Newsline — Friday, August 30, 2013 13:00
Pilots Are at Increased Risk of Brain Lesions, Research Finds
Oral Hygiene May Lower Alzheimer’s Risk, Study Finds
Friday, August 30, 2013 9:21
A study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease reports that bacteria connected to gum disease has can be found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. This study adds to additional findings that support a link between gum disease and Alzheimer’s. The bacteria found in those with gum disease can enter the bloodstream through everyday activities such as eating and brushing and can travel to the brain from there. Gum disease affects almost half of all adults over the age of 30 and 70 percent of those over the age of 65. Click here to read the full story.
Level of Low Back Pain Might Signal Development of Chronic Pain
Thursday, August 29, 2013 9:39
According to a study reported in the Journal of Pain, high pain intensity at the onset of low back pain is indictive of future chronic pain and disability, even after five years. Conducted by a team at the Arthitis Research U.K. Primary Care Center, the research confirms that pain relief in the initial treatment of low back pain is linked to long-term improvement. Click here to read the full story.
Population Study: Cancer Survival Rates Improved After FDA-Approval of Bevacizumab
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 13:00
A population-based study from the Mayo Clinic has found that individuals who succumbed to glioblastoma in 2010 lived significantly longer than those who died from the disease in 2008, prior to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of bevacizumab as a cancer treatment. “There has been a great deal of debate about the effectiveness of bevacizumab in treating patients with glioblastoma,” says the study’s lead author Derek Johnson, MD, a neuro-oncologist at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. “Our study found that, at the population level, treatment strategies involving bevacizumab prolonged survival in patients with progressive glioblastoma.” Click here to read the full story.
Journal Examines “Explosion” of New Neurological Therapies
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 9:24
In an article in the August issue of Neurologic Clinics, Dr. Jose Biller writes that there has been an “explosion of new and innovative” therapies for numerous neurologic conditions such as stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Among these treatments is the use of platelet antiaggregants in stroke prevention and deep brain stimulation in movement disorders. Click here to read the full story.
Skin Cream Could Curb Parkinson’s Disease, Study Reveals
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 13:00
A study conducted at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has found that the drug kinetin, an over-the-counter skin cream that prevents wrinkles, also slows or stops the effect of Parkinson’s disease on brain cells. “What we have here is a case where the molecular target has been shown to be important to Parkinson’s in human genetic studies,” says an investigator. “And now we have a drug that specifically acts on this target and reverses the cellular causes of the disease.” Click here to read the full story.
Study: One-Fifth of Neurologists Are Unaware of Epilepsy Drug Risks
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 9:00
John Hopkins researchers have found that 20 percent of neurologists in the United States seem unaware of the serious drug safety risks posed by the use of various anti-epilepsy drugs. The study suggests that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should better communicate information about newly-surfaced risks. “Unless it’s a major change requiring the FDA to issue a black box warning on a product, important information appears to be slipping through the cracks. We need a more systematic and comprehensive method so that doctors receive updated safety warnings in a format that guarantees they will see and digest what they need to protect patients,” the study’s lead investigator said. Click here to read the full story.
Study: Most Herniated Discs Result from Avulsion, Not Rupture
Monday, August 26, 2013 13:00
According to a study reported in Spine, herniated discs in the lower spine often are the result of separation of the tissue between the disc and spinal bone — not the rupture of the disc itself. The finding suggests that surgeons may need to address the vertebral end plate junction’s (EPJ’s) failure as the main cause of herniated lumbar discs. The evidence of EPJ failure opens up opportunities for prevention, repair and biological strategies that may prevent progression of lumbar disc herniation after the initial event of EPJ avulsion,” researchers say. Click here to read the full article.
UC San Diego Receives $3 Million Grant to Track Cognitive Development of Preterm Children
Monday, August 26, 2013 9:32
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Institute of Child Health and Human Development (part of the National Institutes of Health) is giving the University of California, San Diego, a five-year, $3 million grant to fund a longitudinal study tracking the development of cognitive, academic and brain measures in preterm children transitioning from preschool to grade school. Previous research has determined that even preterm babies who are considered “normal” are at high risk for lower academic achievement, due to math difficulties and deficits in attention and executive function. “[The study] is not meant to frighten parents of children born preterm, but to alert them of potential cognitive or behavior problems that – with early intervention – can be mitigated,” one researcher said. Click here to read the full story.
Study Debunks Myth of Right-Brained, Left-Brained Personality Types
Friday, August 23, 2013 13:00
The oft-told labels of being right-brained (logical, detail-oriented, analytical) and left-brained (creative, thoughtful, subjective) have pervaded personality assessments for years. However, research from neuroscientists at the University of Utah suggests that there is no evidence substantiating the idea that people are either right-brained or left-brained. Debunking the belief that some individuals used the right side of their brains more than their left and vice versa, a two-year study used brains scans and identified networks in both sides of the brain that process lateralized functions. “It’s absolutely true that some brain functions occur in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left, attention more on the right. But people don’t tend to have a stronger left- or right-sided brain network. It seems to be determined more connection by connection, ” the study’s lead author said. Click here to read the full story.