Juliet Cohen asked:


Preeclampsia/eclampsia is a complex hypertensive disorder of pregnancy affecting multiple systems. Preeclampsia is a condition that pregnant women can get. Preeclampsia and eclampsia are complications of pregnancy. In preeclampsia, the woman has dangerously high blood pressure, swelling, and protein in the urine.

Mild pre-eclampsia at term is less likely to recur (5-10%) and when it does, it’s usually mild again. After severe pre-eclampsia, recurrence rate is about 20-25% in subsequent pregnancies. After eclampsia, about 25-30% of subsequent pregnancies will be complicated by pre-eclampsia, but only 2% with eclampsia again.

About 7% of all nulliparas develop preeclampsia. The disease is most common in mothers under the age of 20, or over the age of 35.

Other risk factors include poverty, multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets, etc.), pre-existing chronic hypertension or kidney disease, diabetes, excess amniotic fluid, and a condition of the fetus called nonimmune hydrops. Eclampsia is the final and most severe phase of preeclampsia and occurs when preeclampsia is left untreated. In addition to the previously mentioned signs of preeclampsia, women with eclampsia often have seizures. Eclampsia can cause coma and even death of the mother and baby and can occur before, during, or after childbirth. Eclampsia can cause coma and even death of the mother and baby. Low levels of vitamin D may be a risk factor for preeclampsia. Preeclampsia can prevent the placenta from receiving enough blood, which can cause your baby to be born very small.

It is also one of the leading causes of premature births and the difficulties that can accompany them, including learning disabilities, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and hearing and vision problems. With mild preeclampsia, treatment may be limited to bed rest, with careful daily monitoring of weight, blood pressure, and urine protein via dipstick. Increased dietary protein has been suggested to reduce the incidence of pre-eclampsia. Magnesium can be injected into the veins to prevent eclampsia-related seizures. Hydralazine or another antihypertensive drug to manage severe elevations of blood pressure. A large trial of low-dose aspirin has confirmed that it has a place in prevention of pre-eclampsia. Close monitoring by practitioners will help decrease the complications of these conditions.

Preeclampsia and Eclampsia Treatment Tips

1. Monitoring fluid intake.

2. Calcium supplementation has also been suggested

3. Fish oil supplementation may help prevent preeclampsia.

4. Close monitoring by practitioners will help decrease the complications of these conditions.

5. Magnesium can be injected into the veins to prevent eclampsia-related seizures.

6. Hydralazine or another antihypertensive drug to manage severe elevations of blood pressure.



Bruce

Mira And Mark Halpert asked:


5 Steps to Improve Standardized Test Scores’ Success

Standardized reading tests are a major challenge for many students, especially for those with Dyslexia or Learning Disabilities. The math tests are very difficult for students with reading comprehension issues because the questions are either ambiguous and or very wordy.

For the child, the threats include:

· They will be retained

· Being excluded from more enjoyable activities to get the second or even third dose of reading and math help

· Frequent testing that tends to reaffirm their issues

Parents are often frustrated that progress is minimal, despite a major investment of time, money and time. This article is designed to help parents understand that learning differences, vision and attention issues could all be playing a role.

Reading comprehension, attention, vision, and test taking issues can all be major contributors to your child’s success. Below we have outlined 5-steps that parents can take to help their child succeed on high-stakes tests and beyond with a holistic approach:

1- Have a school or outside professional assess your child for reading, attention and vision issues. Over 75% of our students have two of the three issues and over 40% have all three.

2- If your child has reading comprehension issues they may be a visual-experiential learner (i.e. excellent memory for places they have been and movies they have seen and learn best when they see and experience information). We call them:

GOLD Students ™ Gifted Operating with a Learning Difference

When parents view their child as gifted and learning differently, it opens up a whole new way to explain prior challenges and to help them succeed.

Two excellent books on the subject are Jeffrey Freed’s “Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World” and Dr. Linda Silverman’s “Upside Down Brilliance” that describes gifted children who learn differently.

3- If your child skips words or lines when reading, has trouble copying off the board or get headaches when reading, have their eyes checked by a Developmental Optometrist - go to www.covd.com to find one near you. There are two routes for improvement

a. Vision therapy done at the optometrist’s office

b. Exercises you can do at home

4- Address the attention issue. Some people prefer medication; our bias is to use systems that address it naturally. We encourage natural solutions to both avoid the side effects and the challenges when the drug wears off - understand that an hour of physical exercise a day can be an enormous benefit. We also use the Interactive Metronome ®, Brain Gym ® and Centering Exercises to help the student.

5- Make sure your child gets the accommodations and test taking support they need. To get an accommodation at a public school for high stakes tests, it must be part of a formal plan done in conjunction with the school - based on your child’s disability. For students with Attention Deficit Disorder, you can get the needed accommodations if your physician assesses the child and determines the ADHD significantly impacts their academic performance. Students with a combination of learning, attention and vision issues benefit from extra time and a quiet place to take the test.

Extra time is very helpful for students who learn differently

You also want to consider having your child tested by someone who understands the way the test is written and who can teach the test taking strategies that work for them.

At http://www.3dlearner.com

we started as very frustrated parents and professionals; then migrated to doing more traditional tutoring; and now see the benefits of a holistic approach that addresses:

1- Teaching the child the way they learn best

2- Addressing vision and attention issues

3- Helping the child with both the right accommodations and test taking skills



Luis

emclaffert asked:


The neuro-psych tests show what appear to be learning disabilities that were not there before. Since learning disabled people can be helped, is anyone working on this for parkinson dementia? My son, at 53, has had pd for 20 years. He is very bright but realizes his limitations. Help, anyone?

Cody

Keith Londrie asked:


It is very common to have a learning disability along with ADHD. In fact, research shows that thirty percent of people with ADHD also have a learning disability. Beyond learning disabilities, over fifty percent of individuals with ADHD have some other type of brain-based disorder. This is why depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder and other similar disorders are higher than normal in ADD clients.

One type of learning disability that almost every person with ADD will have is an integrative processing deficit. This is the ability to take in information, process it quickly and make use of it. Most people with ADD are either slower than others in doing this or have trouble doing it at all. It is not that they do not understand the information, but conflicting signals will make it difficult to fully process.

Another common learning disability in people with ADHD is working memory problems. Working memory is another term for short term memory, or information that is told to you in the moment. This can affect information you hear, read, etc. Working memory is important for doing well academically and in your work.

Another learning disability that is common in ADHD clients is problems with visual/spatial processing. This is not too surprising since most people with ADHD have problems with organizing space. Academically, this will affect subjects such as geometry and physics.

Other common learning disabilities are dyslexia, reading comprehension, arithmetic reasoning, oral expression, written expression, foreign language acquisition, syntactic processing and most likely other learning disabilities. This is why getting a thorough examination at the start is so important. An individual may be dealing with ADHD, but he or she may be dealing with a learning disability as well. And though you cannot directly do anything about a learning disability, it is good to know you have one and how it affects your ability to function. Also, you may receive academic accommodations as well as job accommodations if diagnosed with an LD.

In order to find out if you have a learning disability, it will be necessary to go through a lengthy set of tests that compare and contrast your IQ, personality and interests. If you do significantly better on one aspect of a test than another, this could signify a learning disability. For example, if you do really well on the verbal part of your IQ test and not so well on the visual/spatial section of the IQ test, you may have a learning disability.

It is not known exactly why ADD often comes with some type of learning disability. Most likely, the atypical wiring of an ADDer has something to do with it. New research is being done every day on the brain and how it works, and science definitely does not have all the answers to these questions yet.



Lynn

dan the man asked:


I have been driving off and on for three years. During that time I’ve driven less than average overall and not much in cities, but I still think I should be getting the hang of it by now.

I’m just too slow to process information from signs and lanes on the road accurately. When road conditions change, like different numbers of lanes, curve-offs, detours, etc. or I have to make a turn, I have trouble figuring out what I’m supposed to do quickly enough for a smooth ride. I have a special problem with one-way streets, especially since I live on a military base where everything is one-way. As a situation approaches, by the time I figure out what I’m supposed to do, I’ve often missed my turn or ended up in the wrong lane and had to pass it by. I have a friend who likes to ride with me who gets really pissed off at my “slowness” and says I’m a terrible driver, even though the only accident I’ve ever been in was a fender-bender that was not my fault right after I got my license. But I’m actually pretty good at reacting to other drivers who do crazy things. Just not at responding to signs, sudden detours, and lane changes.

I used to have learning disabilities as a child that caused information to get jumbled up and confused in my mind and slowed my processing way down. I got over my learning problems as I got older. But I still struggle with slow or jumbled processing in a lot of situations that require physical activity, like driving.

What can I do to not scare my friend on the road?

Geraldine

Amanda asked:


I am 19 years old and I was always a good student, and I still am. When I was about 13 i realized that no matter how many times i read something I couldn’t remember it. And it showed as I got into high school as I had poor test scores, but I could always right great papers, busy work, etc. I asked my parents about it and my mother always told me not to worry about it and it was normal. Well now I am in college and the same things are effecting me, but I don’t have busy work to help my grades out. I find that my grades are suffering and no matter how much or different ways I present information to myself it doesn’t stick. I was talking to professor and they started asking me questions because they were generally concerned with my grades, and I suggested I might get looked at for a learning disability or something. I figured it couldn’t hurt, but I am not sure of where to go for the diagnosis test. I know children can go to places like Sylvan, can adults go there too? Or are there different places to go? I mean I am still kind of considered a child in some instances.

Norma

Chris C asked:


My son is having emotional issues that are hurting his school work. We’ve tried some meds, counseling, etc. Now they’re suggesting this school-in-a-hospital program, but I’m worried it could throw him even further out of the norm.

Anyone have a kid that’s gone to this? Does it help? Do they get back into the regular school system afterwards? Are they better? Any information would be much appreciated, thanks.

Ralph

Juliet Cohen asked:


Muenke Syndrome, also known as FGFR3-related craniosynostosis. Muenke syndrome is an inherited condition characterized by the early closure of certain bones of the skull (coronal synostosis), which affects the shape of the head and face. Many people with this disorder have a premature fusion of skull bones along the coronal suture, the growth line which goes over the head from ear to ear. Other parts of the skull may be malformed as well. These changes can result in an abnormally shaped head, wide-set eyes, and flattened cheekbones. Muenke syndrome occurs in about 1 in 30,000 newborns.

Most people with this condition have normal intellectual, but developmental impediment and learning disabilities are possible. Some have an enlarged head (macrocephaly). The signs and symptoms of Muenke syndrome vary among affected people, and some findings overlap with those seen in other craniosynostosis syndromes. A single mutation in the FGFR3 gene causes this syndrome. The protein made by the FGFR3 gene is a receptor that plays a role in the development and maintenance of bone and brain tissue. Mutations in this gene result in an abnormal receptor that binds more readily to molecules outside the cell.

This overactive receptor interferes with normal bone growth, allowing the bones of the head to mingle before they should. Most people with this condition have normal intellect, but learning disabilities are common. These signs and symptoms vary between people, and some findings overlap with those seen in other craniosynostosis syndromes. Children with Muenke syndrome and craniosynostosis are referred to a craniofacial clinic with experience in pediatrics. Adults with Muenke syndrome should be referred to a medical geneticist and genetic counselor for assessment and genetic counseling.



Diane

Tony Jacowski asked:


Learning Disabilities tend to stay for life. Remedial teaching teaches children “coping skills” so that the child is able to function despite the learning disabilities. As a learning-disabled child grows, he becomes more aware of his shortcomings and this causes frustration. Added to this is the fact that as children grow, they become less accepting. They look to form groups with children who have the same abilities and themselves. They become more aware of “differences”.

With age come challenges that are more and more difficult to handle using coping mechanisms. Things that normal adults take for granted have to be carefully thought through. Getting emotionally involved with another person and starting a relationship could be deadly for a learning-disabled person who is not able to cope with the uncertainties of emotions. Many a tragic story has been written and many a tragic movie has been made of learning-disabled people trying to make their way in the world.

Learning disabilities are varied in form and severity. They usually affect how a person thinks, talks, hears, reads and writes. These problems impact how you process thoughts and perform tasks such as reading (dyslexia), mathematics (dyscalculia), writing (dysgraphia), and so on. Since we use these skills everyday, you will have to find ways of coping with daily tasks.

Learning disabilities, just like physical disabilities, call for a lot of patience on your part. The difference lies in the fact that most physical disabilities are visible and therefore obvious to the person as well as their companions. Learning disabilities are subtle and can be quite difficult for bosses and coworkers to pick up. There are many moments of frustration that you will need to be overcome. It is important to identify and then assess the limits of your disability, especially as you enter the workforce.

It is important for you to understand and recognize the limitations that your learning disability imposes on you. At the same time, it is important not to use the learning disability as a crutch and to live life to its fullest and perform as best you can on the job despite the disability.

Life with a learning disability is a challenge - but it is not a lost cause. As with a physical disability, one has to learning coping skills to compensate for the lack of physical ability - so it is with a learning disability. Given below are some common coping skills that you can use, if you have a learning disability:

*Set up a routine in your life. It could be a daily routine from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. Listing routine tasks and posting them in a prominent position can be of immense help. Working according to a set schedule brings in a routine that is a comfort zone for you.

*Avoid stressful situations. The additional stress of high emotions can make it more difficult for you as a learning-disabled person to cope with a situation.

*Avoid noise and confusion. Surrounding noise, confusion and tension make it difficult for a learning-disabled person to concentrate on the task on hand.

*Ensure you get adequate rest. People with learning disabilities find it more difficult to cope with routine tasks if they are tired.

*In a prominent place, list all the emergency contact numbers you may require. You should even carry these numbers with you at all times.

*Lead a healthy lifestyle. This includes proper rest schedules, eating healthy food and eating on time, abstaining for all mood altering substance and, getting sufficient exercise.

A learning disability is a disability that you can cope with, even in your professional life. It is a disability that will allow you to lead an independent and productive life. It is a surmountable problem. Be aware of your problem, be informed about your problem and then live life within the confines of your problem. Live life to the fullest!



Theresa

Jane Saeman asked:


While learning disorders are being diagnosed earlier and earlier nowadays, sometimes certain cases still slip through the cracks. This is unfortunate, since the sooner a problem is identified, the sooner it can be dealt with. However, it’s always better to know that an issue exists than to never know, so if this is what’s happened with your family, keep in mind that there are still plenty of treatment options available to your child. Of course, the first step is figuring out whether or not your child has a learning problem, and if so, which one.

Below, you’ll find a list of symptoms grouped by disability type:

Dyslexia: Teenagers and adults who have yet to be diagnosed with dyslexia may have considerable difficulty with spelling. This may be demonstrated by spelling the same word multiple ways within the same essay. Those with dyslexia often rely heavily on phonetics when trying to spell a word. They may also write their letters or punctuation marks incorrectly (backwards, upside down, etc.) or put them in the wrong order.

Dyscalculia: People who don’t know that they have dyscalculia may still have extreme difficulty with basic mathematical principles and practices, such as addition and subtraction. They may have trouble dealing with number sequences, columns of numbers, and mathematical symbols. Other common signs of dyscalculia include overreliance on calculators and confusion with left and right.

Dysgraphia: Those with dysgraphia have a hard time writing or drawing within a defined space, like a piece of lined paper. This is due to poor development of fine motor skills. Another symptom of dysgraphia is illegible handwriting, which isn’t due to carelessness, but instead indicates a difficulty with handling a pen or a pencil.

Audio and Visual Perception Disabilities: If your child often has to ask you to repeat yourself, it may be a sign that they have an audio perception problem. It’s not that he or she isn’t listening carefully enough to you, it’s that their brain is unable to sort out which sound or tone to interpret first. Those with visual perception problems may transpose letters, punctuation marks, numbers, and mathematical symbols. Once again, this is an issue of sequencing malfunction in the brain, not lack of attention.

Memory Disabilities: These can manifest themselves in different ways. One common symptom is the inability to retain information that has just been relayed. For example, if your child can’t remember a passage that they have just finished reading, they may continue to reread that passage over and over again. This indicates a problem with short-term memory. Long-term memory problems may announce themselves through difficulties with retrieving information. For instance, if your child can’t recall the mathematical formula that allows them to calculate the circumference of a circle, long-term memory problems are at fault. Of course, the two are related, since if a piece of information doesn’t stick in your short-term memory, it won’t make it to your long-term memory either.



Joe