Memory loss crash victim identified

AUTHORITIES have finally identified an Asian man who lost his memory after being knocked down in a road accident five months ago.

The victim, whose name and nationality had remained a mystery, suffered post traumatic amnesia and could not recall simple details such as his country of birth.

He was also diagnosed with aphasia, meaning he lost the ability to speak.

But thanks to the intervention of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA), officials were able to identify him within minutes.

They have refused to reveal his full details, but he has been identified as Indian Ramasamy, 42.

He is understood to have been living here illegally since 2004 when the factory he was working for closed down.

The patient was being treated in the BDF Hospital in Riffa and the hospital had failed to get anywhere despite an exhaustive search for answers.

However, once LMRA officials stepped in they were able to identify him within minutes using a fingerprint device linked to its database of expatriates.

"The LMRA was able to get his details within eight minutes from among nearly half a million expatriates," it said in a statement sent to the GDN....next

Disneyland job helps aphasia victim talk

Roseanna Uman happily goes about her job at Disneyland as a merchandise hostess, a job she has held for four years and one that helps her keep talking.
Uman is an aphasia victim. The 36-year-old woman suffered brain damage at the age of three and has always had difficulty speaking.
For several years, Uman has been a part of a stroke and aphasia victims’ recovery group that meets on a regular basis at the the First Presbyterian Church in Fullerton.
“The purpose is to practice adult conversation skills and also to reduce isolation that happens after stroke or aphasia,” said Dr. Candace Vickers, the founder of the program.
The program works with the help of volunteers and practices conversation techniques with the victims in a relaxed setting....next

Bypass patients can benefit from a few drinks

CHICAGO — Men who underwent heart bypass surgery and consumed about two drinks a day afterward had fewer subsequent cardiovascular procedures than those who abstained, according to a study released Sunday.

Light alcohol consumption was associated with a 25 percent reduction in additional heart procedures, heart attacks or strokes in the study by Italian researchers, presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago....next

Frank Wappat Leaves BBC after 40 Years

BBC Newcastle broadcaster Frank Wappat has announced he is to leave the station for health reasons.

Three months ago Frank suffered a further stroke, which has left him with a condition known as Aphasia. 

“Thanks to the dedicated staff of Wansbeck Hospital I’m back on my feet and adjusting to life at home”, says Frank.  “The reality is that I can no longer give 110% to my radio shows, so I have sadly resigned from my broadcasting commitments. No one likes to make tough decisions and this one has been the hardest of my life”.  Next..

Nuvaring Stroke Risk

Nuvaring stroke risk problems are caused by blood clots that travel into the carotid arteries and restrict the flow of blood to your brain. Your brain tissue needs a constant supply of oxygenated blood in order to function properly. If the cells are deprived – even for a few moments – they will begin to die. This triggers a stroke.
If your brain tissue becomes damaged from a lack of blood, you will experience one or more impairments. The form of the impairment depends on the area of your brain affected by the stroke. Its severity depends on the size of the blockage within the carotid artery and the length of time that passes prior to receiving treatment. Stroke rehabilitation is usually necessary to regain lost function.
Goals Of Stroke Rehabilitation
During rehabilitation, you’ll work with several health care professionals to recover physical and mental function lost during the stroke. The areas of expertise of these providers will depend on your needs. For example, physical therapists will address disabilities related to movement; occupational therapists focus primarily on motor skills and related functions; speech pathologists can help you cope with aphasia.....next

Unprofessional Translation: What Aphasia Tells Us

When something goes wrong, the malfunction may give us an insight into how it goes right. Most of what I know about the workings of our car, I learnt to my cost when it went wrong. Seriously, though, we can learn something about language from people’s inability to speak normally under certain conditions. One such condition is aphasia, inability to produce or understand speech due to brain damage. The damage may have been caused by an external agent of ‘insult’ such as an accident or an operation, or internally by a stroke for example.....next

Aphasia (Speech impairment (adult)) in the use of Linezolid, who, when, how?

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A real world study of 2 Aphasia (Speech impairment (adult)) reports in people who take Linezolid. Duration of Linezolid, gender and age of the users, and severity of Aphasia (Speech impairment (adult)) are studied...next

Home / News / Local Badly injured pilot wants to cross county in gyroplane Living an impossible dream

When the Santa Maria Times wrote about local pilot and former motorcycle racer Vance Breese more than two years ago, the Nipomo resident had recently received medical clearance to pilot an experimental gyroplane. He was content learning how to fly his unique aircraft on solo trips around the Central Coast.
In the years since, however, Breese — who lost vision in his left eye and suffered a brain injury in a high-speed crash 15 years ago — earned a full-fledged pilot’s license in the summer of 2008 and the right to legally carry passengers. And that’s a good thing, because Breese and his girlfriend, Edna Arlt, are pursuing a dream of flying cross-country in a new gyroplane that they are designing and building with the help of friends...next

Speech Therapist Joins NARH Rehabilitation Services

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Jane Kingsley Apkin of Sarasota, Fla., a speech-language pathologist, has joined the Rehabilitation Services department of North Adams Regional Hospital. Apkin will be treating inpatients and outpatients at NARH. Apkin earned her master’s degree in Hearing and Speech Sciences from Ohio University and has since worked in a variety of positions including as a speech pathology clinical supervisor, speech-language pathology consultant for the state of Georgia, and speech-language pathologist in a rehab hospital and long-term acute care hospital. Most recently she was Vice President of Operations and Southern Regional Director for Health Connections Rehabilitation Services in Tallahassee, Fla.

Study of the Aphasia Persisting during Convalescence after Evacuation of Brain Abscess

Epilepsy may affect language development

Epileptic activity in the brain may affect the development of language in children, the results of a new study indicate.

Anyone can have a seizure if the brain is exposed to a strong enough stimulus. One in every 20 people will have a single seizure at some time during their lives. However, people with epilepsy have recurring seizures. This is caused by abnormal electrical impulses in the brain. Up to 40,000 people in Ireland are estimated to have epilepsy.

Swedish researchers divided 60 children of different ages into three groups. The first comprised of children with language dysfunction, such as slow speech development or inadequate language comprehension. NEXT....

Brain surgery done while patient was awake

The first-ever open brain surgery with the patient wide awake in the Gulf region was successfully conducted on a 38-year-old Indian patient at the ity SKMC last month.

The surgery included removal of a tumour from the patient’s brain located near the cells responsible for vocalisation and speech. A multi-disciplinary team of more than 20 medical personnel worked on the patient to ensure a successful operation.

According to a statement issued by the hospital on Monday, the patient (name withheld on request), who was brought to the Emergency Department in an unconscious state, had suffered several epileptic fits, post-critical transient aphasia (language impairment) and hemiparesis (muscle weakness on one side of the body).

A CT (computed tomography) scan and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the brain showed a left frontal cortico-subcortical tumour, which 
was in the brain area responsible for 
the speech. Next....

iPhone App Opens World to Boy with Rare Syndrome

Andrew, who at age 8 is the size of a 3- or 4-year-old, has Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects communication and social interaction. It is characterized by low birth weight, slow growth, distinctive facial features and small stature.

But a new iPhone application Andrew uses on an iPod has opened the doors to Andrew's mind.Next...

Music and lyrics: How the brain splits songs

>Your favourite song comes on the radio. You hum the tune; the lyrics remind you of someone you know. Is your brain processing the words and music separately or as one? It's a hotly debated question that may finally have an answer.


People with aphasia, who can't speak, can still hum a tune, suggesting music and lyrics are processed separately. Yet brain scans show that music and language activate the same areas, which might mean the brain treats them as one signal. Next...

Daniel Rubin: More stories of horrors at airport take wing

On June 23, 2007, David Camp, a zoning consultant from Cary, N.C., was forced to watch, helpless and in horror, as his father - a stroke victim in a wheelchair - was told to stand and walk.
They were traveling through Philadelphia on their way from Venice to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Clearing customs quickly, they then went through the TSA security area before catching their connecting flight.
L. Raymond Camp, a retired professor of speech communication at North Carolina State University, was paralyzed on his right side and suffers from severe aphasia, which left him unable to talk.
"They separated him from us, took away his airport wheelchair, then insisted he stand up and walk through the machine without using his cane," according to his son. "Well, of course that was an impossibility, but they wouldn't listen to us and he can't speak.  Next...