In patients diagnosed with epilepsy, the likelihood that they will continue to have seizures may well depend on their response to the initial anti-seizure medication given after their diagnosis. According to a recent study published in Neurology, researchers found that 50 percent of the people in the study were seizure-free after the first medication they… Read more »
Posts Tagged: neurology
May is Stroke Awareness Month: Know the Signs!
A stroke is an injury to the brain caused by the obstruction of blood flow to a brain artery-usually by a blood clot or a direct bleed into the brain itself. It can be due to weakness in the vessel wall commonly caused by high blood pressure or cerebral aneurysm. Stroke is the third leading… Read more »
Frequent Dental X-Rays Linked to Most Common Brain Tumor
People who received frequent dental x-rays in the past have an increased risk of developing a meningioma, the most commonly diagnosed primary brain tumor, according to a recent study published in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. Researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven and Brigham and Women’s… Read more »
Monitoring Spinal Cord During Surgery May Prevent Paralysis
The American Academy of Neurology recommends monitoring the spinal cord during spinal surgery and certain chest surgeries to help prevent paralysis or loss of muscle function related to the surgeries, according to an updated guideline published recently in Neurology, the academy’s medical journal. This report, which I cowrote, provides the most comprehensive and compelling evidence… Read more »
Quick Treatments for Prolonged Seizures
Faster, more effective relief of prolonged seizures (which last more than five minutes) may be available with medicine delivered into a muscle via an autoinjector, according to a study recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine. An autoinjector is similar to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions. This study represents a… Read more »
Epilepsy Surgery Improves Seizure Control and Quality of Life
A 26-year follow-up study published in the journal Epilepsia revealed that after epilepsy surgery, nearly half of participants were free of disabling seizures and 80 percent reported better quality of life than before surgery. Spanning over three decades, the study is the longest follow-up of epilepsy surgery patients. However, nothing has changed in that time… Read more »
Flu Drug Seems to Speed Recovery After Traumatic Brain Injury
In a recent study published in the The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that Amantadine, a drug typically used to treat the flu and Parkinson’s disease, appears to speed recovery in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. It is an important study because it demonstrated for the first time an improvement in the level… Read more »
Clouded in Smoke: Cigarettes Dull the Male Brain
Everyone knows smoking is dumb. Now it looks like it makes you dumb, too: A recent study in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that male smokers of a certain age experience faster loss of brain power. Researchers found that, compared to men who never smoked, middle-aged men smokers are likely to experience more rapid… Read more »
Nicotine Patch May Help Memory Impairment
Nicotine patches may ease mild cognitive impairment, according to a new study in the journal Neurology. Study participants showed improved attention plus improvements in secondary measures of attention, memory and though-processing speed. But the research did not demonstrate a significant difference between nicotine and placebo on overall improvement. The study was conducted with 74 non-smokers… Read more »
Can Lower Body Mass Index Be an Early Sign for Alzheimer’s Disease?
Obesity, a disease in itself, is a well known cause of other diseases. Midlife obesity, in particular, has been linked with an increased risk of late-life dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Interestingly, patients who have dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease are actually more likely to be underweight. The cause of this association has been unclear. It… Read more »