Austen Hayes, co-founder and chief software architect of Recovr, right, and Larry F. Hodges, co-founder and senior manager, stand by a computer loaded with the company's software, Duck, Duck, Punch. Many stroke survivors face an arduous battle for recovery, but entrepreneurs Austen Hayes, Patrick Dukes and Larry Hodges hope to make it a successful one. Three years ago, the trio created the computer game "Duck, Duck, Punch" to assist stroke patients with arm movement rehabilitation. Now they have formed Recovr Inc. to market the game and expand their idea into new games, to reach more patients and apply their success to other areas of physical therapy. They are one of nine companies under development at The Iron Yard's 13-week digital health accelerator in downtown Spartanburg. "We want to transform every type of physical impairment," said Dukes, chief technology officer of Recovr. "We want to create a holistic suite of games." After simply surviving the loss of blood flow to the brain that causes a stroke, patients face weeks, months and possibly a lifetime of therapy to regain full use of their body. In many cases, the physical therapy can be monotonous and taxing mentally and emotionally as patients struggle with … Continue reading →

From the perspective of a community physician, the stem cell research, at this point, is not a priority. Given the daunting task of not only curing the present crop of diseases but also preventing them, and of course, building the human resource as the backbone of the health care system these should be the priority. Joseph Carabeo, convenor, Rx Abolish Pork Barrel Movement By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA Eleazar Sobinsky, president of the Lung Center of the Philippines Employees Association-Alliance of Health Workers cannot decipher how the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) has helped the poor. Of the P115 million ($263,822) DAP funds received by LCP, P70 million ($160,587) was spent for the stem cell research project and the rest was spent for the procurement of equipment. He said if the DAP has helped the poor, why are there more indigent patients waiting in line at the LCPs out-patient department? Joseph Carabeo, convenor of the Rx Abolish Pork Barrel Movement and a community doctor for the past 28 years, said that the stem cell research project does not even help solve the longtime health problems of Filipinos. The stem cell research in LCP is a mispriority, said Carabeo in … Continue reading →