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MRC News

JACKSON, Miss.—Carpal tunnel syndrome goes hand in hand with food processing jobs, and Mississippi’s preponderance of catfish, poultry and hog plants contributes to the state’s rising CTS rate.

But it’s not just industry that is to blame. Dr. Rahul Vohra, medical director of Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, said the poor health of many Mississippians also plays a role.

“Three big risk factors for carpal tunnel are obesity, diabetes and smoking. And we tend to have high rates of all three in Mississippi,” Vohra said.

MERIDIAN, Miss.—After more than a year of visits to physicians, Internet searches and various medicines and therapies, Pam and Troy Dew were still searching for a someone who could tell them why their 18-year-old son was losing strength in his left hand.

“There is no way to describe what that was like. It was such a frantic time in our lives,” Pam Dew of Meridian said. “When they start giving you answers, there is some relief and it does ease your mind, but then there are a lot of other questions.”

JACKSON, Miss.—As a new school year nears, families from across the state will gather at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum for the Family Weekend Celebration Aug. 9-10.

The annual event, sponsored by Pizza Hut, offers families discounted entry into the museum and two days of fun-filled activities designed to educate and entertain both children and parents.

JACKSON, Miss.—Jack Fowler’s bout with West Nile virus put him in the hospital for nine days last September, but the retired Jackson dentist says he’s back to full throttle. “I work like a Trojan outside,” he says.

Betty Mitchell, on the other hand, still suffers from lack of muscle control, even though it has been over a year since the Madison art teacher contracted West Nile virus infection. “Sometimes when I walk, I look like I’ve had too much to drink,” she says.

MONROE, La.—Methodist Rehabilitation Center is celebrating the heroism of a Monroe native through a donation of technology. The Jackson, Miss. hospital’s orthotics and prosthetics division in Monroe is donating a prosthetic leg to Sgt. Randall Rugg II, who lost his left leg in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rugg will be given the high performance prosthesis and a second prosthesis for everyday use.

BILOXI, Miss.—Methodist Rehabilitation Center has been recognized by the Mississippi Hospital Association for excellence in the field of health care marketing and public relations.

MHA honored the Jackson hospital’s Web site, safety program, magazine and media relations program with six Maggie Awards and six certificates of merit at their annual convention in Biloxi.

JACKSON, Miss.—The Journal of the American Medical Association is the latest prestigious medical journal to publish the findings of researchers at Methodist Rehabilitation Center who first linked West Nile virus with paralysis.

An article co-authored by Dr. Art Leis, senior scientist at the Center for Neuroscience and Neurological Recovery at Methodist Rehab, appears in the latest issue of JAMA published today.

BILOX, Miss.I—“Tell me where it hurts” sounds like a simple request.

But for many who suffer from chronic pain, the easier question is: “Where doesn’t it hurt?” Their pain is so pervasive that it seems to batter every nook and cranny of their bodies.

The widespread effects of this chronic pain will be the topic of the fourth annual summer meeting of the Mississippi Pain Society, set for July 25-26 at Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

JACKSON, Miss.—Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson is the only hospital in Mississippi to be named one of “America’s best hospitals,” according to an annual ranking released Thursday by U.S. News & World Report.

The hospital earned a spot on the list of 203 medical centers for its rheumatology/arthritis services, joining the likes of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md.

PEARL, Miss.—For years, David Smith saw the country from the driver’s seat of an 18-wheeler truck. It was a lifestyle that he loved and one he thought was gone forever when a 1994 motorcycle accident left him a paraplegic.

After trying different types of jobs, Smith realized he would never find anything he enjoyed as much as professional driving. “It’s just in my blood. I don’t like sitting behind a desk all day. I like being out and getting to see different stuff,” Smith said.

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