Newspaper Page Text
10
October 12, 1995
Neurological disorders discussed on Internet
People with neurological prob
lems, such as seizures or migraine
headaches, can now find others
with similar problems on the in
formation superhighway.
“The goal is to allow them to
meet other people with similar
problems and discuss their prob
lems with people who may have
answers to their questions,” said
Dr. Michael H. Rivner, Medical
College of Georgia neurologist,
who has begun an international
list server for people with any
type of neurological problem.
Those with accesstothe Internet
can simply send an electronic
message to n
pat@emgmhs.mcg.edu withames
sage that says “subscribe n-pat.”
Dr. Rivner will add the person’s
electronic mail address to the list
server and send a confirmation.
The patient then is part of this
international exchange of infor
mation and experiences.
“A patient with a computer who
wants a medical question an
swered can access this. Thisis the
future. There’s a need for this,”
said Dr. Rivner, who established
the country’s first list server for
neurologists about two years ago.
Today, about 200 neurologists in
the United States — as well as
Belgium, Italy, Israel, Korea, the
United Kingdom, Denmark and
Canada — daily swap informa
tion and ideas about their special
ty and patients. The fact that the
neurologists'list server also gen
erated enquiries from patients
led Dr. Rivner to establish the
patient list server. Patient list
servers already exist for other
diseases and some of those were
actually started by patients.
“Patients share information;
they do this all the time,” said Dr.
Rivner. But electronic mail does
for patients what it does for every
one: it makes communication
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quick and easy and it opens up a
new way of linking people with
the same medical condition.
Dr. Rivner will monitor the con
versationinthe patient list server
and may make comments from
time to time, as other neurologists
may, but this is really an avenue
for patient communication, he
said.
Meanwhile, longer-established
list servers — such as the one for
neurologists and another for
neuropsychologists, originated by
Dr. David W. Loring, director of
the adult neuropsychology service
inthe MCG department of neurol
ogy — are building steam.
Drs. Rivner and Loring also
have established World Wide
Web sites for their respective
specialties. These sites store in
formation for ready dissemina
tion through text, pictures and
sound. “I think eventually we
Livingßetter
are going to get tothe point where
we are going to be publishing
articles this way. They’ll eventu
ally replace medical journals,”
Dr. Rivner said.
For example, Dr. Loring has
posted MCG’s protocols for Wada
testing — which determines the
side of the brain with dominant
control of speech — in response to
numerous inquiries from other
institutions about how those stud
ies are done here. More generic
information is also included, such
as a listing of the country’s
neuropsychology training pro
grams. '
List server information is a bit
more dynamic and results more
from the interaction of subscrib
ers, such as a behavioral special
ist’s recent request on the neu
rology list server for input about
treating a 32-year-old woman
with a complex medical history
‘*Patients share
informations they
do this all the
time+?! said Dr.
Rivner . But elec
tronic mail does
for patients what
it does for ev
eryone: it makes
communication
quick and easy
and it opens up a
new way of link
ing people with
the same medical
condition-.
of autism, seizures and profound
mental retardation.
Information is provided in such
away that it protects patient con
fidentiality, but still allows doc
tors to gather input from col
leagues they may never see.
“This allows there to be dia
logue among doctors so that if
you have a case, you can solicit
the input of about 200 neurolo
gists all over the world,” Dr.
Rivner said. Here, in an academ
ic center, we can easily talk to
otherneurologists. Butifyouare
in private practice by yourself,
you may not be able to discuss a
case with someone else.”
Doctors interested in the neu
rology list server can contact Dr.
Rivner at his electronic address:
rivner@emgmhs.mcg.edu, or Dr.
Loring for the neuropsychology
list server at the address
loring@emgmhs.mcg.edu.
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