Wheelchairs News and Research

RSS

Lawmakers have proposed 'witch's brew' of biotech bills

Lawmakers in recent months "have stirred up a witch's brew of initiatives that is cause for some concern -- not only for the biotech industry, but for all Americans," James Mullen, president and CEO of Biogen and chair of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

1 May 2007

Outdated policies are impediment for Americans with disabilities

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has helped increase awareness of barriers faced by people with disabilities, and advances in science and engineering have led to better assistive technologies that make it easier for individuals to lead productive, independent lives, outdated regulations too often impede access to health care coverage and assistive devices for many who need them, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine.

27 Apr 2007

Moonlighting enzyme linked to Friedreich's ataxia

Friedreich's ataxia is one of those diseases few have heard of unless you know someone with the condition.

25 Apr 2007

Potential therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis

Oregon Health & Science University neuroscientists are eyeing a protein as a potential therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis because de-activating it protects nerve fibers from damage.

24 Apr 2007

New method predicts hip joint decay from chemotherapy

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital say they have found the best way for predicting when patients will need future surgery to repair hip joints that have deteriorated because of pediatric leukemia or lymphoma treatment.

20 Apr 2007

Most-at-risk nursing home residents to be tested for superbugs

A Johns Hopkins study of adult patients admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that patients who resided in nursing homes or other kinds of long-term care facilities at any time within the last six months were far more likely than other adult patients to carry or be infected with a drug-resistant superbug.

17 Apr 2007

People with physical disabilities endure substandard health care

Rachel steered her wheelchair into a Chicago area medical center for a series of upper gastrointestinal tests.

4 Apr 2007

Curry related compound shows promise against Kennedy's disease

Scientists who focus on the molecular signaling that underlies prostate cancer have discovered a compound that shows promise against a debilitating neurodegenerative condition known as Kennedy's disease, which is caused by a mutant gene.

21 Mar 2007

Impact of maternal obesity on the NHS

A new study reveals the true costs of the increase in maternal obesity and how it is impinging on service delivery in the NHS

8 Mar 2007

A prediction rule for disease outcome in patients with recent-onset undifferentiated arthritis

Marked by chronic inflammation of the joints and tissue, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful and potentially disabling autoimmune disease.

30 Jan 2007

Gene produces springy protein keeping nerve cells flexible

If you bend a knee or an elbow, the nerves in your limbs stretch but do not break. A University of Utah study suggests why: A gene produces a springy protein that keeps nerve cells flexible. When the gene was disabled in tiny nematode worms, their nerve cells literally broke.

29 Jan 2007

Link between MRI contrast agent and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis

New research has shown a possible association between a popular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and the incidence of a rare disease called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with kidney disease, according to an editorial appearing in the March issue of Radiology.

28 Jan 2007

New hope for Krabbe disease sufferers

By all expectations, it shouldn't have worked as well as it did. A combination of bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy greatly lengthened the lives of laboratory mice doomed by a rapidly progressing, fatal neurodegenerative disorder also found in people.

9 Jan 2007

Brain injury cognitive rehab not covered by many insurers

The Wall Street Journal on Monday examined how many brain injury patients who experience subsequent problems with memory, mental processing or behavior often do not receive cognitive rehabilitation because their health insurers do not cover the treatment.

9 Jan 2007

Medicare cuts to wheelchair reimbursements prompt opposition from lawmakers, suppliers

Lawmakers from several states recently criticized Medicare cuts that will change reimbursement rates for power wheelchairs, the AP/Columbia State reports.

22 Oct 2006

Alliance between disability advocates, Bush administration officials helped develop program to encourage home care for Medicaid beneficiaries

NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday examined how an "unlikely alliance" between a group of disability advocates and Bush administration officials resulted in a major change to federal funding for long-term care of Medicaid beneficiaries (Shapiro, "Morning Edition," NPR, 9/15).

20 Sep 2006