A deal struck after weeks of negotiations among House Republican leaders could extend coverage for treatment of about 800 children with autism, but would stop short of a more sweeping and contentious mandate. "We believe this is a Utah solution to addressing autism," said House Assistant Majority Whip Ronda Menlove, R-Garland, who had sponsored the bill requiring about a third of Utah’s insurance carriers to cover autism treatment. Under terms of the deal, which will be contained in HB272, the state would set up a two-year pilot program within the health plan that covers public employees, which would extend coverage to a few hundred children. Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, an insurance agent who was part of the negotiations, said the state would put in about $2 million toward covering low-income children through Medicaid. That would be matched by about three times as much in federal funds to cover about 500 children. Menlove said she wants more, and will pursue $6 million in each of the next two years, not including the federal match. "I’m going to shoot for the stars," she said. Then, private commercial carriers, corporations and others have agreed to kick in about another $2 million to a … Continue reading →

Washington, Feb 14 (ANI): Air pollution, even at levels generally considered safe by federal regulations, increases the risk of stroke by 34 percent, researchers have warned. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center 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 with pollution from local or transported traffic emissions," said Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, the study's senior author, a physician in the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and … Continue reading →

  Tuesday February 14, 2012 - 12:43 PM The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com DENTON, Texas -- North Texas coach Dan McCarney said Tuesday that he suffered a stroke over the weekend and expects to recover in time to lead his team through spring drills. McCarney said in a statement provided by the school that he felt his left side go numb Sunday and was taken to a hospital. Doctors later confirmed he had a stroke. McCarney, 58, is out of intensive care but remained in the hospital Tuesday for further treatment. He said he expected to be back to his normal routine "in time." The team starts spring practice March 28. "While I have a great passion for coaching and approach my job with a tireless effort, I'm sure that my doctors will ask that I come back at a slower pace," he said. "I fully intend on leading the North Texas football program through spring drills and can't wait to be back around my staff and players." McCarney told the Denton Record-Chronicle that he had finished a workout and was sending a text message when he felt numbness. "There was a blood clot that hit the back of my brain," McCarney … Continue reading →

A combination of talk therapy and exercise training may help people who suffer lingering fatigue after a stroke, a new study suggests. People commonly feel worn out in the months, or even years, after having a stroke. In studies, anywhere from 38 percent to 73 percent of stroke survivors have reported problems with persistent fatigue. The exact reasons aren’t clear, and experts suspect that different factors are at play for different people. For some, brain damage from the stroke may be to blame, while for others depression, physical limitations or low fitness levels might be involved. Certain stroke treatments, like physical therapy, may help some people with fatigue. But partly because researchers aren’t sure of the root cause, there are no standard therapies aimed specifically at post-stroke fatigue, said Aglaia Zedlitz, lead researcher on the new study. ‘Post-stroke fatigue has long been a neglected issue in healthcare and science, although many patients suffer severely from the fatigue,’ Zedlitz told Reuters Health in an email. For their study, she and her colleagues at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands tested two therapies: cognitive therapy and ‘graded activity training’—which included walking on a treadmill, strength training and exercise ‘homework.’ The researchers recruited … Continue reading →

MINNEAPOLIS - Strokes are normally a condition associated with the elderly, but they can happen to in children -- even the unborn. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota say a new treatment called neuroplasticity could help lessen injury to the brain after a stroke. For the past five months, 5-year-old Mason Hansen hasn't been able to get enough of his hip-hop class at Select Dance in Shakopee. Nearly every child in the class is the same age and has a similar skill level, but Hansen is unique because it's difficult for him to move his right side due to an in-utero stroke. Hansen's mother, Riana, told FOX 9 News her pregnancy was normal, and her son's birth was uneventful. About four or five months later, however, she and her husband, Josh, began noticing the differences in their son. "It's somewhat normal to display a preference for one hand, but his was becoming very, very obvious that he was neglecting his right arm and side altogether," Riana Hansen said. When Mason Hansen was 6 months old, a CAT scan confirmed what doctors suspected. "We asked them, 'What does this mean for Mason? What's his life going to be like?'" Josh … Continue reading →