Joanne Pierson, PhD, CCC-SLP, talks with StrokeSmart about the University of Michigan’s state-of-the-art speech-impairment therapy. The aphasia expert says they’ve seen results as late as 10 years after a patient’s stroke. Read More .

Partial Review by -Susan Robinson, MBA, MA, CCC-SLP of Moss Rehabilitation Hospital Philadelphia, PA

The scope of the booklet is exceptional. The detailed information includes discussions of pensions and benefits, rights as a hospital patient and as a person with a disability, services available, vocational issues, relationship issues, and maintaining or establishing interests as well as the more basic explanations of what is occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc. On almost every page, resources are listed with phone numbers and/or Web sites as appropriate for that section. Although normally, this could be seen as repetitious, for this book it is not because it highlights the resources for that particular issue. Each section can be read as needed without the need to have read previous sections.

Overall, this is an excellent resource guide on aphasia. The structure and content of the book emphasize how to maximize communication for persons with aphasia. It is one of the few aphasia resources dedicated to the person with aphasia versus the family or professionals. While this resource will be most useful to persons with aphasia and their families, there is substantial material that is relevant to traumatic brain injury. Clinicians working with persons with stroke or traumatic brain injury will want to check out this user-friendly handbook.

Purchase this book from Amazon .

Incorporated in 2011, Tactus Therapy Solutions was founded to bring the latest technology and proven therapy methods to therapists and people with aphasia and other communication disorders. “Tactus” means touch in Latin, and the touch screen is what makes Tactus Therapy Solutions unique and so easy to use. Based in Vancouver, BC on the west coast of Canada, Tactus Therapy Solutions aims to deliver quality speech, language, and cognitive rehab applications to the world.

Professional Apps for Speech Therapy – Apps for ALL AGES for Rehabilitation & Education

About Our Apps

Tactus Therapy Solutions offers a line of apps for mobile touch-screen devices designed as therapy tools for SLPs & OTs as well as a practice tools for clients affected by communication disorders including:

aphasia
apraxia
dysarthria

A TBI survivor using our apps for ongoing practice to supplement his therapy
cognitive-communication disorders
dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease
brain injury or TBI
stroke
autism or ASD
Down syndrome
developmental delay
other special needs
Our apps provide a range of activities perfect for use in:

Tactus Therapy Solutions

Check out National Stroke Association’s Stroke Risk Factor tool by clicking on RISK FACTORS.

Getting your life back after a stroke – An article posted May 7, 2013 by American Heart Association

Life after stroke has its challenges. In fact, the effects of your stroke may involve you changing, relearning, or redefining how you live. No stroke is exactly the same, but understanding a few strategies can help you regain your independence and maximize your recovery. The first, and perhaps most essential, component of conquering your rehabilitation plan is your attitude.

Maintaining a positive attitude and sense of well-being is crucial to a successful recovery. It’s important to set reasonable goals for yourself and try to rigorously follow the rehabilitation plan specifically designed by your doctors to suit your needs.

Remember, the more you use your body the faster you will recover. Some type of disability or physical limitation as a result of your stroke is common, but regardless of how your stroke has affected you, continually working toward recovery will help build your strength, capability, and confidence so that you can continue your daily activities despite the effects of your stroke.

As you recover, remember that you are not alone in the recovery process. Turn to family, friends, caregivers, and ultimately fellow stroke survivors for support and advice to ease the way.

After a stroke, not only must you battle back from the way your stroke may have affected your daily life, you must also be aware of your increased risk for subsequent strokes.

Again, there are simple steps you can take to reduce these risks. Healthy food habits can help you lessen three risk factors for stroke—poor cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and excess weight. Amazingly, a diet with five or more servings of fruits and vegetables may reduce your risk of a second stroke!

In addition to your nutrition, adding some physical activity to your weekly routine will further decrease the chances of another stroke. We know that exercise is good for human bodies, but this fact goes double for stroke survivors. Physical activity improves your heart function by lowering your blood pressure, resting heart rate, and cholesterol levels.

The benefits of nutrition and physical activity spell the difference between your dependence and independence, so start taking the right steps to control your life as a stroke survivor!

For more information on stroke recovery, visit the American Stroke Association website, at www.strokeassociation.org

MRIs Reveal Signs of Brain Injuries Not Seen in CT Scans, Posted on: May 7, 2013 by Advance

Hospital MRIs may be better at predicting long-term outcomes for people with mild traumatic brain injuries than CT scans, the standard technique for evaluating such injuries in the emergency room, according to a clinical trial led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH).

Published in the journal Annals of Neurology, the study was led by UCSF neuroradiologist Esther Yuh, MD, PhD and followed 135 people treated for mild traumatic brain injuries over the past two years at one of three urban hospitals with level-one trauma centers: SFGH, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin, Texas as part of a study called NIH-funded TRACK-TBI (Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury).

All 135 patients with mild traumatic brain injuries received CT scans when they were first admitted, and all were given MRIs about a week later. Most of them (99) had no detectable signs of injury on a CT scan, but more than a quarter (27/99) who had a “normal” CT scans also had detectable spots on their MRI scans called “focal lesions,” which are signs of microscopic bleeding in the brain.

Spotting these focal lesions helped the doctors predict whether the patients were likely to suffer persistent neurological problems. About 15% of people who have mild traumatic brain injuries do suffer long-term neurological consequences, but doctors currently have no definitive way of predicting whether any one patient will or not.

“This work raises questions of how we’re currently managing patients via CT scan,” said senior author on the study Geoff Manley, MD, PhD, the chief of neurosurgery at SFGH and vice-chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF. “Having a normal CT scan doesn’t, in fact, say you’re normal,” he added.

The problem, Manley said, is that there is no way to tell which patients are going to have the poor long-term outcomes. Some socioeconomic indicators can help predict prolonged disability, but until now there have been no proven imaging features, or blood tests for predicting how well or how fast a patient will recover. Nor is there a consensus on how to treat mild traumatic brain injuries.

Read More

By Jeffrey S. Eisenberg for Life Line Screening

Each year, an estimated 795,000 people in the United States suffer stroke. Of these, 610,000 are first or new strokes, and 136,000 strokes resulted in death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Indeed, stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and is the leading cause of long-term disability.

Although individuals cannot control some risk factors, some risk factors they can modify others. “Because so many of the condition’s risk factors can be minimized by personal effort, public awareness is the key weapon in conquering stroke,” said President George H.W. Bush in 1989, when he issued Proclamation 5975 declaring May National Stroke Awareness month.

To help enhance awareness, here are some questions you may have about strokes, including risk factors, warning signs and prevention.

Read More

Schedule appointment NOW with Life Line Screening.

WomenHeart is a national coalition for women with heart disease. In May, they are holding a congressional briefing about atrial fibrillation (Afib) and stroke risk for Hispanic women. To support their efforts, the Stroke Advocacy Network is asking you to contact your members of Congress and request that they attend this important event.

Afib is an irregular and often rapid heartbeat. It’s related to stroke because it’s a major stroke risk factor. Someone who has Afib is five times more likely to have a stroke and women with Afib have a much more pronounced stroke risk. Additionally, about 15 percent of people who have strokes also have Afib. WomenHeart is focusing its attention on Hispanic women because an overwhelming 70 percent of Hispanic women have at least one risk factor for heart disease, making it more likely they’ll get Afib.

Stroke Advocacy Network and National Stroke Association wants you to call your members of Congress, your representative and both senators—and ask them to learn about Afib and stroke by attending this event or sending their staff members.

Find your Legislators

Tell them the briefing will take place on May 14, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in room B339 in the Rayburn House Office Building. Members of Congress or their staff can RSVP for this event at mail@WomenHeart.org.

Afib can be treated and strokes can be prevented. Tell your legislators to join WomenHeart on May 14 and learn how they can be part of this effort.

For Better Hearing and Speech Month (MAY) Lingraphica is offering FREE CEUs for Speech-Language Pathologists.

For more information, click on FREE CEUs

About Stroke: The Stroke “Recovery Window” Myth, An article for StrokeSmart, Posted by Jim Lynskey, PT, Ph.D on May 05 2013

“They told me the window for my recovery had closed.”

Stroke survivors who exhaust traditional methods of care are routinely told by medical professionals, “there’s nothing else that can be done.” The doctors and therapists move on to the next patient and survivors face the devastating prospect of spending the rest of their lives unable to walk.

In truth, study after study shows that the so-called “window of recovery” does not exist. It is time for the medical community to raise their expectations and their standard of care for stroke patients.

Stroke is the number one cause of disability in the United States and our healthcare system is leaving millions behind. For National Stroke Awareness Month, we want to shout this news far and wide: it’s never too late to recover from a stroke.

Researchers across the world have demonstrated with a variety of interventions that it is possible for the brain and the body to be retrained and learn how to function again even decades after a stroke. We live in a golden age of stroke care where new options become available every year to break through plateaus and help survivors continue to recover mobility. Unfortunately, stroke survivors often aren’t aware of these breakthroughs.

Significant progress has been made on the drug front to reverse the effects of a stroke. Using injections of an anti-inflammatory drug, Dr. Edward Tobinick in Fort Lauderdale has shown phenomenal improvements are possible in mobility and brain function. By injecting the drug into the spinal cord of stroke survivors, 80 percent of Dr. Tobinick’s stroke patients showed improvements in their ability to walk.

Read full article, print and email by clicking on RECOVERY