Aging patients with disabilities pose new challenges for doctors, caregivers
For the first time in history, people with disabling conditions such as cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries are living into old age, due largely to improved medical care and stronger social networks. "Now that they're living into their 70s and 80s, they're experiencing the added effects of normal aging and common diseases, such as diabetes or arthritis, on top of the disabling condition," says Dr. Laura Mosqueda, director of geriatrics at UCI Medical Center. But as these people age, so do their caregivers--most often mothers and siblings--placing greater burdens on them and creating new challenges for health care professionals. An innovative program at UCI Medical Center is helping to meet those challenges. Through the Health Assessment Program for Seniors, Mosqueda and her team address health issues for disabled patients and their caregivers, including psychological, physical and mental function, environmental factors and social support services. The program, she says, is likely to serve as a model for other institutions as advances in medical care continue to extend the lives of those with severe disabilities.
Contact: Kim Pine, (714) 456-7759, [email protected]
New measuring device gets to the bottom of burns
When treating a burn, doctors quickly need to determine whether underlying blood vessels have been damaged. If so, they need to perform surgery and apply skin grafts; if not, an ointment may be all that's necessary for treatment. New technology may eventually make the process of determining a burn's severity easier for the doctor--and the patient. Joie Jones, professor of radiology at UCI's College of Medicine, and Dr. Bruce Achauer, head of the burn unit at UCI Medical Center, have created a small ultrasound device that scans a burn and, with a computer's help, determines the depth of skin damage. "This device is hand-held and does not touch the patient's skin," Jones said. "Current diagnostic equipment is too cumbersome or causes a great deal of pain by touching the burn site." The researchers next plan to test the device in larger clinical studies as a first step toward making it available to doctors.
Contact: Andrew Porterfield, (949) 824-3969, [email protected]
Why don't more Americans vote?
As California and other states gird for presidential primaries, political commentators and candidates no doubt will lament the nation's sorrowful state of voter participation. In the 1996 presidential election, less than half of the voting-age population cast ballots; in a 1997 Texas special election, a mere 5 percent of the state's voters made it to the polls--despite pleas from Gov. George W. Bush. Even in New Hampshire, this month's primary drew just 44 percent of the state's voting-age population to the polls--and that almost certainly will be the highest primary turnout this year, says Martin Wattenberg, a nationally known UCI political scientist who studies the causes of voter apathy. He believes one of many contributing factors is the proliferation of TV channels and Internet sites, which make it easier than ever for people to avoid public-affairs news entirely. The changing media environment, he says, has had a particular impact on today's young citizens, who have never known a time when national political events received blanket coverage on all TV channels. Wattenberg has a simple suggestion for helping increase turnout: Declare Election Day a national holiday to give people more time to get to the polls.
Contact: Tracy Childs, (949) 824-5484, [email protected]
To understand species diversity, just follow the butterfly
Butterflies may be free, but myriad factors other than personal choice determine where they live. Bradford A. Hawkins, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCI, is studying why butterflies thrive in some areas but not in others. In doing so, he hopes to provide greater insight into the importance of species diversity in maintaining the health of ecosystems. His research tests an ecological theory called the energy hypothesis, which looks at how environmental energy sources such as sunlight and warmth can determine species diversity. The theory has been widely studied on plant and animal groups, "but whether or not the diversity of insects, the group with the greatest number of species, is also limited by energy is not well-documented," Hawkins said. He is discovering that while the energy theory applies to butterfly populations in extreme northern climates, other factors--such as habitats and water availability--determine diversity in other regions. He eventually wants to study birds in an effort to learn how human influence on such environmental factors as sunlight and warmth can affect species diversity in specific climates and regions.
Contact: Tom Vasich, (949) 824-6455, [email protected]
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