September 2019 Newsletter
With Great Respect,
We pay tribute to the creation of our nation’s strength,
freedom, and leadership…
The American Workers!!! Happy Labor Day!
Back to school time for our kids!
And …….We are getting much closer to Fall! WOOHOOO!
Upcoming September Holiday - DiagnosTEX will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 2.
Please consider this when scheduling your studies. We will operate Tuesday – Friday that week.
What are we celebrating? A day off?? Yes!! But be thankful for your job! The unemployment rate rose to 4.0 percent in June 2018. In June 2018, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage point to 4.0 percent, and the number of people who were unemployed was 6.6 million. The jobless rate was 3.8 percent in May 2018 and 4.3 percent in June 2017. Approximately 164,000 jobs were created in July 2019, and the national unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. ... Unemployment figures for August 2019 will be released on Friday, September 6, 2019.
A new addition to our DTEX family - We have added a new office manager, Nicole Kindred, to our DiagnosTEX staff. We are excited to have her in our DTEX family.
CE Opportunities in September
DiagnosTEX CEU – Speak Out for Safety by understanding Sign Or Symptoms – September 7, 2019, from 8:30-4:30 in Arlington, Texas. Sign up at www.dysphagiadiagnostex.com. Seating is limited. Hosted by Rehab Synergies.
Ampcare ESP – September 20, 2019, in Dallas, Texas, Register at www.ampcarellc.com. The Ampcare ESP certification course is offered for 0.8 ASHA CEU’s. The training consists of didactic education on the anatomy and physiology of the swallow response, muscle fiber types and recruitment patterns, fundamental principles of electrotherapy, and past and current research. This is followed by a lab with hands-on application of the technique while using concurrent therapeutic exercises.
Parkinson’s Voice Project - SING OUT! Discover a Whole New World - This show will feature 100 LOUD Crowd® members from Richardson, Texas and our LOUD Crowd® friends from across the U.S. and abroad! Saturday, September 7, 2019 • 2:00pm-3:00pm (CT). Richardson High School Auditorium, 1250 W. Belt Line Rd., Richardson, TX
Complimentary Valet Parking • Refreshments following the show! Master of Ceremonies this year is Kellie Rasberry, Radio Personality on The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show. For reservations - 469-375-6500 or visit www.ParkinsonsVoiceProject.org
EXCITING Alzheimer’s research breakthrough - I want to share with you that there have been exciting advancements in Alzheimer’s research this year because of the money we have raised in the past, but until more research and testing are complete we cannot stop. Groundbreaking research is honing in ever closer to the eradication of Alzheimer’s disease, this time through two medications already developed and approved by the FDA. This permits expedited clinical trials and hopefully fast-tracking us closer to a cure.
The first, surprisingly, is a drug used to treat HIV. Scientists discovered that the genetic blueprint in Alzheimer’s patients is altered as the disease progresses, similar to the genetic shuffling experienced in individuals with HIV. The idea is that placing a halt to the movement of those specific genes can prevent the development of the disease. According to lead scientist Jerold Chun, “For the first time, we can see what may cause the disease. We also uncovered a potential near-term treatment.” Secondly, researchers at Mount Sinai have found that medications used to lower blood glucose in diabetics, such as metformin, may have a direct effect on the decrease in the plaques and tangles connected with Alzheimer’s. Although this can be helpful now for diabetics with Alzheimer’s who are already taking this medication, further research is necessary before testing on Alzheimer’s patients without diabetes because of the potential for dangerously low blood sugar levels along with other side effects. Optimistically, the research outcomes add another piece to the puzzle of dementia. These findings “…point us to the biological mechanisms that are being affected by those drugs. Hopefully, now we can find drugs that would have similar effects on the brain without changing the blood sugar levels,” said Vahram Haroutunian, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. January 20, 2019, by Sonali Johri Breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s Treatment Bring New Hope Posted in Alzheimer's Research, Home Health Care, News
With as much as six million Americans currently diagnosed with Because of this and possibilities of a cure in the near future……….. (see below)
Alzheimer’s Memory Walk (September-November) – www.alz.org I will be walking again October 12, in Grapevine, If anyone would like to donate to our walk, we would appreciate your support to help end this terrible disease, as we all are up close and personal with this professionally and some of us personally. This has been a very difficult year for me as my mom is in the end stages of Alzheimer’s. A cure is obviously the main reason we walk, but the financial burden on a family with Alzheimer’s is huge due today to daycare required for their health and safety. An adult with Alzheimer’s requires as much care as a brand-new baby. The need to be bathed, changed, fed and stimulated is no different, just more difficult due to their adult size. They cannot verbalize their wants, needs, or pains and do not know how to function independently anymore. By participating in the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's®, we are committed to raising more awareness and funds not just for Alzheimer’s research, but the care and support needed. Thank you for any amount, no matter how small, that you can afford to donate. Every single penny is another penny closer to a cure and I believe we are closer than ever before. Please go to the website www.alz.org and locate the team called “Heels of Hope” to donate. Thank you so much!!
Dysphagia Tidbit – E-cigarette vapor may irritate the lungs
Much of the harm caused by tobacco smoking comes from the combustion process — smoke wears down the cells lining the lungs, damaging them and making them more penetrable to the irritating, cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes. Since electronic cigarettes don’t burn tobacco, the vapor they produce is thought to be much less harmful than conventional cigarette smoke. But that doesn’t mean vapor is harmless.
Breathing vapor into the lungs can irritate them, which has been demonstrated in recent research on wheezing. Wheezing — that high-pitched sound caused by narrowed and abnormal airways — is more than just an annoyance: It can be a sign of emphysema, heart failure, and lung cancer. Researchers recently tracked 28,000 adults to tease out whether e-cigarettes exacerbate wheezing. Some of the people in the study were current vapers who used only e-cigarettes; others were smokers only; still others were dual users (who smoked and vaped); and finally, there were also folks who didn’t smoke or vape at all. Compared with that last group, the non-users, the risk of wheezing among the vapers doubled. When the researchers looked at the study participants’ history of vaping or smoking, they came to even more interesting findings: The risk of wheezing was higher in current vapers who were also ex-smokers than in ex-smokers who did not vape. In other words, it wasn’t just a vaper’s potential history of smoking that was driving the uptick in wheezing among vapers. “Therefore,” the authors concluded, “promoting complete cessation of both smoking and vaping will be beneficial to maximize the risk reduction of wheezing and other related respiratory symptoms.” Other studies have focused on whether e-cigarette users are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a set of lung complications that make it hard to breathe. Research in mice and human airway cells showed that nicotine-containing e-cigarette vapor seemed to trigger “effects normally associated with the development of COPD.” In preliminary human studies, researchers also found associations between regular vaping and COPD. But again, this human research was observational, not experimental, so it’s not yet clear that vaping caused COPD. (For example, it’s possible the people who have COPD are more likely to use electronic cigarettes, such as ex-smokers seeking a harm reduction method.) Still, Benowitz said, “you don’t want to put stuff in your lungs that could cause lung inflammation. The biggest concern about e-cigarettes is that if you’re not a cigarette smoker, they could potentially aggravate asthma, cause a cough, and increase the risk of respiratory tract infection — like cold, flu and bronchitis.” Vaping may be more dangerous than we realized. E-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes, but that doesn’t mean they’re harmless.
By Julia Belluz@juliaoftorontojulia.belluz@voxmedia.com Updated Jul 10, 2019, 11:38 am EDT