SignaSpray Electrode Solution and Skin Prep - 18-25-EA

SignaSpray Electrode Solution and Skin Prep - 18-25-EA

Product Description

SignaSpray® Electrode Solution & Skin Prep SignaSpray® Electrode Solution & Skin Prep

SignaSpray® Electrode Solution & Skin Prep is highly conductive, economical spray electrolyte and non-gritty skin prep. An ideal electrolyte for use with muscle stimulation. No residue build-up. Bacteriostatic and hypoallergenic.

NOTE: Not available for resale in Canada. 

 

If you wish to purchase this item click here

 

Maybe Heaven Can Wait, but a Customer Can’t

By PHYLLIS KORKKI

Published: October 26, 2013

“Patience is a virtue,” we are taught. And when you think about it, much of our life is spent waiting for something rather than experiencing it, so that waiting becomes an experience in itself, filled with anticipation, annoyance, boredom or fear. 

 Waiting is a ripe subject for business researchers, it turns out. One effect of waiting is that people place more value on what they are waiting for, says Ayelet Fishbach, a professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago. “If you give people exactly what they want at the moment they want it, they might want it less,” she says.

In one study she helped conduct, two groups of people were given a choice between waiting six days to get a box of Godiva chocolates and waiting 48 days for a bigger box. One group was asked questions meant to accentuate the idea of waiting, like “When was the last time you ate a Godiva chocolate?” Those who were primed to be more conscious of waiting were more likely to delay gratification and choose the bigger box.

If companies can find ways to artificially introduce waiting into the buying process — building excitement without giving the impression of bad service — customers may spend more, Professor Fishbach says. Apple is a master at this, she says, providing details of models before products are available.

Of course, many companies unintentionally do the opposite: they antagonize customers seeking help by forcing them to wait — whether in physical lines, on the phone or online. This leads to ill will and lost sales across many industries.

One researcher has studied this phenomenon in an area that can mean the difference between life and death: hospital emergency rooms.

Hospitals keep track of a category of patient known as “left without being seen,” a high number of which is a bad sign. To help keep that number low, Christian Terwiesch, a professor of operations and information management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, studied how emergency rooms might improve their admissions processes.

In E.R.’s, people are seen based on the severity of their medical condition. If you are otherwise going to die in the next half-hour, you get to jump to the front of the line. But fellow patients may not realize this, and seeing someone who only just arrived go first can upset people’s sense of fairness. Some may leave the waiting room because they feel cheated, Professor Terwiesch says.

Typically, hospitals don’t tell patients how long they may have to wait, and patients waiting in the E.R. have no idea when they will be called: “Every time the door opens, your adrenaline goes up.”

He found that people in E.R.’s are constantly seeking visual clues as to who might be treated next. But these clues can mislead. At peak hours, an E.R. at full capacity may be able to handle 10 people quickly, yet it may not initially look that way to the 10th person in the waiting room.

Professor Terwiesch recommends that hospitals create multiple waiting rooms so that patients don’t try to monitor one another this way. He also says that more hospitals should share waiting-time estimates with patients — something that is relevant across a broad range of industries: if customers know the probable wait time, their uncertainty and anxiety are reduced, along with the likelihood that they will leave the line.

Or, if they are on a call-center phone line and the automated voice says the wait will be 45 minutes, they may choose to hang up and do something better with their time. After all, so long as you’re not on the brink of death in the E.R., deciding to stop waiting can be a virtue all its own.

In Boston, Obama Will Point to a Health Law’s Success

WASHINGTON — President Obama will travel to Boston on Wednesday to promote the success of the Massachusetts health care program on which the Affordable Care Act was based, while Mr. Obama’s top health official faces an intense grilling on Capitol Hill about the national law’s troubled rollout.

In a speech at historic Faneuil Hall, where the president’s one-time rival for the White House, Mitt Romney, signed the state’s health program into law in 2006, Mr. Obama is expected to argue that the similarities between the two laws should give the public confidence that the problems plaguing the Affordable Care Act will eventually fade.

“The bottom line is it ramped up to success,” Jonathan Gruber, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said of the state program. Mr. Gruber, who advised both Mr. Romney, the Massachusetts governor at the time, and Mr. Obama on the health care laws, spoke to reporters on Tuesday evening during a White House conference call.

“We’ve covered two-thirds of our uninsured citizens. We’ve lowered premiums in the individual market. And we have a widely popular law, with about two-thirds public support for our law,” Mr. Gruber said of the Massachusetts law. “That same kind of outcome will happen at the national level, but it will take time. We need to be patient and measure the outcomes in months and years, not days and weeks.”

Lawmakers from both parties have expressed little interest in being patient in the wake of the malfunctioning HealthCare.gov website, which has only partially worked since opening for customers on Oct. 1.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, testified Wednesday morning at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the website’s problems. She faced tough questions about who was responsible for the failure of the website and broader criticisms from Republicans about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the marketplace for insurance in the country.

Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Speaker John A. Boehner, said in a statement Tuesday night that “every which way you look at it, Obamacare has proven to be a train wreck – with problems that run far beyond its AOL-era website. A law that was delivered through a pack of fictitious promises can’t be saved by another misleading speech.”

White House aides said the president’s trip to Boston was also designed to highlight the bipartisan nature of the health care debate in Massachusetts. In 2006, Mr. Romney was joined at the Faneuil Hall signing by Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a Democratic champion of health care.

“Republicans and Democrats came together to not only push the reform through, but more importantly, after the bill was signed and enacted into law, everybody came together once it was law to make sure that health reform in Massachusetts worked,” said David Simas, a senior White House adviser.

That stands in stark contrast, White House officials said, to the situation in Washington, where Republicans have been actively seeking to undermine the president’s health care law since the day it passed. The White House officials said Republicans must bear some of the responsibility for problems in the rollout.

In particular, Republicans have seized on the problems with the website as evidence that federal officials will be unable to woo enough young, healthy people to buy insurance. Republican lawmakers have demanded to know how many people have successfully signed up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act. Administration officials have said they will release those numbers for October in mid-November.

But Mr. Gruber said enrollment in the Massachusetts health care plan also started slowly. Only 123 people signed up for insurance during the first month that Mr. Romney’s plan was in place. By the end of the first year, more than 36,000 people had signed up, he said. He predicted that the same pattern will hold true for the national health care law.

“We didn’t freak out about daily or weekly movements; we looked at it monthly,” Mr. Gruber said. “And we recognized this would ramp up slowly, as it did.”

During the 2012 campaign, Mr. Obama’s aides often took pleasure in noting that the president’s health care plan was closely modeled after Mr. Romney’s own effort — even as the Republican candidate became a frequent critic of the national version. The trip to Boston on Wednesday is designed to undermine Republican criticism in the Congress by highlighting the health care law’s Republican roots.

But the speech is unlikely to change many minds on Capitol Hill, where criticism of the president’s health law has become an article of faith regardless of who came up with the idea first.

And one person who won’t be at Faneuil Hall on Wednesday? White House aides confirmed they did not ask Mr. Romney to attend the speech.

“No,” said Mr. Simas, “there’s no outreach to Governor Romney.”

Enfamil Premium Infant Formula - MEJ136502-EA

Enfamil Premium Infant Formula - MEJ136502-EA

 

Product Description

Milk-based, iron-fortified formula for full-term infants. Includes proprietary Natural Defense Dual Prebiotic to help support the immune system. Formula patterened after mature breast milk offers proven clinical outcomes in 3 key areas: growth, brain and eye, and immune system development. DHA and ARA levels similar to worldwide breast milk averages to support mental, visual, and immune system. Easy to digest.

Features:

Patterned After Breast Milk.

Easy-to-Digest 60:40 Whey-to-Casein Ratio.

Supports Immune System.

DHA and ARA. 

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Doctors search for vaccine to prevent breast cancer

Doctors are on the hunt for biological targets that could help them produce a breast cancer vaccine.

Forty years ago, women who had abnormal results on a Pap smear often wound up with a hysterectomy. Doctors removed their uterus because they had no other way to prevent women from developing cervical cancer, researcher Susan Love says.
Today, she says, doctors can prevent cervical cancer with a vaccine.
That has led some to ask: Could researchers develop a vaccine against breast cancer?
At first glance, the notion seems impossible.
Vaccines are typically developed only after researchers have a clear target, such as a virus or bacteria. Scientists don't even know what causes most breast cancers.
But researchers do know it's possible for viruses to cause cancer, says James Gulley, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute who has worked on vaccines to treat prostate cancer.
HPV causes not only cervical tumors, but cancers of the head and neck, as well as the vulva, vagina, penis and anus. Hepatitis B can cause liver cancer, Gulley says. The Epstein-Barr virus can lead to at least three types of lymphomas.
Another virus, called HMTV, or human mammary tumor virus, has been found in 40% of breast tumors. HMTV seems particularly common in a rare but often deadly form of breast cancer, called inflammatory breast cancer, according to a 2010 study in Cancer.
Scientists don't know if HMTV caused those cancers or was simply along for the ride.
At this point, doctors say they have more questions than answers about the role infections might play in breast cancer.
Breast cancer advocates — tired of seeing women beaten down and burned by toxic treatments — are eager for a game-changer.
"We're not going to get very far unless we ask those big questions," says Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. As a country, the USA focuses "the vast majority of research dollars on the next treatment for breast cancer. But we only see incremental benefits from all of these treatment drugs."
Looking at drugs in the pipeline, Visco says, "there's nothing on the horizon that could have a major impact on breast cancer. We don't want to continue to just creep along."
That's why the National Breast Cancer Coalition has organized a vaccine initiative called the Artemis Project. Seed grants will allow researchers to scour breast cancer genomes — the tumors' entire collection of genes — to look for infectious microbes.
The Avon Foundation for Women has committed $6 million to learning whether infections contribute to breast cancer. Scientists will study 1,000 breast cancer samples whose genomes have been sequenced, looking for signs of viruses or bacteria.
Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic are taking a slightly different approach to developing a preventive vaccine, focusing on a protein expressed on cancer cells, but not healthy tissue, except during lactation. This research is in some of the earliest stages, and has been tested only on mice.
Other scientists are taking a related approach, testing treatment vaccines designed to prevent tumors from metastasizing, or spreading, to other organs, a condition that is fatal.
Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania, for example, are targeting HER2+ breast tumors, whose cells have lots of copies of a protein called HER2.
They've begun testing personalized cancer vaccines, made with women's own immune cells. Doctors are testing the vaccines in women with DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ, a very early breast cancer or precancer.
Doctors vaccinate these women after surgeons have removed their tumors, hoping the vaccine will prevent their cancers from coming back.
Women will have to wait years to know if their vaccine has worked, because relapses often occur many years after diagnosis.
Targeting proteins on cancer cells is difficult, because cancers arise from the body's own cells, Gulley says. Scientists have to be careful to find a protein that is found on cancer cells but not healthy cells, to avoid causing a dangerous autoimmune reaction.
However daunting the task, Love says, scientists need to find more ways to prevent breast cancer.
"When Angelina Jolie learns she has a breast cancer gene, we don't know what else to do, so we cut her breasts off," says Love, president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. "We have to be looking for the cause. I worry that we don't, that we're paying too much attention to the treatment, which comes with a huge cost."

Heel/Elbow Moisturizing Gel Protector (Slip Over) - 119LB

 Heel/Elbow Moisturizing Gel Protector (Slip Over) - 119LB

Product Description

Heel/Elbow Moisturizing Gel Protector (Slip Over) is made out of stretchable nylon/polyester fabric sleeve coated with gel-pad, which contours around the heel or the elbow.
The gel pad contains a high grade mineral oil (USP) that gradually dissipates onto the skin to moisturize the skin while protecting it from bed or pressure sores. Softens, moisturizes and rejuvenates dry, chafed, cracked heels and elbows. Helps prevent ulcerations and bed sores, and promotes healing after ulcerations close. Protective sleeve cushions and reduces shock, vibration and friction. Wear while sleeping or sitting. can be used with softening creams and moisturizers.
The Heel/Elbow Gel Slip Over is dermatologist tasted, washable, and reusable.

Indications:

Protects the heel or elbow from pressure, friction, and shear forces.

Designed to moisturize dry cracked skin on the heels or elbows.

Also for olecranon bursitis protection, lightweight heel/elbow protection, ulnar nerve protection, or prevention of bed or pressure sores.

Directions for Use:

Gently slip product over the arm or foot with gel pad positioned around the heel or elbow.

Product should not be worn with shoes.

Remove product at least 3 to 4 hours daily to allow skin to breathe. Hand washable.

Two colors available: Black and Tan.
Sizes available: One size fits most.

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TENS Unit ProM-100 - ProM-100

Product Description

TENS Units help relieve pain, back, neck and body aches. TENS Units are used by Physical Therapists, Orthopedic Doctors, and Chiropractors. We carry a full line of TENS Units, Electrodes for TENS Units, TENS Accessories, Electrical Muscle Stimulators (E.M.S.), Microcurrent Units, Interferential Units, Galvanic Stimulation Units. All of our TENS, EMS, Microcurrent, Interferential, and Galvanic Units are portable and may be used in home by the patient.

The TENS Unit ProM-100 is a dual channel, standard output unit with pulse width 40-250 microseconds (adjustable) and pulse rate 2-150 Hz (adjustable). Pulse Amplitude: adjustable 0 to 80mA into 500 ohm load, each channel. Wave form: asymetrical Bi-Phasic square pulse

System Includes:

TENS Unit ProM-100

Lead Wires (New FDA compliant)

Pack of 4 Self-stick Hypoallergenic reuseable Electrodes

9 Volt Battery

Hard Plastic Carrying case

Instruction Booklet

Technical Specification:

Dual, isolated between channels

Wave form: Asmmetrical Bi-Phasic square pulse

Pulse Amplitude: 0 to 80 mA peak, each channel, adjustable (500 ohm load)

Pulse Frequency: 2 TO 120 Hz adjustable

Pulse width: 40 to 250 microseconds, adjustable

Maximum charge: 21 micro coulombs per pulse

Power source: 9 volt alkaline battery or similar rechargeable cell

Battery life: 100 hours average usage (alkaline) at middle range setting

Size: 24 x 64 x 91 mm

Weight: 130 grams (including battery) All values have 10% +/- tolerance

3 Year Limited Warranty

Note: This unit is a Class II Medical Device and by FDA regulations cannot be returned if it has been used.

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Anthropologist Studies the Evolutionary Benefit of Human Personality Traits

Oct. 21, 2013 — Bold and outgoing or shy and retiring -- while many people can shift from one to the other as circumstances warrant, in general they lean toward one disposition or the other. And that inclination changes little over the course of their lives.

---

Why this is the case and why it matters in a more traditional context are questions being addressed by anthropologists at UC Santa Barbara. Using fertility and child survivorship as their main measures of reproductive fitness, the researchers studied over 600 adult members of the Tsimane, an isolated indigenous population in central Bolivia, and discovered that more open, outgoing -- and less anxious -- personalities were associated with having more children -- but only among men.
Their findings appear online in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.
"The idea that we're funneled into a relatively fixed way of interacting with the world is something we take for granted," said Michael Gurven, UCSB professor of anthropology and the paper's lead author. Gurven is also co-director of the University of New Mexico-based Tsimane Health and Life History Project. "Some people are outgoing and open, others are more quiet and introverted. But from an evolutionary standpoint, it doesn't really make sense that our dispositions differ so much, and are not more flexible.
"Wouldn't it be great to be more extroverted at an important party, more conscientious when you're on the clock at work, less anxious when talking to a potential date?" Gurven continued. "Differences in personality and their relative stability are not unique to humans, and have now been studied in many species, from ants to primates. How could dispositional consistency be favored by selection?"
Given the variability in personality, a question then is how that variability is maintained over time. "If personality traits, like extroversion, help you interact easily with bosses, find potential mates and make lots of friends, then why, over time, aren't we extroverted?" Gurven asked. Successful behavioral strategies with genetic underpinnings -- and behavioral genetics has demonstrated relatively high heritability for personality variation -- often increase in frequency over time, and therefore reduce variation over many generations.
One reason might be that selection pressures vary -- whatever is adaptive today might not be so tomorrow, and what is adaptive in one place might not be so in another. Selection pressures can vary between sexes as well. The most advantageous personality traits for men may not always be so for women. A second reason could be the idea that too much of a good thing is bad. "Being more extroverted might also make you more prone to taking unnecessary risks, which can be dangerous," Gurven said.
Gurven and his team wanted to examine the personality measures they had on the Tsimane adults and determine what consequences might result from one personality over another. "Considering the evolutionary adaptiveness of a trait like personality can be problematic in modern developed societies because of the widespread use of contraception," Gurven explained. "In all animals -- including humans -- the better condition you're in, the more kids you have. And for humans in more traditional environments, like the Tsimane, the higher your status, the better physical condition you're in, the earlier you might marry, and the higher reproductive success you're likely to have."
The Tsimane present a favorable test group because their subsistence ecology is similar to the way people in developed countries lived for millennia. "It's a high fertility population -- the average woman has nine births over her lifetime -- and a ripe kind of population for trying to look at personality," said Gurven.
Based on their measurement of different aspects of personality, the researchers looked at how personality impacted the number of children men and women had. "And what we found was that almost every personality dimension mattered for men, and it mattered a lot," Gurven said. "Being more extroverted, open, agreeable and conscientious -- and less neurotic -- was associated with having more kids."
Interestingly, though, Gurven added, the same was not true for women. "But that wasn't the whole story. Because we had a large number of test subjects, we could look at whether the relationship between personality and reproduction varied across different regions of the Tsimane territory," he said. Some Tsimane choose to live close to town, near roads, schools and the various opportunities that accompany the more urban life, while others live in the remote headwaters, and still others live in remote forest villages where they're often isolated during much of the rainy season.
Only among women living in villages near town did personality associate with higher fertility, Gurven noted. In more remote regions, the same personality profile had the opposite effect or, in some cases, no effect on fertility. For men, however, location made no difference. Wherever they lived, manifesting traits related to extroversion, openness and industriousness was associated with higher fertility.
So, if higher fertility was the upside of extroversion and other traits, the researchers wondered what the downside might be. Looking for potential costs related to these personality traits that associate with higher fertility, they focused on health and conflicts. Neither, they discovered, really seemed to be an issue.
"You might think that folks putting themselves out there all the time would be getting sick more often because of greater pathogen exposure or from taking risks," Gurven said. "But we didn't find much evidence that they were sicker. If anything, they were consistently healthier. Which actually makes sense when you consider that of people who are in good condition in general are both healthier and more likely to be outgoing."
Health was assessed two years after the personality measurements so there was no possibility that feeling under the weather meant subjects were more likely to be shy, anxious or dispirited.
Regarding conflicts, the researchers did find that the more extroverted and open men got in trouble more often. "They did have more conflicts," Gurven noted. "But most were verbal." And while conflicts can sometimes escalate into physical confrontation, he added, for the most part, they don't result in death.
The researchers found no evidence that intermediary levels of extroversion or other personality traits lead to highest fertility. Instead, greater levels of these traits associate with higher reproductive fitness, consistent with the evolutionary model referred to as directional selection. But personality varied widely between the sexes -- men scored higher on extroversion, agreableness, conscientiousness, openness, prosociality and industriousness.
"That the relationship between personality and fitness varies by sex and geographical region supports the view that fluctuating selection pressures may help maintain variation in personality," said Gurven. "Selection pressures may vary over time as well. Indeed, the environment Tsimane face today may be somewhat novel. The annual growth rate of the Tsimane population over the last several decades is almost four percent -- meaning the population doubles every 17 years -- which suggests pioneer-like conditions. Greater market access, schooling and other opportunities are producing further changes in Tsimane society."

Is Citric Acid Truly Safe?

Today many kids are suffering from tooth erosion. Could it be due to a common food additive?
Citric acid: you probably know it. It’s a food additive used commonly in soft drinks, candies, marmalades, sauces, even in gummy bears. It’s exactly the same stuff you can use for cleaning teakettles, bath tubs, aquariums and swimming pools, or as a universal cleanser for removing lime deposits. Citric acid is added to dishwasher detergent and metal polish because it works as an abrasive. On the packaging label it says in big fat lettering “Keep away from children.”

But what does it do in the mouth and teeth of children? An entirely new syndrome affecting the teeth of teenagers has recently alarmed many European dentists.

Professor Adrian Lussi of the Swiss Dental Clinic in Bern notes that caries (tooth decay) is declining while erosion of tooth enamel is on the rise. In a study at the University of Bristol, UK, the increasing incidence of enamel erosion was causally connected to the high amounts of citric acid added to drinks and food. Generally citric acid is considered a harmless food additive, a colourless, translucent, crystalline powder that smells like lemon. According to food regulating agencies in all countries, it can be added to food without restrictions.


Naturally, citric acid appears in lemon, limes and many other sour-tasting fruit. Have you ever watched the face of a baby when it sucks on a lemon slice for the first time? I always get a kick out of it, watching it pull faces and doing it over and over, not getting enough of it. The food industry makes full use of our cravings for that crisp and tangy taste and adds it en-masse to fruit drinks, spaghetti sauce, baby food, iced tea and everything else that needs a flavour improvement. Of course the industry doesn’t press lemon juice; it creates this stuff artificially.

Every year worldwide more than 600,000 tons of crystalline citric acid are produced, while the entire harvest of lemons and limes is only 120,000 tons. The official chemical name of citric acid is 2-Hydroxy-1,2,3-propane-tri-carboxylic acid. The reason this artificially-produced citric acid is called “natural” or an “organic acid” is that it has three carbon bonds in its formula and is therefore water-soluble. If an acid has no carbon bond it can’t be called organic. Citric acid actually grows on a fungus, namely Aspergillus niger, the ugly black fungus found around kitchen sink and bathtub tiles. But it comes in handy for manufacturing citric acid by mold fermentation of carbohydrates from molasses.

The interesting thing is that citric acid is produced in our bodies in huge amounts (two kilograms daily, in fact) but is also quickly metabolized. Therefore, it is assumed that any amount can be added to our food without causing harm.

Apparently this is not the case, as dentists have already found out in observing tooth erosion in children and teenagers. At the outpatient clinic in Gie?n, Germany, doctors observed a disastrous trend in the feeding of babies. Mothers more often than ever fill baby bottles with iced tea, not knowing that the teeth are being attacked by citric acid. As a result, the baby’s first teeth do not grow properly, are too thin, break off or seem to just melt away. The numbers of these small patients in the Gie?n clinic doubled in 2002 over 2001. Parallel consumption of iced tea with citric acid has increased to nine litres per person annually.

Generally, parents are not aware of the damage citric acid can do. The entire digestive system can be irritated, causing heartburn and damage to the mucous membrane of the stomach. Also the eyes, the respiratory organs and the skin can suffer with scratchy sensations from over-consumption of citric acid.

So far you will not find any cautionary statements on the labels of iced tea, soft drinks or juice with added citric acid. Manufacturers claim that there are no government restrictions on quantities of citric acid used as an additive. While nobody feels responsible for the citric acid problems, babies and children will have to pay with their teeth.

Thera-Band Resistive Exercise Band - NC75000-006

Thera-Band Resistive Exercise Band - NC75000-006

 

Product Description

Thera-Band Exercise Band Thera-Band Exercise Band

With the Thera-Band resistive exercise band system, treatment and exercise options are unlimited. Design exercise programs to address client's specific needs wherever they are - in a children's hospital, nursing home, sports medicine clinic, etc. A full spectrum of colors and resistance levels gives clients positive reinforcement as they progress from one color-coded level to the next. Thera-Band resistive exercise bands are as simple to use at home as in the clinic - so clients will continue to progress, even without one-on-one guidance from a therapist. 6" wide box.

Caution: This product contains natural rubber latex which may cause allergic reactions. 

 

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Cardiac rehab program recommended for stroke patients

Stroke patients who participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program for six months make rapid gains in how far and fast they can walk, the use of weakened limbs and their ability to sit and stand, according to a study presented today at the Canadian Stroke Congress.
On average, participants saw a 21-per-cent improvement in the strength and range of motion of weakened limbs; a 19-per-cent improvement in walking speed; and a 16-per-cent improvement in the distance they could walk.
"There should be a seamless referral of patients with mild to moderate effects of stroke to the network of established outpatient cardiac rehab programs in Canada," says lead researcher Dr. Susan Marzolini of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute/University Health Network. "Early referral is also important. In our study, those who started the cardiac rehab program earlier had the strongest results."
Cardiac rehabilitation incorporates exercise training (aerobic and resistance/strength training), nutrition counseling, risk factor counseling and management (lipids, blood pressure, diabetes, weight management, smoking cessation and psychosocial management,) delivered by an interprofessional health care team.
All of the 120 patients who participated in the study saw improved recovery.
The largest gains in walking function were among those who were referred to the program the earliest. Participants were, on average, two years post-stroke but the study included people who had experienced a stroke from three months to five years previously.
In most cases, rehabilitation ends at three months post-stroke, when it has been assumed that spontaneous recovery is over and people reach a plateau, Dr. Marzolini says.
For those who entered the six-month cardiac rehab program after standard care, "we didn't see a plateau, we saw a huge improvement in the group. We're finding even more benefits from exercise alone than we ever thought."
"We have manufactured these three-month plateaus with our biases about how the brain works," says Dr. Dale Corbett, Scientific Director of the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery (CPSR), a joint initiative of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canada's leading stroke research centres, which funded the study. "Recovery continues for months and years after stroke."
A 2011 audit of stroke services in Canada found that only 37 per cent of stroke patients with moderate to severe impairments receive standard rehabilitation in the weeks after stroke, despite overwhelming evidence of its benefits.
"The results of this study are exciting because this exercise program is a very cost-effective intervention for improving the quality of life for those living with the effects of stroke," says Canadian Stroke Congress Co-Chair Dr. Mark Bayley, noting that there are 50,000 strokes in Canada every year.
Although standardized outpatient rehabilitation programs have been in place for cardiac patients across Canada for more than 40 years - and are usually associated with a hospital or community facility - structured programs are not widely available or accessible for stroke patients.
Participants in the study attended one 90-minute session a week and received an "exercise prescription" for personalized walking and strength training exercises to complete four times a week at home.
Besides physical improvements, the study found stroke patients reported big social gains and began to attend more activities in their communities, partly because they could walk better and get in and out of cars more easily. An earlier study by the research team found increased fitness led to improvements in cognition and mental health.
"The key message here is to open up existing outpatient cardiac rehab programs, which are already in place, to stroke patients," says Ian Joiner, director of stroke for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. "Stroke recovery is a journey that continues throughout life. And programs such as this can be an integral part of that journey."
The next phase of the study will identify the barriers to referral for stroke patients. Other CPSR researchers involved in the study include Dr. Ada Tang of McMaster University, Dr. William McIlroy of the University of Waterloo, Dr. Paul Oh of Toronto Rehab/UHN and senior author Dr. Dina Brooks of the University of Toronto.
The value of exercise on the brain is a key research focus of the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery. An award-winning CPSR study presented at the Canadian Stroke Congress by Dr. Walter Swardfager of Sunnybrook Research Institute uses new imaging technology to measure the impact of exercise on blood flow to the brain following stroke. Preliminary results indicate that fitness has a protective effect and primes the brain for recovery.

TheraTogs ULTRA Full Body System - 081552884

Product Description

This classic system improves postural alignment and stability and addresses the greatest variety of functional alignment and movement issues in the limbs. Used for children with complex neuromotor disorders the Full Body System enables a limitless variety of integrated trunk and upper/lower extremity applications.

Use the Full Body System to address:
Flexible kyphosis
Flexible lordosis/excess pelvic tilt
Difficulty maintaining midline trunk and sitting balance
Scissoring in stance or gait
Balance problems due to hip muscle weakness
Problems with proximal limb joint control including elbow and knee recovery following orthopedic surgery at the spine, hip or femur. 

 

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What Is whey protein? What are the benefits of whey protein?

Whey protein is one of the main groups of proteins found in milk. It is isolated from a liquid by-product of cheese production - called "whey".
Commonly used as a protein supplement to promote muscle growth, whey protein contains all of the essential amino acids and also serves as a possible alternative to milk for people who are lactose intolerant.
Whey protein has a number of other positive health effects too, in addition to being used as an alternative to milk and as a popular dietary supplement to improve strength.
This Medical News Today information article includes information on the composition of whey protein, its use in muscle building, and its potential health benefits. The article also explains some of the side effects associated with whey protein.
According to some studies, whey protein may reduce the risk of developing certain diseases. Research has found that whey protein may have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as possibly acting as an effective supplementary treatment for diabetes and heart disease.
A study published in the journal Clinical and Investigative Medicine⁷ found that whey protein helps reduce weight loss among HIV-positive patients.

Composition and forms of whey protein

Composition: Whey protein is an approximate mixture of the following:

Whey protein milkshake.

• 65 percent beta-lactoglobulin
• 25 percent alpha-lactalbumin
• 8 percent bovine serum albumin
• Immunoglobins

There are three primary types of whey protein : whey protein concentrate (WPC), whey protein isolate (WPI), and whey protein hydrolysate (WPH):

• Whey protein concentrate - WPC contains low levels of fat and high levels of carbohydrates (lactose) and bioactive compounds.
  
  The percentage of protein in WPC depends on how concentrated it is. Lower end concentrates tend to have 30% protein and higher end up to 90%.
• Whey protein isolate - WPIs are further processed to remove all the fat and lactose. WPI is usually at least 90% protein.
• Whey protein hydrolysate - WPH is considered to be the "predigested" form of whey protein as it's already undergone partial hydrolysis - a process necessary for the body to absorb protein.
  
  WPH doesn't require as much digestion as the other two forms of whey protein. In addition, WPH substantially increases insulin, providing more power for your muscles.

Muscle building with whey protein

Whey protein supplementation significantly improves muscle protein synthesis and promotes the growth of lean tissue mass.

Glen Tobias, MS, RD, discusses whey protein's
advantage over other protein supplements.

A study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism concluded that "whey protein supplementation during resistance training offers some benefit compared to resistance training alone." In addition, "males who supplemented with whey protein had a greater relative gain in lean tissue mass."¹
Much better gains in strength are associated with whey isolate supplementation compared to casein.
This was demonstrated in another study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, which concluded that "using two groups of matched, resistance-trained males whey isolate provided significantly greater gains in strength, lean body mass, and a decrease in fat mass compared to supplementation with casein during an intense 10 week resistance training program."²

Health benefits of whey protein

There are many benefits associated with the consumption of whey protein, and researchers are constantly finding new possible therapeutic properties.
The possible health benefits of consuming whey protein include:

• Losing weight - according to one study, published in Nutrition & Metabolism, people who took a specialized whey fraction (Prolibra™, high in leucine, bioactive peptides and milk calcium) "lost significantly more body fat and showed a greater preservation of lean muscle compared to subjects consuming the control beverage."³
• Anti-cancer properties - Promising results were published in the journal Anticancer Research for the use of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and glutathione modulation in cancer treatment.⁴
• High cholesterol - according to a study published in The British Journal of Nutrition, "there was a significant decrease in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol at week 12 in the whey group compared with the casein (group)".⁵
• Asthma - whey protein could improve immune response in children with asthma. One study, published in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, found that children with asthma who were supplemented with whey for one month had an improved cytokine response.⁶
• Lowering blood pressure and reducing risk of cardiovascular disease - research published in the International Dairy Journal found that beverages that were supplemented with whey protein significantly reduced blood pressure in patients with hypertension, their risk of developing heart disease or stroke was also lower.

Side effects

Some people who are allergic to milk may be specifically allergic to whey.
In moderate doses whey protein doesn't generally cause any adverse events.
However, consuming severely high doses can cause:

• Stomach pains
• Cramps
• Reduced appetite
• Nausea
• Headache
• Fatigue

How is whey protein produced?

When milk is left over and coagulates, it eventually turns into a 5% solution of lactose in water, loaded with minerals.

The whey protein production process

This leftover by-product, called whey, makes up 20% of the protein in milk, the other 80% is called casein (the curds in cottage cheese).
The liquid whey is separated from the casein and sent through filters to remove all non-whey ingredients. It is then purified in a process called "ion exchange".
The final step is removing the water from the whey by turning it into a powder at a drying tower.
The protein powder is then ready to be packaged and consumed.

Husbands Who Share Housework Have Less Sex

Husbands who help out with household chores have less sex than men in so-called "traditional" marriages where housework is done exclusively by the wife, researchers from the USA and Spain reported in the journal American Sociological Review.

In faithful relationships, the wife whose husband is involved in housework obviously has less sex too, the authors added.

This latest study contradicts most previous ones, which tended to imply that married men generally have more sex in exchange for doing housework. However, those studies did not take into account which chores the husbands did.

The researchers, all sociologists, said that their study demonstrated that sex is not a bargaining chip in marriage. Rather, it is associated with the kinds of chores each partner completes.

Married couples reported greater sexual frequency if the women did the cooking, cleaning and shopping and the men did the gardening, electrics and plumbing, car maintenance and paid the bills.

Co-author Julie Brines, professor of sociology at the University of Washington, said:

"The results show that gender still organizes quite a bit of everyday life in marriage. In particular, it seems that the gender identities husbands and wives express through the chores they do also help structure sexual behavior."

Lead author, Sabino Kornrich, warned that men should not assume from these findings that they should not become involved in traditionally female household tasks, such as shopping, cleaning or cooking. "Men who refuse to help around the house could increase conflict in their marriage and lower their wives' marital satisfaction."

The researchers gathered and examined data from a national survey of approximately 4,500 heterosexual married couples in the USA who took part in the National Survey of Families and Households. The survey, the largest to measure sexual frequency among married couples, included data from 1992 to 1994.

Brines does not believe that the division of household chores - which in this study did not include child care - and sex have changed much since 1994.

"Traditional female tasks" include shopping, cleaning, looking after the kids, and cooking

According to the study, husbands and wives spent an average of 34 hours each week on traditionally female chores. The men's average age was 46, and the women's 44. The couples spent an extra 17 hours each week on "men's work".

On average, the males were involved in about one-fifth of traditionally female chores, and slightly more than half of male-type work. The researchers found that women tend to be more involved with helping out in traditionally male chores, than men do with female tasks.

The couples reported having sex approximately five times, on average, during the four weeks before the survey. In marriages where the woman carried out all the traditionally female tasks, the couples had sex 1.6 times as often, compared to couples where the man was involved in all the female chores.

Brines says she is not surprised that there was more sex among the traditional couples. "If anything surprised us, it was how robust the connection was between a traditional division of housework and sexual frequency." Brines is an expert in family and household dynamics.

The following possible explanations for their findings were ruled out by the researchers:

• Male coercive behavior played no role, because women reported similar satisfaction levels in their sex lives in both types of households (traditional or "modern")


• In two-income households, the difference in sexual frequency was still driven by male behavior regarding traditional female chores. Also, the wife's income had no impact on sexual frequency.


• The following had no impact on sexual frequency - gender ideology, religion, and happiness in marriage.

Brines said:

"Marriage today isn't what it was 30 or 40 years ago, but there are some things that remain important. Sex and housework are still key aspects of sharing a life, and both are related to marital satisfaction and how spouses express their gender identity."

Recovery from Workload Influenced by Housework and Leisure Activity Balance

How rapidly and effectively male and female spouses recover from the burdens of work is probably influenced by a balance of housework time and leisure time, a study by experts from the University of Southern California reported in the Journal of Family Psychology.

Over half of all married couples in the USA are two-income households. The authors wondered whether the winner was the one who had the most help with the housework.

They found that what seems to be good for the male partner was bad for the female, but what is good for the female does not have enough of an impact on the male.

In another study involving 17,000 people in 28 countries, researchers from George Mason University found that married men did less housework than live-in boyfriends. The study was published in the Journal of Family Issues.

Norco D-Ring Thumb and Wrist Orthosis - NC15825-06

 

Product Description

Norco™ D-Ring Thumb and Wrist Orthosis.
Comfortable, padded cotton support for thumb and wrist injuries.

• Made of a soft, cotton/polyester fabric blend. Circumferentially designed with double-layer stockinette under D-ring strap closures for comfort and easy application.
• Ideal for cumulative trauma injuries, de Quervain’s and tendinitis. Helps decrease pain and inflammation in the wrist and thumb due to arthritis, sprains, strains, joint instabilities, and post-surgical repair.
• Features three straps and a wraparound thumb piece that accommodates all thumb sizes.
• Includes a metal radial thumb stay, a removable volar wrist stay and flexible plastic stays along the dorsal opening for additional stability. Removable metal stays can be bent to conform as needed.
• Machine wash and air dry.
• Latex free.

http://www.wisdomking.com/product/norco-d-ring-thumb-and-wrist-splint-prod1 

Midland Electric Hi-Lo Stand-In Table - 4512E

 

 

Product Description

The Midland Electric Hi-Lo Stand-In Table makes standing both easy and safe. A four-point support system stabilizes clients at the feet, knees, buttocks and chest as they experience the benefits of standing. A back pad provides additional lumbar support. Hand held power switch controls table top height adjustment and client's transfer from sitting to standing. Ideal for paraplegics. Locking swivel casters provide portability. Two-year warranty. 115V, 60Hz, 3.5 amps. UL Listed. Latex free. Weight Capacity 250 lbs.

Table height adjustment: 42 1/2" - 52 1/2"

Tray dimentions: 32 3/4" - 24 1/4"

Base dimentions: 30" - 34"

NOTE: Custom made product lead time - approx. 28 days. 

If you would like to purchase this item click here. 

Crystal Bead Balls - 922699

Product Description

Clear, stretchable balls filled with colored beads provide visual and tactile stimulation and help develop gross motor skills. Increase concentration by eye-hand cause and effect. Contains latex. 

 

To purchase this item click here. 

Tumble Forms Wedge - 2699B

 Product Description

Valu-Form Tumble Forms Wedges are a cost-effective line of positioning products that provide the superior quality Tumble Forms is known for in the industry. Tumble Forms Wedges are designed to meet demanding rehabilitative needs. Tumble Forms Wedges are practical, durable and comfortable. Tumble Forms Wedges have versatile shape which is designed for gross motor activities such as tumbling, walking up or downhill, or creating a comfortable environment for reading; Tumble Forms Wedges are available in therapist-approved sizes.

Irregular bedtimes linked to kids' behavioral problems

Parents, teachers and doctors all agree that lack of sleep makes children cranky, tearful and more prone to tantrums. Now researchers from the UK have found that children with irregular bedtimes are more likely to have behavioral difficulties.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that irregular bedtimes could disrupt natural body rhythms and cause sleep deprivation, undermining brain maturation and the ability to regulate certain behaviors.
Adopting a regular bedtime routine is probably the first thing an adult with sleep problems would be advised to do. And the same applies to children. Following a routine helps train behavior and a nighttime routine helps your child learn to be sleepy.
Professor Yvonne Kelly, from University College London's department of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health, says:
"Not having fixed bedtimes, accompanied by a constant sense of flux, induces a state of body and mind akin to jet lag and this matters for healthy development and daily functioning."
She explains further:

"We know that early child development has profound influences on health and wellbeing across the life course. It follows that disruptions to sleep, especially if they occur at key times in development, could have important lifelong impacts on health."

Analyzing data from more than 10,000 children in the UK Millennium Cohort Study, the team collected bedtime data at 3, 5 and 7 years, as well as incorporating reports from the children's mothers and teachers on behavioral problems.

Clear link between bedtime and behavior

Although inconsistent bedtimes can adversely affect a child's behavior, the study shows that the changes are reversible - once a regular routine is established, the child's behavior settles down.

The study found a clear clinical and statistically significant link between bedtimes and behavior. Irregular bedtimes affected children's behavior by disrupting circadian rhythms (body clock), leading to sleep deprivation that affects the developing brain.
As children progressed through early childhood without a regular bedtime, their behavioral scores - which included hyperactivity, conduct problems, problems with peers and emotional difficulties - worsened.
However, children who switched to a more regular bedtime had clear improvements in their behavior.
Prof. Kelly says:

"What we've shown is that these effects build up incrementally over childhood, so that children who always had irregular bedtimes were worse off than those children who did have a regular bedtime at one or two of the ages when they were surveyed."

"But our findings suggest the effects are reversible," continued Prof. Kelly. "For example, children who change from not having to having regular bedtimes show improvements in their behavior."

Irregular bedtimes and fewer hours of sleep

Irregular bedtimes were most common at the age of 3, when around 1 in 5 children went to bed at varying times. However, by the age of 7, more than half the children went to bed regularly between 7.30 and 8.30 pm.
Children whose bedtimes were irregular or who went to bed after 9 pm came from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and this was factored into the study findings.
Prof. Kelly says:
"As it appears the effects of inconsistent bedtimes are reversible, one way to try and prevent this would be for health care providers to check for sleep disruptions as part of routine health care visits. Given the importance of early childhood development on subsequent health, there may be knock-on effects across the life course. Therefore, there are clear opportunities for interventions aimed at supporting family routines that could have important lifelong impacts."
Most parents would agree that consistency is key to bringing up children, and the same rules seem to apply to bedtimes. Although no two children will be exactly alike in their sleep requirements, keeping bedtimes regular and with a consistent routine will show improvements in bad behavior.
When asked by Medical News Today if irregular bedtimes also lead to poor academic performance, Prof. Kelly agreed, pointing to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Tying this study in with the previous research, she said:

"Children with irregular bedtimes went to bed at varying times - night to night. We know from other studies that irregular bedtimes correlates with fewer hours of sleep."

Written by Belinda Weber

Exercise may ward off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

 

When US scientists gave non-exercising mice a protein produced by exercising mice, they found it switched on genes that help preserve brain health and boost growth of new nerves in regions important for learning and memory.
They suggest their findings could pave the way to a drug that improves treatments against cognitive decline in older people and help slow progression of brain-wasting diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Dr. Bruce Spiegelman, from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston reports the discovery in the latest online issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
Endurance exercise has previously been shown to improve brain function, particularly in older people. But until this study the underlying molecular mechanisms were not understood.
In an earlier study, Dr. Spiegelman's team had already discovered that the protein, called FNDC5, is released into the bloodstream as a variant called irisin as a result of muscular exertion. In this latest work, the researchers monitored the effect of endurance exercise on mice (they voluntarily ran on an exercise wheel for 30 days).

Boosting production of FNDC5

They found endurance exercise increased the effect of a regulatory metabolic compound, PGC-1alpha in the muscles of mice, which boosted production of FNDC5. This had the knock-on effect of switching on genes that increased the expression of a brain-protective protein, BDNF, in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory.

Researchers found that a protein produced during exercise switches on genes that preserve brain health.

The hippocampus is only one of two areas in the adult brain that can grow new nerve cells. Exercise increases the effect of BDNF in the hippocampus, where it preserves brain cells and promotes the growth of new nerves and synapses or junctions between nerve cells, thereby aiding learning and memory.
But until now it was not clear what linked exercise to BDNF at the molecular level, which is what you need to know in order to develop drugs that have the same effect.
This study is the first to suggest that the molecular pathway that links exercise to raised BDNF activity goes via PGC-1alpha and FNDC5.
However, the authors suggest there may also be other pathways, waiting to be discovered.
In a second stage of the study, the researchers showed artificially increasing FNDC5 without the help of exercise had the same effect.
Dr. Spiegelman says:

"What is exciting is that a natural substance can be given in the bloodstream that can mimic some of the effects of endurance exercise on the brain."

However, he cautions that more studies are now needed to find out whether giving mice FNDC5 actually leads to improved brain function.
Also, the researchers did not establish whether it was FNDC5 itself that ended up in the brains of the mice, or its variant, irisin.
If drug developers choose to start with irisin, they will first have to make a more stable form of the protein, says Dr. Spiegelman.
Funds from the JPB Foundation and National Institutes of Health helped finance the study.
Earlier this year, researchers from Princeton University reported in the Journal of Neuroscience that physical exercise helps the brain withstand stress.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Peanut butter helps diagnose Alzheimer's disease

 







A dollop of peanut butter and a ruler can be used to confirm a diagnosis of early stage Alzheimer's disease, University of Florida Health researchers have found.
Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student in the University of Florida (UF) McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste, and her colleagues reported the findings of a small pilot study in the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
Stamps came up with the idea of using peanut butter to test for smell sensitivity while she was working with Dr. Kenneth Heilman, one of the world's best known behavioral neurologists, from the UF College of Medicine's department of neurology.
While shadowing doctors in Heilman's clinic, she noticed that patients were not tested for their sense of smell. The ability to smell is associated with the first cranial nerve and is often one of the first things to be affected in cognitive decline.
"Dr. Heilman said, 'If you can come up with something quick and inexpensive, we can do it,'" Stamps says.
She thought of peanut butter because, she said, it is a "pure odorant" that is only detected by the olfactory nerve and is easy to access.

Widespread problem

According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's disease affects 5.2 million people in the US and will cost the nation $203 billion in this year alone.

Researchers found that by placing a dollop of peanut butter on a ruler, they could identify early stages of Alzheimer's disease, based on patients' ability to detect the odor at certain distances.

The Association estimates that one American develops Alzheimer's every 68 seconds, and they expect to see this figure rise to one American every 33 seconds by 2050.
In the study, patients who were coming to the clinic for testing also sat down with a clinician, who was armed with 14 grams of peanut butter - which equals about 1 tablespoon - and a metric ruler. The patient closed his or her eyes and mouth and blocked one nostril.
The clinician opened the peanut butter container and held the ruler next to the open nostril while the patient breathed normally. By moving the peanut butter up the ruler 1 cm at a time during the patient's exhalation, they were able to measure the distance at which the patient could detect the odor.
The distance was recorded and the procedure repeated on the other nostril after a 90-second delay.
The clinicians running the test did not know the patients' diagnoses, which were not usually confirmed until weeks after the initial clinical testing.

Sense of smell loss

The scientists found that patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease had a dramatic difference in detecting odor between the left and right nostril - the left nostril was impaired and did not detect the smell until it was an average of 10 cm closer to the nose than the right nostril had made the detection in patients with Alzheimer's disease.
This was not the case in patients with other kinds of dementia; instead, these patients had either no differences in odor detection between nostrils or the right nostril was worse at detecting odor than the left one.
Of the 24 patients tested who had mild cognitive impairment, which sometimes signals Alzheimer's disease and sometimes turns out to be something else, about 10 patients showed a left nostril impairment and 14 patients did not.
The researchers said more studies must be conducted to fully understand the implications.
Stamps explains:

"At the moment, we can use this test to confirm diagnosis. But we plan to study patients with mild cognitive impairment to see if this test might be used to predict which patients are going to get Alzheimer's disease."

Stamps and Dr. Heilman point out that this test could be used by clinics that do not have access to the personnel or equipment to run other, more elaborate tests required for a specific diagnosis, which can lead to targeted treatment.
At UF Health, the peanut butter test will be one more tool to add to a full suite of clinical tests for neurological function in patients with memory disorders.

Non-invasive, early stage test

One of the first places in the brain to degenerate in people with Alzheimer's disease is the front part of the temporal lobe that evolved from the smell system, and this portion of the brain is involved in forming new memories.
"We see people with all kinds of memory disorders," Heilman said. Many tests to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or other dementias can be time-consuming, costly or invasive. "This can become an important part of the evaluation process."
The UF study could help by detecting a person's likelihood of developing the disease at a much earlier stage, with a non-invasive test.
The Alzheimer's Association acknowledge that at the moment, there is no cure for the disease, nor can current Alzheimer's treatments stop Alzheimer's from progressing. They can, however, temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms. This improves the quality of life for both sufferers and their caregivers.
As Stamps says:

"If we can catch it at that early stage, we can start treatment more aggressively at the early stage and you can possibly prevent a lot of the progression."

Medical News Today reported in July this year that taking certain lifestyle measures, including taking regular exercise and eating a balanced diet, could reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's.
Written by Belinda Weber

2783 Intelect TranSport Electrotherapy System - 2783

Product Description

2783 Intelect TranSport Electrotherapy System. Designed for Maximum Transportability. The Transportable Stim Unit has innovative case design and large easy to read LCD Display. The new repositional base allows the unit to be configured for desktop or wall mount use. The specially designed carry bag (optional) can be used to protect and transport the unit and it accessories on the go.

2783 Intelect TranSport Electrotherapy Specifications:

Monochromatic Display

4 Waveforms- Interferential, Russian, High Volt and Premodulated

User Protocols (Limited)

Detachable Base for desktop or wall-mount

Battery or 110V AC operation

(1) Leadwire Channel 1

(1) Leadwire Channel 2

(2) Black 3" Round Rubber Carbon Electrodes

(2) Red 3" Round Rubber Carbon Electrodes

(1) pack DURA-STICK II 2.75" Round Electrodes

(2) Rolls Nylatex Wrap 2.5" x 24"

User Manual


Compatible with Carry Bag (item #27467), Battery Pack (item #27478), and Therapy Cart with Adapter (item #2891K). Each sold separately.

Two-year warranty.

Note: This unit is a Class II Medical Device and by FDA regulations cannot be returned if it has been used. 

 

Click here to view this item on WisdomKing.com

Hot chocolate may prevent memory decline

Scientists at Harvard Medical School suggest drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline in older people by preserving blood flow in working areas of the brain.
They write about their findings online in the August 7th issue of Neurology.
The team was investigating the effect of cocoa consumption on thinking and memory performance, as well as something called neurovascular coupling, where blood flow in the brain changes in response to local brain activity.
Farzaneh A. Sorond, lead author and member of the American Academy of Neurology, told the press:
"As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer's."
For their investigation, the team recruited 60 dementia-free older people of average age 73 and asked them to drink two cups of hot cocoa a day for 30 days.
Half the participants drank hot cocoa high in antioxidant flavanol, while the other half drank flavanol-poor hot cocoa. (There is substantial evidence that consuming cocoa flavanols helps circulation and heart health.)

Scientists think there could be a link between hot chocolate and brain blood flow

The participants were asked not to consume any other products containing chocolate during the study.
The team tested the participants' memory and thinking skills before and after using a set of standard tests.
Using ultrasound, they also measured neurovascular coupling (the blood flow response to brain activity) as the participants completed the mental tests.
At the start of the study, 18 of the 60 participants had impaired neurovascular coupling. By the end of the study, it had improved by 8.3%.
These participants also improved their scores on a working memory speed test. At the start of the study, it took them 167 seconds to complete the test, while at the end they did it in 116 seconds.
In participants with regular neurovascular coupling at the start of the study, there was no change either in blood flow measures or working memory.
A subset of 24 participants also underwent MRI scans to look for tiny areas of damage in the white matter of the brain. These can occur when there is a restriction in blood flow.
The MRI scans showed that the participants with impaired neurovascular coupling were the ones most likely to have these tiny areas of brain damage.
There was no difference between the participants who drank flavanol-rich cocoa and the ones who drank flavanol-poor cocoa.
In their study paper, Sorond and colleagues conclude:

"There is a strong correlation between neurovascular coupling and cognitive function, and both can be improved by regular cocoa consumption in individuals with baseline impairments. Better neurovascular coupling is also associated with greater white matter structural integrity."

In an editorial accompanying the team's study report, Paul B. Rosenberg, an Alzheimer's expert at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, says the study is an important first step, but:
"More work is needed to prove a link between cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive decline."
A research review of 20 trials that was published in The Cochrane Library in 2012, found that consuming dark chocolate or cocoa may reduce blood pressure by a small amount.

Breastfeeding for longer 'improves child's intelligence'

Researchers have discovered that the longer a mother breastfeeds, the more intelligent their child will become later in life.
A study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics has provided evidence that breastfeeding in infancy leads to better cognitive development later in life, but it depends upon how long the infant is breastfed.
Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital say previous work has suggested that breast milk can boost an infant's brain as it contains docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which helps cognitive development. They add that fish intake during lactation is a good source of DHA.
The study authors say: "Nutrients in breast milk, such as n-3 fatty acid DHA, may benefit the developing brain. A major determinant of breast milk DHA content is the mother's diet, and fish is a rich source of DHA.
"In pregnancy, greater maternal fish intake (particularly fish low in mercury contamination) is associated with better childhood cognitive outcomes, but the extent to which maternal fish intake during lactation accounts for the relationship between breastfeeding and cognition has not been reported."

Mental performance tested at 3-7 years of age

The researchers analyzed 1,312 mothers and children to see the relationship between breastfeeding duration and child cognition at ages 3 and 7 years.

Authors recommend breastfeeding until at least 12 months, and certainly past 6 months

Children were measured on whether they were breastfed milk only, received mixed feeds, weaned or were never breastfed. For 1,224 of the participants at age 3, the mean duration of any breastfeeding, including mixed feeds, was 6.4 months. The mean duration for breastfeeding only was 2.4 months.
Fish intake by mothers during lactation was also analyzed to see how this would affect associations of infant feeding and later cognition.
A series of cognitive tests were carried out, including:

• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at age 3
• Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities at age 3 and 7
• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning at age 7

The results showed that longer breastfeeding duration was linked with higher test scores in the Peabody Picture Vocabulary test at age 3, and higher intelligence on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test at age 7.
However, results showed that longer breastfeeding duration was not linked to any improvement in the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning scores.
Children whose mothers had high fish intake during lactation (greater than or equal to 2 servings per week) had stronger results in the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities at age 3, compared with children of women who had lower fish intake (less that 2 servings per week).
The study authors conclude:

"Our results support a causal relationship of breastfeeding in infancy with receptive language at age 3 and with verbal and nonverbal IQ at school age.
These findings support national and international recommendations to promote exclusive breastfeeding through age 6 months and continuation of breastfeeding through at least age 1 year."

Dr. Dimitri Christakis, of the Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute, has written an editorial in JAMA Pediatrics to accompany the researchers' study, calling for women to be given better opportunities to breastfeed for longer. Dr. Christakis says:

"Workplaces need to provide opportunities and spaces for mothers to use them.
Breastfeeding in public should be destigmatized. Clever social media campaigns and high-quality public service announcements might help with that."

The problem, Dr. Dimitri Christakis adds, "is not so much that most women do not initiate breastfeeding, it is that they do not sustain it."
He continues: "In the US about 70% of women overall initiate breastfeeding, although only 50% of African American women do. However, by six months, only 35% and 20%, respectively, are still breastfeeding."
It would, however, appear that breastfeeding is on the increase in the US. In an article covered by Medical News Today on 1 August 2013, the CDC suggested that within a 10-year period between 2000 and 2010, the number of babies who were first breastfed rose from 71% in 2000 to 77% in 2010.
Written by Honor Whiteman