Dear Nell,

There is no credible evidence that Vitalstim will help them speak better. I am a speech pathologist and have been using VS for 6 years, but would absolutely NOT use it with this population.

Fatiguing the muscles will actually diminish the patient's ability to speak intelligibly and will negatively impact swallowing function. There have been absolutely no studies to date using VS with this population, but common sense would dictate that it is a poor choice of treatment tools. I would counsel the patients to steer away from SLP's who advocate using this modality. I work as part of the Baylor College of Medicine ALS-A clinic in Houston Texas. If you have any specific questions, regarding VitalStim, I would be very happy to answer them.

Terri Haight, MA, CCC-SLP

xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

281-507-0494

-----Original Message-----
From: Nell Davies <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thu, Oct 7, 2010 3:15 pm
Subject: Vital stim

I have had a couple of patients tell me
recently that their SLPs have told
them that they would like to do vital stim and that it will very likely
help
them to speak better.  I'd like to find a credible source of information on
the topic.  Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Nell

Nell Davies, RN, MPH
Maine Patient Services Coordinator
ALS Association Northern New England Chapter
60 Pearl Street
Portland, ME  04101
Phone: 207-773-0672
Fax: 207-773-0673
Toll-free: (Concord home office) 866-257-6663
E-mail: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx 
 
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