REAL NEWS
If you didn't catch Tuesday's New York Time Health section, you probably missed this astounding story. I'll just give you my own headline.
THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT MORE PARALYZED PEOPLE IN AMERICA THAN EVER IMAGINE!
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation commissioned a meticulously designed study to revisit the old guesses about this population and here's what they discovered:
* There are 5.6 MILLION people in the US paralyzed by a central nervous system disorder. That's almost 2% of the population.
* There are probably FIVE TIMES as many SCI paralytics out there as previously thought. The old number, seemingly writ in stone, was 250,000. The new number: 1.275 MILLION. Big dif.
* The number of people with paralysis due to MS -- where I more or less fit -- was estimated to be 939,000, which is TWICE the previous estimate of all people with the disease, period.
All of this leads me back to a question I have had since the day I became paralyzed. With all those paralyzed people, a majority of them in wheelchairs, I'd guess, how come I rarely see any of them in public? You go to IKEA on a Saturday, the place is filled because they're having a sale on cooking pots or something, and you'll see one or two wheelchair users, tops, and one of them is simply overweight. Strange. 2% of the population and it's virtually invisible.
Here's the Times link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21para.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Paralysis%20study&st=cse
Back to you, Brian.
THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT MORE PARALYZED PEOPLE IN AMERICA THAN EVER IMAGINE!
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation commissioned a meticulously designed study to revisit the old guesses about this population and here's what they discovered:
* There are 5.6 MILLION people in the US paralyzed by a central nervous system disorder. That's almost 2% of the population.
* There are probably FIVE TIMES as many SCI paralytics out there as previously thought. The old number, seemingly writ in stone, was 250,000. The new number: 1.275 MILLION. Big dif.
* The number of people with paralysis due to MS -- where I more or less fit -- was estimated to be 939,000, which is TWICE the previous estimate of all people with the disease, period.
All of this leads me back to a question I have had since the day I became paralyzed. With all those paralyzed people, a majority of them in wheelchairs, I'd guess, how come I rarely see any of them in public? You go to IKEA on a Saturday, the place is filled because they're having a sale on cooking pots or something, and you'll see one or two wheelchair users, tops, and one of them is simply overweight. Strange. 2% of the population and it's virtually invisible.
Here's the Times link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21para.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Paralysis%20study&st=cse
Back to you, Brian.
posted by Allen at 9:09 AM
3 Comments:
I look. I no find. Still, I look.
The link didn't work? Just go to www.newyorktimes.com and type in "paralysis study" under Search. You'll find it.
Oh, I've read the article. I meant that people with paralysis must be a shy lot or they have the sense to move the hell out of Jersey. The only wheeler I see is the intrepid spina bifida sailor I see cresting the hills of my neighborhood.
Then again, I have an IM correspondence with a TM quad (recently minted) who says it's just too much hassle to go outside and that's with live-in care.
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