Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Hosts the Interactive Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center to Educate the Community About Neurological Disorders
Wednesday October 18, 7:00 am ET
BOSTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Beth Israel Medical Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and WE MOVE(TM) Worldwide Education and Awareness of Movement Disorders) have partnered to bring a free, public, interactive exhibit, the Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center, to BIDMC in order to educate Bostonians about movement disorders and their symptoms, and to provide suggestions to help people work with their healthcare providers to properly diagnose and treat movement disorders. Movement disorders are chronic and debilitating neurological conditions that affect more than 40 million Americans, more than twice the number of people with diabetes and more than four times the number of those surviving cancer.
"The Movement Disorders Experience Center is an innovative way to educate people about movement disorders and their symptoms," noted Daniel Tarsy, M.D., Professor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Director of the Parkinson's Disease & Movement Disorders Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "We know that historically, it can take a person with a movement disorder upwards of five years and visits to as many as 15 different doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. As people become better educated about the symptoms of movement disorders and work with physicians experienced in diagnosing these conditions, such as a neurologist or physiatrist, they are much more likely to get a faster diagnosis and appropriate treatment."
The one-day exhibit provides participants with restraining devices, vibrating apparatuses, and other devices that simulate daily challenges associated with movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, tremor, spasticity, dystonia and restless legs syndrome, providing participants the opportunity to better understand what it's like to live with a movement disorder. In addition, fact sheets providing background information on the disorders and brochures with information on how patients and family members can discuss these issues with their healthcare providers are distributed.
In advance of October's Movement Disorders Awareness Month, the first-ever Life in Motion Movement Disorder Patient Summit was held in Washington, D.C. Hosted by WE MOVE, the Summit built upon the efforts of more than 4,000 Americans from every state who have written letters to their representatives in Congress calling for greater awareness and availability of treatments for these debilitating neurological conditions. Massachusetts residents alone sent a total of 123 letters to their members of Congress.
"Many people with movement disorders have trouble obtaining an accurate diagnosis and it can be years before they receive effective treatment," said Massachusetts Congressman Michael Capuano (D-8th). "I hope that Movement Disorders Awareness Month and initiatives like the Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center will help highlight what physicians, patients and their families can do to raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis and effective treatments."
Spearheaded by WE MOVE, the Life in Motion initiative was launched in 2005 and has united an unprecedented 53 patient advocacy groups, foundations and professional societies to raise awareness about movement disorders such as dystonia, spasticity, tremor, restless legs syndrome, Parkinson's disease, tics and Tourette's syndrome, and Huntington's disease that affect nearly one in seven people in the United States. The Life in Motion campaign was funded through an unrestricted educational grant from Allergan, Inc.
Life in Motion Resource Center
Additional information on movement disorders, diagnosis and treatment options can be found at the Life in Motion Resource Center at www.life-in-motion.org or by calling the automated toll-free number at 1-866-LIM-3136 (1-866-546-3136).
About Movement Disorders
Movement disorders originate deep within the brain and are caused by changes to specific regions of the brain and nervous system. Areas of the brain that control movement send chemical messages that set off a chain of events resulting in involuntary muscle contractions or spasms. Why this happens is largely unknown.
Although there are no current cures for movement disorders, many of them can be effectively treated with oral medications, botulinum toxin injection therapy targeted to spastic or abnormally contracting muscles, and surgery and physical or occupational therapies. In many cases, combinations of drugs and therapies are used by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists that may include a primary care physician, neurologist, physiatrist, nurse, a physical, occupational, and speech therapist, social worker, teacher, and psychologist.
About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, research and teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is a clinical partner of the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.harvard.edu .
About WE MOVE
WE MOVE is a not-for-profit organization that has been educating and informing the movement disorder community for more than a decade. The mission of WE MOVE is to facilitate the communication of emerging clinical advances and therapeutic approaches to the management and treatment of movement disorders. Through its award-winning, Health on the Net (HON)-compliant Web sites, and as an ACCME-accredited provider of continuing medical education (CME), WE MOVE strives to meet the educational needs of healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers. WE MOVE develops up-to-date training programs and comprehensive, interactive teaching materials to assist the community in deepening its understanding of movement disorders, their pathophysiology, etiology, differential diagnosis and state-of-the-art interventions. WE MOVE believes that increased knowledge and understanding promote timely, accurate diagnosis, and up-to-date treatment, resulting in a better quality of life for individuals affected by movement disorders.
More than 160,000 people visit the WE MOVE award-winning Web sites each month to access accurate, timely, and balanced information and resources on movement disorders, www.wemove.org (consumers); www.mdvu.org (professionals).
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