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National Life in Motion Movement Disorders Interactive Experience Center Comes to Seattle's Swedish Medical Center

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 June 2007, 15:00 CDT

SEATTLE, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Swedish Medical Center and WE MOVE(TM) have partnered to bring a free, public, interactive exhibit, the Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center to Seattle on Thursday, June 7, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to help educate the public about movement disorders and their symptoms in an effort to facilitate a more timely and accurate diagnosis of these conditions. It is the first time this traveling exhibit is in Washington; local movement disorder patients will be visiting the experience center to share their personal experience with attendees.

Movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, spasticity, dystonia, tremor, and restless legs syndrome, are chronic and debilitating neurological conditions that affect more than 40 million Americans, more than twice the number of people with diabetes and more than four times the number of those surviving cancer.

"The Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center is an innovative way to educate people about movement disorders and their symptoms," noted neurologist David Greeley, M.D., neurologist at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute at the Swedish Medical Center and also founder of Northwest Neurological, PLLC in Spokane. "We know that historically, it can take a person with a movement disorder upwards of five years and visits to as many as 15 different doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. As people become better educated about the symptoms of movement disorders and work with physicians experienced in diagnosing these conditions, such as a neurologist or physiatrist, they are more likely to get a faster diagnosis and appropriate treatment."

"Living with a movement disorder can impact not only the individual, but family, friends and careers," noted Seattle resident, Motorsports Hall of Famer and spasmodic dysphonia patient Chip Hanauer. "Like many others who battle these types of illnesses, I became depressed because I did not understand what was happening to me or how I could fix it, but luckily, treatment has greatly improved my condition. I'm looking forward to attending the Movement Disorders Experience Center and hope that as people become more educated about movement disorders, these conditions will be diagnosed and treated appropriately and quickly." Spasmodic dysphonia is a type of focal dystonia that affects more than 50,000 people in North America, and is characterized by involuntary "spasms" of the vocal cords causing interruptions of speech and affecting the voice quality. June 3-9 is Dystonia Awareness Week.

The Life in Motion Movement Disorders Experience Center provides participants with restraining devices, vibrating apparatuses and other devices that simulate daily challenges associated with movement disorders. People "experience" the challenges of living with these disorders first-hand, providing them with a better understanding of the symptoms of movement disorders. In addition, fact sheets will be available that provide background information on the disorders and brochures with information on how patients and family members can discuss these issues with their healthcare providers.

"This is an important time in the development of medical knowledge about movement disorders. Although much remains to be discovered, our understanding of spasticity, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, essential tremor and other movement disorders has reached unprecedented heights," adds Dr. Greeley. "The ability of physicians to correctly recognize and effectively treat such disorders is greater than ever. The first step comes with seeing a physician experienced with movement disorders, like a neurologist or physiatrist."

To raise awareness of movement disorders among congressional representatives, Life in Motion sponsored a letter-writing campaign that resulted in more than 4,000 Americans writing letters to their local representatives in 2006. Residents from all 50 states participated; Washington residents alone sent 100 letters to their representatives in Congress.

The public interactive exhibit will be available on Thursday, June 7 from 10:00am to 3:00pm in the James Tower Lobby in the Swedish Neuroscience Institute at the Swedish Medical Center/Cherry Hill campus located at 500 - 17th Avenue, Seattle, WA.

Spearheaded by WE MOVE(TM), the Life in Motion initiative was launched in 2005 and has united an unprecedented 59 patient advocacy groups, foundations and professional societies to raise awareness about movement disorders such as dystonia, spasticity, tremor, restless legs syndrome, Parkinson's disease, tics and Tourette's syndrome, and Huntington's disease that affect nearly one in seven people in the United States. The Life in Motion campaign is funded through an unrestricted educational grant from Allergan, Inc.

Life in Motion Resource Center

Additional information on movement disorders, diagnosis and treatment options as well as downloadable fact sheets and brochures can be found at the Life in Motion Resource Center at http://www.life-in-motion.org/.

About Movement Disorders

Movement disorders originate deep within the brain and are caused by changes to specific regions of the brain and nervous system. Areas of the brain that control movement send chemical messages that set off a chain of events resulting in involuntary muscle contractions or spasms. Why this happens is largely unknown.

Although there are no current cures for movement disorders, many of them can be effectively treated with oral medications, botulinum toxin injection therapy targeted to spastic or abnormally contracting muscles, and surgery and physical or occupational therapies. In many cases, combinations of drugs and therapies are used by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists that may include a primary care physician, neurologist, physiatrist, nurse, a physical, occupational, and speech therapist, social worker, teacher and psychologist.

About WE MOVE

WE MOVE (Worldwide Education and Awareness of Movement Disorders) is a not-for-profit organization that has been educating and informing the movement disorder community for more than a decade. The mission of WE MOVE is to facilitate the communication of emerging clinical advances and therapeutic approaches to the management and treatment of movement disorders. Through its award-winning, Health on the Net (HON)-compliant Web sites, and as an ACCME- accredited provider of continuing medical education (CME), WE MOVE strives to meet the educational needs of healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers. WE MOVE develops up-to-date training programs and comprehensive, interactive teaching materials to assist the community in deepening its understanding of movement disorders, their pathophysiology, etiology, differential diagnosis and state-of-the-art interventions. WE MOVE believes that increased knowledge and understanding promote timely, accurate diagnosis, and up-to-date treatment, resulting in a better quality of life for individuals affected by movement disorders.

More than 160,000 people visit the WE MOVE award-winning Web sites each month to access accurate, timely, and balanced information and resources on movement disorders, http://www.wemove.org/ (consumers); http://www.mdvu.org/ (professionals).

About Swedish Medical Center

Swedish is the largest, most comprehensive, nonprofit health provider in the Pacific Northwest. It is comprised of three hospital campuses - First Hill, Cherry Hill (formerly Providence) and Ballard - a freestanding emergency room and specialty center in Issaquah, Swedish Home Care Services and Swedish Physicians - a network of 12 primary-care clinics. In addition to general medical and surgical care, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiac care, oncology, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, neurological care, pediatrics, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit http://www.swedish.org/

Life in Motion Coalition Members American Academy for Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine American Academy of Neurology American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation American Association of Neurological Surgeons American Association of Neuroscience Nurses American Geriatrics Society American Parkinson's Disease Association, Inc. American Physical Therapy Association American Speech-Language-Hearing Association American Stroke Association Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation, Inc. Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation, Inc. Care4Dystonia, Inc. Child Neurology Foundation Child Neurology Society Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Easter Seals Huntington's Study Group Huntington's Disease Society of America International Dystonia On-Line Support Group International Essential Tremor Foundation International Rett Syndrome Association Movement Disorder Society Musicians with Dystonia National Alliance for Caregiving National Ataxia Foundation National Family Caregivers Association National Multiple Sclerosis Society National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. National Parkinson Foundation, Inc. National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association National Spasmodic Torticollis Association National Spinal Cord Injury Association National Stroke Association North American Brain Injury Society Northwest Parkinson's Foundation Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus Parkinson Action Network Parkinson Association of the Carolinas Parkinson Association of the Rockies Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland Parkinson Pipeline Project Parkinson Study Group Parkinson's Disease Foundation Pediatric Neurotransmitter Disease Association People Living with Parkinson's Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation Rett Syndrome Research Foundation Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Inc. Spasmodic Torticollis/Dystonia, Inc. Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, Inc. The Parkinson Alliance Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc. Tremor Action Network United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Well Spouse Association Wilson's Disease Association WE MOVE

WE MOVE

CONTACT: Maggie O'Rourke of Biosector 2, +1-646-418-6306,Morourke@biosector2.com, for WE MOVE

Web site: http://www.wemove.org/http://www.mdvu.org/http://www.life-in-motion.org/http://www.swedish.org/

Source: PRNewswire

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