Friday, December 2, 2016

ReWalk - Walk again: Argo's Exoskeleton Technology

Published on Jan 7, 2014

Argo
Medical Technologies mission is to fundamentally change the health and
life experiences of individuals with spinal cord injuries.

The
ReWalk™ is the result of this mission; it is a world-class walking
system that will allow paraplegics to bring walking into their daily
lives once again. Culminating over a decade of research and
development, the ReWalk represents the first truly practical, real
world, walking solution for persons with lower limb disabilities.

Argo
founder Dr. Amit Goffer was inspired to develop the ReWalk exoskeleton
unit because of his own personal story. Dr. Goffer is quadriplegic and
he founded Argo in 2001. His goal was to develop a product that would
enable persons with spinal cord injuries to walk again. Over the past
decade, Argo has grown from a small research and development start-up
based in Israel to an international company with headquarters in the US,
Germany and Israel.

Argo has been working internationally with
leading rehabilitation centers in testing and developing a
rehabilitation model of the ReWalk. As a result of these efforts, Argo
has been able to develop the ReWalk Personal, the next phase of
exoskeleton technology designed exclusively for use in everyday life.
Employing Argo's proprietary technology, the ReWalk Personal is designed
for everyday use. Launched in 2012, the ReWalk Personal is currently
available throughout Europe. In the United States, the ReWalk
rehabilitation is currently deployed in rehabilitation clinics and the
ReWalk Personal is awaiting FDA clearance.

Category
- Science and Technology
Standard YouTube License
Link: https://youtu.be/2Xd27c-pz4Y

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Our central nervous system is a lot like Christmas lights

Timely Description

‏@PositiveWithMS

Our central nervous system is a lot like Christmas lights.... #MultipleSclerosis

Want to raise your IQ

‏@mindyourbr

Want to raise your IQ by 23 percent?

Neuroscience says take up this simple habit:

http://buff.ly/2gmn0sU via @ideas

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

DVT

Anything that damages the inner lining of a vein may cause DVT -- surgery, an injury, or your immune system.

More: http://wb.md/2gDhRNr

Choking and Dysphagia in multiple sclerosis

The cause of all my coughing and choking is complicated and very annoying.....partly allergy and asthma symptoms and changes in swallowing caused by m.s.

Articles

Cause of death in patients attending multiple sclerosis clinics

A. D. Sadovnick, PhD,
K. Eisen, RN,
G. C. Ebers, MD and
D. W. Paty, MD

+Show Affiliations

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.41.8.1193 Neurology August 1991 vol. 41 no. 8 1193

Abstract
Full Text (PDF)

Abstract

Between 1972 and 1988, 145 deaths occurred among 3,126 patients attending the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Clinics in Vancouver, British Columbia (N = 1,583), and London, Ontario (N = 1,543).

We could determine the exact cause of death in 82.1% of cases (119 of 145). Of the 119 patients for whom the cause of death was known, 56 deaths (47.1%) were directly attributed to complications of MS.

Of the remaining 63 deaths, 18 (28.6%) were suicides, 19 (30.2%) were due to malignancy*, 13 (20.6%) to an acute myocardial infarction, seven (11.1%) to stroke, and the remainder (9.5%) to miscellaneous causes, of which two may have been suicides (add the 2 possible suicides and you have 32% suicides).

The proportion of suicides among MS deaths was 7.5 times that for the age-matched general population, and the proportion of MS deaths from malignancy was 0.67 times that for the age-matched general population.

The proportion of deaths due to malignancy and stroke was the same for the MS patients and the age-matched general population.

*the state or presence of a malignant tumor; cancer.

www.neurology.org/content/41/8/1193.short
******************

Dysphagia in multiple sclerosis

A De Pauw

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Press enter key to Email the author

E Dejaeger

B D'hooghe

H Carton

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0303-8467(02)00053-7

Abstract

Objectives:
(1) To determine the prevalence of swallowing problems in MS patients and its relation to the overall disability.
(2) To define the most frequent symptoms suggestive of dysphagia.
(3) To describe the abnormalities on manofluoroscopy (MFS).

Methods: Three hundred and eight consecutive MS patients were asked whether they ever had swallowing problems. If so the questionnaire of the Johns Hopkins Swallowing Centre was applied to qualify the dysphagia.

A MFS was performed in 30 patients with dysphagia covering the entire spectrum of MS. Overall disability was assessed using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

Results: Seventy-three of our 309 patients had permanent dysphagia (24%). Another 5% had a history of transitory swallowing problems only. Permanent dysphagia started to be a problem in mildly impaired patients (EDSS 2–3).

Prevalence increased together with rising disability to reach 65% in the most severely disabled subjects (EDSS 8–9).

Two alarming symptoms of patients with swallowing problems, coughing or choking during the meal and a history of pneumonia were present in 59%, respectively, 12% of these patients. MFS showed deficiency of the oral phase in all patients, while only the patients with an EDSS higher than 7.5 showed abnormalities of the pharyngeal phase.

Conclusions: Permanent dysphagia may already develop in mildly impaired MS patients but becomes a rather frequent finding in MS patients with moderate or severe disability.
MFS is a sensitive and useful ancillary examination. Important qualitative changes of the pharyngeal phase on MFS are seen in patients with an EDSS higher than 7.5.

Keywords:

Multiple sclerosis, Dysphagia, Prevalence, Diagnosis

http://www.clineu-journal.com/article/S0303-8467(02)00053-7/abstract?cc=y=

****************************************************

Speech and Swallowing Symptoms Associated with Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis: A Survey

Hartelius L. · Svensson P.
Department of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, University of Göteborg, Sweden

Abstract

A survey of approximately 460 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) or multiple sclerosis (MS) shows that speech and swallowing difficulties are very frequent within these groups.
Seventy percent of the PD patients and 44% of the MS patients had experienced impairment of speech and voice after the onset of their disease.

Forty-one percent of the PD patients and 33% of the MS patients indicated impairment of chewing and swallowing abilities.

The speech disorder was regarded as one of their greatest problems by 29% of the PD patients and by 16% of the MS patients.

Only a small number of patients, 3% of the PD and 2% of the MS group, had received any speech therapy.

© 1994 S. Karger AG, Basel
http://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/266286

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Being Resilient

Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient. - Steve Maraboli

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. — Juvenal

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.”
– Archimedes

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. - Lao Tzu

Success is the result of good judgement, which is the result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgement. - Tony Robbins

Avoid talking about things you don't like. If you don't want them in your life they shouldn't be in your mind.

You can't make time; so those who waste the least, achieve the most. - Tim Fargo #quote

Living with a sense of purpose in life

Conclusion:

A sense of purpose in life also gives you this considerable advantage:

"People with a sense of purpose in life have a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease."

The conclusions come from over 136,000 people who took part in 10 different studies.

Participants in the studies were mostly from the US and Japan.

The US studies asked people:

how useful they felt to others,
about their sense of purpose, and
the meaning they got out of life.

The Japanese studies asked people about ‘ikigai’ or whether their life was worth living.
The participants, whose average age was 67, were tracked for around 7 years.

During that time almost 20,000 died.
But, amongst those with a strong sense of purpose or high ‘ikigai’, the risk of death was one-fifth lower.

Despite the link between sense of purpose and health being so intuitive, scientists are not sure of the mechanism.

Sense of purpose is likely to improve health by strengthening the body against stress.

It is also likely to be linked to healthier behaviours.

Dr. Alan Rozanski, one of the study’s authors, said:

“Of note, having a strong sense of life purpose has long been postulated to be an important dimension of life, providing people with a sense of vitality motivation and resilience.

Nevertheless, the medical implications of living with a high or low sense of life purpose have only recently caught the attention of investigators.

The current findings are important because they may open up new potential interventions for helping people to promote their health and sense of well-being.”

This research on links between sense of purpose in life and longevity is getting stronger all the time:

“A 2009 study of 1,238 elderly people found that those with a sense of purpose lived longer.

A 2010 study of 900 older adults found that those with a greater sense of purpose were much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Survey data often links a sense of purpose in life with increased happiness.

No matter what your age, then, it’s worth thinking about what gives your life meaning.”

Read More:

Find out what kinds of things people say give their lives meaning.

Here’s an exercise for increasing meaningfulness

And a study finding that feeling you belong increases the sense of meaning.

The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Cohen et al., 2015).

A sense of purpose in life
Link: http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/12/here-is-why-a-sense-of-purpose-in-life-is-important-for-health

Things You Can Do To Change Your Life

CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Things You Can Do To Change Your Life

Take small steps. Enjoy the process. Have fun.

Know your Current Situation and where you want to go from there. It helps to break big goals down into manageable steps.

Be Patient

Be determined to succeed.

Flow

skipping stones to success.

The Science and Practise of Happiness

Uploaded on Jul 1, 2011

Is happiness a skill? Modern neuroscientific research and the wisdom of ancient contemplative traditions converge in suggesting that happiness is the product of skills that can be enhanced through training and such training exemplifies how transforming the mind can change the brain.

Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, and Daniel Gilbert speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival