News

Seeking seat of consciousness in dark side of brain

Dark side of the brain (video) 8:12

In depth:

Interactive map of the human brain

Marketers exploiting secrets of the living brain

Ancient systems in the brain drive human cravings

The dark side of the brain

Nobel Laureate Dr. Eric Kandel

Scientists explore the illusion of memory

Dr. Brenda Milner

Dark Side of the Brain (Audio) 3:34

Imagine a human brain sitting in a chair, laughing at our clumsy attempts to figure out how it works. It’s an image that comes to neuroscientist Dr. Georg Northoff, as he writes books and plays about the brain, when he’s not busy investigating its neural mysteries.

“I always imagine when I do these plays, there sits a brain beside us, and I’m sure the brain would smile and say ‘they’re so stupid,’ ” he said.

It’s a pretty cheeky attitude for a mass of neural tissue Northoff describes as ‘pulp.’

Clinic’s goal to improve quality of life

By Niomi Pearson – Nanaimo News Bulletin

Published: November 02, 2012 8:00 AM

If you are one of the one in five Canadians living with chronic pain, you are not alone, and there is something you can do about it.

For years, the Nanaimo Pain Clinic at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital has been improving the quality of life of local residents with an arsenal of tools that range from movement classes to meditation.

“Pain is all about the nervous system, so you need to learn to make different choices once you get into chronic pain,” said Sue Schellinck, Nanaimo pain clinic occupational therapist. “Pain tells you that there’s something dangerous going on in your body… So it’s up to people in pain to figure out what that danger is, but also to calm the nervous system down because it’s the nervous system that’s giving you the sense of pain.”

Chronic pain is defined as any persistent pain exceeding three months, and is caused by physical changes in the nervous system. It cannot be treated in the same way as acute pain, which is short term (up to three months) and usually caused by an underlying issue, such as an injury or illness.

“So often we treat with meds, but they won’t cure your nervous system. They will help alter the sensation of pain, but they also have side effects as well,” Schellinck said.

Some of the tools used for pain management can include Qi Gong (gentle yoga), mindful meditation, workshops on hygiene, nutrition and stress management, in addition to accessing a team that includes a psychologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, three anesthesiologists, and a rehab med doctor.

Physiotherapist Ceri Jakobsen spends much of her time at the clinic assessing movement and helping people in pain to gain more mobility in a safe manner, through pool or gym therapy.

She said the education component, which all patients at the Nanaimo pain clinic must go through before getting treatment, is one of the most important. It teaches patients how the physical changes chronic pain can affect people so that they can make the conscious, healthy choices on what treatment will be best for them.

“Everyone’s pain experience will be different,” Jakobsen said.

Along with the physical aspects of chronic pain, the pain clinic also helps treat the emotional aspect.

“There’s a lot of fear in pain,” Shellinck said. “It could be that they’re not sleeping, it could be that they can’t manage their emotions or their mood is off.”

Shellinck said many pain clinic workers must deal with the misconception that chronic pain is a mind over matter issue.

“There is no one alive that can will themselves out of chronic pain, and you can’t will yourself into chronic pain,” she said. “They also hear from health-care providers that you have to live with your pain, and that’s just not true, if you have chronic pain, yes, it may never go away, but you can not only reduce the intensity of the pain, but reduce the time in between when you have the pain.”

For more information, please visit http://www.viha.ca/pain_program/.

Because of Occupational Therapy

What is occupational therapy? The UBC MOT class of 2013 answer this question in their winning entry to the nation wide gOT spirit challenge.

Military planned to cut health services, documents show – Commodore Hans Jung retired after budget battle over health services impact of 10% cut

UBC Faculty of Medicine Alumni Affairs

ALISON MCLEAN, BSC(OT)’89, MSC’10

New trials for treatment to help paralyzed walk ‘in a year’

By Nick Collins, The Daily Telegraph May 31, 2012

A previously paralyzed rat in a special harness walks voluntarily after several weeks of rehabilitation in a laboratory in Switzerland. In the new experiment reported in the Friday, June 1, 2012 issue of the journal Science, researchers led by Gregoire Courtine, of the University of Zurich and the technical university EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, stimulated spinal nerve circuits and used physical training. The stimulation was electrical current from implanted electrodes plus injections of a chemical mix, helping the rodents overcome paralysis to walk and climb stairs.
Photograph by: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, AP Photo

Four B.C. patients, private clinics owner sue government over long waits for health care

By Pamela Fayerman, Vancouver Sun July 31, 2012 2:03 PM

Four B.C. patients, including two students, a cancer survivor and a terminally ill cancer patient — all of whom faced unacceptably long waits for care in the public health care system — have joined private clinics owner Dr. Brian Day (shown here) in a lawsuit against the government.
Photograph by: Vancouver Sun files

Four B.C. patients, including two students, a cancer survivor and a terminally ill cancer patient — all of whom faced unacceptably long waits for care in the public health care system — have joined private clinics owner Dr. Brian Day in a lawsuit against the government.

Details about the Supreme Court of BC case and the plaintiffs are now being outlined during a press conference at the Heenan Blaikie law firm which is handling the case against the Medical Services Commission, the Minister of Health Services and the Attorney-General of BC.

In court documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun, all of the plaintiffs, including Day, the co-owner of the Cambie Surgery Centre and the Specialist Referral Clinic, allege in the law suit filed today that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms should allow them to seek expedited care in the private system, just as “preferred beneficiaries” can do.

Preferred beneficiaries, as defined by federal and provincial statutes, include injured workers who are WorkSafeBC claimants, RCMP officers, federal prisoners and federal armed forces members.

The plaintiffs in the case, expected to be litigated all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, just as the Quebec Chaouilli case was several years ago, are:

— Chris Chiavatti, a graduate of Burnaby secondary school who is going to McGill University this fall. In January, 2009, he injured a knee in phys-ed class. According to the statement of claim, he went to the emergency department (ER) at Royal Columbian Hospital, and was referred to an orthopedic surgeon at BC Children’s Hospital whom he saw the next month. Three months after the injury, he had an MRI and was advised the earliest appointment time for his consult with a surgeon was Sept. 2010, nearly two years after the initial injury.

At that time, Chiavatti was told that there were 400 people on the surgeon’s waiting list, just for a consultation. He saw Dr. Day instead, in late October, 2009. A tear in his meniscus was the diagnosis. Within weeks, he had surgery at the Cambie clinic. It is alleged in the court documents that the delay caused joint damage; further delay would have caused irreversible damage.

The court documents note the irony that if it had been Chiavatti’s teacher who had been injured in the phys-ed class, rather than the student, “the teacher would have been eligible for expedited treatment because of his status as an injured worker, covered by (WorkSafeBC.”

— Mandy Martens, a 36-year old Langley woman who detected blood in her stool in April of last year. She was referred to Langley Memorial Hospital for a diagnostic colonoscopy but was told the first available appointment was not until November, 2011, nine months later. In pain, she visited a walk-in clinic and then ER. In May, she was scheduled for a ultrasound and CT scan Three masses were detected in her liver but still she couldn’t get quicker access to a specialist so she made an appointment with the Specialist Referral Clinic in June for an expedited colonoscopy later that month.

A gastrointestinal surgeon confirmed she had colon cancer and arranged for her to see a specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital where she had a resection of her colon at the end of June, five months before she was ever going to see the specialist in the public system for her first diagnostic colonoscopy.

Martens has had three rounds of chemotherapy and had liver surgery in October 2011 at VGH. She is reported to be doing well.

— Krystiana Corrado, a 17-year old elite soccer player who attends Vancouver’s Notre Dame high school. In April, 2011, she injured her knee, was rushed to Eagle Ridge Hospital where X-rays done. She was sent home with crutches and painkillers.

Corrado’s pain and swelling did not subside over the next month and she had an MRI at Burnaby Hospital nearly two months after her injury. She was referred to an orthopedic surgeon whom she saw four months later. At that appointment, the specialist diagnosed a torn anterior cruciate ligament which required surgery.

The surgeon, however, couldn’t put her on his wait-list because she would be over the age limit for surgery at BC Children’s Hospital, a pediatric-only hospital. She then saw a specialist at Burnaby General Hospital who told her his first available date was July, 2012, over a year after her injury.

Throughout the whole waiting ordeal, she was depressed and in pain, unable to play soccer which “undermined her chances for soccer scholarship for university” according to the lawsuit.

In January of this year, she met with Day who did reconstruction surgery two days after seeing her. “Corrado will now have an opportunity to obtain a scholarship since she (can) play in the summer of 2012. This would not have been the case if Corrado had remained on the public system wait-list,” the court documents state.

— Erma Krahn, a 79-year old White Rock resident was diagnosed with lung cancer in May, 2008. She had part of her lung removed and then she injured her knee after starting chemotherapy. She had X-rays at Peace Arch Hospital but was told she merely had inflammation. She saw an orthopedic specialist in Feb., 2009 who advised an MRI. In May, 2009, several months after she injured her knee, she was told that she actually had a torn meniscus which required surgery. But she was told it would be anywhere from one to three years for surgery in a public hospital.

Krahn then met with Day in October, 2009 and he operated on her that month. In April of this year, she learned her lung cancer had spread and become incurable. While undergoing chemotherapy again this spring, she experienced pain in her other knee. She paid for a private MRI which confirmed she had another torn meniscus in the other knee. She is scheduled to have surgery with Day in a few weeks.

“Krahn’s life expectancy has been estimated to be between several months and up to two years. Despite her illness, Krahn is feeling well, apart from the pain and immobility caused by her knee injury and wants to remain active as long as possible. That can only be achieved by having her surgery done outside of the public health care system,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit follows an MSC audit of Day’s clinics which concluded that there was clear evidence that patients were being billed for their procedures, something Day has never denied. The MSC is expected to go to court seeking an injunction preventing Day from accepting patients who don’t fit the preferred beneficiary status. Besides the preferred patients, the only other patients who are legally sanctioned to obtain expedited care in private surgery centres are those having non-publicly insured procedures like plastic surgery, or those whose cases have been contracted out by health authorities because of long waits in public hospitals.

It’s not clear whether the expected injunction will be granted now that the lawsuit has been filed today. But today’s documents are actually an amended version of the original lawsuit filed nearly three years ago. In the original statement of claim, there were no patients named.

Sun Health Issues Reporter

pfayerman@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Working out in the middle of the working day

BY DORENE INTERNICOLA, REUTERS JULY 23, 2012

With the three-martini lunch gone the way of the typewriter, office workers are free to discover the healthier perks of midday movement.

An active lunchtime can range from the sweaty to the serene, experts say, from a full-out cardio blast to a walk in the park.

“People who want to get in a good workout over lunch hour can do simple things like go for a walk,” said Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise.

“Think about it. Thirty minutes on a regular basis would meet the minimum threshold for physical activity,” he added.

U.S. government guidelines state that adults 18 and older need 30 minutes of physical activity on five or more days a week to be healthy.

For an intense workout on a rainy day, Bryant suggests finding a quiet stairwell and performing a series of lunges, dips, push-ups, alternating quick and slow climbs, or taking the stairs two at a time.

“You can do a mix of cardio, interval and resistance training using the stairs,” he explained.

How intense should your midday workout be? For many, perspiration is the dividing line.

“Sweating is a huge obstacle for most people,” said Bryant, “but just sitting at the computer compromises posture and has health consequences.”

As author of “Walking Deck: 50 Ways to Walk Yourself Healthy,” Florida-based fitness expert Shirley Archer has helped workers to organize lunchtime walking groups.

“If you haven’t had a chance to pace out the walks in advance, simply walk 12-15 minutes and then turn around and re-trace your steps,” Archer said. “You will be back in time.”

Elasticized exercise bands or tubing can add toning moves to a walk, she said, adding that intervals, circuits and hills would also add variety.

“Keep a water bottle and pair of walking shoes in your desk at all times,” she recommends. “Do not take these home.”

If cardio needs are met outside the office, lunchtime might be better spent in strength and toning exercises, she said.

Archer also suggested trying to cultivate mindfulness and deep breathing.

“More meditative-style movements can be a refreshing mid-day break from office stress,” Archer said.

For people with a gym membership, the 30-minute treadmill run is a popular option, according to California-based trainer Amy Dixon, who added that many gyms tailor short fitness classes to the lunch crowd.

“You have to prepare for a quick and dirty workout in the middle of the day.” said Dixon, creator of the “Give Me 10” and “Breathless Body” fitness DVDs.

“For women, you want waterproof mascara, cool towels, a change of clothes, and something to keep your hair off of your face.”

For people who prefer not to sweat Dixon said they should consider flexibility exercises.

“Use that time to do stretches and rotations,” she said, “or do core work that‘s not as intense as your cardio workout.

Dr. Nicolaas Pronk, an expert on workplace wellness with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), said often workers’ lunch time is more limited than 30 minutes.

He recommends workers first focus on reducing prolonged periods of sitting with 10-minute breaks throughout the day.

“Sometimes these are called instant recess or booster breaks,” said Pronk, vice president of Health Partners Research Foundation in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Changes in office design, such as sit-stand desks, could help workers without altering the work flow, as well as using stairs.

“In the workplace setting, it may be most important to ensure that people do not sit for prolonged periods of time first, the to stimulate overall increases in physical activity,” Pronk said.

Bryant said another side benefit of the lunchtime workout is the brown bag.

“Odds are you’ll probably be eating better because you won’t be going out to lunch,” he said.