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2 U-M researchers given BCBSM award
(01/17/08) Two physicians at the University of Michigan Health System have been selected to receive the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation’s McDevitt Excellence in Research Award for their individual work as clinical researchers.
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Service project empowers kids in U-M's NeuroRehab program
(07/31/07) The University of Michigan Health System's NeuroRehabilitation summer program is taking part in a service project aimed at empowering kids with disabilities while helping kids in Africa. The project includes a study skills group that puts together boxes of school supplies to be sent to Kijabe Hospital in Kenya, a creative writing group that writes letters to the recipients of the packages and a newspaper group that puts out a newspaper about Africa based on their research.
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Connecting adults with cerebral palsy to virtual trainers
(04/02/07) A new program developed by the U-M Health System and the U-M School of Kinesiology is making movement-based therapy more convenient and assessable to adults with cerebral palsy. Called ULTrA, the program uses the Internet and streaming video to connect patients to virtual trainers and real-life experts at U-M via their home computer.
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Ghana Night raises fund for West African medical rehab program
(01/25/07) Ghana Night at the Michigan Theater will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, to benefit the joint effort of the Ghana Medical Rehabilitation Group and the International Rehabilitation Forum to build a premier Ghana-based training program for West African rehabilitation professionals.
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Medical School appoints Edward Hurvitz as department chair
(08/16/06) The University of Michigan Medical School has announced the appointment of Edward A. Hurvitz, M.D., associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, as chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, pending approval by the U-M Board of Regents.
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Old test gives new hope for back pain sufferers
(12/12/05) Results from a new U-M Health System study show that EMG can accurately diagnosis spinal stenosis, reducing misdiagnosis of low back pain and other common neuromuscular conditions that can mimic symptoms, and even helping to avoid unnecessary back surgery.
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Car seat options for kids with special medical needs
(09/30/05) Safe Kids Washtenaw County reminds parents and caregivers that children with special health care needs are subject to the same hazards as any other child when they are a passenger in a vehicle, and may require special car seating options.
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Heads-Up on Traumatic Brain Injury
(07/28/05) More than half a million people each year sustain a traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These brain injuries are caused when the brain, which floats in cerebral fluid, smashes against the hard wall of the skull following an impact. They are often caused by motor vehicle or sports traumas, but also can be caused by physical abuse or or, surprisingly, by mundane household or workplace accidents.
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Connecting to cure spinal cord injury
(05/03/05) An estimated 247,000 people have a spinal cord injury in the United States and about 11,000 new cases occur each year, but a "cure" for this catastrophic injury remains elusive. Nevertheless, new science is raising the hope that one day a cure for SCI will be within reach. This conference seeks to educate providers, media and public about the connections between the science, ethics and politics of SCI research.
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National SAFE KIDS week
(05/02/05) National SAFE KIDS week is taking place April 30 through May 7. In celebration, SAFE KIDS of Washtenaw County will encourage local parents to become safety role models for their children to prevent injuries and other dangers.
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50 years after Salk, polio's effects still linger
(04/12/05) Fifty years after the University of Michigan’s Thomas Francis Jr., M.D., announced a “safe, effective, and potent “ vaccine that would end one of the most virulent of childhood diseases, the effects of paralytic polio still linger. Today, experts in the UMHS Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation are working to treat polio survivors at its Post-Polio Clinic, learn more about polio's effects through research, and educate future health care providers today to care for aging polio survivors.
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Discovering the source of back pain
(03/03/05) EMG testing can provide answers that MRI can’t. Expert says both kinds of tests have their strengths, and a current study at U-M is looking at the MRI scan and EMG test to find out which one is better at identifying the source of back pain.
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Exercise capacity linked to heart disease
(01/20/05) If your New Year’s resolution to exercise is now just a distant memory, there are some rats at the University of Michigan Medical School that may convince you to climb back on the treadmill.
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Workers with carpal tunnel find relief with splinting
(01/05/05) Night-time splinting can effectively improve hand and wrist discomfort for active workers with early symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, a new U-M Health System study finds.
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Obesity growing as health concern for people with spinal cord injury
(12/23/04) Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are looking at how people with spinal cord injury burn calories and how that is affected by their muscle mass and body weight. The goal is to make better recommendations to people with spinal cord injury, but the research will also translate into greater understanding of obesity in the general population as well.
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Initiative maximizes health, independence for people with SCI in rural Mich
(12/13/04) The U-M Spinal Cord Injury Rural Health Education Initiative, created by the University of Michigan Health System’s Model Spinal Cord Injury Care System, is working to change the common belief that living in a smaller community means people with SCI should have less access to health care providers who specialize in SCI and fewer, if any, transportation and work resources available to them."
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Senior Drivers: Assess your driving before hanging up the keys
(11/04/04) For many seniors, the thought of hanging up the car keys might feel like an end to independence. But when the fatality rate per mile driven for older drivers — those aged 85 years and older — is nine times higher than the rate for drivers aged 25 to 69 years, it becomes a problem that seniors and their loved ones can no longer ignore.
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Study: Post-polio women experience menopause differently
(10/18/04) A team of researchers from the U-M Health System conducted a nationwide study to explore the experience of menopause for the 500,000 women in the U.S. with a history of polio. The study revealed post-polio women experience more severe menopause symptoms than their non-disabled peers.
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U-M research looks at obesity, exercise and spinal cord injury
(09/07/04) As Americans face a growing epidemic of obesity, people with spinal cord injuries find themselves particularly vulnerable to the serious complications that come with carrying around extra pounds. U-M researchers have begun several new studies to look at how people with spinal cord injury burn calories, why their energy expenditure is different and how to deal with the disproportionate rate of obesity among these patients.
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Helping kids be ‘CHAMP’s with constraint therapy
(06/01/04) A program offered at the University of Michigan Health System has children with brain injuries using weakened or underdeveloped upper extremities. The Comprehensive Hand-Arm Movement Program, or CHAMP, works through a combination of the children learning new techniques for using their arm and actual changes that occur in the brain.
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Unique clinic addresses special health needs of Down syndrome
(05/03/04) New specialty Down syndrome clinic now open at the University of Michigan Health System. The clinic addresses the medical and rehabilitation needs of children and adults with Down syndrome, a condition that affects one in 800 live births.
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A heads up on bike safety
(04/01/04) Biking is a fun way for kids to be active and get outside, but danger lurks beneath those tire spokes. Each year, bike-related crashes kill about 900 people and injure 567,000 others. Statistics show that 67,000 of these injuries are head injuries– and most of them, 80 percent to 85 percent, would have been less severe or prevented altogether if the rider had been wearing a helmet.
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Heavy drinkers use narcotics for back pain, despite warnings
(01/15/04) Despite warnings about interactions between alcohol and narcotic pain relievers, a new study suggests many people taking these drugs continue to drink, in some cases heavily.
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New shoe insole design decreases the risk of serious foot infection for diabetics
(12/01/03) Most people hear the word diabetes and immediately jump to the topic of blood sugar. But did you know that a serious danger surrounding diabetes is foot infection? Now orthotists at the University of Michigan Health System Orthotics and Prosthetics Center are helping diabetics fight calluses, ulcers and even amputation, with a newly designed shoe insole.
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Enabling people with arthritis in everyday life
(10/01/03) Seventy million Americans have some form of arthritis. While medication relieves symptoms of pain and stiffness in the joints, it is occupational therapy that is helping people regain mobility and independence
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Local tree climbing event gives families a new perspective on ability of disabled kids
(09/15/03) On Saturday, Sept. 20, a special program is giving a group of Mott patients, along with their families, the chance to spend a day among the trees at the U-M Rec Sports complex!
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Spinal cord injuries increase with warm weather
(06/02/03) On a sunny summer day eight years ago, Randall Veilleux let down his guard for a split second and changed the course of his life forever
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Kids' backpacks may not cause back pain
(05/21/03) Backpacks have gotten a bad rap. For years, specialists have urged school children to lighten their loads, wear their backpacks on both shoulders and avoid lugging around those heavy school bags whenever possible.
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Polio a thing of the past?
(04/07/03) Most Americans think of polio as a thing of the past. Although the disease has largely been eradicated, about one million Americans are polio survivors. For these men and women who contracted the disease through epidemics of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, many are experiencing the late effects of their struggle with polio. The University of Michigan's Post-Polio Clinic is studying the way age and gender are effecting this population.
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Brain injury patients turning to alternative medicine
(04/01/03) More patients than ever before with traumatic brain injuries are turning to complementary and alternative medicine therapies to supplement conventional medical care for their injuries. But the majority of these patients are not discussing their use with their physicians, a new study finds.
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Finding new ways to help kids with disabilities make friends
(03/10/03) It's not always easy for young children to make new friends. And for children with physical disabilities or chronic illnesses, the challenge of developing friendships can be even greater - especially if their disability prevents them from participating in certain social activities or their peers lack knowledge and understanding about their condition.
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Taking a closer look at polio's lifelong effects
(01/06/03) A new U-M Health System study will be the first to explore gender differences and the impact menopause may have on the overall quality of polio survivors' lives.
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People with spinal cord injuries need exercise too - but barriers to fitness persist, U-M study finds
(11/22/02) It's no secret that Americans are getting fatter, exercising less and suffering the health problems that go along with a sedentary lifestyle. Ongoing research aims to cut outsize death risk from heart disease and diabetes.
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Lighten up!
(08/05/02) A new U-M study has found that an overloaded school bag can be a pain in your child's back.
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New program teaches youth with special needs how to ride
(06/06/02) The program, a joint effort between C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and The Arc of Western Wayne County, will teach kids about different aspects of bicycle and tricycle riding.
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"Back" to the future: U-M experts think old test might help diagnose back pain
(06/04/01) New study of spine-muscle exam may help those with common arthritis-related pain.
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New U-M program aims to help spinal cord injury survivors live healthier, better
(05/08/01) Participants needed now to learn about wellness, exercise, sexuality - and help others with SCI
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U-M Health System's MedSport to open branch at Livonia Health Center
(04/16/01) Athletic trainers will provide support to teams at four Livonia-area schools.
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New U-M program aims to help spinal cord injury survivors live healthier and better
(02/01/01) Study participants to learn about wellness, exercise, sexuality - and help others with SCI.
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