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U-of-I research of pain relief

December 31, 2007 By

University of Iowa researchers are studying a way to relieve pain by stimulating the skin with low-intensity electricity.

Barb Rakel, a professor of nursing at the U-of-I, says the process is called TENS and it’s painless. "TENS is short for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and it’s used with electrodes that are placed on the skin," she says. "It gives an electrical current to the point of just below muscle contraction for our study."

She say they’re looking for volunteers to take part in a study of TENS and they want to focus on people with the joint disease in their knees called osteoarthritis. "Research has shown that the use of this device, intermittently, can influence or inhibit the perception of pain from a painful area," she says. "We apply these electrodes at areas around the knee when someone has osteoarthritis. It’s also used in other studies for lower back pain."

She’s also done research on the benefits of TENS around surgical incisions. Rakel says the treatment is usually offered as a supplement to pain medication, not as a replacement for it. "The pain medication we give is pretty good at controlling pain at rest but when people need to move and do things to help with recovery or just help improve quality of life and function, the pain with movement is more difficult to control," Rakel says. 

She says when TENS is applied, it’s not like a shock — it’s more of a tingling, vibrating sensation, almost like a massage. People between 18 and 50 who are interested in the study should call (319) 335-3052.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Candidates ring in New Year in Iowa

December 31, 2007 By

Most of the presidential candidates you’ve been seeing and hearing in the ads will be here in Iowa tonight. Democrat Chris Dodd plans to be at "Happy’s Place" — an establishment in Dubuque that sells food and adult beverages for toasting in the New Year. Democrat Hillary Clinton and her husband are hosting a party in downtown Des Moines and plan to ring in the New Year in full public view. Democrat John Edwards will spend tonight in Des Moines with his wife and family — in private, not in public according to the campaign.

This afternoon during a campaign stop in Spencer, Edwards remained focused on his core message. "It doesn’t change anything to trade a crowd of corporate Republicans for corporate Democrats," Edwards said.

During a 90-minute campaign stop today in Perry, Democrat Barack Obama laid out his case. "I’ve been hearing some other candidates speak almost scornfully about this idea of hope. They make it out as if somehow it means that your head’s in the clouds," Obama said. "They say, ‘Oh Obama, he’s talking about hope again. He’s so idealistic. He’s a hope monger.’" Obama winds up his campaign day tonight with a rally on the Iowa State University campus.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney plans to drop by the alcohol-free, family-friendly celebration planned in Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines tonight. During a campaign stop earlier today in Dubuque, Romney promised as president he’d have a new way of doing things in Washington. "We’ve finally got to pull all the partisanship and the bickering and the score-setting behind and the credit-seeking behind and to finally deal with the challenges we have," Romney said.

Republican candidate Mike Huckabee got a hair cut this afternoon and will be stopping by the Wakonda Club in Des Moines to meet with supporters early in the evening.  

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Huckabee shows ad to media, then announces it won’t run

December 31, 2007 By

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has pulled an advertisement he recorded that criticizes rival Mitt Romney.  Huckabee held a news conference in Des Moines today to play the ad for dozens of media outlets. Then, Huckabee announced he’d had a change of heart and wouldn’t be running the advertisement.

Huckabee has long boasted of his low-budget campaign, but during an interview with Radio Iowa Huckabee said he had plenty of money to pay for the attack ad, he just decided not to run it. "We’re running as many ads as we were planning to run, in fact we’ll buy some more time. We’ve got probably more than $2 million in the bank," Huckabee said, "so it’s not a matter of lack of money."

Huckabee had been a candidate on the rise in polls until rivals, notably Romney, started raising questions about Huckabee’s record as governor of Arkansas, criticism that eventually was crafted into campaign commercials. "We’ve gotten this far in Iowa with people saying, ‘Thanks for a positive message’ and there came a conflict between what we knew was the conventional political wisdom and what we just felt like was the right thing to do," Huckabee said during his interview with Radio Iowa. "When I woke up this morning — I mean we spent most of yesterday out there, you know, diligently working on this spot and getting it ready and producing it and getting it all set and getting it to the television stations this morning — and late this morning I just decided we’re not going to run that."

Late in the afternoon Romney’s Iowa campaign spokesman, Tim Albrecht, issued the following statement via email: "To say one thing one minute and then turn around and show an attack ad to reporters the next will, obviously, leave folks with a very cynical view of Mike Huckabee and his message. Mike Huckabee has turned from nice to very hot-tempered now that his record has been examined by voters."

Huckabee veered around protestors from the Ron Paul campaign to visit his Iowa campaign headquarters this afternoon. Many of the people making campaign calls on his behalf were children and for many it was a civics lesson in their home school curriculum. "How many kids get a chance to actually work in the internal operations of presidential campaign during the Iowa Caucuses? So it’s pretty amazing," Huckabee said. "I think a lot of parents here are bringing, you know maybe, their families because of that experience to say that 20, 30, 40 years ago they’ll be talking about doing this and I hope they’re talking about doing it for the guy who becomes president."

Huckabee’s due to attend a New Year’s Eve party at the Wakonda Club, the private club located just south of the airport that is a convenient and frequent stop for Republican politicians ducking into Des Moines to make a campaign appearance or keynote a fundraiser.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Study looks at treating pain with electricity

December 31, 2007 By

University of Iowa researchers are studying a way to relieve pain by stimulating the skin with low-intensity electricity. Barb Rakel, a professor of nursing at the U-of-I, says the process is called TENS and it’s painless.

Rakel says: "TENS is short for transcutaneous (trans-cue-TAY-nee-us) electrical nerve stimulation and it’s used with electrodes that are placed on the skin. It gives an electrical current to the point of just below muscle contraction for our study." She say they’re looking for volunteers to take part in a study of TENS and they want to focus on people with the joint disease in their knees called osteoarthritis.

"Research has shown that the use of this device, intermittently, can influence or inhibit the perception of pain from a painful area," Rakel says, "we apply these electrodes at areas around the knee when someone has osteoarthritis. It’s also used in other studies for lower back pain." She says she’s also done research on the benefits of TENS around surgical incisions.

Rakel says the treatment is usually offered as a supplement to pain medication, not as a replacement for it.

Rakel says: "The pain medication we give is pretty good at controlling pain at rest but when people need to move and do things to help with recovery or just help improve quality of life and function, the pain with movement is more difficult to control." She says when TENS is applied, it’s not like a shock — it’s more of a tingling, vibrating sensation, almost like a massage. People between 18 and 50 who are interested in the study should call (319) 335-3052.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Don’t speed to deal with wounded trees

December 31, 2007 By

The continual winter storms have made it tough for some people to get out and take care of trees that were damaged in the ice storms in early December. Mark Vitosh, a forester with the Department of Natural Resources, says you don’t have to brave the elements to work on downed limbs.

Depending on the species of tree, you don’t have to work on trees right away as he says broken limbs can be taken care of any time during the winter. If you have oak trees however, he says you should remove the stubs before the end of February.

Oak trees need protection from potential disease. He says you don’t want fresh wounds in the springtime because of oak wilt. Vitosh says many tree crews have been busy, so you don’t have to rush to get the work done, you can wait awhile.

If you do get out, Vitosh has some tips, for example you need to prune back broken branches to the branch collar near the trunk, so the trees can heal on their own. He says properly taking care of trees prevents disease later on.

Vitosh says correctly pruned trees will heal on their own and that will keep out decay and disease.

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Public Safety chief says younger drivers make up disproportionate share of drunk driving fatalities

December 31, 2007 By

New Year’s Eve can be a dangerous night on Iowa roads, especially because of motorists who have been drinking alcohol. Iowa Department of Public Safety Director Gene Meyer says young people represent a large percentage of the people killed every year in crashes involving drunk drivers.

"Tragically, nearly 30 percent of all victims who died in alcohol related crashes in Iowa from 1997 to 2006, were 25 year old or younger," Meyer says. Meyer is encouraging Iowans who are out tonight celebrating the new year to designate a sober driver or to call a cab.

He says more than 50 people are charged with OWI everyday in Iowa. The Christmas and New Year’s holiday period is one of the more dangerous times of the year related to drunk driving. Last December and January, nearly 2,800 Americans were killed in alcohol-related crashes.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Clock ticks on Iowa Caucus campaign

December 31, 2007 By

When the clock strikes midnight, there will be 66 and a half hours ’til the doors open Thursday night for Iowa’s Caucuses. Each of the candidates competing here for votes spent the weekend meeting voters in person.

Tonight, Bill and Hillary Clinton plan a big bash for supporters in Des Moines to ring in the New Year. John Edwards will make five campaign speeches in five different Iowa cities today. During an appearance Sunday in Boone, Edwards voice rose as he railed against corporate interests. "We don’t have universal health care because of drug companies, insurance companies and their lobbyists in Washington, D.C.," Edwards said. "Why do we have that mess of a Medicare prescription drug law? We have it because the drug company lobbyists literally wrote the thing."

Democrat Barack Obama is accusing the Clinton campaign of trying to scare voters about the kind of change he’s been advocating. "I don’t think that’s going to be successful this time. As I point out, I think the real gamble in this election is to have the same old folks doing the same old things over and over again and expecting a different result," Obama said during an interview with Radio Iowa. "We need different results. We need new leadership and that’s why I’m running for president."

On the Republican side, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been stressing his background as a businessman in the closing days of the campaign. "I think I’m the only guy — Republican or Democrat — who’s running for president who actually understands how the economy works," Romney said Sunday in Bettendorf, to applause from the crowd, "who signed the front side of a payroll check, who wants to make sure that we keep more jobs here. I’ll fight to keep more jobs here to make sure we’re competitive."

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee spent some of Sunday afternoon recording TV ads to respond to Romney’s criticism of his record in Arkansas. Republican Fred Thompson is the other Republican who’s been busing around the state, intending to make 50 stops in Iowa before Thursday night’s Caucuses.

"I understand the weather’s going to be summer-like. There’s going to be no problems and you guys I don’t want you to pay any attention to the fact there’s an Orange Bowl game on that night. Ladies, don’t serve dinner. Don’t let any television-watching be going on until you go to the Caucus that night and then you can come back and catch up. TiVo," Thompson told a crowd in Ames on Sunday, referencing the digital recorder which captures television programs. "Think TiVo."

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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