Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Article Abstract:
Physiatry is a branch of medicine that employs physical rehabilitation to help patients recover from injuries, but also focuses on prevention of injuries, particularly those that are work-related. For example, many professions, including sports and the performing arts, subject the body to stresses that are not normally encountered in everyday life. Physiatrists have begun to accumulated large amounts of data on the stresses applied to the body, and the body's reaction. Such information provides an important groundwork for prevention and treatment, since many injuries are not the result of a single accident, but are the product of accumulated damage resulting from years of physically stressful activities. Unfortunately, prevention is not always possible, and much of the job of the physiatrist is to provide therapy and rehabilitation for injured people, including those with spinal cord injuries. Recovery from spinal cord injury is rarely complete, but with new techniques the best possible recovery may be achieved. The use of steroids in the initial phase of treatment may lessen the permanent spinal cord damage. Electrical stimulating devices may be used by patients to move muscles that are intact, but are no longer receiving input from the spinal cord. Incontinence is often a consequence of injury, as well as diseases such as multiple sclerosis. The evaluation of incontinence to determine its precise cause is an important part of physical therapy, not only because incontinence is embarrassing and unpleasant for the patient, but also because it may inhibit the patient from participating in other activities that would help achieve the best possible recovery. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1991
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Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Article Abstract:
Society will have to decide the most cost-effective way to meet the health care needs of those with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Residency programs are being developed for spinal cord injury and physicians will be able to apply for certification in this subspecialty. Several questionnaires have been developed to assess physical function, including the Functional Independence Measure, the Craig Handicap Assessment Reporting Technique and the Community Integration Questionnaire. Issues that affect the disabled often receive national media attention.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1997
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Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Article Abstract:
The specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation continues to grow. The technical term for this specialty is physiatry and doctors who specialize in it are called physiatrists. These doctors' main concern is improving patients' ability to perform the activities that add quality to life. More patients are being treated in outpatient facilities and day rehabilitation services. Multidisciplinary teams can manage patients from the time they enter the hospital until their discharge to an outpatient program.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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