FOCUS TOPIC WOMEN’S HEALTH FOCUS
Serving a 24 County Area, Including Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery & Tuscaloosa
MAY 2023 / $5
Revolutionary New Clinic Offers Higher Quality of Life for ALS Patient Ansley Franco
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a complex, incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons –neurons that control motor function in the brain, brainstem and spinal cord. Patient care includes going to several healthcare providers such as a neurologist, physical therapist and occupational therapist, etc. “In order for us to take care of those patients, we need a multidisciplinary approach. You cannot ask a patient who has such a devastating diagnosis to go to visit all of those providers on separate occasions. A patient will simply spend their
entire lifetime going to doctor’s appointments or medical providers’ appointments,” said Mohamed Kazamel, MD, ALS clinic co-director and associate professor in the Department of Neurology, Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s new ALS clinic allows a patient to see eight health care providers in one visit, with one co-pay. The patients will interact with their neurologist, physical and occupational therapist, dietitian, speech therapist, psychologist, social worker and respiratory therapist. “Before the clinic, the patient typically does not see all the providers. We (CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Non-Invasive Encircling Laser Treatment Can Help Prevent Retinal Detachment By Marti Webb Slay
sicians to be aware of the procedure for their patients who have a history of retiOphthalmologist Robnal detachment. ert Morris, MD, founding The procedure entails physician of Retina Speusing a laser to weld the cialists of Alabama and peripheral retina to the eye president of the Birmingwall, effectively preventing ham-based Helen Keller tears that can cause blindFoundation for Research ing retinal detachments. and Education, has docuRobert Morris, MD “This encircling laser treatmented a non-invasive laser ment has been around for quite a while,” treatment that can reliably prevent most Morris said. “But nobody has defined retinal detachments in eyes known to be exactly how to do it, and we have.” at high-risk. Knowing how to best do the proceSince retinal detachment is the dure is only the first step, however. Knowleading cause of sudden sight loss in ing when to do it is also important. Most the aging eye, Morris wants fellow phyadult patients with retinal detachment
get their macular vision back, but many don’t. For those patients, the insurance of this procedure on their remaining good eye is an important consideration. Others are at risk for retinal detachment as well. “There are a lot of risk factors for people getting a detachment,” Morris said. “One is if you have had a cataract extraction. (You should not avoid a cataract extraction, however, because the risk is still low.) Also, people who are highly nearsighted, and people who have a family history of retinal detachment. But if you look at all those risk factors together, it’s still hard to quantify how high a risk each patient faces. “We’ve shown that if a patient and their doctor decide they are at an un-
www.birminghammedicalnews.com Your Partner in Healthcare for
Five Decades
acceptably high risk after evaluating all these factors, then there is a treatment that is not invasive which can reliably prevent detached retina. We’re not telling doctors who should get it. That’s ultimately a decision the patient has to make when they are fully informed. That’s something a doctor and a patient may discuss over many visits.” Because it can be difficult to assess who is at risk for retinal detachment, proving this procedure could prevent it was elusive, until Morris was visited in 2012 by a father and son with Stickler Syndrome. Stickler Syndrome is a rare, inherited disease affecting children and teenagers. “Retinal detachment (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)
FOLLOW US
Celebrating 50 years of caring for Greater Birmingham. To learn more, visit BrookwoodBaptistMedicalCenter.com