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January/February 2003

Artist Robert Thome

Quadriplegic Artist Reaches Milestone

For many artists, 1,000 paintings would probably represent a body of work spanning a lifetime. But for Los Angeles artist Robert Thome, that milestone took only 20 years to achieve, and that feat is made all the more impressive considering that Thome paints by using a brush held in his mouth.

Thome, a quadriplegic since age 15 and a member of the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Worldwide, was recently honored for his accomplishments at an international exhibition featuring 160 paintings by a variety of other artists who are members of the association. The exhibition was sponsored by by The Coca-Cola Company at its Atlanta headquarters, in recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, October.

Thome, who suffered a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the neck down in a football accident, taught himself how to paint with his mouth with the help of an instructor at the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, Calif, and now creates 50 paintings every year. He has also participated in more than 200 exhibitions. “I just feel this is the best way to express myself,” he says. “It seemed natural to paint with my mouth, because I just had to paint. I knew I would find a way to do it.”

Thome with fellow artist, Cindi Bernhardt.

Thome is a founding member of the Artability Artist Association, a San Diego-based group of disabled artists who teach others at the San Diego Rehabilitation Center. He is also an instructor of painting at various schools, universities, and community organizations throughout the state. Among other honors, he has received the Governor’s Trophy, the highest honor awarded to a Californian with a disability. “It was like searching for a door to express my creativity,” says Thome. “When I learned how to use a mouthstick to paint, it felt like learning a different language. It feels so free.”

The Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association was founded in 1956 by Erich Stegmann, a painter stricken with polio who also learned to paint with his mouth. The association includes more than 600 artists in 77 countries who are without the use of their hands. Thome is one of 50 member artists based in the United States. The association’s goal is marketing the work of its artists through holiday cards, calendars, and art gifts as well as through exhibitions and original art sales.

Japanese Researchers Develop New Paralysis Treatment

Researchers at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, have developed a technique that has allowed two men paralyzed on one side of their bodies to walk again.

According to a recent article in the British journal New Scientist, both men, who had suffered debilitating strokes, were able to walk again after receiving an implant that sends signals from the healthy half of the body to the paralyzed side. The technique, invented by Wenwei Yu, MD, uses sensors placed over muscle groups in the healthy leg to transmit signals to electrodes implanted near the nerves on the paralyzed leg.

This technique of using electrical impulses to stimulate movement, known as functional electrical stimulation (FES), has been used more often on patients with paraplegia, where both legs are paralyzed. However, according to New Scientist, hemiplegia, where only one leg is paralyzed, is a more common condition.

Walking Reduces Risk of Hip Fractures in Women

According to a study in the November 13 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, physical activity such as walking can reduce the risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women.

The study, which suggests that walking can increase femoral bone density and reduce fracture risk, was conducted over a 12-year span. A group of 61,200 women aged 40-77 years were studied, and 415 hip fracture cases identified. These fractures resulted from low or moderate trauma and were analyzed by intensity and duration of leisure-time activity and by time spent walking, sitting, and standing, measured and updated throughout follow-up.

Researchers found that risk of hip fracture was lowered by 6% for each increase of three metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours per week of activity. Active women with at least 24 MET-hours per week had a 55% lower risk of hip fracture compared with sedentary women with less than three MET-hours per week. Even women with a lower risk of hip fracture due to higher body weight experienced a further reduction in risk with higher levels of activity. Among women who did no other exercise, walking for at least 4 hours per week was associated with a 41% lower risk of hip fracture compared with less than 1 hour per week.

CMS Calls Off Cap

The $1,500 therapy cap that was scheduled to go into effect January 1 has been officially called off by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). However, the organization is still rumored to be considering implemention of the cap on July 1.

Still, for now, the industry is happy with the decision, since it means that physicians’ orders for therapy can be carried out in the amount specified without concern for an artificial cap.

In other CMS news, the organization has also announced the launching of a feature on its Web site, www.cms.gov, that lists frequently asked questions on coding for group therapy services. The FAQ feature responds to questions that came up after rehab company HealthSouth Corp ran into problems with its billing of those services. On September 13 last year, CMS conducted an “Open Door” session on group therapy; the questions on the Web site were compiled as a result of that session.

Survey Shows Massage Used as Stress Reliever

The annual consumer survey by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) shows that 23% of adults who had a massage in the past 5 years did so for stress relief and relaxation. Similarly, when asked what would motivate them to get a massage, 35% said it would be to reduce stress or for relaxation. Also, 57% of Americans surveyed who said they feel greatly stressed because of the threat of terrorism or the state of the economy would consider massage as a way to relieve that stress.

The AMTA survey also found that of consumers who discussed massage with a health care professional, more than three quarters (76%) reported favorable conversations. Also, of those who discussed massage with a health care professional, more than half (57%) received a recommendation for massage therapy from a physician (30%) or chiropractor (27%).

The most dramatic increase in use of massage was among seniors (ages 65 and older). The percentage of seniors who received massage within the last 5 years has nearly tripled (21% compared to 8% in 1997). Seniors, more than any other age group (41%), indicated they seek massage for health reasons other than relaxation and stress relief.

Cheerleading Injuries Increase

New statistics show that cheerleading causes more catastrophic injuries resulting in paralysis or death among high school- and college-age girls than any other sport.

According to Sally Harris, MD, MPH, of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, Calif, who presented new data on cheerleading injuries at the recent American Academy of Pediatrics Conference and Exhibition in Boston, cheerleading has evolved into a highly competitive sport that relies on complicated gymnastic maneuvers, lifting, and multi-level pyramid building. The high-impact nature of the sport has prompted a dramatic rise in the number of cheerleading-related injuries. Some of the most commonly reported injuries are to the ankles, knees, back, wrists, and hands.

Hospital Creates Hand Cycling Team

Helen Hayes Hospital, West Haverstraw, NY, has announced the debut of “Helen’s Angels,” a competitive hand cycling team. The team, an official chapter of the New York Achilles Track Club, is open to anyone with a spinal cord injury or other mobility limitation. It is supported by Helen Hayes Hospital, through a grant from the Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation, and the Westchester Independent Living Center in White Plains.

Hand cycling provides a cardiovascular workout similar to that of a treadmill or bicycle, improving strength and endurance. A hand cycle is similar to a bicycle, with the rider using their arms to propel the cycle instead of their legs.

The team will be competing regularly in races across the New York metropolitan region, including the Achilles Marathon in New York City in April.

Foreign-trained Therapists Must Prove Credentials

A new rule issued by the US State Department last month stipulates that therapists applying for visas to the United States will now have to produce a certificate from an approved credentialing organization. The rule, published in the December 17 Federal Register, requires therapists who wish to work in the United States to present evidence of their training to a consular officer. The rule eliminates a temporary waiver that was available to legal residents who are not citizens.

Bee Stings Used to Fight MS

Although it is viewed with much skepticism in the professional medical world, the practice of using bee stings as a method of fighting the effects of multiple sclerosis appears to be working for some patients with the disease.

Two women with MS, Kathy Oliver, of Bartlesville, Okla, and Virginia Proctor, of Lawrence, Kan, are both proponents of “bee-sting therapy”—a process that involves being stung hundreds of times per week. The women claim that being stung has eased the pain of their respective diseases. In fact, Proctor is so convinced of the validity of this unconventional therapy that she now speaks on the subject throughout the country.

However, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is not convinced. The group financed a study of the effects of bee venom on mice with an MS-like disease. That study found that it worsened the effects of the disease in some cases.

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