Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Neurology for May 2006. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Enzyme May Help Cortex Recover from Amblyopia
WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Chondroitin-degrading enzymes may help the adult brain recover from monocular deprivation caused by amblyopia or cataract by facilitating new neuronal connections in the visual cortex, according to a study in rats published May 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Y Chromosome Affects MS-Like Disease Progression in Mice
WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- The Y chromosome can influence the progression of multiple sclerosis-like disease in both male and female mice, according to a report in the May 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Females have a disease susceptibility and severity similar to their male littermates, suggesting the intrauterine environment can affect disease susceptibility, the authors report.
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Outcome Similar After Coil or Clip of Brain Aneurysms
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with ruptured brain aneurysms have a low risk of late rebleeding whether they are treated with coil embolization or surgical clipping, according to a report in the June issue of Stroke.
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Low Apgar Score Associated with Epilepsy Risk Later in Life
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of epilepsy is about seven times higher in people with a low Apgar score shortly after birth, according to a study in the May issue of Epidemiology.
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Researchers Describe How Ritalin May Work
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Methylphenidate appears to work by elevating norepinephrine levels and suppressing nerve signal transmissions in the sensory cortex of awake rats, which could have implications for producing more effective drugs for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a study published online May 10 in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
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Nicotine Reduces Craving for Methamphetamine in Rats
MONDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have found that nicotine and the Alzheimer disease drug donepezil help prevent methamphetamine cravings in rats, according to a report published online May 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Genetic Defect Predisposes to Benign Pituitary Tumors
THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- A low-penetrance genetic defect has been identified in individuals who are predisposed to developing pituitary adenomas, according to a Finnish study published in the May 26 issue of Science. Two mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) gene may be responsible for 16 percent of all pituitary adenomas that secrete growth hormone, the report suggests.
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Half of U.S. Stroke Deaths Occur Outside of Hospital
THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of all stroke deaths happen before the patient is transported to the hospital, according to a report published May 19 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Childhood Cancer Linked to Unemployment in Adulthood
TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- The effects of childhood cancer pose a significant risk for unemployment when survivors reach adulthood, according to a report published online May 22 in Cancer.
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Low Physical Function Linked to Dementia, Alzheimer Risk
MONDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Lower levels of physical function may be associated with the onset of dementia and Alzheimer disease, according to a study in the May 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Deprivation Has Lasting Effects on Romanian Adoptees
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- The adverse effects of the extreme deprivation endured by Romanian adoptees during their early childhood in institutions continue to affect their cognitive development even at age 11, according to a study published in the May/June issue of Child Development.
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Genotype May Increase Susceptibility to Prion Disease
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- An analysis of more than 10,000 tissue samples from appendectomies and tonsillectomies conducted in the United Kingdom suggests that there is another genotype that could make people prone to developing variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), according to a report in the May 20 issue of BMJ. The findings indicate that there might be subclinical cases of the disease, who might potentially spread the disease via blood donations, an editorial suggests.
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Aspirin and Dipyridamole Best Treatment After Stroke
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of aspirin and dipyridamole works better than aspirin alone to prevent further circulatory problems after cerebral ischemia of arterial origin, according to a study published in the May 20 issue of The Lancet.
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Delaying Vancomycin Use May Prevent Hearing Loss
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- In children with pneumococcal meningitis, there is no advantage to early administration of vancomycin during combination therapy, and early administration is associated with increased risk of hearing loss, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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FDA Approves New Parkinson Disease Treatment
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new Parkinson disease treatment called Azilect (rasagiline), a monoamine oxidase type-B inhibitor that blocks the breakdown of dopamine. The FDA approved Azilect for use as an initial single drug therapy for patients with early Parkinson disease and as an addition to standard levodopa treatments for patients with advanced disease.
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Parenting Affects Mental Development in VLBW Infants
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- The cognitive development of children born at very low birth weight (VLBW) and who subsequently have consistently responsive parenting by their mothers is similar to that of their counterparts born at term, and the effect persists for the first 10 years of childhood, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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Early Hearing-Impairment Detection Improves Language
WEDNESDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- Language skills, but not necessarily speech, are better in school-age children if their bilateral hearing impairment is confirmed by 9 months of age (usually after detection during universal newborn screening) compared with children whose hearing impairment is confirmed after that age, according to a study published in the May 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Brain Scans Measure Lesbian Response to Pheromones
WEDNESDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- A brain imaging study suggests that women who are lesbians respond to putative human pheromones with some similarity to heterosexual men rather than to heterosexual women, according to a report published online May 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Fluoxetine Spurs Neuron Growth in Dentate Gyrus
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (Prozac) may exert its antidepressive effects by targeting early progenitor cells in the brain during new neuron growth, according to a report published online May 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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British Study Discounts Iraq War Syndrome
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- So far, little evidence suggests the development of an Iraq War syndrome among British soldiers similar to the Gulf War syndrome observed in their counterparts after the 1991 conflict, according to a study published online May 16 by The Lancet.
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Imaging Study Shows Autistic Brain Fails to Rest
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Metabolic activity in certain regions of the brain normally associated with resting and daydreaming is absent in patients with autism, according to a report published online May 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Treatment Benefits Children with Congenital Toxoplasmosis
MONDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Using pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine to treat children with congenital toxoplasmosis can result in normal cognitive, neurologic and auditory function and no new eye lesions, according to a study in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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High Risk of Recurrent Stroke with Moyamoya Disease
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients presenting with angiographic moyamoya phenomenon where lenticulostriate arteries hypertrophy to bypass a cerebral artery occlusion have an increased chance for stroke, according to a report published online April 27 in the journal Stroke.
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Post-Stroke Ischemia Opens Hemichannels in Neurons
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have discovered hemichannels in neurons that open in response to ischemia and may contribute to anoxic depolarization and neuronal cell death after stroke, according to a report in the May 12 issue of Science.
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Mild Cognitive Problems Lead to Various Types of Dementia
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with mild cognitive impairment sometimes progress to types of dementia other than Alzheimer disease, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Neurology.
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Ultrasound Therapy Disrupts Blood-Brain Barrier
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- A study testing wide-field low-frequency ultrasound to improve cerebral blood flow was terminated after the first patient developed what appeared to be a subarachnoid hemorrhage, according to a report published online April 27 in Stroke. Although the abnormality quickly resolved, the study authors suggest that ultrasound may temporarily disrupt the blood-brain barrier.
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Poverty Not Linked to Delay in 911 Response for Stroke
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Residents of low-income areas do not have meaningfully longer delays between calling 911 and receiving medical care for a stroke than those in higher-income areas, but low socioeconomic status is linked to a substantially increased risk of stroke in people between the ages of 65 and 74, according to two studies published online May 12 in Stroke.
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Brain Pathology for Memory Loss Like Pre-Alzheimer's
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) have neuropathological changes that do not meet the criteria for a postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer disease, but are beyond the neurofibrillary tangles seen with normal aging, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Neurology. The findings suggest that aMCI is an interim step on the way to the very early stages of Alzheimer disease.
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Delirium More Common with Acute Hip Surgery
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Cognitive impairment is the strongest predictor of postoperative delirium in elderly hip-replacement patients, with those undergoing an acute procedure more likely to have delirium than elective patients, according to a Dutch study published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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FDA Approves New Smoking Cessation Drug
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Chantix, a smoking cessation drug made by Pfizer, Inc. The drug was given accelerated approval because its active ingredient, the new molecular entity varenicline tartrate, can help cigarette smokers kick the habit, according to an FDA statement.
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Some U.S. States Seek to Change Life Support Laws
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- More than two-thirds of U.S. states allow patients or their representatives to decide whether to withdraw life-sustaining treatment when the patient is in a persistent vegetative state, according to a report published in the June issue of Neurology. However, laws and proposed legislation in some states may force the burden on the patient's representative to show that life support should be withdrawn and reverse 30 years of law and health care ethics, the authors write.
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Caregiver Influences Reports of Dementia in Alzheimer's
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Clinicians should consider the characteristics of caregivers assisting patients with Alzheimer disease since they may influence reports of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia (NPS), according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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Frivolous Claims Account for Small Fraction of Costs
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- The majority of resources involved in malpractice claims go toward resolving and paying those that involve errors, indicating it may be more cost-effective to streamline claims processing rather than discourage claims, according to a study in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Antiviral Regimen Promising for Post-Shingles Pain
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Antiviral treatment with intravenous acyclovir followed by oral valacyclovir shows promise for treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia, according to the results of a prospective, open-label study published in the May 8 issue of the Archives of Neurology.
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Cause of Grapefruit Juice Drug Interaction Identified
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- The active ingredients in grapefruit juice that cause potentially dangerous interactions with some drugs are furanocoumarins, not, as previously suspected, the flavonoids that give the drink its bitter taste, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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Oculomotor Test Provides Marker of Huntington Progression
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Measures of rapid eye movements between fixations can be a biomarker of disease progression in patients with preclinical and clinical Huntington disease, according to a report published online April 19 in Neurology.
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Collaborative Care Benefits Alzheimer Disease Patients
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Alzheimer disease patients cared for by an interdisciplinary team within their primary care setting are more likely to receive drugs and have fewer behavioral and psychological symptoms than other patients, according to a study in the May 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Pain Management Program Improves Pain Assessment
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- A pain management instrument that includes enhanced pain assessments and nursing staff updates improves some aspects of pain management in hospitalized adults, but not overall pain scores, according to one of the largest studies of its kind reported in the May 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Growth Hormone Key to Calorie-Restricted Longevity
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Growth hormone signaling could be key to the life-extending effects of calorie restriction, since mice lacking its receptor live as long as calorie-restricted mice, according to a report published online May 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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On-Screen Portrayal of Coma Patients Misleads the Public
MONDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- The on-screen portrayal of coma patients is inaccurate and misleading, and could influence real-life decision-making, according to a study published in the May 9 issue of Neurology.
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Autism Affects About 300,000 Children in United States
MONDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Autism affects an estimated 300,000 U.S. children between the ages of 4 and 17, according to an analysis of two nationally representative surveys published online May 5 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The diagnosis is 3.7 times as common in males than females and the peak prevalence was observed at ages 6 to 11.
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Web Site Offers Free Online Access to Stroke Research
FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- The month of May is American Stroke Month and the American Stroke Association, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are calling attention to a Web site that gives researchers, physicians and affected families free online access to the newest research on stroke.
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ACE Inhibitor Angioedema Reaction Higher in Blacks
FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Patients in some ethnic groups have higher risks of adverse events when taking cardiovascular drugs, according to a review published online May 5 in BMJ. For example, black patients who are taking angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have three times the risk of developing angioedema as other patients, the report indicates.
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Brain Scans Suggest Dread Can Be Similar to Pain
FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- When given the choice, most people prefer to get unpleasant or painful events over with as soon as possible. Now, a brain imaging study published May 5 in Science suggests an area within the cortical pain matrix is responsible for dreading inevitable discomfort, and anticipation of the pain is similar to the painful stimuli itself in some people.
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Fewer Vascular Problems in Untreated Parkinson Patients
THURSDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Untreated patients with Parkinson disease are less likely to have vascular disorders including diabetes, hypertension and high serum lipids than patients without Parkinson disease, according to a report in the May issue of Stroke. The authors attribute this observation to impaired autonomic activity in Parkinson patients.
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Emergency Rooms Report Dire Shortage of Specialists
THURSDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- About three in four emergency department directors report inadequate on-call specialist coverage at their facilities in 2005, compared with two in three directors who reported the problem in 2004, according to a new report from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
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Hyperbilirubinemia Not Linked to Later Neurologic Deficit
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Infants with elevated levels of bilirubin who are treated with either phototherapy or exchange transfusion show neurodevelopmental progress similar to that of normal children, according to a report in the May 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Sudden Death Risk Higher for Patients with Chronic Epilepsy
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy or those who have inadequate seizure control have a higher risk of sudden death than non-epileptics, according to a report published online May 3 in The Lancet Neurology.
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Neurologic Soft Signs Mark Vulnerability to PTSD
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- A study of identical twins suggests that subtle neurologic dysfunction associated with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not acquired with the trauma but rather represents an antecedent familial vulnerability factor for PTSD, according to a report in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Circadian Clock Shift May Help Seasonal Affective Disorder
MONDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, may respond to treatment intended to shift their circadian rhythm to earlier in the day, according to a report published online April 28 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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