Scoliosis: Life, Support & Friends

Senior minister confirms DLA is under threat Published: 15 October 2009 The truth is finally out. A senior government minister this week confirmed to the House of Lords that axing DLA has definitely not been ruled out, directly contradicting care minister Phil Hope’s earlier claim that DLA is safe Last month we reported that care minister Phil Hope had told a Disability Now reporter in an off-the-cuff exchange at the Labour Party conference that: "DLA is not under threat and people can be very happy". (“DLA is not under threat . . . be very happy” says government minister) Since then, however, there has been an alarming lack of official confirmation that DLA is not one of the disability benefits that the government intends to axe in order to fund the proposed new national care service. The reason for that lack of confirmation is now clear: Phil Hope's 'don't worry, be happy' statement does not reflect government policy. Lord McKenzie of Luton, parliamentary ...

ScoliosisJournal report about Correction: Assessment of angle velocity in girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis Authors: Ferran Escalada, Ester Marco, Roser Belmonte, Esther Duarte, Josep Ma Muniesa, Roser Boza, Marta Tejero and Enric Cáceres Publiushed: 10 October 2009 Background Although it has been demonstrated that the peak height velocity (PHV) is a predictive factor of progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), little is known about the usefulness of angle progression in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to establish a relationship between height and angle velocities, as well as to determine if peak angle velocity (PAV) occurs at the same time than PHV. Methods A retrospective study of a cohort of girls with idiopathic scoliotic curves greater than 10°. Data of 132 girls who participated in a previous retrospective study about growth in AIS were used to calculate height and angle velocities. Relationship between height and angle velocities was est...

Medical marijuana debate has multiple dimensions: medical, political, personal Linda Yelvington rattles off her list of ailments: Severe scoliosis. A prosthetic hip. Cervical degenerative disc disease. DeQuerin’s syndrome in both wrists. Arthritis. Breathing problems from diminished lung capacity because of scoliosis. The 54-year-old woman then rattles off a list of painkillers she has taken for her health problems. Author: Derek Spellman Linda Yelvington rattles off her list of ailments: Severe scoliosis. A prosthetic hip. Cervical degenerative disc disease. DeQuerin’s syndrome in both wrists. Arthritis. Breathing problems from diminished lung capacity because of scoliosis. The 54-year-old woman then rattles off a list of painkillers she has taken for her health problems. “None of them are working right,” Yelvington said of the legal drugs, listing some of their side effects. It has been several months since she has taken her preferred painkiller — marijuana — because it's not le...

Well, my fame as a blogger seems to be short-lived. Unfortunately I've lost my health insurance, and I won't be having surgery after all. I found out about two weeks ago, but it's been hard to organize my thoughts since then. At first I was extremely relieved, which really surprised me. I hadn't realized I was that scared. Now I'm just crushed. I'm really depressed about it. I had a muscle spasm an hour ago, and it lasted over 15 minutes. I can finally move again, but it's still hurting. Oh, well. Dr. Bones wanted me to wait ten years anyway. Hopefully Dr. STL will still be practicing in ten years.

Scoliosis Journal report about brace treatment for patients with Scheuermann`s disease - a review of the literature and first experiences with a new brace design Authors: Hans-Rudolf Weiss, Deborah Turnbull and Silvia Bohr Published: 29 September 2009 Background In contemporary literature few have written in detail on the in-brace correction effects of braces used for the treatment of hyperkyphosis. Bradford et al. found their attempts effective, treating Scheuermann's kyphosis with Milwaukee braces, but their first report did not specifically focus on in-brace corrections. White and Panjabi's research attempted to correct a curvature of > 50 degrees with the help of distraction forces, but consequently led to a reduction in patient comfort in the application of the Milwaukee brace. In Germany they avoid this by utitlising braces to treat hyperkyphosis that use transverse correction forces instead of distraction forces. Further efforts to reduce brace material have resulte...

Axial Biotech declared some news today via PRNewswire, I would like to share that with you. I don´t have much to say about this as I am no Dr!, however, Wow - I have been reading about DNA tests being linked to treatment for Scoliosis and disease progression but now it looks like we are really rocking! I look forward to following Axial in their developments of DNA. Axial Biotech Announces Commercial Availability of SCOLISCORE(TM) AIS Prognostic Test The first marketed product of Axial's pipeline of personalized diagnostics for spine disorders SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Axial Biotech, Inc., a company personalizing spine care through the development of molecular diagnostics, announced today that its SCOLISCORE(TM) AIS Prognostic Test is now being made available to spine specialists in the United States. SCOLISCORE is a saliva-based genetic test designed to predict the risk of progression of scoliosis, an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. Spine surgeons from 40 m...

It’s really hard to tell what to eat these days, one minute something’s good for you, next it might just as well be poison. Sales of blueberries, walnuts and spinach and other more esoteric things like goji berries, spirulina and chlorella have taken off in the past few years as, everywhere you look, something seems to be telling you about their particular 'health' benefits. Eat them, we're told, to help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. But where’s the science? Actually, there is no definition of superfood. It gets applied to foods from oats to walnuts, spinach to yoghurt, turkey to watercress and beetroot . Meat and fish contain protein and other nutrients. Fruit and vegetables also contain essential vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals (bioactive non-nutrient components) that are good for health. Labelling some as superfoods could give the impression that they are more health-enhancing than others. The fruits and vegetables given the superfood tag tend ...