Subject Areas - Health

Issue	Article
May/June 2008	Safety in Numbers Economist Mary Davis undertakes active environmental sampling in order to understand the cost of exposure to airborne pollutants and other safety hazards in our everyday lives. Finding the Words In their practicum placements, UMaine graduate students in communication sciences and disorders provide early intervention speech and hearing services that change the lives of youngsters with special needs.
September/October 2007	Being There Four recent Master of Social Work graduates share perspectives on geriatrics, a specialized field of study at UMaine made possible by a national grant.
November/December 2006	No Comfort UMaine psychologists are studying the relationship between binge eating disorder and stress in an effort to improve treatment options.
March/April 2006	Connections for Newborns in Need Informatics specialists Craig Mason and Shihfen Tu are helping Maine establish a confidential database of information on the state's newborns with special needs in an effort to ultimately improve their quality of life.
November/December 2005	Free Inside Personal freedom is the goal for the handful of inmates at Downeast Correctional Facility in Bucks Harbor, Maine. The ancient arts of yoga, meditation and chi gung taught by social work graduate student Betsy Duncombe hold the key.
May/June 2005	Organized Neighborliness Cooperative Extension's Senior Companion Program offers in-home visits to the elderly so they can live as independently as possible. It also provides meaningful volunteer opportunities for caring individuals like Charlotte Fitzsimmons of Jonesport.
January/February 2005	Inner Workings In the quest to understand how genomes work, students in the new Ph.D. Program in Functional Genomics are working with leading researchers at the University of Maine, The Jackson Laboratory and Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Deleted Words Judy Walker's research is leading to better understanding about how the brain processes communication functions. Her work is particularly important for adults who have sustained central nervous system damage, including strokes.
May/June 2004	Exceeding Expectations Cultural pressures and societal expectations tell us how and when we're "old." But Margaret Cruikshank, author of Learning to be Old, and Center on Aging Director Len Kaye take exception to the portrayals of aging that are all around us. They argue that adults need to age on their own terms rather than by society's definitions.
March/April 2004	High Anxiety Panic and anxiety are normal human emotional responses. However, they become debilitating disorders in people who experience "anxiety sensitivity" and develop abnormal, sometimes catastrophic apprehension about panic-attack symptoms — in essence, fear of fear. UMaine psychologists are studying anxiety disorders, including panic disorder and phobias, in an effort to find a cost-effective and drug-free, cognitive-behavioral approach to treatment.
November/December 2003	Clockwork Psychologist Alan Rosenwasser's basic research looks at the relationship between biological rhythms and depression and substance abuse. Better understanding of the effects of such disorders on the circadian clock could one day lead to new and improved treatments in humans.
September/October 2003	It Starts With a K Five-year-old Kaleb Gifford loves to talk and tell stories, but it wasn't always that way. As a toddler, Kaleb started talking later than his peers and his speech wasn't always clear. That's when he and his family were referred to UMaine's Conley Speech and Hearing Center. At Conley's Family-Based Treatment Clinic, Kaleb, his parents and his sister worked with speech pathologists to develop the techniques to help him communicate better.
July/August 2003	Commitment to the Rural Way of Life In areas where healthcare providers are traditionally in short supply, students in UMaine's Rural Family Nurse Practitioner Program are addressing the needs of the underserved by increasing access to primary care for people of all ages. In so doing, they are helping to preserve the quality of Maine's rural way of life.
March/April 2003	Losing Your Edge For the past quarter-century, University of Maine psychology researchers have studied how mental acuity in people diminishes with age. The study underscores the need to seek treatment for health problems that increase the odds of reduced mental function. It also demonstrates that loss of cognitive sharpness can occur long before old age.
April/May 2002	The Quality of Life By 2020, Maine's elderly population is projected to grow by more than 40 percent. In response to the needs of the rapidly increasing population, the University's new Center on Aging is focusing on high-quality training, education and practical research to make a difference in people's lives. Partners in Parenting Community building and networking are the hallmarks of the nationally recognized Teen Parent Program in Knox County, offered by The University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
February/March 2002	Winter Blues Psychologist Sandra Sigmon is working on new treatments for seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
December '01/ January '02	The Need for Nutrition Every July and August, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Nutrition Aide Christine Finemore provides nutrition education to the children of migrant workers in Maine.
October/November 2001	One Best Friend Children need high-quality friendships. One best friend can mean the difference between a happy childhood and one filled with loneliness and despair.