Physical Therapy News and Research

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Managing the chronic care of patients is not being captured in today's reimbursement system

Full-time physicians spend an average of one full day a week providing services for patients that are not reimbursed by Medicare, according to a new study conducted by Jeffrey Farber, MD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, and published the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

19 Nov 2007

Combining medications often best strategy to battle rheumatoid arthritis

For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, combining one well-known, lower-cost synthetic drug with one of six biologic medications often works best to reduce joint swelling or tenderness, according to a new report by researchers at the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

19 Nov 2007

Fires and burns take devastating toll on nation's children

The approach of winter season brings with it an increase in burn-related injuries to our nation's children. Annually in the United States, fires and burns result in almost 4,000 deaths and more than 745,000 non-hospitalized injuries among all age groups.

13 Nov 2007

Revolutionary surgical procedure for a type of decapitation

A revolutionary surgical procedure by a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center has helped restore almost complete function to a patient who suffered a virtual decapitation.

6 Nov 2007

Treadmill training helps Down syndrome babies walk months earlier

Starting Down syndrome infants on treadmill training for just minutes a day can help them walk up to four or five months earlier than with only traditional physical therapy, a new study from the University of Michigan says.

31 Oct 2007

Physical therapy in ICU can reduce hospital stays

The results of the first study to show the effectiveness of early physical therapy in a medical intensive care unit (ICU) were presented by a researcher from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center at the national meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Chicago.

24 Oct 2007

Smurfs a major cause of osteoarthritis

A new clinical trial seeks to predict who is most likely to experience osteoarthritis, and to test whether an experimental treatment can prevent it altogether.

19 Oct 2007

Massage could put you at risk for nerve injury

Massage is commonly regarded as a therapy associated with relieving muscle tension and pain.

18 Oct 2007

Big breasts a pain for some women

Women with macromastia, a condition of having abnormally large breasts, often experience symptoms of neck pain, numbness, tingling, and pain and weakness in one or both hands.

17 Oct 2007

Training for walking after stroke

Repetitive training that simulates everyday leg function can help people walk more easily after stroke, according to a new review of studies.

17 Oct 2007

Water exercises for the treatment of knee and hip osteoarthritis

For patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, doing aerobic and stretching exercises in warm water can bring some relief from the pain and could improve daily function, a new review has found.

17 Oct 2007

Acupuncture effective for treating low back pain

Six months of acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain, according to a study in the September 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, although the study suggests that both sham acupuncture and traditional Chinese verum acupuncture appear to be effective in treating low back pain.

25 Sep 2007

Do not ignore fatigue

Jennifer Sieck knew something had to be done when she would lie in bed most of the day and night.

5 Sep 2007

Ambulatory oxygen rarely a benefit in COPD patients without resting hypoxemia

Prescribing ambulatory oxygen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) improves exercise performance, but not the quality of their daily life unless they have resting hypoxemia, according to researchers in Toronto.

17 Aug 2007

Protein-rich foods slow the deterioration of elderly people's muscles

Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have good news for people who want to stay strong in their old age: older bodies are just as good as young ones at turning protein-rich food into muscle.

9 Aug 2007

Independent brain networks control human walking

In a study published in the August issue of Nature Neuroscience, researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland found that there are separate adaptable networks controlling each leg and there are also separate networks controlling leg movements, e.g., forward or backward walking.

8 Aug 2007

Overview of common hand conditions and treatments

When a wrist hurts, it could be carpal tunnel syndrome -- or something else. Over time, many conditions can affect crucial parts of the hands, causing everything from pain to the loss of normal function.

7 Aug 2007

Backache sufferers who fear pain change movements

People who fear aggravating a backache will change the way they move to prevent more pain, a new study finds.

7 Aug 2007

Discovery of new brain mechanism involved with waking up

How do we wake up? How do we shift from restful sleep to dreaming? Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) have discovered a new brain mechanism that just might explain how we do that.

20 Jul 2007

Temporalis tendon transfer reanimates paralyzed faces

A surgical technique known as temporalis tendon transfer, in conjunction with intense physical therapy before and after surgery, may help reanimate the features of those with facial paralysis, according to a report in the July/August issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 Jul 2007