Jennifer Vasilakos got the shocking surprise of her life after helping a man who stopped to ask her for directions. That man happened to be the billionaire founder of the Beanie Baby company and what he did may have saved her life. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports. By Kristen Dahlgren and Erica Ayisi, NBC News What started out as a modest fundraising event held in a Santa Barbara, Calif., parking lot has turned into a life-changing moment for Jennifer Vasilakos, thanks to a chance meeting with Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner. It all began ina parking lot in July of last year. Vasilakos, 42, set up a table near her hometown's annual Santa Barbara French Festival to raise money for stem cell treatment, displaying signs and flyers that explained her cause.She also brought a small moneybox to stash cash made from parking cars for festival-goers. Equipped with sunglasses, a water bottle and coffee, Vasilakos was prepared to spend the day raising awareness and telling people her personal story that she was diagnosed with acute renal failure in 2011 and had received dialysis three times a day, three times a week. It was a grueling regimen that she would endure the rest … Continue reading →

Jan. 16, 2013 A groundbreaking study lead by William B. Young, MD, a neurologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's Headache Center, shows that patients with migraine (a combination of severe headache, nausea, light sensitivity, and other factors) suffer social stigma from their disease similar to the stigma experienced by patients with epilepsy. The study, to be released on January 16, 2013 in the online journal PLOS ONE, is one of the first to study the social cost of this frequently debilitating and misunderstood illness. The study was co-authored by Joanna Kempner, PhD, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Social stigma occurs when society disapproves of a person because they are different in some way -- either externally, as with a birthmark, or in an unseen way, as with migraine. Stigma can hurt people's personal relationships, their work prospects, and their state of mind. "When people treat my patients as if they are to blame because they have a severe, debilitating disease, they are contributing to the problem and making life harder for them," commented Dr. Young. The authors conclude that the high level of stigma for chronic migraine sufferers is due to the impact of … Continue reading →

E. Mumper - Medical Issues ASD 2 Handout link: ariconference.com Gain insight into evidence-based medical problems often found in individuals with autism. Beyond the basics, this talk offers strategies parents and clinicians can use collaboratively to discuss appropriate assessments and treatment strategies. This talk will expands on "Medical Issues ASD 1" - also on this page. By: arifulton … Continue reading →

London, Jan 17 (IANS) A type of heartbeat that raises stroke risk five-fold can be spotted with a novel blood pressure monitor, according to British researchers. It identifies atrial fibrillation - the commonest kind of irregular beats - responsible for one in four strokes. Up to two million people, largely elderly, have atrial fibrillation (AF). That causes blood to linger in a heart chamber, forming clots that can then be pushed into arteries and get stuck, resulting in a stroke. Every year some 12,500 people suffer AF-related strokes. But if diagnosed, people can reduce their chance of stroke by taking blood-thinning drugs. However, although it can cause dizziness, palpitations and shortness of breath, hundreds of thousands do not know they have it as they have no symptoms. Of the two million estimated by the Atrial Fibrillation Association to have it, some 600,000 are undiagnosed in Britain alone, the Telegraph reports. Carole Longson, professor at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, London, said the device "could increase the detection rate of AF compared with taking the pulse by hand. The guidance is not about screening for AF, but about the benefits that the device offers in helping to pick … Continue reading →