Dear Readers: I am pleased to present to you some of the best articles I have received over the year from my students at the University of Florida.

Wonderful overviews of various medical conditions, along with excellent physical activity recommendations are discussed. Disabilities commonly seen in our schools, such as cerebral palsy (Claudia Mena), cystic fibrosis (Brooke Holman), scoliosis (Brittany Ware), juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (Ryan Cochran), seizures (Renee Gallo), spina bifida (Lesley Brinton), and spinal cord injury (Elizabeth Giroud) are presented. They are replete with exercise therapy and adapted activity implications to promote healthy living.

Another disability we tend to see later in life, that is rather insidious (it sneaks up on you) is osteoporosis (Heather Simpson). Recommendations for health with this condition are also presented. So, in spite of having some of the most common and significant disabilities ... these brief articles offer excellent recommendations for living a healthy life with these conditions. What a way to start out the New Year!

Finally, I'd like to remind readers to check out the APENS website for the latest information on our Adapted PE National Standards, the CAPE examination (certified adapted physical educator), and so much more!

Thank you everyone, and have a great new year!"

Chris Stopka
pelinks4u staff

Scoliosis and Exercise Prescription - by Brittany Ware

Scoliosis Defined
Scoliosis is a skeletal condition defined by a lateral "C" or "S" shaped curvature of the spine, which is also accompanied by vertebral rotation. In order to be classified as scoliosis, the lateral curvature must be at least 10 degrees in magnitude. In some severe cases, the curvature and rotation of the spine is severe enough that the visceral organs are crushed by the rib cage, causing discomfort and, with curves greater than 100 degrees, even problems breathing.

Prevalence
Scoliosis occurs in about 2-4% of children between the ages of 10 and 16 years of age, with only 10% of these children having curvatures that progress and require a type of medical intervention. Prevalence decreases with increasing curve magnitude, as only 0.2 percent of curvatures are greater than 30 degrees and 0.1 percent is greater than 40 degrees. Although mild scoliosis is equally prevalent in boys and girls, it is 5-8 times more likely for a curvature in a girl to become serious.

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Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis - by Ryan Cochran

Description and History
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis is one of the most common chronic diseases prevalent in children, which includes ages 0-16 (although cases in babies under 6 months are rare). The normal onset age is between 1 and 3 years, while the average rates of incidence and prevalence are reported to be between 10 to 20 in 100,000 and 56 to 113, respectively. First identified by George F. Still in 1897, today it affects more than 250,000 children in the United States alone, occurring in more girls than boys. The criteria for the disease are as follows:

	Onset before the age of 16 years,
	Arthritis involving one or more joints or presence of at least two of the following, findings: (a) limitation in range of motion, (b) tenderness or pain with joint movement, (c) increased fever,
	Disease persisting 6 weeks or longer,
	Exclusion of the other juvenile arthritis.

Like adult rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system attacks its own healthy cells and tissues. JRA is considered to be a multifactorial condition meaning that "many factors" are involved in causing the health problem.

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Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes neurons in the brain to signal abnormally, causing odd sensation, emotions, convulsions, and sometimes loss of consciousness. It was first identified in ancient Babylon, more than 3,000 years ago. The word epilepsy is derived from the Greek word for "attack," which refers to the neurons tendency to fire electrical signals as many as 500 times a second, up to hundreds of times a day. It wasn't until 4,000 B.C. that Hippocrates identified epilepsy as a brain disorder.

This brain disorder can be caused by high fever, damage to the brain caused by trauma or illness, or the cause can be unknown, resulting in idiopathic epilepsy. Epilepsy is usually diagnosed after a child has two or more seizure. The seizures are classified as either focal or generalized.

A focal seizure occurs in one part of the brain. About 60 percent of children with epilepsy have focal seizures. During a focal seizure, the child will remain conscious, and may experience unexplainable feelings of joy, anger, nausea, or sadness. In complex focal seizures, the child loses consciousness, and may display twitching and muscle spasm, and these seizures last only a couple of seconds. Interestingly, children with focal seizures, sometimes experience auras, or unusual sensations that warn of an impending seizure.

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Piriformis syndrome is a condition in which the piriformis muscle irritates the sciatic nerve and causes pain in the rear, and may cause pain along the back of the leg and into the foot (similar to sciatica pain). Piriformis syndrome is most common among women, and is thought to be common among active individuals (such as runners and walkers).

Read Piriformis syndrome - another irritation to the sciatic nerve and Piriformis Syndrome at the Institute for Nerve Medicine.

Spina Bifida and Jean Driscoll - By Lesley Brinton

Every hour, every day, somewhere in the US, a baby is born with a serious birth defect that is more common than muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, polio, or cystic fibrosis combined... yet until recently most people had never heard of it (1). This disorder is Spina Bifida (SB), or Neural Tube Disorder (NTB), a neural tube defect caused by the failure of the fetus's spine to close properly during the first month of pregnancy (2).

The neural tube is the embryonic structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord (3). Under normal circumstances, the neural tube forms in the developing baby early in the pregnancy and closes by the 26th day after conception (4). Then, later in the pregnancy, the top of this tube becomes the baby's brain and the remainder becomes the spinal cord (4).

However, in babies with Spina Bifida, a portion of the neural tube fails to develop or close properly, causing defects in the spinal cord and in the bones that make up the backbone (4). As of now, doctors are not sure as to what exactly causes the neural tube to not close properly. However, it appears to result from a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors, such as folic acid deficiency, a family history of neural tube defects, and medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity (4). Yet, ninety-five percent of babies with Spina bifida and other NTDs are born to parents with no family history of these disorders (5).

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Spinal Cord Injuries and Physical Activity - by Lizzy Giroud

For the past 18 years, Brian has been able to live his life without any worries. He has done anything and everything that he as ever wanted to do. He is about to graduate high school, and has committed to play basketball at a Division One college. Everything is looking up for him.

After playing his last high school basketball game, he drives home to shower before heading out with his friends. On the way home, he gets into a car accident and is severely injured. He is sent to the hospital where he learns that he has severed his spinal cord at his thoracic nerves. His doctor tells him that he is paralyzed from the waist down, and will have to be in a wheelchair in order to move around. He feels that is life is over and there is no reason to live anymore. But he could not be any more wrong.

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Osteoporosis: Prevention and Treatment - by Heather Simpson

What disease affects more than 10 million Americans, which nearly 80% of them being women? That disease is osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is defined as a disease of the bones, which causes them to become weak, brittle and fragile, rendering bones throughout the skeleton susceptible to fracture. It is estimated that 38 million dollars each day is spent on detecting, preventing or on the treatment of osteoporosis. The sad part about this disease is that osteoporosis can be prevented very easily, but yet, it still affects many peoples' daily lives.

Osteoporosis was once thought to be a natural part of the aging process, but now researchers know it to be preventable. It isn't normal for bone tissue to lose so much strength that it can't withstand the stresses of normal activity on the body.

Osteoporosis causes people pain in regular activities such as bending over to pick up the morning paper, turning around to look behind, or something as simple as standing for a good length of time. But osteoporosis is just the start to the problem, because it is said that nearly 44 million Americans have osteopenia, which means that the numbers will just continue to grow. Osteopenia is the beginning stages of the full blown osteoporosis disease.

So, this disease isn't just a disease that only affects a little bit of the population, but it continues to grow and will continue to worsen before it gets better.

Find out more about Osteoporosis.