Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Developmentally delayed women less likely to get screened for breast, cervical cancer

Excerpt from: Sun News (click for full article)

 

Canadian women with developmental disabilities are much less likely to get routine screening for breast and cervical cancer, even though their risk is just as high, a new study has found.

Women with disabilities such as Down syndrome or autism are half as likely to get a Pap test every three years, and 1/3 as likely to get a mammogram every two years, according to the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

"The findings of our study suggest that women with intellectual and developmental disabilities face important health inequities in missed opportunities for the prevention and early detection of cervical and breast cancer," researcher Yona Lunsky said.

The researchers say there is a widespread, but unfounded, belief that women with developmental disabilities don't need to be tested.

The Most Common Misdiagnoses in Children

Excerpt from: Child Mind Institute (click for full article)

 

Here we take a look at some of the common psychiatric symptoms that are easily misinterpreted in children and teenagers, leading to misdiagnosis. For each symptom, we explain the diagnosis it is commonly linked to, and what some of the alternate causes for what that behavior might be. (This list is only meant to be used as a guide, and it is important to always consult with a trained diagnostician before beginning treatment or assigning a label to your child.)

1. Inattention

The common diagnosis: ADHD

Other Possibilities:

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Learning Disorder

Viewpoint: ADHD Isn’t A Metaphor

Excerpt from: Time (click for full article)

 

Let’s say that rates of ADHD diagnoses among kids in America are continually rising. Let’s say that stimulant medication use — both prescribed by doctors, and as the result of illegal trade with friends —  is on the rise, too. What do we make of that information? What do we do with it? In particular, how do we use it to improve children’s and teenagers’ lives?

The answers speak volumes about where we are as a society and where we ought to be headed.

The default response, every time we get news about any sort of uptick in the diagnosis and treatment of children’s mental disorders, is to issue condemnations of bad parents, bad doctors, bad teachers, and bad schools. (Not to mention big bad pharma, of course, which, it seems, will never rise from the bed of nails it has built for itself  over the years.)

The raw, unanalyzed, not-yet-peer-reviewed numbers that the New York Times, bizarrely, led the paper with last week don’t answer any of those questions. And since the CDC won’t verify their accuracy (precisely because they haven’t yet finished processing their own numbers), I’m not going to repeat them here. And I don’t need to. Previous surveys have shown a steady rise in the rate of ADHD diagnoses over the years. Previous research has also raised disturbing questions about the possibility that some children without actual ADHD are now being diagnosed and medicated for it.

Amanda Baggs, the Pressure To Die, and the Case Against Assisted Suicide

Excerpt from: Disability and Representation (click for full article)

 

What happens to people who don’t have the support that Amanda has? What happens to people who are sick, and in pain, and alone, and don’t have a fierce advocate? What happens to people who aren’t well known in the disability community? What happens to people who do not realize that they have worth, who do not realize that they have the right the right to live? What happens to people lying in hospital beds, uncared for, feeling that their lives means nothing because of all of the genteel and not-so-genteel ways in which that idea is communicated? How many people feel that they are simply a waste of space because they’re being pressured to choose the alternative of death?

In this kind of environment, no free choice is possible. And I think that the proponents of assisted suicide know that. I really do. In fact, I think that the very reason that people put assisted suicide on the table at all is that they know the kind of treatment in store for them if they become ill or disabled. It’s not really illness or disability they fear, because it’s entirely possible to live a very good life with illness and disability in it. What people fear most is being treated as though they have no dignity, as though they have no worth, as though their lives matter not at all. This is the deepest fear: to not matter. Even pain and death pale in the face of it.

I think that many people feel that they would rather die than to be treated as though they are worthless. And so they put forward legislation that will give them a way out. But they don’t realize that we can fight the idea that it’s better to be dead than ill or disabled — that we can react to it with outrage, and that we can create communities of support so that none of us ends up with our worst fears realized.

Study: Schizophrenia Linked to Autoimmune Disorders

Excerpt from: Psych Central (click for full article)

 

A study published in the March American Journal of Psychiatry found a stronger association between schizophrenia and autoimmune diseases than previously suspected.

Dr. William W. Eaton, of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues analyzed information about 7,704 schizophrenia patients and their parents from three databases (the Danish Psychiatric Register, the National Patient Register, and a register with socioeconomic information) and compared the data with a sample of matched comparison subjects and their parents. They found that a family history of any autoimmune disease was associated with a 45% increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Five autoimmune disorders appeared more frequently in patients with schizophrenia prior to schizophrenia onset as well as in the patients’ parents: thyrotoxicosis, intestinal malabsorption, acquired hemolytic anemia, interstitital cystitis, and Sjögren’s syndrome. More research on family histories of autoimmune disease in schizophrenia patients may provide clues to causal factors common to both types of disorders.

Autism Lawsuit

Excerpt from: Fox 28 (click for full article)

 

The State of Ohio and the Department of Developmental Disabilities are facing a federal lawsuit after a woman says state workers are abusing her autistic son. Myra Tanksley filed the suit last month on behalf of her son Marquis Tanksley, 19, who a probate court judge placed at the Columbus Departmental Center since last November. That’s after Marquis ran from his apartment and health care worker, ran naked through a neighboring church playground and was arrested by police. A municipal court judge blamed the health care aide for the charges for not taking better care of Marquis. Now Myra Tanksley says his care is even worse. "I know society doesn't know about autism but there's a whole lot of professions that don't know about it," said Myra Tanksley to ABC6/FOX28. "He's in a facility that doesn't have fit staff, they're untrained, they're abusive." According to the suit, state workers have “seized, hit and assault Marquis Tanksley” and “staff has little training regarding autistic adults.”

The State of Ohio and the Department of Developmental Disabilities are facing a federal lawsuit after a woman says state workers are abusing her autistic son. Myra Tanksley filed the suit last month on behalf of her son Marquis Tanksley, 19, who a probate court judge placed at the Columbus Departmental Center since last November. That’s after Marquis ran from his apartment and health care worker, ran naked through a neighboring church playground and was arrested by police. A municipal court judge blamed the health care aide for the charges for not taking better care of Marquis. Now Myra Tanksley says his care is even worse. "I know society doesn't know about autism but there's a whole lot of professions that don't know about it," said Myra Tanksley to ABC6/FOX28. "He's in a facility that doesn't have fit staff, they're untrained, they're abusive." According to the suit, state workers have “seized, hit and assault Marquis Tanksley” and “staff has little training regarding autistic adults.”

Read More at: http://www.myfox28columbus.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wsyx_autism-lawsuit-22653.shtml

The State of Ohio and the Department of Developmental Disabilities are facing a federal lawsuit after a woman says state workers are abusing her autistic son. Myra Tanksley filed the suit last month on behalf of her son Marquis Tanksley, 19, who a probate court judge placed at the Columbus Departmental Center since last November. That’s after Marquis ran from his apartment and health care worker, ran naked through a neighboring church playground and was arrested by police. A municipal court judge blamed the health care aide for the charges for not taking better care of Marquis. Now Myra Tanksley says his care is even worse. "I know society doesn't know about autism but there's a whole lot of professions that don't know about it," said Myra Tanksley to ABC6/FOX28. "He's in a facility that doesn't have fit staff, they're untrained, they're abusive." According to the suit, state workers have “seized, hit and assault Marquis Tanksley” and “staff has little training regarding autistic adults.”

Read More at: http://www.myfox28columbus.com/shared/news/features/top-stories/stories/wsyx_autism-lawsuit-22653.shtml

The Healthy Families Act

Excerpt from: National Partnership (click for full article)

 

No one should face the impossible choice of caring for their health or keeping their paycheck or job. But more than 40 million private sector workers – 40 percent of the workforce – must make this decision every time illness strikes because they don’t have access to earned paid sick days.1 An additional 4.2 million don’t have this basic right because they haven’t been on the job long enough to be eligible.2 And millions more lack paid sick time to care for a sick child. At a time when families’ finances are stretched thin, working families need the job and economic security paid sick days provide.

Single Concussion May Lead to Lasting Brain Damage

Excerpt from: Health (click for full article)

 

Just one concussion can cause long-term structural damage to the brain, according to a new study.

Researchers used 3-D MRI to examine the volume of gray and white brain matter in 19 concussion patients one year after their injury, and in 12 people who had not suffered a concussion. The scans revealed measurable losses of gray and white matter (brain atrophy) in the concussion patients, according to the study, which was published online March 12 in the journal Radiology.

The finding is the first of its kind and shows that brain atrophy occurs not only in people who have suffered severe brain injuries, but also in those who have had just one concussion, said Dr. Yvonne Lui, neuroradiology section chief and assistant professor of radiology at the NYU Langone School of Medicine, in New York City.

Prepping for Spring with Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Excerpt from: About.com (click for full article)

 

Regardless of how much I do, I make sure to pace myself. That means biting off small chunks, paying attention to my body, and calling it quits when I need to. I used to struggle with that, but over the years I've gotten pretty darned good at it.

Pacing is also essential when it comes to gardening. I do genuinely like doing some work outside, but I'm fairly particular about the conditions I'll go out in. Windy? Drizzly? Forget it. Really hot? Nope. That, combined with my symptoms, limits how much I can do, so I've made sure to limit what needs to be done.

Still, it's overwhelming when I've got plenty to do inside and I realize it's time to get winter cleaned out of my flower beds (which are a huge mess because I was in pretty bad shape last fall.) I also think about the time my husband will spend mowing the lawn, weed whacking, and doing all of his other outside chores, and I realize that I'll be losing a lot of his help inside.

And yet, my need for having beautiful things around me will compel me to get out there and do the what's necessary for my low-maintenance flowers to thrive. I just have to be smart about it.

The Doctor’s New Prescription: A Lawyer

Excerpt from: New York Times (click for full article)

 

Consider the geriatricians working at the Lakeside Senior Medical Center, an outpatient clinic at the University of California, San Francisco. Many of their patients, despite multiple chronic diseases and advanced age, have never filled out power-of-attorney documents or appointed someone to make health care decisions if they are unable to.

Sometimes, the doctors suspect their patients might qualify for public benefits they are not getting, like food stamps or MediCal, the state’s version of Medicaid. Perhaps they face problems with landlords or appear to be victims of financial abuse, or they ought to have a simple will.

In other words, they need lawyers. But trying to get frail, low-income seniors to consult an elder attorney can seem an insurmountable problem. How will they travel to a law office? Or pay a fee that can reach $300 an hour? Even if the doctors can refer them to a legal aid office, will their elderly patients actually make an appointment? Then remember to go?