Disabled World Community Newsletter August 15th, 2009

By Thomas C. Weiss - Aug 14, 2009 12:26:32 PM

Disabled World Community Newsletter August 15th, 2009.

Caregiver Coalition Commends Government for Allowance to Aid Caregivers
By Canadian Caregiver Coalition

The Canadian Caregiver Coalition (CCC) commends the government of Nova Scotia for implementing a program of financial assistance to families who voluntarily look after someone with a disability or a chronic illness. "By providing an allowance of $400 per month to eligible family caregivers, the government of Nova Scotia is helping to relieve some of the financial toll that is incurred when families undertake to care for their loved ones in the home setting," said Nadine Henningsen, CCC President.

Declining Cancer Mortality Rates
By American Association for Cancer Research

The number of cancer deaths has declined steadily in the last three decades. Although younger people have experienced the steepest declines, all age groups have shown some improvement, according to a recent report in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Our efforts against cancer, including prevention, early detection and better treatment, have resulted in profound gains, but these gains are often unappreciated by the public due to the way the data are usually reported," said Eric Kort, M.D.

2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Competition Venues
By Government of Canada

The Richmond Olympic Oval is located on the banks of the Fraser River, 14 kilometres south of downtown Vancouver. Located in the northwest corner of Richmond, the Oval is across the river from the Vancouver International Airport and near Richmond city centre. The venue will host all speed skating events.

SkiAbility - Water Skiing and Wakeboarding for Persons with Disabilities
By Thomas C. Weiss

SkiAbility is an organization with an approach to providing access to the sports of water skiing and wakeboarding for persons with disabilities. They emphasize the, 'ability,' in disability and aim to remove barriers to summer water activities. SkiAbility is an initiative of Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada, which serves the Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec regions of Canada. They accept people with any type or level of disability, of any age, and with any experience level. SkiAbility accepts people with disabilities who want to participate, from people at the novice level, all the way through world class athletes.

READ MORE... SkiAbility - Water Skiing and Wakeboarding for Persons with Disabilities

Vertebroplasty for Osteoporotic Spinal Compression Fractures
By Mayo Clinic

A new study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has found that relief of pain from vertebral compression fractures, as well as improvement in pain-related dysfunction, were similar in patients treated with vertebroplasty and those treated with simulated vertebroplasty without cement injections. The article, "A Randomized Controlled Trial of Vertebroplasty for Osteoporotic Spine Fractures," was released today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Asperger's Syndrome - Facts and Treatment
By Thomas C. Weiss

Asperger syndrome is a form of neurological disorder named after Viennese physician Hans Asperger, who described a pattern of behaviors in a number of young boys who had average intelligence and language capabilities, yet also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and deficiencies in both social and communication skills. Despite publication of a paper in the 1940's, Asperger syndrome was not added to the DSM-IV until 1944. The syndrome has only been recognized by professionals and parents in the past few years.

Diabetes Pill Instead of Injection
By National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Found in 30% of all human cancer tumors, the Ras protein literally "drives cells crazy," says Prof. Yoel Kloog, the dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Kloog was the first in the world to develop an effective anti-Ras drug against pancreatic cancer, currently in clinical trials. Now, new research published in the June issue of the European Journal of Pharmacology shows that the drug might be able to slow the progression of diabetes as well.

Making Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants Sound Clearer
By American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Hearing aids and cochlear implants act as tiny amplifiers so the deaf and hard-of-hearing can make sense of voices and music. Unfortunately, these devices also amplify background sound, so they're less effective in a noisy environment like a busy workplace or café. But help is on the way. Prof. Miriam Furst-Yust of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering has developed a new software application named "Clearcall" for cochlear implants and hearing aids which improves speech recognition for the hard-of-hearing by up to 50%.

Assisted Living Devices for Disabled - Review
By Daryl Clayton Kennedy

In today's society all individuals, including the less able, must have capacity to interface with technical, informational, and entertainment devices used in everyday information exchange. Without this ability individuals will find themselves below the curve as they'll be anchored to such fading tools of information exchange as newspapers and other print publications i.e. magazines, newsletters, etc., not to mention the inability to enjoy such popular pastime activities as video gaming and or recreational computing.

Disability Discrimination Lawsuit Against Indiana Provider of Retirement Housing
By U.S. Department of Justice

The Justice Department today announced that the operator and manager of the Rathbone Retirement Community in Evansville, Ind., has agreed to pay up to $116,000 to resolve a housing discrimination lawsuit. The November 2008 lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated the Fair Housing Act by prohibiting the use of motorized wheelchairs and scooters in residents' apartments and in the home's common dining room during meals.

AARP - Women More Likely than Men to Experience a Life Crisis
By AARP

Nearly Two-Thirds of Women Age 40 to 79 Have Experienced Long-Term Job Loss, Divorce, Death of a Spouse or a Major Household Illness or Disability

Financial and Emotional Impact Felt More Deeply Among Women

AARP Financial Inc. Says Understanding Emotions, Getting Expert Advice Are Critical to Women's Ability to Successfully Manage Finances in a Life Crisis

AARP Financial Inc. Offers Free Life Crisis Action Plans, Phone Consultations

Food Stamps Linked To Weight Gain
By Ohio State University

The U.S. Food Stamp Program may help contribute to obesity among its users, according to a new nationwide study that followed participants for 14 years. Researchers found that the average user of food stamps had a Body Mass Index (BMI) 1.15 points higher than non-users. The link between food stamps and higher weight was almost entirely based on women users, who averaged 1.24 points higher BMI than those not in the program, the study found.

Physical Inactivity Poses Health Risk to Americans
By American Psychological Association

Physical inactivity poses greatest health risk to Americans, research shows. Leading exercise scientist points to increasing evidence that sedentary lives can be deadly. As many as 50 million Americans are living sedentary lives, putting them at increased risk of health problems and even early death, a leading expert in exercise science told the American Psychological Association today.

Videos on Disabilities - Places to Find Disability Videos
By Disabled World

Apart from Disabled World's own growing collection of disability video clips there are a number of online sources for those seeking DVD's and Videos relating to disability. Whether you are looking for teaching material for the classroom, or researching a subject related to disability and/or disabilities the chances are you can find exactly what you are looking for online today.

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