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 →