University of Iowa scientists have found that intervention and electrical stimulation can reduce Osteoporosis and Atrophy caused by spinal cord injuries.
Researcher Richard Shields, a professor of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, and colleagues say electrical stimulation causes muscle contraction and exerts mechanical loading on targeted bone, thereby significantly reducing severe osteoporosis and significantly reducing atrophy caused by spinal cord injury.
Virtually every spinal cord injury patient develops osteoporosis and muscle atrophy after injury. The bone thinning that occurs very rapidly-an average loss of 30 percent in bone mineral density in just three years- makes the paralyzed limbs particularly vulnerable to fracture.
“Will an 18-year-old injured today be a good candidate for a cure or repair if their bone is so brittle it can't bear weight or their muscles are virtually useless?” Shields asks.
“The long-range issues relate to helping people now remain good candidates for a future cure,” says Shields. “The short-term effects are improving the patient's health quality and preventing secondary complications.” This research appeared in the March issue of Spine.
Found on the internet -ed.
PARALYZED FLORIDA WOMAN GETS HELPING HAND FROM A SIX-POUND MONKEY By Sallie James
When Linda Brown wants to hear music, watch TV or adjust her bedroom lights, she calls on Tracey. Tracey can slip a CD into the player, flip a light switch or hand Brown the television remote with deft fingers.
“It doesn't sound like a lot, but that's my world, and it makes it more bearable,” said Brown, 51, a quadriplegic. “She's friendship, she's a companion, and she senses a lot.”
Tracey is also a highly trained capuchin monkey whose job is assisting Brown with simple tasks. Owned by Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled, Tracey is the Boston agency's only active service monkey in Florida and one of 108 placed nationwide since 1979. The agency is funded by private donations, corporate support, and grants.
The little monkey began changing Brown's life two years ago.
“When I started with her, I was already in the wheelchair and I was so depressed,” said Brown, of
Tamarac, who suffers from Syringomyelia, a degenerative spinal cord condition that causes paralysis and pain. “I was really not adjusting to life in a wheelchair. I would have thrown myself off a balcony if I could have found a balcony.”
Enter Tracey, a 6-pound Cebus apella whose mischievous nature gave Brown a reason to want to live. The monkey also gave Brown's husband and caretaker, Craig, a much-needed break.
“What's unique about Tracey is that she can help me with simple objects. It's that little bit of freedom. I don't have to yell, “Craig, come help me!” said Brown, who has only minimal arm movement.
About five years ago, Brown's doctor suggested she look into monkey helpers, so her husband went online and found the Helping Hands website. Three years later, the Helping Hands agency matched Brown with Tracey, and soon Brown found herself doing something she hadn't done in years: laughing.
Brown directs Tracey by pointing a laser light at an object and using simple commands. If Brown aims the laser light at the TV remote and says, “Fetch clicker,” Tracey will pick it up off the floor and hand it to Brown.
With the command, “Do bucket,” Tracey crawls across Brown's Prone body and tosses a crumpled tissue into a wastebasket. “Do sun” tells Tracey to flip on a light switch. “Open” means to go to the refrigerator and “push” is for switching on a CD player.
“She can pick up the portable phone and hand it to me, or she will give me the headset. Or she can turn on the speakerphone,” said Brown.
Monkeys like Tracey initially spend six or seven years in foster homes, where they learn how to interact with people, to fetch, be diapered and take baths, said Megan Keppler, director of placements for Helping Hands. Then they attend the “Monkey College” in Boston, where they are trained to imitate their trainers, Keppler said. School can last 18-24 months.
Couple that with breeding and placement, and each monkey costs the nonprofit agency about $33,000, she said. Brown pays for Tracey's food, medicine, and diapers, about $3,500 a year, and will keep Tracey as long as she needs her. If Brown's needs change, Tracey will be placed with another patient, Keppler said.
When a monkey is matched to a recipient, a trainer spends about 8 days in a recipient's home, teaching that person how to work with and care for the monkey. Afterward, the patient and trainer remain in telephone contact.
“What we look for in our recipients are people who say there is more out there than this and I want to do everything I can,” Keppler said. “Linda is amazing, such a good person with a great attitude. What keeps her going is the monkey.”
