Newsline — Monday, August 20, 2012 1:53
Actor, Parkinson’s Research Supporter Michael J. Fox Returning to TV
Trauma Doctor Criticizes Toronto Mayor for Reading While Driving
Friday, August 17, 2012 17:13
The director of one of Toronto’s largest trauma centers is speaking out against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s recent confession that he was “probably” reading while driving. “We expect our chief executive to act as a role model,” says St. Michael’s Hospital Trauma Director Avery Nathens, MD, PhD, MPH. He made the comment just one day after a passenger in a passing vehicle took a photo of the mayor in which he appeared to be reading while driving on the busy Gardiner Expressway. Ford later defended the practice by saying that he is a “busy man.” In response to Ford’s admission, Nathens invited the mayor to visit the hospital’s emergency room to see first-hand the harm that can be caused by distracted. For more information, click here to read the full article.
Study Links Depression to Increased Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease
Friday, August 17, 2012 13:00
In a study of more than one thousand men and women who have heart disease, depression has been associated with an increased risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The study was done by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. PAD is a circulatory problem in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the limbs – usually the legs and feet – resulting in pain, reduced mobility and, in extreme cases, gangrene and amputation. Research results appear in the July 26, 2012, online edition of the Journal of the American Heart Association. For more information, click here to read the full release.
One Week of Speech Therapy May Help Patients Who Stutter by Reorganizing Brain
Friday, August 17, 2012 10:19
Just one week of speech therapy may reorganize the brain and help to reduce stuttering, reports a study out of China that appears in the August 8, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The research provides new insight into the role of different brain regions in stuttering, which affects about one percent of adults. The study involved 28 people who stuttered and 13 people who did not stutter. Fifteen of those who stuttered received one week of therapy with three sessions per day. The other stutterers and the controls received no therapy. Therapy involved having the participants repeat two-syllable words that were spoken to them and then read words presented to them visually — there was no time limit in either task. The average scores on stuttering tests and percent of stuttered syllables improved for those who received the therapy. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Viewing Photos of Fattening Foods Triggers Hunger in Brain
Thursday, August 16, 2012 12:29
A new study suggests that looking at pictures of high-calorie foods stimulates the brain’s appetite control center and causes in an increased desire for food. The research was presented at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. “This stimulation of the brain’s reward areas may contribute to overeating and obesity,” says Senior Author Kathleen Page, MD, assistant professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “We thought this was a striking finding, because the current environment is inundated with advertisements showing images of high-calorie foods.” For more information, click here to read the full release.
Young Girls with ADHD at Greater Risk for Suicide, Self-Injury
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 13:00
Young girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are significantly more likely to attempt suicide or injure themselves than young girls who do not have ADHD, according to research from the American Psychological Association. Those diagnosed with ADHD as young girls — particularly the type with early signs of impulsivity — were three to four times more likely to attempt suicide and two to three times more likely to report injuring themselves when compared with young women in a control group, according to findings published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study Shows Why Certain Drugs Are Ineffective for Some Schizophrenia Patients
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 9:20
Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers may have found why certain drugs to treat schizophrenia are ineffective for some patients, according to the online journal Nature Neuroscience. Their discovery may pave the way for a new class of drugs to help treat the mental illness, which impacts one percent of the world’s population, 30 percent of whom do not respond to treatments that currently are available. The team of researchers set out to learn what epigenetic factors, or external factors that influence gene expression, are involved in this treatment-resistance to atypical antipsychotic drugs, the standard of care for schizophrenia. They found that, over time, an enzyme in the brains of those with schizophrenic analyzed at autopsy begins to compensate for the prolonged chemical changes caused by antipsychotics, resulting in reduced efficacy of the drugs. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Patients on Medical Leave for Low Back Pain Can Benefit from Being Advised to Stay Active
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 13:00
Workers on medical leave due to low back pain who are advised to stay active are more likely to return to work, according to a new study in the Aug.1, 2012, issue of the journal Spine. “Combined counseling and disability evaluation by a medical advisor results in a higher return to work rate due to a lower sick leave recurrence as compared to disability evaluation alone,” say study authors Marc Du Bois, MD, and Peter Donceel, PhD, of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Study Recommends New Treatment Target for Glioblastoma Multiforme
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:56
University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center researchers have published the results of a study in the online journal Nature that reveals why the most common, deadly brain tumor in adults recurs and identifies a possible target for future therapies. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a fast-growing, malignant brain tumor that occurred in 15 percent of the estimated 22,000 Americans diagnosed with brain and nervous system tumors in 2010. Although it responds to initial therapy, the cancer almost always returns and currently is considered incurable. The median survival rate is about 15 months, National Cancer Institute reports. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Caffeine Intake May Help Parkinson’s Patients to Control Movement
Monday, August 13, 2012 13:00
Drinking caffeine every day may not help improve sleepiness among those suffering from Parkinson’s disease, but it could have a benefit in controlling movement, says new research that appears in the Aug. 1, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Studies have shown that people who use caffeine are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, but this is one of the first studies in humans to show that caffeine can help with movement symptoms for people who already have the disease,” says study author Ronald Postuma, MD, MSc, of McGill University in Montreal and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center. For more information, click here to read the full release.