Join In...Awareness is key

Rare Disease Day USA February 28, 2014

Handprints Across America

Please help us show the impact of Rare Disease Day across the nation. We invite you to print out this flier with the Rare Disease Day logo and submit a photo of yourself, someone else or a group of people holding it.  The purpose is to show people observing Rare Disease Day in a variety of settings across the nation.  (If you would prefer, you can purchase a Rare Disease Day T-shirt to wear instead of holding the flier.)

Optional:  This year, we are inviting those who submit photos to include very brief (no more than 100 words) text with them.  This isn’t required but is an option for anyone who wishes to add text to the photo.

We will post all submissions in our “Handprints Across America Gallery.” View what has already been submitted.  We’ll also select one to feature each week on the Rare Disease Day US homepage.

- See more at: http://rarediseaseday.us/take-action-now/handprints-across-america/#sthash.4KNYnYHj.dpuf

More here: http://rarediseaseday.us/take-action-now/handprints-across-america/

Why Are You Always Cold? A Doctor Explains

Katelyn Heindel is always cold.

“In the summertime when it’s 80 degrees, I’m walking around saying I’m freezing,” the 28-year-old told weather.com. “I feel like it’s negative 80 degrees on my hands and feet.” 

Her hands and feet feel frozen so often, she said it got to the point where she was wasting time at work trying to warm them up. Her husband insisted she go to the doctor to get the issue checked out.

The problem: Her body’s natural process of vasoconstriction, or the shunting of blood away from extremities in cold environments, was going haywire, making her feel extreme cold, even pain.

Read more here  (copy and paste to your browser):http://www.weather.com/health/why-women-feel-colder-men-20140204

TED Talks: Elliot Krane: The mystery of chronic pain

We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain, and reviews the facts we're just learning about how it works and how to treat it.


Read and watch more here(copy and paste to your browser): http://www.ted.com/talks/elliot_krane_the_mystery_of_chronic_pain.html

OPTIMISM...pass it on

Happy New Year!!

Ultrasound May Boost Brain's Performance, Study Finds

Ultrasound may improve sensory perception, according to a new study in humans.

By directing ultrasound to a specific brain area, researchers were able to improve people's ability to discriminate between sensory inputs. Ultrasound is sound far above the upper limit of what humans can hear. It's useful in medical imaging. Doctors and technicians send bursts of ultrasound through tissue and record the echoes, creating a picture of what's inside — whether it's an injured knee or a fetus in utero.

Ultrasound also has potential for mapping the connectivity of the brain. Neuroscientists are particularly interested in understanding how brain areas chat with one another; in fact, a new federal project, the BRAIN Initiative, has the goal of mapping the healthy human brain. [Inside the Brain: A Photo Journey Through Time]

Read more here...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/ultrasound-boost-brain-performance_n_4585635.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009