Archive for November, 2010

Is your government draining money away from the benefits of the highly disabled?

SJCRG: To know  what has happened, we will quote from this link at Occupational Health and Safety site

“….Since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) twenty years ago, the definition of “disability” has shifted from an underlying physical or mental condition to a complex interaction between a person and his or her environment….”

The full extent of the difference is summarized in this text from the EEOC: “SUMMARY OF KEY PROVISIONS: EEOC’S NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING (NPRM) TO IMPLEMENT THE ADA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008 (ADAAA)”

Bottom line the definition of disability is now much broader and the burden of proof much lighter: good or bad.Think in terms of a shrinking economy, more people entitled, with less money to go around.

We believe the truly disabled, i.e. , those who fit  the strictest definition, have been short changed. A typical impact can be seen in our post on the wheelchairhealth site on the greater difficulty that highly disabled have to get the high tech power wheelchair they need!

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Risperidone for autism spectrum disorder (Cochrane)

SJCRG: Here is a link to a Cochrane Review of Risperidone for autism spectrum disorder . Bottom line: It can have beneficial effects against

• irritability,
• repetition and
• hyperactivity

However, Risperidone is an antipsychotic  drug

• Main side effects:   weight gain.
• all the issues of antipsychotic drugs

Note: Of the other approaches to autism intervention, not too many seemed to work. Follow this link

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Fibromyalgia: Study shows music can help

SJCRG: This study from Spain entered in the ScienceDirect shows that “… The [fibromyalgia] treatment group reported a significant reduction in pain and depression at week 4 compared with the control group…”

Music Therapy

SJCRG: Note that the study doesn’t seem to care about which genre of music: From Bach to Beatles, whatever works for you….One of the key elements seems to be that there is some discipline and commitment  involved: “..Music interventions consisted of listening to music once a day for 4 consecutive weeks using two types of CDs…”  Abstract does not provide the duration of listening  per day , though.

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Diabetes: Update on the treatment of neuropathies (sciencedirect)

SJCRG: This article on diabethic neuropathy published in Medicine particularly discusses two kinds of neuropathies

• Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN):   “..DPN is a cause of considerable morbidity, including foot ulceration, amputations and neuropathic pain, and is associated with cardiovascular disease and increased mortality…”
  •  Serious business, the article outlines the various approaches and treatments, from antidepressant to gabapentin.
  • causes and risks:  Poor glucose control, hypertension
• Diabetic autonomic neuropathy: Treatment is multidisciplinary and challenging since “..It may involve cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, urogenital, pupillomotor, thermoregulatory and sudomotor function…”

In any case, probably not something to want to “tough out”

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Diabetes: Update on Care of the diabetic foot (ScienceDirect)

SJCRG: The foot is at the frontline of diabetes complications. This study is a link to a status of diabetic foot care published in the journal Medicine.

Quoting: “…The key to management of diabetic neuropathic foot ulceration is aggressive debridement with removal of callus and dead tissue, followed by application of some form of cast to offload the ulcer area”

SJCRG: The paper goes on to give specific directives.  The tone of the study is all agressive approach to diabetic foot problem.

Talk to your Doctor.

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Medicare: Updates of Search tools and Directories For Care Facilities on Medicare Site

SJCRG: An update of powerful search tools in medicare.gov site

Here is an excerpt of the tools:

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Lupus and Fluorescent Light: Energy Saver CFL Bulbs Emit Ultraviolet light

San Jose Care Resource Guide: In an politically correct era when women are sometimes asked  not to wear perfume to an event, because of  concerns of allergic and other reactions, there is a very real dilemma.

Hidden Costs Of Energy Saving: the everpresent single enveloppe CFL Bulb

San Jose Care Resource Guide: Here is a link to a story by a Lupus patient   published in the spokesman.In a Nutshell:  lupus patients can react negatively to the Ultra Violet (UV) light that is generated by Compact Fluorescent Bulbs. and those bulbs are becoming the norm…

San Jose Care Resource Guide: This is comfirmed by this FDA  link, see the paragraph: ”..How close can we safely get to an operating CFL?..”  This FDA note is actually well done with some numbers to work with. Not all CFL emit the same UV amounts some are safer…

Read on the FDA note:     ”… As a precaution, it is recommended that these types [single envelop]  of CFLs not be used at distances closer than 1 foot, for more than one hour per day….

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With Medicaid waiver, California dives into health care reform (stateline)

SJCRG: Even though the legality of the federal health care law is disputed and challenged, states with a democratic bend and a big deficit are implementing it . The main such enthusiast is of course, California. Follow this link to see this article in the  ”stateline” site  

But if you dig under the “ra ra” tone, you can find those excerpted facts:

•  California will begin categorizing adult health care eligibility and benefits along the lines the federal health care law envisions but does not require until 2014
• “…To cut costs, California will transition seniors and adults with disabilities into a managed care program and test more efficient health care models for children with severe medical conditions such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and spina bifida…”
• “…expand benefits for the nearly 200,000 adults….,gradually moving them up to full Medicaid….”

As we have showed in previous posts, Democare is about lifting money from the benefits of the senior and disabled, in order to enroll pet constituencies.

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What Do Hospice Social Workers Do? (seniorhomecareinformation)

SJCRG:  For many of us Hospice is the H word: But at the Care Resource Guide we recognize that we need to know the cards before we are dealing…So here is an interesting post about the role of social workers in that difficult place: the Hospice.

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Health Care Law Should Help With Jail Inmate Treatment (thecrimereport)

SJCRG: Very much in line with what we were posting about Democare’s priorities. Here is a link to the crimereport. So why it is becoming much more apparent that more hardship is coming in the middle class seniors’ way:

• Medicare Advantage programs are being ruthlessly trimmed, link to our post
• Doctors Medicare repayment is being delayed and cut, link to  (rrstar)

 Under the radical team Obama/Pelosi, money is  lifted from the US mainstream, and poured into their ideological pets: anybody,criminals included,  but the US middleclass !

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