[BobbyB]

Local doctor honored for ALS treatment innovations
Tue Jul 08, 2008, 01:37 PM EDT
WORCESTER -
Westborough resident Richard S. Irwin, MD and Cynthia T. French, NP, MS of UMass Memorial Health Care were awarded the MDA Lou Gehrig Humanitarian Award by the Muscular Dystrophy Association for their work providing interdisciplinary and patient-focused care to people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for more than 25 years.

“That we’re receiving this award together validates what we’ve done as a team to provide patient-focused care,” said Irwin, chair of critical care operations at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

ALS is a devastating disease that destroys the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles and, as a result, muscles progressively grow weaker until paralyzed, and death usually occurs within three to five years of diagnosis unless patients choose to go on mechanical ventilation. Because ALS affects muscles throughout the body, patients often are seen by numerous specialists during the course of their illness.

Irwin and French, who began treating patients with ALS for pulmonary-related complications in the Lung and Allergy Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center almost 25 years ago, noticed that most of their patients had difficulty managing appointments with multiple doctors at multiple locations. They worked to foster an interdisciplinary approach to treatment with services centralized in one location.

“Special circumstances require special care,” said French, who has worked with Irwin for almost 30 years. “It’s important for ALS patients to know that people are there to take care of them.”

Drawing upon Irwin and French’s collaborative approach to care, the MDA/ALS Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus brings together pulmonologists, neurologists, gastroenterologists, plastic surgeons and other physicians in its efforts to treat ALS patients. Additionally, caregivers and physicians at the center teach patients and family members how to cope with ALS. They schedule physician visits consecutively and on the same day, to minimize the stressful task of getting to and from the hospital. Caregivers also are on hand to show families how to set up and operate medical equipment, such as a ventilator, that might be used in a home setting.

“Twenty-five years ago, in collaboration with Dr. David Chad, we set up a virtual clinic for ALS patients,” said Irwin, who is also a professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “We’d call other departments and ask doctors to see patients in the Lung and Allergy Center. Eventually, over the years, we collected the necessary resources to treat patients in one place.”

While the cause of ALS is still unknown and a cure has thus far proven elusive, recent research into ALS has provided treatments to reduce motor neuron damage and improve the quality of life for affected individuals. The MDA Lou Gehrig Humanitarian Award is awarded to a researcher, physician or clinician who supports MDA/ALS research initiatives and clinical services.

The award was presented to Irwin and French by David Chad, MD, director of the MDA/ALS Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center, and winner of last year’s MDA Lou Gehrig Humanitarian Award.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/westborou...nt-innovations