Monthly Archives: February 2012

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Wally Aman drove from Wheeling to the state Capitol Monday to deliver a message to state lawmakers: Autistic children across West Virginia are missing out on important treatment services because of a last-minute change to the state's new autism insurance law last year. Aman's 5-year-old twins, Thomas and Joseph, aren't receiving speech and occupational therapy -- services that would help them, he said.  "The unanimous passage of the autism bill last year gave parents who have children with autism hope," Aman said. "But because of a last-minute change in the wording of the bill, we have insurance for autism therapy that won't pay for autism therapy. We just want what our children were promised." The new law allows health insurance companies to cap the amount they reimburse families for all autism services at $30,000 a year. A previous version of the legislation put a $30,000 cap on only on behavior services -- the treatment considered most effective for autism. Parents with autistic children typically spend more than $30,000 a year on "applied behavior analysis," or ABA, Aman said.  So the cap forces families to pay out of pocket heir children's speech, occupational and physical therapies, and prescription … Continue reading →

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Complete Genomics Inc. (Nasdaq:GNOM - News) announced today that it has been selected by Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine to provide outsourced whole human genome sequencing. Mayo Clinic researchers will now be able to employ Complete Genomics' sequencing service for some of its large-scale whole genome sequencing projects. The Center for Individualized Medicine operates a comprehensive sequencing laboratory in its own Medical Genome Facility, but it determined that collaboration with Complete Genomics could supplement the services available to its community of medical researchers. Under the terms of the agreement, Mayo Clinic can send genetic material to Complete Genomics for sequencing and analysis. It will continue to operate and invest in its Medical Genome Facility. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. "Mayo Clinic, through the Center for Individualized Medicine, already has several high-impact genome- and epigenome-based studies underway in individualized care for our patients," said Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Individualized Medicine. "Access to quality whole genome sequencing services can only expedite our efforts to improve care for all of our patients with new individualized medicine tools and techniques." "It is exciting to see a … Continue reading →

February 13, 2012, 9:47 PM EST By Ryan Flinn Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Stem cells grown from patients’ own cardiac tissue can heal damage once thought to be permanent after a heart attack, according to a study that suggests the experimental approach may one day help stave off heart failure. In a trial of 25 heart-attack patients, 17 who got the stem cell treatment showed a 50 percent reduction in cardiac scar tissue compared with no improvement for the eight who received standard care. The results, from the first of three sets of clinical trials generally needed for regulatory approval, were published today in the medical journal Lancet. “The findings in this paper are encouraging,” Deepak Srivastava, director of the San Francisco-based Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, said in an interview. “There’s a dire need for new therapies for people with heart failure, it’s still the No. 1 cause of death in men and women.” The study, by researchers from Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, tested the approach in patients who recently suffered a heart attack, with the goal that repairing the damage might help stave off failure. While patients getting the stem … Continue reading →

WATERLOO — Janine Bernard didn’t want to waste any time getting help for her son while she waited for government-funded autism therapy. Two-year-old Desmond Bernard couldn’t speak, which led to tantrums because he couldn’t tell his parents what he wanted. “You have to teach them everything. Nothing comes naturally,” said the Kitchener mother. She found him specialized therapy with another mother who knows the challenges of raising an autistic child. And she returned to school to learn how to help children with developmental delays. “If you can start things really early, it makes a world of difference,” said Karen Neary, a behaviour consultant and clinical lead at blueballoon Health Services in Waterloo. Neary created new programs for parents who are worried about their child’s development, waiting for a diagnosis and services, or simply don’t know where to turn. She’s also hosting a parent group that has its first meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The group, which will provide support, practical tips and a forum to share information, is open to any parent, not just clients of blueballoon. The privately run centre caters to children with physical and developmental challenges, and learning, social or behavioural problems. When Neary’s son was … Continue reading →

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- In many ways, Jonah Hercules is just like any 6-year-old child. However, it's his battle with autism that he and his father, Jay Hercules, struggle with every day. “He doesn't understand danger. He doesn't understand that things can hurt him,” Jay Hercules said. The biggest pain now can be found in his wallet. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a treatment that costs $30,000 to $50,000 a year. Experts say it's the best thing for any child with autism. “It's intensive teaching. You need a one to one teacher who's well trained,” Susannah Poe, who diagnoses children with autism, said. Legislation passed last year was meant to help, providing a $30,000 annual cap for the first three years of treatment. But the wording got mixed up -- giving some insurance companies the idea that it goes for all types of therapy. That means many parents wouldn't be able to afford everything their children need. “We're already a very large amount in debt,” Jay Hercules said. “The price that some people would pay for a house.” Lawmakers are now working to clean up the mistake before the session is over. “I think the reason people are here is … Continue reading →

Dr. Paul Abend knows the difficulties faced by parents of autistic children. The father of a 13-year-old autistic son, he has experienced the lack of services firsthand. Instead of accepting what was available, Abend decided to do something; he built the Comprehensive Autism Medical Assessment & Treatment Center, which opened recently in Warren. ?This center is dedicated to my son, Michael, and other children like him who suffer from the medical complications of autism,? said Abend, who is the center?s medical director as well as its founder. At an open house on Jan. 20, Warren Mayor Carolann Garafola cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the center. The outpatient medical facility designed to provide a multidisciplinary team approach to the identification and treatment of the ?complicated medical co-morbidities of autism,? said Deana Luchs, parent advocacy coordinator at the center and coordinator of its Autism Think Tank. The think tank brings together senior specialists from several disciplines. ?Specialists assess cases by reviewing a child?s records and plan a course of treatment,? Luchs said. ?Parents have access to so many services without traveling all over the country.? The center provides a range of traditional and nontraditional therapies to serve children and their families, … Continue reading →

The management of stroke and ?mini-strokes?. THE brain?s functions depend on a constant blood supply for the oxygen and nutrients needed by its cells. The restriction or stoppage of this supply leads to damage and possibly death of the brain cells. A stroke, which is also called a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is a condition in which the blood supply to a part of the brain is cut off. A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is due to a temporary interruption of the blood supply to part of the brain, leading to a ?mini-stroke?. Its features are similar to that of a stroke, but the duration is about a few minutes. The TIA usually resolves within 24 hours. TIAs provide a warning that further TIAs or a stroke is on the way. The incidence of TIA is not well known as many people who have TIA do not seek medical attention. It has been estimated that without treatment, the likelihood is one in 10 that a stroke will occur within a month after a TIA. As strokes lead to disability and even death in some instances, TIAs should be treated as seriously as strokes. Strokes and TIAs are medical emergencies, and the … Continue reading →

Public release date: 13-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Jerry Berger jberger@bidmc.harvard.edu 617-667-7308 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center BOSTON ? Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center researchers have found. Writing in the Feb. 14, 2012 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers who studied more than 1,700 stroke patients in the Boston area over a 10-year period found exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, generally from vehicle traffic, was associated with a significantly higher risk of ischemic strokes on days when the EPA's air quality index for particulate matter was yellow instead of green. Researchers focused on particles with a diameter of 2.5 millionths of a meter, referred to as PM2.5. These particles come from a variety of sources, including power plants, factories, trucks and automobiles and the burning of wood. They can travel deeply into the lungs and have been associated in other studies with increased numbers of hospital visits for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks. "The link between increased stroke risk and these particulates can be observed within hours of exposure and are most strongly associated … Continue reading →