searching for medications, doses, adverse effects and drug interactions. Available also online.
10. AirStrip OB- Allows obstetricians to remotely monitor labor. The app requires installation of a separate AirStrip OB system.
11. AllScripts Remote-A remote access tool for physicians to access their patient's electronic medical record.
12. Lifescan Bluetooth Wireless Glucose Monitor-This app is not available currently on iTunes, but several glucose log apps are available.
13. Magnifier-An app that magnifies images like a magnifying glass. Uses iPhone camera to view then enlarge print. This could be quite helpful for the visually impaired.

This presentation is entertaining and optimistic. It is somewhat dated now but still gives a good overview of the potential for mobile devices to impact medical care.

I found one possible lifesaving application for the iPhone--a blood alcohol monitoring device (see reference). Japanese researchers have tested the iPhone as a potential device that could supplant the alcohol monitor car lock. This research suggests the iPhone has sufficient ability through cognitive and psychomotor testing to tell if someone is safe to drive.

Post a comment if you have experience with a cool phone app that you feel can impact medical care.

Matsumura K, Yamakoshi T, & Ida T (2009). Performance measures of alcohol-induced impairment: towards a practical ignition-interlock system for motor vehicles. Perceptual and motor skills, 109 (3), 841-50 PMID: 20178284


Standard YouTube License @ TEDMED

See the original article:

Can an iPhone or Other Smartphone Save Your Life?

in

Brain Posts

How Brain Performs 'Motor Chunking' Tasks

Dean Reinke
Deans’ Stroke Musing

Thursday, June 14, 2012

This is something our therapists should know about in order to help us recover our motor deficits. I would expect a therapy protocol to come from this research - How Brain Performs 'Motor Chunking’ Tasks.

You pick up your cell phone and dial the new number of a friend. Ten numbers. One. Number. At. A. Time. Because you haven't actually typed the number before, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements.

After dialing the number a few more times, you find yourself typing it out as a series of three successive bursts of movement: the area code, the first three numbers, the last four numbers. Those three separate chunks allow you to type the number faster, and with greater precision. Eventually, dialed often enough, the number is stored in your brain as one chunk. Who needs speed dial?

"You can think about a chunk as a rhythm," said Nicholas Wymbs, a postdoctoral researcher in UC Santa Barbara's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and the lead author of a new study on motor chunking in the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press. "We highlight the two-part process that seems to occur when we are chunking. This is demonstrated by the rhythm we use when typing the phone number: rapid bursts of finger movements that are interspersed by pauses."

Waiting, or Not.

Andrea
A Year of Living In My Head

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Do you feel like you are getting "better"? Are the people around you patient? Are you patient? Do you remember when you travelled down the road unaware of what a stroke can really do?  Do you remember when strokes are what you have when you are quite mature in age, perhaps living in assisted living? Do you have a very different fear added to your emotional repertoire that you feel has been forced upon you? Do you have a view of what makes a life, and how you wish to enter death?

Some days I have a pot of roiling questions twisting through my brain.  I think they are actually always there in the background, I just don't recognize how they may change my approach to things.

I have mentioned before, I will say it again, my trust relationship with my body is sorely compromised. I spend a lot of time weighing, rationalizing, arguing, accepting, promising and planning.  I know nothing is certain, nothing is guaranteed. Except that I am here.  There can be no waiting for me in this life anymore.  Technically this is true for everyone, I feel like we have just had a bit louder reminder of our finiteness.  I know that, but I also forget.

How about you?

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Waiting, or Not.

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A Year of Living In My Head

Constraint Therapy is Good and Bad

Rebecca Dutton
Home After a Stroke

December 4, 2014

When a new graduate told a blogger that stroke recovery happens in the first two years I decided to write about constraint therapy.  It was designed by a psychologist named Edward Taub who did not assume recovery after a stroke is time limited.  Briefly, constraint therapy means putting a mitt on the sound hand during 2 hours of therapy for the hemiplegic hand PLUS leaving the mitt on the sound hand for 3 to 6 hours each day.  This forces the hemiplegic hand to work.  Since 1993 many constraint therapy studies have found clients can recover hand function for years after a stroke.

Constraint therapy is good because it challenged long held beliefs about stroke recovery. Constraint therapy is bad because it was designed by a man who grew up in a culture where men can expect women to take care of them.  It would be nice if  husbands would go grocery shopping, cook, and do laundry while wives constrain their sound hand every day.

Current research offers an alternative.  Hayner found guiding both hands to work while making lunch, eating, and cleaning up helped stroke survivors improve as much as subjects whose hand was constrained during the same activity (1).  Hayner concluded the duration of forced hand use is what matters.  Sterr reported a similar finding (2).  Stroke survivors who were helped to use their hemiplegic hand for 90 or 180 minures improved as much as subjects who received constraint therapy for the same amount of time.

How can stroke survivors ensure this much hand use?  I do exercises with a spring-loaded splint called SaeboFlex that helps me open my hand 100 times.  Now my hemiplegic hand can open to hold over 100 objects while my sound hand manipulates those objects.  Brief hand use adds up.  In 11 years my hemiplegic hand has opened to hold a tube of toothpaste 16,060 times so my sound hand can take the cap off and put the cap back on after I put toothpaste on my toothbrush. Bottom Line: More than one type of forced use can improve hand function years after a stroke.  Rehab professionals and stroke survivors need to let go of old myths.

1. Hayner K, Gibson G, Giles G. Comparison of constraint-induced therapy and bilateral treatment of equal intensity in people with chronic upper-extremity dysfunction after cardiovascular accident.  American Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2010;64(4):528-539.
2. Sterr A, Oneill D, Dean P, Herron K.  CI therapy is beneficial to patients with chronic low-functioning hemiparesis after stroke. Front. Neurol. 2014;5:

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Constraint Therapy is Good and Bad

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Home After a Stroke

Gift Ideas for Survivors

Marcelle Greene
Up Stroke

Thursday, December 4, 2014

This time last year I wrote about all the stroke-related clutter I’ve collected in my house. So I recognize the irony now of writing a post advocating the acquisition of still more stuff. But a couple purchases I made recently have really improved my quality of life.

Food Trolley

I was making multiple trips to carry all my meal items one-at-a-time from the kitchen and back. While multiple trips meant more exercise, it wasn’t quality exercise. I was focused on not spilling my coffee instead of posture and mechanics. I’d rather wheel my breakfast to the table in one fell swoop and save my energy for quality exercise at the gym.

Since buying the food trolley, I have found multiple other uses – i.e., unloading the dishwasher onto the trolley and rolling it around the kitchen to put things away – same goes for laundry once it’s folded.

Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

Vacuuming is even harder after a stroke: moving the cord and furniture out of the way, wrapping up the cord at the finish – it is frustrating and hard on my back. Sweeping can be good therapy, but it doesn’t work on carpets and it’s exhausting. Enter my Roomba 630 – a relatively inexpensive robotic vacuum.

Last weekend, we had a dinner party. After being on my feet all morning preparing food, I was able to turn on my Roomba to clean my floors while I took a nap. I awoke to a clean house – rested and ready to greet my guests.

See the original article:

Gift Ideas for Survivors

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Up Stroke

Video: Be Brave, Try Something New: Aphasia Speech Therapy

Mark A. Ittleman
The Teaching of Talking

December 4th / 2014

In this video (where Moshe Mark is trying to learn the art of Video Editing…too dark…) we learn about the concept of trying something new!



Standard YouTube License @ Mark Ittleman

Speech Therapy Is Done, aka I Graduated from Talking School

Joyce Hoffman
The Tales of a Stroke Patient

Dec 7, 2014

I still have the remnants of dysarthria, the speech condition that makes talking tough after the stroke and affects the muscles in the face, particularly the mouth, and respiratory system. But I went to a speech therapist to get help and who I didn't like at first. She was all grim and business-y. Like when she corrected me when I called her a speech therapist instead of the more la-de-da-sounding speech and language pathologist. Drama queen, I said to myself.

Slowly, after two months, she got around to cracking a smile. When she and I were done a month later, she told me that her husband was an egomaniac, that her partying son flunked out of Harvard, and that her stressed-out daughter couldn't get pregnant. I sat there calmly, but I had my own problems.