Newsline — Thursday, July 25, 2013 13:00
Dementia Sufferers May Notice Its Signs Early, Studies Suggest
Study Suggests Chinese May Have Higher Stroke Risk Than Caucasians
Thursday, July 25, 2013 9:12
A study published in Neurology suggests that Chinese people may be at a higher risk for stroke than Caucasians. In China, stroke is the leading cause of death and disability in adults. Through reviews of studies from the past 23 years and by identifying 10 community-based studies among Caucasians, the research found a slightly higher overall stroke risk for Chinese individuals. Click here to read the full story.
Study Finds Neural Basis for Menopause-related Hot Flashes
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 13:00
Results of a recent study suggest a neural origin for hot flashes in menopausal women. The study, conducted by the Wayne State University School of Medicine, may lead to new treatments for the temporary episodes of body warmth, flushing and sweating. Click here for the full story.
Study: Exercise Reduces Stroke Risk
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 9:00
A study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has found that exercise can reduce an individual’s risk of a stroke. Study participants who reported exercising a least four times a week were found less likely to experience a stroke or a mini-stroke. Physical activity is a known for its positive effects on stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. Click here to read the full story.
New Metric Assesses Cumulative Effect of Head Hits in Football
Tuesday, July 23, 2013 13:00
Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have developed a new method to measure the cumulative effect of hits to a football player’s head. Called the Risk Weighted Cumulative Exposure (RWE), the metric assesses the frequency and magnitude of all impacts occuring over the course of a football season, capturing the players’ concussion risk. “This metric gives us a way to look at a large number of players and the hits they’ve incurred while playing football,” senior study author Joel Stitzel, Ph.D, said. “We know that young players are constantly experiencing low-level hits that don’t cause visible injury, but there hasn’t been a good way to measure the associated risk of concussion.” Click here to read the full story.
Team of Over 350 Researchers Launch Neuroscience Consortium at Rutgers University
Tuesday, July 23, 2013 9:00
Rutgers University has launched a neuroscience consortium to unlock the mechanisms lying beneath brain function and disease processes. The team of 350 neuroscientists will colloborate on a number of projects, including those investigating multiple sclerosis, the effects of environmental toxins on the nervous system, memory and the causes and effects of traumatic brain injury. This news comes on the heels of President Barack Obama’s call for a multi-billion dollar project to study the brain’s mysteries as a means to unearth treatments for many neurological ailments. Click here to read the full story.
European Studies Find Steep Declines in Dementia Rates
Monday, July 22, 2013 13:00
A recent study has found a 25 percent drop in dementia rates for those over age 65 in England and Wales. These incidences have plummeted over the last 20 years. Another study in Denmark found that nonagenarians given a test of cognitive ability in 2010 had scored significantly better than those who had reached their 90s ten years earlier. Click here to read the full story from The New York Times.
Athletes Can Return to Play After Cervical Spine Fusion Surgery, Study Says
Monday, July 22, 2013 9:00
According to a study published in Neurosurgery, most professional athletes are able to return to play within a year after undergoing vertebral fusion surgery on the upper (cervical) spine. The study, which included eight football players and 7 wrestlers, found that an athlete can return to a contact sport if a neurological examination comes back normal and if there is full range of neck movement and arthrodesis. Click here to read the full story.
Study Unearths Brain Structure Differences for Children with Sensory Processing Disorders
Friday, July 19, 2013 13:00
Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have found that children who have sensory processing disorders (conditions that cause its sufferers to be hypersensitive to sound, sight and touch or to struggle with interacting socially) exhibit quantifiable differences in brain structure. “This is absolutely the first structural imaging comparison of kids with research diagnosed sensory processing disorder and typically developing kids. It shows it is a brain-based disorder and gives us a way to evaluate them in clinic,” one researcher said. Click here to read the full article.
New Stroke Treatment Theories Assess Brain Lesions, Use of Bionic Arms
Friday, July 19, 2013 9:34
Two studies conducted by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have revealed that stroke survivors with partial paralysis or weak msucles may be able to regain more arm and hand movement than thought previously. One study assessed the relationship between long-term arm impairment after a stroke and the size of stroke-induced brain lesions. The size of brain lesions typically help doctors determine appropriate therapies. The second study determined the effectiveness of a robotic therapy program to improve arm function in stroke patients. “These studies were looking at two entirely different aspects of a stroke, yet they both suggest that stroke patients can indeed regain function years and years after the initial event,” one researcher said. Click here to read the full story.