Deans' stroke musings: Senate recommends bill for improved NIH rehabilitation research

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Senate recommends bill for improved NIH rehabilitation research

I don't know why they just didn't wholesale copy the National Alzheimer's Plan replacing Alzheimers with stroke.
http://www.healio.com/pediatrics/practice-management/news/online/%7B75fc3ccc-43e8-4738-836d-d21342585a79%7D/senate-recommends-bill-for-improved-nih-rehabilitation-research

The U.S. Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee recently voted to pass legislation to improve, coordinate and enhance medical rehabilitation research at the NIH.

The “Enhancing the Stature and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at the NIH Act” (S. 800), sponsored by Sens. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.; and Susan Collins, R-Maine, calls for the development of a comprehensive research plan at the agency to conduct, support and coordinate research for the recovery of stroke victims and to help patients return to work. The bill also will establish a standard of care, opening access to specialized and intense care for patients struggling to recover from debilitating disabilities.

“The NIH strategic plan — which addresses the most complex war-time injuries, stroke, traumatic brain injuries and others — has not been updated since 1993,” Bennet said during the hearing. “This bill will set up benchmarks that the NIH has to meet and elevate rehabilitation research to senior-level expertise at the agency.”

Kirk, a stroke survivor, called for a higher standard of care for other Americans who have had strokes.

“After my stroke, intense rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago helped me get back on my feet and back to work,” Kirk said in a press release. “Every American should have the same access to quality rehab and care that I did. I thank my colleagues on the [Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)] Committee and look forward to passing this bill on the Senate floor.”

According to Bennet, the bill has been endorsed by leading members of the disability research community, including the March of Dimes, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the American Heart Association.

“Research into medical rehabilitation can help find new ways to improve recovery from stroke — a leading cause of serious, long-term disability,” Mark A. Creager, MD, president of the American Heart Association and director of the Heart and Vascular Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, said in a press release. “The association stands in support of this important legislation, which will provide hope for those stroke survivors who need therapy to walk, talk and live independently again. We commend Sens. Kirk and Bennet and the HELP Committee for advancing it.”

According to Kirk, 75% of the 700,000 Americans who have a stroke each year will not return to work. Kirk said this bill will help those who are affected by stroke or other traumatic injuries to return to work and return to life as productive, healthy citizens.

“Coordination at the NIH is long overdue, and this legislation is a milestone for rehabilitation research,” Joanne C. Smith, MD, president and CEO of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, said in a press release. “Its focus is aligned with [our] mission, ensuring continued best-in-class, scientifically driven care that advances patients’ ability and function.”