September 27, 2006, 7:22 PM CT
Spinal Cord Stimulators For Migraine Headaches
Anyone who has gone through the experience of migraine headache knows the misery of this miserable disease. Now there is some active research going on in this field that might interest those who are suffering from those miserable headaches.
A new therapy for migraine headaches is in the horizon: occipital nerve stimulation, a surgical procedure in which an implanted neurostimulator delivers electrical impulses to nerves under the skin at the base of the head at the back of the neck.
This treatment may help migraine sufferers who do not respond to other available therapies, or who cannot tolerate the side effects of existing medications.
"The purpose of the randomized, double-blinded study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of occipital nerve stimulation as a therapy for refractory migraine headache," says Dr. Sandeep Amin, Rush study investigator and anesthesiologist who surgically implants the device in the two-visit operation.
Rush is recruiting patients through the Diamond Headache Clinic and is the only site in Illinois in the trial.
The study, known as PRISM (Precision Implantable Stimulator for Migraine), uses Boston Scientific's Precision neurostimulator with approximately 150 patients at up to 15 sites in the U.S. The implantable pulse generator will deliver electrical impulses to the occipital nerves located just under the skin at the base of the skull at the back of the neck.........
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September 25, 2006, 9:47 PM CT
Laser probe may offer insight into Parkinson's disease
In a finding that may offer clues about Parkinson's disease, a team led by Duke University scientists used a sophisticated laser system to gain evidence that a dark brown pigment that accumulates in people's brains consists of layers of two other pigments usually found in hair.
Other researchers previously had determined via chemical analysis that the dark pigment, called neuromelanin, is composed of the two pigments: eumelanin, found in black-haired people, and pheomelanin, found in redheads. But how those pigments are arranged structurally remained unknown -- and this structuring may prove to be of critical importance, as per the researchers.
In addition, in 2005 a Duke team that included some of the same researchers involved in the current study reported using the laser system to establish that pheomelanin is chemically disposed to activate oxygen while eumelanin is not. Oxygen activation is suspected to play a role in the neurogenic cascade of events behind Parkinson's disease.
In the new report, researchers from Duke, North Carolina State University and the Institute of Biomedical Technologies in Segrate, Italy, outlined evidence that neuromelanins isolated from human brains have cores of oxygen-activating pheomelanin covered by a protective surface of eumelanin.........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 25, 2006, 9:37 PM CT
New Study For Multiple Sclerosis
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trial of Fampridine-SR on walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Statistical significance was achieved on all three efficacy criteria defined in the Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A significantly greater proportion of people taking Fampridine-SR had a consistent improvement in walking speed, the study's primary outcome, in comparison to people taking placebo (34.8 percent vs. 8.3 percent) as measured by the Timed 25-Foot Walk (p less than 0.001). In addition, the effect was maintained in this study throughout the 14-week therapy period (p less than 0.001) and there was a statistically significant improvement in the 12-Item MS Walking Scale (MSWS-12) for walking responders vs. non-responders (p less than0.001).
The average increase in walking speed over the therapy period in comparison to baseline was 25.2 percent for the drug group vs. 4.7 percent for the placebo group. Increased response rate on the Timed 25-Foot Walk was seen across all four major types of MS. In addition, statistically significant increases in leg strength were seen in both the Fampridine-SR Timed Walk responders (p<0.001) and the Fampridine-SR Timed Walk non-responders (p=0.046) in comparison to placebo. The Company intends to present comprehensive data at an upcoming medical meeting.........
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September 24, 2006, 10:19 PM CT
How Much Parents Know Aboutteenage Alcoholism?
Previous assessments of child psychopathology have shown that parents can be helpful in reporting symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). A new study examines just how helpful parents are in assessing their children's alcohol and/or drug use and abuse. The answer? Not much.
Results are published in the recent issue of
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research"'Externalizing' disorders such as ADHD and ODD have behaviors associated with them that are obvious and affect others," explained Laura Jean Bierut, associate professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine. "For example, a child who cannot sit still or focus on his or her work at school and is disruptive in the classroom, or a child who argues with his or her parents or refuses to do the things that they ask. However, the symptoms associated with 'internalizing' disorders such as depression can be much more subtle and not as easily recognized. Things like feelings of worthlessness or loss of interest in favorite activities can be very troubling to a child, but they don't necessarily impact others and might go unnoticed unless the child chooses to talk about them." Bierut is also the corresponding author for the study.........
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September 24, 2006, 10:09 PM CT
Alcoholics And Decision-making
New research has observed that alcoholics with certain coexisting personality disorders (PDs) have decision-making abilities that are especially impaired.
Results are reported in the recent issue of
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research"Normally, we make choices by weighing immediate benefits of different options relative to possible negative consequences in the longer term," said Geert Dom, head of therapy at the Alexian Brothers Psychiatric Centre in Boechout, Belgium. "When these abilities are impaired, people are less able to cognitively evaluate the longer-term consequences of their choices. This is reflected in real life by choices that are socially inadequate and/or correlation to overtly negative outcomes. Substance or polydrug use/abuse is one example".
On a neuronal level, added Dom, decision making is believed to involve multiple brain structures in the limbic region. "These brain regions are very important in the processing of emotions, motivational processes and the processing of rewards and punishments," he said. "Earlier studies have indicated that individuals with lesions in these regions lose the ability to make advantageous decisions, reflected by severe social behavioral problems and impaired performance on decision-making tasks such as the Iowa Gambling Task, which was originally designed to study decision-making in neurological patients with brain lesions".........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 22, 2006, 4:35 PM CT
Disease of older adults now seen in young, obese adults
Acute diverticulitis, a disease traditionally seen in patients older than 50 years old, is now being seen in younger adults who are obese, as per a research studyconducted by the University of Maryland Medical Center's department of radiology in Baltimore, MD.
Acute diverticulitis is one of the most frequently encountered acute diseases of the colon and is usually correlation to a low fiber diet. Increased pressure in the colon causes numerous thin-walled out-pouches (diverticula) to develop in the bowel wall, a chronic condition known as diverticulosis. Bacterial infection of these diverticula cause inflammation that may lead to a perforation in the wall of the intestine and other serious complications.
"Over the last ten years, I noted that a number of patients coming into the emergency room with CT findings of acute diverticulitis seemed younger than traditional teaching suggested, and often were obese," said Barry Daly, MD, an author of the study. "We were seeing patients as young as their early twenties, though textbooks typically describe this condition as a disease of the over-fifty age group," he said.
The study group was composed of 104 patients, both men and women, broken into two age groups: 50 years old or younger and older than 50 years. Abdominal obesity was present and more severe in 85.7% of the 50 years or younger group compared with 77% of the older patients.........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 20, 2006, 9:49 PM CT
Gi Complications Due To NSAIDs
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) provide a broad range of benefits for patients who require their use, but health care providers need to carefully consider the associated risks before prescribing these drugs for their patients, as per a multi-disciplinary panel of experts convened by the AGA Institute. Gastrointestinal (GI) morbidities are the most common adverse events linked to NSAID use, including complications in both the upper- and lower-GI tracts; serious GI complications, such as potentially fatal bleeding ulcers, occur in one to four percent of NSAID users annually.
The findings of the panel, "Consensus Development Conference on the Use of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Including Cyclooxygenase-2 Enzyme Inhibitors and Aspirin," were reported in the recent issue of
Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, published by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
"NSAIDs are the most widely used medications in the world, and the broad use of these drugs confirms their effectiveness and relative safety," as per C. Mel Wilcox, MD, professor of medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and lead author of the paper. "However, well-recognized GI complications and previously unrecognized cardiac risks have caused great concern about the use of these drugs among healthcare professionals. The AGA Institute convened the consensus conference to increase awareness about the benefits and the risks of GI and cardiovascular toxicities linked to these medications and to improve their use".........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 19, 2006, 10:07 PM CT
Too little fat! May not be the best thing
Too much body fat may be a bad thing, but there is increasing evidence that too little fat also may have some surprisingly negative consequences.
Researchers at UC Irvine have found that fat droplets - tiny balls of fat that exist in most cells - appear to have an intriguing role to play when it comes to regulating excess proteins in the body. In a study with fruit flies, developmental biologist Steven Gross and colleagues found that these fat droplets served as storage depots for a type of protein used primarily by the cell to bind DNA and organize it in the nucleus. The fat keeps this extra protein out of the way until it is needed so that it does not cause harm within the cell. The findings imply that fat droplets could also serve as storage warehouses for other excess proteins that might otherwise cause harm if not sequestered. The study appears in the current issue of Current Biology.
"We were surprised to find that these droplets appear to be a mechanism for cleaning up excess proteins before they cause trouble," said Gross, associate professor of developmental and cell biology. "Obviously, everything in the body should be balanced. There is no doubt that huge amounts of fat tax your system in a lot of ways. But there now appears to be growing evidence that fat is also important for keeping us healthy".........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 19, 2006, 9:38 PM CT
Thyroid Surgery Could Be Done As Outpatient
Thyroid surgery can be performed safely as an outpatient procedure for most patients. These findings and conclusion are from a study that followed 91 patients at two hospitals.
"This is a logical benefit of doing less-invasive surgical techniques," says Dr. David Terris, chair of the Medical College of Georgia Department of Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgery. "Now patients are able to go home the same day they have surgery".
With careful selection, 52 of the patients, or 57 percent, were able to leave the hospital about two hours after surgery, according to the study being presented during the 110th Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Sept. 17-20 in Toronto.
Of the patients operated on at MCG Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Ga., between December 2004 and October 2005, 26 were kept in the hospital just under a day and 13 were admitted.
Smaller incisions, reduced use of surgical drains and prophylactic calcium supplementation have enabled thyroid surgery - which just a few years ago required a four-inch neck incision and several days in the hospital - to be done safely on an outpatient basis, Dr. Terris says.
"Three or four years ago, the dissection we did, raising skin and muscle flaps and cutting muscle to get the thyroid gland out, meant we had to put a drain in and we had to watch patients carefully overnight or for two or maybe even three nights," he says. "Now that we are doing much less dissection, many patients can go home the same day.........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
September 18, 2006, 9:56 PM CT
Cellular Traffic Backups Implicated
A defective link in the intracellular protein "transit system" may lie at the heart of some craniofacial defects, new research in zebrafish suggests.
In the Sept. 17 online issue of Nature Genetics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers report the identification of a mutation that causes severe skeletal deformities in zebrafish by shutting down a critical protein transport pathway.
The findings are surprising, said Ela Knapik, M.D., lead investigator on the study, because this pathway is thought to be so universal that a defect would prove fatal just hours after fertilization. But the mutant fish, named crusher, hatched and survived to nine days, albeit with striking skeletal abnormalities craniofacial defects, kinked fins and shortened body.
The pathway affected by the crusher mutation is key to transporting proteins outside of the cell. All proteins are made in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a labyrinthine compartment just outside the cell's nucleus. Proteins are then "packaged" into transport containers called vesicles, which traverse the gelatinous cytoplasm of the cell's interior. The vesicles eventually dock with the Golgi, a structure that resembles a pancake stack and is the last major "transit station" of the cell. In the Golgi, proteins are modified into their active, final form before being shipped out to the surface of the cell in another type of vesicle. Once they reach their destination, the proteins either empty out into the extracellular space or take up residence in the cell membrane.........
Posted by: Julia Permalink Source
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