34 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2020
MARCH IS CEREBRAL PALSY AWARENESS MONTH
Around 800,000 children and adults have
CP nationwide, according to the nonprofi t
Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation.
The neurological disorder mainly
aff ects tightness in the body’s musculature
and is distinguished by its symptoms
of spasticity, dyskinesia (uncontrolled
movement), or poor balance.
Among advancements for those with CP
is the improvement in the safety of medical
professionals working within that
most precious time frame: the fi rst few
hours of a person’s life. But delivering
premature newborns comes with its own
set of complications.
“As we become more advanced in terms
of our technology, in terms of saving
younger and younger premature babies,
although we’re able to save their lives,
they still end up with severe impairments,”
says Dr. Patricia Tan of Baldwin
Harbor-based All Care Physical Therapy,
a near 30-year pediatric physiatrist specializing
in treating children suff ering
from CP. “Because of this, we still see
a lot of children with cerebral palsy.
Having said that, what we’re doing now
is improving their quality of life.”
Advanced surgical instruments now
allow doctors to perform more daring
surgeries on the spine. Improved treatment
methods for neonatal patients
sometimes result in less severe forms
of the disability. For example, the use
of intravenous magnesium sulfate
treatments dampens the infl ammatory
response by the human body, preventing
severe damage to the brain, which
results in milder and milder forms of CP.
Despite advancements in treating CP,
fi nancial stress is making providing services
more diffi cult. New York State funding
cuts have resulted in assistance being
reduced at Roosevelt-based nonprofi t CP
Nassau, which provides vocational programs,
school services, rehabilitation,
and therapy. The agency increasingly
has to turn to donors for help.
“Being in the fi eld for over 40 years, I’ve
seen things go from really bad to really
good, then all of sudden a lot of these
programs and a lot of these things that
benefi tted many people are gone because
of lack of funding,” said CP Nassau staff
member Maura Wachsberger. “Part of
that is a problem because we’re always
adapting to these horrible, negative
changes and it looks like ‘Oh well, they
get along without that, so it must be OK.’”
For example, as a result of cuts to CP
Nassau’s Medicaid funding, the nonprofi
t had to eliminate prevocational
classes, workshops, and weekly fi eld
trips that were off ered in its vocational
program, Life Options.
The cash crunch comes as the Empire
State, which spends a third of its budget
on Medicaid — more than $60 billion
— tries to stem Medicaid spending overruns.
Medicaid enrollment numbers for
the blind and the disabled on Long Island
are in the tens of thousands, with Nassau
County calculated at 10,855 and the adjacent
Suff olk County slightly higher, at
13,528 in 2013, according to the New York
State Department of Health. The system
is overwhelmed.
“If you have one entrance, and you have
50,000 people trying to get into it, it’s a
logjam,” said Wendy Sheinberg, a seasoned
elder law attorney and disability
advocate on Long Island.
While there’s more work to be done, the
improved treatment, prognosis, and
perception help.
“I think that the understanding of
people’s disabilities, and the fact that a
disability is simply a diagnosis and not
a defi nition, is going to continue to improve,”
Sheinberg said. “It’s changing,
but we’re just not there yet.”
“We still see a lot of children with cerebral palsy,”
says Dr. Patricia Tan.
PRESS HEALTH
continued from page 33
Dr. Jacquelline Leva D.O is a board certified physician
who treats patients with: Hair Loss, Thinning and Graying
• Male and female pattern hair loss • Certain types of scarring alopecia
• Chronic inflammation type of hair loss, • Post surgical and post chemotherapy,
as well as patients who have autoimmune hair conditions.
Dr Jacquelline only uses FDA Approved product Wharton Jelly
which contains over 200,000 stem cells per injection
320 Laurel Road, Northport, NY 11768 • 631-261-0158
BEFORE AFTER
OFFICES:
94-06 59th AVE Suite E9, Elmhurst NY 11373 • (718) 699-9737
Wednesday 12pm-7pm • Some Saturday
and Sunday 9am-3pm
Monday 11am-6:30pm • Tuesday 11am-6:30pm • Thursday 11am-6:30pm
Friday 11am-6:30pm • Some saturdays
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
