Newsline — Friday, September 28, 2012 8:00
Grant Supports Study of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Suffering from Depression
Canadian Study Reveals that Concussions Have Severe Impact on Young Athletes’ Quality of Life
Thursday, September 27, 2012 13:00
According to The Concussion Research Project at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) — a study of 25 children who sustained concussions and continued to suffer from headaches and other symptoms three months after the incident — concussions can make life so miserable for some young athletes that they rate their level of happiness at about the same level as chemo-therapy patients. The research project began in May 2011 and accepted referrals from CHEO’s emergency department and physicians across the city of Ottawa. Led by CHEO neurosurgeon Michael Vassilyadi, MD, FAANS, the project worked with 15 boys and 10 girls, ages 12 to 17, all of whom had persistent concussion symptoms. Eight of the children suffered head injuries while playing hockey. Smaller numbers were the result of sports such as basketball, football, gymnastics, snowboarding and tobogganing. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Research Shows Neural Stem Cells Regenerate Axons in Severe Spinal Cord Injury
Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:00
In a study out of the University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare, researchers have regenerated “an astonishing degree” of axonal growth at the site of severe spinal cord injury in rats. Their research revealed that early stage neurons can survive and extend axons to form new, functional neuronal relays across an injury site in the adult central nervous system (CNS). In addition, the study shows that at least some types of adult CNS axons can overcome a normally inhibitory growth environment to grow over long distances. Importantly, stem cells across species exhibit these properties. The researchers’ work appear in the journal Cell. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Scientists Dramatically Reduce Plaque-Forming Substances in Mice with Symptoms of Alzheimer’s
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 13:00
Eliminating an enzyme from mice that have symptoms of Alzheimer’s leads to a 90 percent reduction in the compounds responsible for formation of the plaques linked to the disease — the most dramatic reduction in this compound reported to date in published research, according to scientists. The compounds are amyloid beta, or A-beta peptides; peptides are proteins that are shorter in length. When A-beta peptides accumulate in excessive amounts in the brain, they can form plaques — a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, click here to read the full release
UMDNJ-The University Hospital Now Using 3-D Neurosurgical Technology
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 8:00
Hackensack, N.J., resident Ana Cores, 54, worried about how a sudden loss of peripheral vision would impact the quality of her life. After undergoing MRIs, eye exams and diagnostic tests, she opted to visit The University Hospital at University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in Newark, N.J. There, skull base neurosurgeon James K. Liu, MD, and otolaryngologist Jean Anderson Eloy, MD, used a new three-dimensional endoscope to remove, through her nose, a brain tumor that was pressing on her optic nerve and causing her to go blind. The operating room at The University Hospital is the first location in the state of New Jersey where both the TrueVision 3D Surgical Visualization System and the Visionsense Vsii 3D Endoscope System have been installed. This unique, integrated 3D Neurosurgical Operative Suite uses both state-of-the-art 3D microscopic and endoscopic systems to treat complex neurosurgical diseases. During a traditional neurosurgical procedure, only one or two surgeons can observe the surgical field through the microscope in three dimensions. Now, neurosurgical residents and other members of the operating…
Read More…
Former Collegiate Soccer Player Joins Concussion Lawsuit Against NCAA
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 13:00
Once a college-level soccer player, Angelica Palacios has joined the high-profile head injury lawsuit against the NCAA, widening the group of plaintiffs beyond male football players to include college athletes in just about any sport. Hockey, lacrosse and soccer players are among those now included in the class. While head injuries in football have gained attention in recent years, the toll has been less clear in other collegiate and elite sports such as women’s soccer. The suit argues that the NCAA “has engaged in a long-established patter of negligence and inaction with respect to concussions and concussion-related maladies sustained by its student-athletes, all while profiting immensely from those same student-athletes.” The complaint also claims that the NCAA has failed to implement “return to play” guidelines for athletes with concussions, and screening and detection guidelines for head injuries. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Neurosurgeons in India Perform Surgery to Remove Large Brain Aneurysm
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 9:43
Doctors at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, India, have reported performing a complex surgery on a 24-year-old man to remove a large brain aneurysm — an abnormal dilatation of blood vessels in brain. The patient, Muktikanta Behera, had suffered from repeated attacks of convulsion for the last six years due to the development of the aneurysm. Doctors at SCB advised him to undergo surgery. “Usually, aneurysms are not more than 2.5 cm. long, but in this case, it was a giant one, measuring 6 cm.,” says Dr. S. S. Mishra, head of neurosurgery department. “The surgery was carried out on Sept. 10. We had to be very careful while operating on the patient, as the aneurysm might have ruptured anytime, leading to the patient’s death.” A team of four doctors, including two neurosurgeons and two anesthetists, took more than nine hours to complete the procedure. Doctors say it was the first time such a complex surgery was performed at a government hospital in the state. For more information, click here to read the…
Read More…
Study Shows How Common Gene Mutation Impacts Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Monday, September 24, 2012 16:05
Over the past decade, researchers have made great strides in identifying genes that lead to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which result in a continuum of social deficits, communication difficulties and cognitive delays. But it remains critical to determine how exactly these genetic risk factors impact the brain’s structure and function so that better treatments and interventions can be developed. Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have looked more closely at one particular culprit that’s known to cause a susceptibility to ASD — a genetic variant, or mutation, in the MET receptor tyrosine kinase gene, commonly called MET. They discovered that the so-called “C” variant, which reduces MET protein expression, specifically impacts the network of connections among different areas of the brain involved in social behavior, including recognizing emotions shown on people’s faces. While this gene variation is commonly found in the brains of healthy individuals as well as those with ASD, the study showed that the gene has a bigger impact on brain connectivity in children with ASD. For…
Read More…
Sleep Problems May Be Early Sign of Alzheimer’s Disease
Monday, September 24, 2012 8:00
Sleep disruptions may be one of the earliest indicators of Alzheimer’s disease, say scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, according to a report in the Sept. 5, 2012, edition of Science Translational Medicine. Working in a mouse model, the researchers discovered that when the first signs of Alzheimer’s plaques appear in the brain, the normal sleep-wake cycle is significantly disrupted. “If sleep abnormalities begin this early in the course of human Alzheimer’s disease, those changes could provide us with an easily detectable sign of pathology,” says senior author David M. Holtzman, MD, the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of Washington University’s Department of Neurology. “As we start to treat Alzheimer’s patients before the onset of dementia, the presence or absence of sleep problems may be a rapid indicator of whether the new treatments are succeeding.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study Shows Link Between Brain Shrinkage and High-End Normal-Range Blood Sugar Levels
Friday, September 21, 2012 13:00
Those whose blood sugar is on the high end of the normal range may be at greater risk of brain shrinkage that occurs with aging and diseases such as dementia, according to new research that appears in the Sept. 4, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Numerous studies have shown a link between type-2 diabetes and brain shrinkage and dementia, but we haven’t known much about whether people with blood sugar on the high end of normal experience these same effects,” says study author Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, of Australian National University. The study involved 249 people ages 60 to 64 who had blood sugar in the normal range as defined by the World Health Organization. Participants were given brain scans at the start of the study and again an average of four years later. For more information, click here to read the full release.