Newsline — Monday, February 11, 2013 11:35
Diffusion Abnormality Index Promising Measure of Brain Tumor Response to Radiation
America’s First Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine to Open in Florida
Friday, February 8, 2013 13:31
Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Fla., will hold a grand opening for America’s first Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine on Feb. 12. Located at NSU’s main campus in Davie, the institute will be the only one of its kind in the U.S. that will treat patients with conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) and Gulf War Illness (GWI), as well as conduct basic and clinical research under one roof in this field. The Institute also will be the first in the nation to study neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders such as CFS/ME, GWI, Parkinson’s Disease and multiple sclerosis using the newest genomic techniques. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Drs. Anthony Asher and Matthew McGirt of N2QOD Discuss Collection of Spine Patient Data
Friday, February 8, 2013 9:37
The National Neurosurgery Quality and Outcomes Database (N2QOD) is the first nationwide effort to collect data on safety, quality and cost-effectiveness in neurosurgery. The database was launched by the NeuroPoint Alliance (NPA), which was established by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) in 2008. NPA also is supported by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Board of Neurological Surgery, Society of Neurological Surgeons and AANS/CNS Joint Section on Spine & Peripheral Nerves. N2QOD was formally launched in February 2012 and currently has 31 sites under contract. About 500 patients per month are enrolled from 46 hospitals in 24 states. In this article in Becker’s Spine Review, Vice President of the NPA Board of Directors and Director of N2QOD Anthony Asher, MD, FAANS, FACS; and Vice Director of N2QOD Matthew McGirt, MD, discuss the database and how to leverage spine surgery data collection for success in the future. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Research Reveals High Risk, Impact of Stroke Following Vascular Surgery
Thursday, February 7, 2013 15:50
Patients who undergo major vascular surgery procedures are at increased risk of stroke, leading to a high mortality rate and prolonged hospitalization — that’s according to a study in the February issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, the official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). The risk factors for stroke associated with vascular surgery, such as old age or a history of previous heart disease or stroke, are not “readily modifiable,” reports the study by Milad Sharifpour, MD, and colleagues at University of Michigan Medical Center. Using a large surgical database — the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) — researchers identified nearly 46,000 patients undergoing vascular surgery at U.S. hospitals between 2005 and 2009. The study focused on specific types of procedures involving the major blood vessels: amputation or blood vessel reconstruction of the leg or aneurysm repair or other procedures on the aorta. For more information, click here to read the full release.
New Report Says Alzheimer’s ‘Epidemic’ Could Hit U.S. by 2050
Thursday, February 7, 2013 9:34
A new government-funded report confirms what advocacy groups have been warning for years: The number of people in the U.S. with Alzheimer’s disease — which robs people of their memory, erases personality, and makes even routine tasks like dressing and bathing impossible — will almost triple by 2050, straining the health-care system and taxing the health of caregivers. Numbers are projected to rise from about five million now to 13.8 million. “We’re going to need coordinated efforts for this upcoming epidemic,” says lead author Jennifer Weuve, assistant professor of medicine at Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago. “People have trouble getting their heads around these numbers, but imagine if everyone in the state of Illinois (population 12.8 million) had Alzheimer’s. I look around Chicago and can’t imagine it.” For more information, click here to read the full article in USA Today.
10-15 Percent of Mini-Stroke Sufferers Have Full Strokes Within Three Months
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 16:10
Each year, as many as 500,000 Americans experience mini strokes called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Symptoms go away quickly, usually within an hour, and many people don’t seek treatment. But 10-15 percent of people who experience TIAs will have full-blown strokes within three months, and 40 percent of these strokes will occur in the first 24 hours, according to an article by three Loyola University Medical Center neurologists in the journal Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. Rapid evaluation and treatment of TIA patients, either in the emergency room or in specially designed TIA clinics, can reduce the risk of subsequent strokes, say authors Farrukh Chaudhry, MD, Jose Biller, MD; and Murray Flaster, MD, PhD. For more information, click here to read the full release.
War Vets, Others Have High Rate of Vision Trouble after Traumatic Brain Injury
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 10:04
Visual symptoms and abnormalities occur at high rates in people with traumatic brain injury (TBI), including Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans with blast-related TBI — that’s according to a new study, “Mechanisms of TBI and Visual Consequences in Military and Veteran Populations,” which appears in the February issue of Optometry and Vision Science, the official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. Vision problems are similar for military and civilian patients with TBI, and are common even after relatively mild brain injury, report Gregory L. Goodrich, PhD, of the VA Palo Alto (Calif.) Health Care System and colleagues. “Comprehensive eye examinations are recommended following even mild traumatic brain injury,” says Anthony Adams, OD, PhD, editor-in-chief of Optometry and Vision Science. For more information, click here to read the full release.
Rhode Island Woman Finally Diagnosed with Little-known Neurological Disease
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 13:00
Roberta Healy, a retired nurse, was in her late 40s when a debilitating set of symptoms grabbed hold of her and wouldn’t let go. It started with incontinence and over nearly two decades progressed to difficulty walking and even concentrating enough to read a book or pay her own bills. “I went to a lot of doctors,” Healy said. “I went to four or five neurologists over the years. I’d go for a while and get no diagnosis, and find someone new.” Healy, the mother of one grown daughter, was told her incontinence was probably due to childbirth, and that she might have something “Parkinsons-like.” She was put on a never-ending trial of antidepressants that never worked. As her search for a diagnosis continued, the years went by, and Healy’s health declined further. She experienced balance issues and sometimes fell, had difficulty driving, and lost her focus and concentration. Finally, an East Providence, R.I.-based neurologist suspected that Healy was suffering from a difficult-to-diagnose neurological disease called normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and referred her to Petra…
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Athletes Top Students in Test of Cognitive Functions
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 9:39
English Premier League soccer players, NHL hockey players, France’s Top 14 club rugby players and even elite amateur athletes have better developed cognitive functions than the average university student, according to a perception study by Professor Jocelyn Faubert of the University of Montreal’s School of Optometry. The study demonstrates a possible outcome of the increased cortical thickness that has been found in areas of trained athletes’ brains. It also gives researchers new avenues for exploring the treatment of patients who have issues with attention, such as the elderly. “Study participants were asked to describe a series of simulated objects moving through three dimensions,” Faubert explains. “Although the context had nothing to do with any specific sport, we found that professional athletes were able to process the visual scenes much better than amateur athletes, who were, in turn, better than the students.”The cognitive requirements for correctly interpreting the abstract moving scenes parallel situations such as driving, crossing the street or, case in point, performing sport. “It would appear that athletes are able to hyper-focus their attention…
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Researchers Investigate Use of Drug to ‘Prop Open Door’ to Blood-Brain Barrier
Monday, February 4, 2013 13:00
The treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases can be particularly challenging due to the many therapeutic agents, such as recombinant proteins and gene medicines, that are not easily transported across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Focused ultrasound can be used to “open the door” of the blood brain barrier. However, finding a way to “prop the door open” to allow therapeutics to reach diseased tissue without damaging normal brain tissue is the focus of a new study by a team of researchers at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at National Taiwan University presenting at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society (BPS). The group is investigating the feasibility of using heparin, a common anticoagulant, to enhance the delivery of therapeutic macromolecules using ultrasound into the brain. Heparin could be employed to increase treatment efficacy in patients with different types of CNS diseases under the guidance of medical imaging system providing new hope in these challenging cases. Initial results show that heparin may optimize therapeutic delivery with ultrasound, acting as a “doorstop” and allowing drugs…
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