the READABILITY of these forums
 

I am VERY pleased that the default font Doc John chose here is Trebuchet - for it has been determined thru studies to be the most easily read font - having more "space between the lines" of type than any other font.

However, the font size is only a "2" while we really need a "3".
This is one place where OBT was quickly responsive after the problem had been mentioned on forum feedback....

Being aware of how many patients here have various problems, including learning problems, short attention spans and more ... and vision problems of various kinds, who have difficulties with the tiring effort to read small font -- sometimes the actual INABILITY to read small font, I change my font to the larger size so my posts are more likely to be read...

I ALSO keep my writing targeted/adapted for the web -- I use brief paragraphs to increase readability, comprehension and retention. The need for this type of writing/formatting is well established in a number of studies.

But still, establishing a larger sized default font would be helpful to many people - and, I might point out, after the OBT default was changed, there was not a single complaint.... But many expressions of excitement and gratitude.

- Teri

And, once again, I would ask for the mostly child-issue dominated forum of Autism/Asperger's be relocated to Mental Health......

And I have since had several mention, publicly and privately, that they think Tourette's should be relocated there, also, as Tourette's tics and such first manifest in childhood... AND is treated by psychiatrists. Like all the rest of us guys. ;)

Theresa / OneMoreTime

I use Ctrl and and the wheel on my mouse to increase and decrease the text all the time. It even increases the text here in the message box where I'm typing to post this reply.

I hope it's ok for me to comment on the following. It's just my thoughts, so figured it'd be ok considering these two forums are two of my home forums.

I saw you'd asked that one other time, but I'm still not sure *why* you think that. I personally don't understand why it should be moved out of Neurology, but I've stopped posting on that forum here anyway. (I think I even removed my old messages) and ended up having to go elsewhere because it was just too slow and not enough posters and most messages were being duplicated from one forum to the other and it just became too confusing for me.

'What is Tourette syndrome?

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.'
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/t...e.htm#56643231


Tourette Syndrome is usually diagnosed by Neurologists, as far as I know. Psychiatrists are sometimes consulted *if* medication is needed because they seem to have more knowledge about the types of medications that can be used. Also some people might have other comorbid conditions which warrant treatments such as medication or perhaps behaviour therapies for comorbid conditions.

Not everyone who has TS has comorbid conditions and not everyone who has TS is treated or needs to be treated or even seen by a psychiatrist. A lot of it has to do with knowledge. Sure, it's in the DSM. Is it the DSM that's being followed here? I could say an awful lot about the DSM, and I do mean awful, but might wait until the next issue is released LOL.

Tourette Syndrome is one of those conditions that sits on the fence purely because of comorbid conditions and in my opinion should still be included in Neurology. Actually, I think all the ones that are listed in Mental Health now should be left in Neurology because in my Laraopinion, they are *all* neurological conditions, but that's just how I see it and I know not everyone here sees it that way.

Do the people who have mentioned it to you publicly and privately have Tourette Syndrome? If so, they might like to put in a say about this here as well.

What's next? lol
Sleep Disorders and Movement Disorders?

Thought I should make another post, otherwise I'll end up editing and adding information all day.

Teri,
Here's just one example of the problem we face regarding TS still being in the DSM. The DSM has caused more grief than is imaginable but I promise I'm not going to start a rant on that here because I might never stop. I also mentioned that neurolgists diagnose TS. That certainly would be the referral where I live, although I note on this TSA news item that both neurologist and psychiatrists treat.

Link to TSA-USA News Release

The battle never ends. *sigh

I would like to say....
 

(OBT)......... is also considering
some index changes. Their index is very LONG and more complex than this one.



As an aside, I think it is interesting that OBT is now following NeuroTalks lead. Imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery, as they say! It appears also that they are not happy with
their forum views!

I think Autism and TS should remain as medical listings. Pretty soon, schizophrenia will be
considered medical and not mental health. New MRI studies are showing that.
ADHD remains controversial. I think it is more mental health than organic at this time.
JMO

Now that I have had my coffee, my brain is waking up some!

I'd like to add that there will always be some controversy about those
conditions that "overlap" with medical/behavioral presentations. Not everyone will be happy with placement.

Bipolar is another one that will be considered organic soon. But the presentation of Bipolar is behavioral, so historically it is considered a mental health issue. Tourette's is a movement disorder, and predominately that. Autism is organic as well, although the community is divided between mercury and autoimmune/genetic causes. I think that DocJohn is very qualified and
experienced to make those determinations at this time! ;)

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've created a separate thread where we can post suggestions that are outside a specific request for a new forum. :)

KD

Dear Dr. John,
 

May we have a forum for " finding LAWS or articles about Laws that help us,

I saw the thread about the "THE LAW" - on a the Neurotalk forum about service animals -
I believe?
Dogs that help people see, hear, and walk.
perhaps it is called ADA laws or just disability laws?

ADVOCACY FORUM... :)

thank you!!

Thank you Dear Kimmydawn!
 

THANK YOU! (((kimmydawn)))

a new thought on an old topic
 

I realize I am new here..and I am getting a lot of good info, and finding friends too.. May I suggest a forum called "I want my Life back"...it seems to be a common comment from many participants, including myself..I thought maybe this could be a "Catch All" forum...not really general social stuff, but things dedicated to ideas and discussion about dealing with our pains and problems and living "normally"

Just a thought,
Dave

Hello DocJohn,
I am a new member here on neurotalk, but not new to the health field or health related cyberspace forums. Your site is a great way for people to connect with others all over the world who may have similar concerns.

I am requesting your consideration for a "dental" forum. I am not a dentist, nor do I want to advertise or solicit any aspect of dentistry. Very simply, I have 30 years <and counting> of vast clinical experience in the dental profession and I know that everyone has dental issues that they would like to discuss with others.

The Mayo Clinic put out a great article on how dental health affects ones overall health. If you care to read it, here is the link:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dental/DE00001

Your consideration would be most appreciated!

Thank you !
Bryanna

new forums?
 

Members who have no DX ought to have a place to post, I think. And I second the brain trauma request. If there were members overflowing here, I'd like to see a leukodystrophy forum - it's mainly a children's disease but some of us also have an adult onset form. I do not think their are other leuko adults here besides me, but you might be able to attract some.
I note that NIH and another site, a children's hospital in Wash D.C., have both started soliciting patients with undiagnosed leukos for their respective projects- they both want to determine the genetic links for this group of people since unknown leukos are the 2nd largest grouping of people with myelin or white matter disorders after, of course, MS,.So something is up with the research guys. Albee Messing at U. Wisc. got a large NIH grant for Alexander's Disease, the rarest of the known leukos. The defective Alexander gene play a critical role in nerve repair which probably explains the interest. I also suspect that MS has proved too complex, and easier solutions could be found through studying the leukos, but what do I know. I only have half a brain left.

forum for POTS
 

any possibility of including a forum for "POTS" or dysautonomia? thanks,

Olsen, have you posted your request on the sticky for new forum requests? http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=2849
Maybe one of the mods could just move your request into that thread.
I've heard of POTS, but have no real idea what it is. I'll have to google it, and will watch with interest to see if you get your forum.
Hugs,

moved to new forum requests :)

Doc John,
Can we please have a Cauda Equina Forum here? I have Cauda Equinathat was missed post op for a lumbar fusion and would like to have the forums to discuss issues specifically related to the problems with Cauda Equina i.e. neurogenic bladder, bowel issues, nerve issues, etc.
Thank you in advance,
Sandi M.

YES!! I totally agree. :winky:

Teri, on your computer's "Accessories" I believe YOU have the option for Larger text. Now that would work on every page you are viewing without you doing anything else once you have set it. I hope you take a look at this. Go to "All Programs" on your "Start" menu. Then to "Accessories" then to "Accessability" then to "Magnify". It should give you options there.

Pcos
 

I didn't see this when searching this thread. PCOS - Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome.

I would love to see a forum for this one. Two of my daughters have this. One has it fairly badly and the other just a bit. It's come down to them from their late father's side of the family.

Even after all the research I've done I still don't know much about it. It causes all kinds of secondary problems such as insulin resistance...or is that glucose resistance? I get confused. The common treatments include the Pill and Glucophage. One of my daughters was on the Pill for this and she ended up with a blood clot in her lung at age 17. The one that has it the worst is now scared to take the pill and currently is not on any treatment for it.

There has to be more and granted, I've not done any *recent* research on this condition. Maybe a forum here for this might help centralize the information.

Thanks!

I was diagnosed with it when I was a teenager also. Back then they didn't give any treatments or at least none were offered. I had Very painful breasts most of my life due to this and also I have cysts under my skin. Not many just some. One in a prominent place on my body once. When I asked a doc to open it and clean it out he just said put heat on it, I did that for months with no results. Eventually I opened it up myself and squeezed all the stuff OUT of it. THAT took me months, a little at a time. I haven't had much luck with doctors anyway and don't put much stock in what they say.

I'm sorry about your daughter.

But I have a suspicion that it's not a disease but a condition that has been Labelled a disease. We can live with it. I have. My periods have stopped now fo 5 years and many of the lumps and bumps have gone away. I think our female hormones feed them during our child bearing years. And once we get past menopause, well, the lumps and bumps go away. This is just My experience. Since I had my period since I was 9 and I am now almost 59 I'd say I have had a lenghty experience with this condition, FIRST HAND.

Could we have a Breast Cancer Forum..unfortunately I think it would be a very active forum as this monster seems to be running rampant, at least among my circle of friend and some family members.

Also any forum for all cancers would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Alffe
we had a cancer forum till recently but it was totally inactive so Doc closed it.

Maybe we could do a subforum for breast cancer on Women's Health?

Strong coffee didn't help! :D I wonder how I missed it when we had a friend struggling with an inoperable brain tumor and now another one. :(

Thanks for your efforts Cheri. :hug:

YW Alffe :)

yes, I was also surprised that we didnt have any activity in the Cancer forum as, sadly, it really is a disease that is so prevalent and widespread on this ole Earth.

I will raise this on admin forum Alffe, and see what we can do. Perhaps, as with some of our other less active forums, if just a few keep posting, others will come. We know there are many out there struggling with this disease, and many of their loved ones struggling right alongside of them.

My dad's life was gobbled up by cancer at 74yo 12 years ago so I sure know what it feels like to see a loved one suffer with this.:( ..sadly in his case it wasnt detected till it was too late....because there are so many ways that one CAN fight back when cancer strikes.

Knowledge, a healthy and nutritious diet, a positive attitude and much prayer are, I believe essential tools in helping to win a cancer battle, especially early, and an active forum where people are able to share beneficial info and give support to one another would be a blessing to many I am sure.

So Alffe, I will see what we can do about maybe getting that forum rolled back out or at least starting with a BC subforum on Women's Health

It would be helpful to get feedback here from others too as to whether there is a need for a general cancer forum, and/or as to whether Breast Cancer would be helpful as a subforum in the Women's Health Forum.

Any way we could get a PTSD forum on here?

Cardio -- Neuro Connection
 

Would this be a possibility for a new forum here at NeuroTalk? Personally I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Fibromyalgia, Lymph Edema from immbolity, and was just recently hospitalized with Atrial Fibrillation. This will be something that I'll have to contend with the rest of my life along with everything else. The blood thinner, Coumadin, has been added to the list of meds I take every day.

Is there a connection between these cardiac events and our neurologic conditions? Perhaps the meds we take? Seems like there would be enough interest for such a forum.

Thanks for your consideration!

I'm very distressed to learn that the ataxia and breast cancer forums have disappeared. While breast cancer might not be considered neuro, certainly hereditary ataxia is... :(

the Breast Cancer forum is under women's health

I dont think we had an Ataxia forum here before:confused:

Post all new forum requests here
 

Hi,

I'm working on revising my appeal brief. I couldn't go to sleep last night at all. I finally got a couple hours this morning after 7.

I know a lot of people are going to be facing foreclosure, and it's so distressing.

(I blame Realtors for the nationwide problem... and they haven't ever been mentioned as far as I've heard.)

In any case, last night I saw that the lawyer for the mortgagee in my case lied repeatedly in court, and he also happened to say that's what his firm has done for years...

He didn't say, "We've been cheating and lying to people for years," rather he described what he did and my case and said they'd been doing it for years.

The thing is, it's taken me over a year to see this because it was so stressful and the more stressed I am, the less well I see things.

And, the lawyers I hired and that cost me 7 times as much money as I have left now, totally either agreed with him because they're all lawyers, or else they didn't bother to do a very good job for me and didn't find the problems although the problems were repeatedly made.

I cannot tell people enough how important it is to really look at your legal papers, because there are rights you should have... and that lawyers are keen, VERY KEEN, to deprive you of.

So.... that's why I think we could use a forum for this kind of thing...

What do you think?

Is this thread reviewed very often?

I thought I just saw a request like mine by Dahlek on the original place I posted. I'm confused now.

I sure HOPE I can sleep normally one day soon.

I want to post the motion to reconsider I just did... but now I don't know were to post it.

It could be useful to people due to statute it includes.

Karen,
Doc John does look at this thread.

It is hard for me to understand what you are asking for?
Do you want a forum to discuss legal issues? Advocacy?

The other thread you mention was more of a general commentary it seemed rather than a forum request, whereas yours seemed to be a request and so seemed more appropriate here.

If you feel this is a matter of high priority, you can also PM DocJohn with the request

OH, I see what you are saying.

I got a few more hours sleep last night and it's as if I'm a whole new person.

I get confused at the best of times, but when I don't sleep things get muddled in my mind much more rapidly... :confused:

Because Cloudz posted that link, it may not be so ... but of course I can't think of the word... "dire" is not the right word...

What I think is that in the next year or so a lot of people are going to be sick that might not have been if this whole mortgage mess hadn't happened. And some of those people are going to come here.

I know the lawyers took advantage of my disability.

Not all lawyers may be that dishonest, but some... well, could be.

So maybe what I discovered could be of use to others in a similar position.

Though of course I'm not remotely interested in doing legal handholding.

It's just that it's so stressful... and when I was in bankruptcy before I know that a good portion of my creditors violated the stay, and the damages they had to pay were what I used to pay my honest creditors...

I think it's relatively easy to do court things if you have an honest court and stay on track...

Okay... I better go do my court things...

:)

Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it a lot.

:)

new forum requests/con
 

You hear, you read, you see on TV about all the folks who have gone thru ever extensive doc visits and testings only to be mis-diagnosed. On another board recently, I read of a GPwho had a wife diagnosed with GBS/CIDP...he'd only heard of it in his early training and of only one case. Here HE was on line to a group of 'patients' asking for help and support? Where were the PROFESSIONALS? In a closet?
I guess this is a two fold request? I would not want an 'ask the doc' kind of exchange, rather one about HOW we both could communicate with each other in either a better vocabulary or descriptive way, or how we as patients should have an idea about what we say, how we say it could be more effective [thus effecient] and lead us BOTH to a shorter diagnostic time/test effort. We do need to communicate, but I am sure that docs have 'horror tales' WE could truly learn from?
The other aspect is that some of us are what could be considered in the medical realm 'complicated' patients....That can be an 'interesting' aspect for docs [doing run of the mill stuff] or it can be viewed as TROUBLE, by others. Yet such patients need help...When one docs ego for example contradicts his initial diagnoses with a statement that 'you don't send me gifts or nice notes any more', then contadicts all his prior diagnoses on a disability form...well, one begins to wonder IS it the Patient or the DOC? thus what resources are there to find out and Could this doc 'blacklist' a patient as being difficult, when they are merely medically complicated. This latter aspect I have been trying to search about on the web for the last two days...I find so much is not above board that IT TRULY SCARES ME? In light of all these prior disasters I am beginning to think that I should NOT be as honest with my docs as I should/have been in the past. There is no venue that I am aware of that could facilitate the whys/hows of better patient doctor communication than that here.
Honestly, without an honest communication we all cannot progress from step a to step b....IF there is a step b. If we cannot get to step a, or are prevented by a prior doc's biases, we all need to know?
Thanks Doc John, for even reading this rant, I feel it has a bit of validity...but how to open communications between doctors and patients in this remote sense could be both a tricky and neat thing to pull off. Somehow I have the feeling that you might be the magician? Thank you in advance. - j

Lyme forum request-
 

I strongly request, BEG that Lyme be made into

Lyme & TB Coinfections

or

Lyme & Other TBDs

and that

Shingles, Herpes & other Microbial Conditions

be a separate forum because Lyme is a gram-negative tickborne bacteria and there are MANY other TBDs and viruses that ARE associated with it and shingles & herpes are not and it may give a discordant idea of reality to lump them together. And it is ultimetly, not useful or helpful to have it that way!!!

Other TBDs that have neurological sequelae that are tick borne include:

the TBD viruses- TBE, Powassan, DTV, Colorado Tick Fever

HGE & HME Anaplasmosis/ Ehrlichiosis
and the piroplasms- Babesiosis in all its strains-

All have gross neurological sequelae-

***************

Pleeeeeeeeease?????

It makes, as someone who is new here (but mistakenly thought this was the old MGH forum), me not even want to stay to see that except you guys are lucky enough that I'm a very contrary creature- but most Lymies who came here would go, "WHAT!!!" it is like lumping in "Cat scratches, chicken pox and strokes" and if you are in the stroke section you go, "These people know nothing about strokes, I'm outta here!" It is appalling, frankly, but this is a GREAT place otherwise- a smashing accompplishment- reminds me of the old MGH forums- but it is way BETTER- except the Lyme Forum weirdness!!!

Sincerely,
Sarah

Just putting in a request for a sticky on Complex PSTD under the PSTD forum.

Maybe also stickies or threads for PD's.

Thanks in Advance

I stickied that thread for you Gladys and also made a useful sites and resources sticky there. :)

hi ...

this would be great if I would be able to do this:

currently - I'm taking a 'statistics' course for my master's in Non-Profit Organizations ...

for my final paper - we need to do a 'survey' of at least 30 people - now, I was going to write up a simple questionnaire .. and then have them send it back to me ... and then to do the paper! :eek:

Would you be able to help me? I need to come up with some easy questions (and I don't need to know who they are - just that I could get a survey) ... and if I could have it stickied ONLY for a week from 'sunday to sunday' this next week ... in the MS Social Chat forum? because I too- have MS and can take the survey ... :Tip-Hat:

thanks!! I'll watch for the post or PM me with what is needed to set up a survey! thanks!! (I was dx'd last April ... and I've met most in the forum via having MS) .. thanks!

:Writting:

Hi Von

this is something you need to put a personal message request to DocJohn on as that is the rule with anything related to research/surveys etc

so just PM him and he will let you know if it is doable
:)

Could we have a book thread?
 

Something called The Book Club? or something similar? The Library? whatever...

I just love to read, and now that I am retiring I am reading so much MORE.
(I have to confess I can't stand TV anymore, sigh!)

Many of the great things I have read have come from other readers' suggestions.

Please?

There could be subthreads...Reference, Fun, Mystery etc. It could be very therapeutic.