By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHhealth scan 88(photo credit: )
The Alexander technique offers long-term treatment for chronic back pain, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Previous studies showed that the technique can help in the short-term.
Researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol compared the effectiveness of massage, exercise and the Alexander technique over one year.
The technique, developed between 1890 and 1900 by Frederick Alexander in London, involves physical movement with a focus on self-perception. He claimed it relieves skeletal and muscular pain, promotes rehabilitation, improves breathing and improves other conditions related to overcompensation.
Nearly 600 UK patients with chronic or recurrent back pain were randomized to receive normal care, massage, six Alexander technique lessons, or 24 Alexander technique lessons. Half of the patients from each group were also prescribed a program of brisk walking for half an hour five times a week.
After a year, exercise combined with Alexander technique exercise were found to significantly reduce pain and improve functioning, while massage offered little benefit after three months. The more Alexander workouts patients had, the fewer the number of days of pain they suffered. Interestingly, six one-to-one lessons in the Alexander technique followed by exercise had nearly as much benefit as 24 lessons in the technique alone.
The researchers concluded that massage is helpful in the short term, but the Alexander technique retained effectiveness at one year.
ILLEGAL SMOKING HURTS POCKET
It's getting ever more dangerous to smoke - not only for the body but also for the pocket. A new court case set a precedent for direct compensation of NIS 1,000 by a smoking employee of a Tel Aviv gym to a person suffering from asthma as the two stood at the entrance to the establishment.
The incident occurred at Shape in the Dizengoff Center mall. The asthmatic man, Avi Dubitzky, told the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court that the worker, Hila Nahum, was causing him harm by smoking at the entrance to the gym where he was a member. The judge said the gym should not have to compensate Dubitzky because it was not liable for its staffers harmful behavior outside the premises, but the smoker herself was fined. Dubitzky, who donated the money to charity, said it was unfair for him to have to inhale toxic chemicals against his will. The precedent is that an individual exposed to smoke in a public area is entitled to direct compensation from the smoker. An anti-smoking activist who has filed several anti-smoking suits and is donating all the money, Dubitzky said that the next time he will file a class-action suit against smokers who violate his right to clean air.
SURGICAL CLEAN ROOM AT SHAARE ZEDEK
Pathogens can be more dangerous in a hospital, where patients' immune systems are weak, than elsewhere. This causes nosocomial diseases - infectious spread inside medical institutions. Now Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center has begun to use the first of 12 rebuilt operating rooms and 24 new recovery and intensive-care rooms that prevent such infections.
Planned and built as a pilot project by the HT company in Germany and the local Elco company, the facility is made from painted stainless steel panels that allow optimal cleaning and prevents pathogens from accumulating. The ceilings and walls are sealed so that air conditioning is constantly at positive pressure, preventing pathogens from entering from outside. Maintenance staff can easily reach the air conditioning pipes for cleaning, while the filtration system ensures constant control of temperature, pressure and humidity. Special electric doors operate with foot pedals or a push of the shoulder to minimize the spread of germs.
STUDENTS DESIGN BETTER, CHEAPER INFUSION DEVICE
An electronic infusion device that will save hospitals thousands of dollars per unit and be easier to use has been developed by students at the Sami Shamoon Engineering College, established in 1995. The device introduces drugs and solutions into patients who need intensive medical supervision and is very exact, safe, flexible and easy to use, according to those who have tested it.
Conventional infusion systems cost as much as $7,000 each, but the new one will be much cheaper. It has been miniaturized and weighs only 1.2 kilos to allow patients to get around the hospital or even at home easily. When the contents are about the run out or there is a problem, an alarm sounds.
Dr. Sa'ad Tamuchi, dean of electric and electronic engineering, says the students' project expresses two of the college's values: technological education as a basis for vocational advancement, and finding technological solutions that will help people in the field of medicine.
The largest engineering college in the country, it has 3,400 students on campuses in Beersheba and Ashdod. Its benefactor, Sami Shamoon, was born in Iraq and became one of Israel's richest businessmen.
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