News Anchor Walter Cronkite, Dead at 92

It seems almost ironic that legendary Walter Cronkite died just before the 40th anniversary of our first moon walk. Mr. Cronkite was the newsman who most people remember when they think about watching the lunar landing and Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon surface. Alas, Mr. Cronkite was 92 years old and succumbed to cerebrovascular disease.

Nova

Music a 'mega-vitamin' for the brain

LONDON, England (CNN) -- When Nina Temple was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2000, then aged 44, she quickly became depressed, barely venturing out of her house as she struggled to come to terms with living with the chronic condition. "I was thinking of all the things which I wished I'd done with my life and I wouldn't be able to do. And then I started thinking about all the things that I still actually could do and singing was one of those," Temple told CNN.

Along with a fellow Parkinson's sufferer, Temple decided, on a whim, to form a choir. The pair placed notices in doctor's surgeries inviting others to join them and advertised for a singing teacher.

By 2003, with the help of funding from the Parkinson's Disease Society, the resulting ensemble "Sing For Joy" was up and running, rehearsing weekly and soon graduating to public performances.

The group now consists of around two dozen singers, including sufferers of Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, others recovering from conditions including stroke or cancer, plus their carers, family and friends. Led by acclaimed jazz performer Carol Grimes, the group's genre-defying repertoire ranges from Cole Porter classics to ethnic punk. Video Watch Sing for Joy perform Next....

Friends promote debut novel of writer who has post-stroke aphasia

When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens mak e a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides...and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living--or if there's no turning back.
Greg sez, "Albert Borris' debut novel, a YA book called Crash Into Me, comes out today... but back in December, Albert suffered a massive stroke that left him unable to get words out on paper or verbally in the proper order. He's a writer unable to write... and currently unable to help promote his own book. Fellow young adult and middle grade debut authors in the Class of 2K9 of which Albert had been co-president, are working together along with others to help spread the word so that Albert's novel gets the attention it deserves... and which he is unable to help generate." Next...

Lost in the Cosmos

Night Sky, a new off-Broadway play, concerns a world renowned astronomer named Anna who suffers an injury to her brain during a car accident and loses her abilities of language and communication – a condition known as aphasia. I was recently invited by the play’s producer to see its final rehearsal at Baruch City College in midtown Manhattan.

I arrived at the practice space, a small classroom three stories below ground in the bowels of the city college, rather early and was asked to wait outside in the hallway until the players were ready. Sitting down in a chair, I began to converse with several big men in tuxedos, sweaty in the Next...

Aphasia

A condition, caused by neurological damage or disease, in which a person’s previous capacity to understand or express language is impaired. The ability to speak, listen, read, or write may be affected
depending on the type of aphasia involved. Next...

Spain Celebrates Stroke Awareness

Written by Heidi Wardman Friday, 24 April 2009 Spain will recognize Stroke Awareness Day for the first time this year, thanks to the efforts of the Torrevieja Stroke Support Group, founded by Costa Blanca resident Louie Killeen during January 2007, shortly after her husband suffered a stroke, which immediately turned her life upside down. Louie made it her mission to establish a support network and the Torrevieja Stroke Support Group has gone from strength to strength, now providing a professional therapy and rehabilitation programme to stroke survivors and their loved ones located throughout the area. Its success has seen it relocating to a fully equipped, spacious centre, located in the Annex to the rear of the Age Concern building in Urbanization La Siesta, where the group convenes every third Friday, whilst additional Speech Therapy and Social group sessions are held in the interim. Sessions are structured to include a welcome friendship circle and separate therapy groups, according to individual need, with access to the expertise of a fully qualified team, including two Primary Care Nurses, one of whom was commissioned to establish a Stroke Support Centre in the UK, an Occupational Therapist and Group Councillor. SYMPTOMS The Torrevieja Stroke Support Group’s most recent challenge is in promoting the FAST initiative to both international and Spanish communities, to enable people to identify the critical signs and symptoms of an attack. Over 150,000 people in the UK suffer from stroke, a sudden attack on the brain when the blood supply is disrupted, every year. The long-term result and severity of symptoms varies in accordance with which part of the brain has suffered the attack, although there are a number of common signs which reveal themselves when stroke hits, which the UK Stroke Association has identified in its FAST initiative. FAST The Face Arm Speech Test (FAST) is the procedure applied by Paramedics when they are called to a potential stroke situation. FAST examines three specific symptoms: Facial weakness - can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped? Arm weakness - can the person raise both arms? Speech problems - can the person speak clearly and understand what you say? If any or a combination of these symptoms present themselves, then this is where the ‘T’ comes into play- Time to call 112. Delay can result in death or major long-term disabilities, such as paralysis, severe memory loss and communication problems (aphasia). ADVICE The FAST initiative will be among items on the agenda on Stroke Awareness Day, celebrated annually on 12th May in countries throughout Europe. The Torrevieja Stroke Support Group is pleased to announce that the anniversary will also be acknowledged in Spain for the first time in 2009. The group has been supplied with a wealth of materials from the Stroke Association printed in English, whilst Public Relations Officer, Anna Blaun of ‘Clinica Centro’ in Torrevieja has devised an alternative slogan and had materials translated for the benefit of the Spanish audience. The Clinic’s Director, Julio Monje, revealed that it receives many stroke survivors through its doors, many of whom he feels may have responded more positively to rehabilitation had they or loved ones responded swiftly to the symptoms. He said, “The clinic is delighted to work alongside the Stroke Support Group during this project, which we hope will be the first of many.” Subject to approval from the Town Hall, representatives from the two parties are hoping to distribute the materials in the Plaza de la Constitución, Torrevieja, on Stroke Awareness Day, and will be on-hand throughout the morning to answer any questions which residents may have in relation to the issues raised. For further details please email strokesupportgroup@hotmail.com.