Wednesday, October 07, 2009

NSSLHA Meeting October 6th, 2009

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Announcements:

- tote bags for sale $10 --> contact Bailey Duemmel to purchase.

- pay for dues for the quarter ($5) or the entire year ($20) ---> Pay dues to May Wu.

- First year graduate students apply for NSSLHA positions. Email Claire at CWbrownie84@yahoo.com

Speaker: Laurie Campbell

- speech language pathologist in hospital setting

- born in Panama, had an active childhood

- currently has Parkinson’s Disease

- her early symptoms were similar to the flu, felt achy

- had bad headaches, neck strain

- she started fainting

- first diagnosed with migraines, put on migraine medication and had a stroke from it

- she had a lot of difficulty getting doctors to take her seriously and properly diagnose her.

- Parkinson’s is a brain disorder that affects the substantia negra

- Caused by a lack of dopamine in the body

- Dopamine doesn’t cross the blood/brain barrier and the body can’t absorb dopamine

- Signs and symptoms: rigidity, slowness of movements, visible shaking/tremors, difficulty with balance, cramping, stiff facial expressions, muffled or slurred speech, depression, dystonia is a symptom for young onset of PD.

- Seeing more of young-onset cases because there is more awareness and research being done.

- PD usually affects people over 65 y/o, 10% of people with PD start having symptoms before 40 y/o.

- There is no test to diagnose PD, it’s a process of elimination

- Those with parkinsonism or the symptoms and signs of PD without the disease itself can be due to medications, drugs, or other disorders or injuries.

- 3 types of PD: young-onset, idiopathic parkinson’s, and secondary parkinson’s

- people with PD become depressed because serotonin levels are also lacking

- because the disorder is progressive, constantly need to change medication as the symptoms change and progress

- as an SLP, should ask at every session if patient with PD has had any falls, if they are taking their medication, what they are taking

- There are no cure for PD, can treat with medications and surgery.

- Exercise slows progression of the disease ---> shown by recent studies, a new phenomenon.

- Treatments don’t slow the progression of the disease, but improve motor function and quality of life.

- However, the benefits gained by these treatments decline as the disease progresses.

- Levadopa helps produce dopamine in the brain and it reduces slowness, tremors, and stiffness.

- Sinemet is an older medication

- Selegiline inhibits the enzyme MAO-B, which breaks down dopamine. Carries some anti-depressant effect.

- There are two types of surgery: Pallidotomy and deep brain procedures. Patients who receive the most benefit from surgery are people with good general health, normal intellectual/memory function for their age, and continue to have benefit from levadopa.

- Pallidotomy destroys a section of the brain and helps with tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and levadtop-induced dyskinesia.

- Lee Silverman voice treatment is used for people with PD ---> patient does treatment (talking really loudly) five days a week for an hour plus an hour of homework, 2 hours of homework on the weekends.

- Need to always be aware of what the goals are of the patient