Alcopop–what is it and what does it do?

A not so new but dangerous trend has begun appearing that affects teenagers around the world. ALCOPOP is an alcoholic drink that tastes like a soft drink. The sweetness masks the alcohol. Also known as ”girlie drinks”, clear malts, flavored malts and ”cheerleader beer”, alcopops are used by more girls than boys. Children as low as 13 and sometimes lower are exposed to it. Teenagers in the ever longing quest to become an adult as fast as possible love to imbibe when they are in social gatherings and family events. Drink advertisers disseminate their products on TV before 9 p.m. when there is a large teenage audience. Alcopops are a soft entry to the hard world of alcohol. The ramifications are enormous. Statistics have shown that a meaningful percentage of teens get into risky situations following the drinking. Aside from the fact that they become educated into the world of alcoholism they also run into trouble at a young age when they get into cars and begin driving under the influence of liquor. Even if they don’t drive they accompany friends who drive after having had several alcoholic beverages. The risk of accidents and unwanted sexual activity increases in proportion to the amount they drink. If there is no parental or other supervision the child will continue with this habit into adulthood. Just one of the long term results of this phenomenon is brain impairment. It also can cause liver disease, cardiac problems and, of course, alcoholism with all its ramifications. If, unfortunately, a brain injury occurs then after the initial treatment is over and rehabilitation begins one of the best physical therapy products available today is the TUTOR system. The recently developed HANDTUTOR and its sister devices (ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, 3DTUTOR) have become a key system in neuromuscular rehabilitation for brain and spinal injuries and other limb movement limitations. These innovative devices implement an impairment based program with augmented motion feedback that encourages motor learning through intensive active exercises and movement practice. The HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, 3DTUTOR consist of wearable glove and braces that detect limb movement showing the patient how much active or assisted active movement he is actually doing. The rehabilitation software uses special rehabilitation games to set a new target for this movement in terms of the patient’s ability to move his limb. The devices then measure the limb movement and give feedback on the success of the patient for this new movement objective. In this way the TUTOR system provides exercises that are challenging and motivating and allows for repetitive and intensive exercise practice. The TUTOR system is now part of the rehabilitation program of leading U.S. German, Italian, French, UK and other foreign hospitals. Exercises can be done from the patient’s home through the use of telerehabilitation. The devices are fully certified by the FDA and CE. See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.