Business & Professional

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Dr. David Dorn seeing neurology patients at NUMC

NEW ULM - David Dorn, MD has begun seeing neurology patients at New Ulm Medical Center (NUMC). Dr. Dorn is a neurologist with Noran Neurological Clinic. He is board certified in Neurology.

Dr. Dorn has been with Noran Clinic for more than 30 years and treats adults only. Dr. Dorn will see patients with headaches, seizures, Parkinson's disease, MS, dementia, stroke and other neurological conditions.

Dr. Dorn completed his undergraduate degree at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. He completed his medical degree and residency through the University of Minnesota. To make an appointment with Dr. Dorn at NUMC, please call 507-217-5011.

K of C recognizes Schommer

NEW ULM - Denny Schommer, field agent with the Knights of Columbus, Jelinek Agency was recently honored as Agent of the Month for July 2012.

He has been an agent since May 2007 and serves Knights of Columbus families in New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Morgan and the surrounding area.

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Business & Professional

Prograde Unveils Supplement to Slow Cognitive Decline

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West Palm Beach, FL (PRWEB) September 26, 2012

Researchers at Prograde Nutrition have seized on a positive new discovery in the field of nutrition research. Prograde, a nutrition supplement company that focuses on scientifically proven results, has been touting a new study that shows that berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, improve brain health and cognitive function.

Berries have long been known to have a number of healthy properties. Because of their high concentration of antioxidants, berries help eliminate free radicals in the body particles that harm tissue, cause inflammation and may contribute to aging. But results published in the 2012 Annals of Neurology show that berries also help slow cognitive decline in older patients.

This was the kind of discovery that should be on the evening news, said Jayson Hunter, research director at Prograde. For many people cognitive decline is the single scariest part of aging. The idea of forgetting where you are, or even not recognizing your own children, is a terrifying prospect. Being able to use natural means to slow that process is crucial knowledge.

The reason berries fight cognitive decline appears to be related to two compounds: flavonoids, which are abundant in berries, and anthocyanins, a class of antioxidants. In a test group of more than 16,000 elderly patients the slowest cognitive decline correlated with a regular intake of strawberries and blueberries.

This is part of why we include berries in Genesis, our greens supplement, Hunter said. Greens have great health benefits on their own, but nothing that extends cognitive health like the power of berries. Ours includes the equivalent of four cups of fresh blueberries in each daily dose. No one else does that.

Prograde Genesis includes strawberries, blueberries, green coffee berries and acai among its ingredients. Genesis is designed to provide a powerhouse-health solution in a single daily supplement.

About Prograde

Prograde Nutrition was founded by fitness experts who wanted to find higher quality supplements for their clients. Prograde emphasizes careful scientific research and testing, and markets its supplements only through qualified medical and health professionals. Information can be found at http://www.getprograde.com/berries-and-cognitive-function.html.

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Prograde Unveils Supplement to Slow Cognitive Decline

Top medicine articles for September 2012

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Here are my suggestions for some of the top articles in medicine for August 2012:

More than 30% of hospital patients have test result pending/not reviewed by the time they're discharged http://goo.gl/CCBxr

Corneal snowflakes due to IgG-kappa multiple myeloma - The Lancet images http://goo.gl/FvGBM

Biliary ileus - The Lancet images http://goo.gl/Iv18H

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) as a Reliable Proxy of General Male Health Status regardless of the etiology of ED http://goo.gl/y3kjA

Higher BPA Levels, More Heart Disease? http://goo.gl/10UUi

More Self-Control as a Child, Lower BMI as Adult (study) http://goo.gl/FElcw

FDA approved the first generic version of Actos (Pioglitazone) to treat adults with type 2 diabetes http://goo.gl/kUq9k

Mississippi has the highest proportion of obese adults at 35%, and Colorado has the lowest at 21% (survey) http://goo.gl/JDD6C

"GSK drug halves attacks in hard-to-treat asthma" - anti-IL5 antibody mepolizumab for eosinophilic asthma http://goo.gl/Be6IU

New Epinephrine Auto-Injector Talks Patients Through Injection Process, has a 5-sec countdown, signaling lights http://goo.gl/rYJZI

Autoinflammatory syndromes: Fever is not always a sign of infection - CCJM http://goo.gl/uTc2X

Genetic counselors: Your partners in clinical practice - CCJM http://goo.gl/ZkJb4

Atrial fibrillation: New drugs, devices, and procedures - CCJM http://goo.gl/O0AQN

The demise of the stethoscope as a metaphor of the “hyposkillia” of our times - CCJM http://goo.gl/xu5qS -- An argument for reviving the disappearing skill of cardiac auscultation - CCJM http://goo.gl/59ikK

Dark chocolate can help decrease blood pressure by 2-3 mmHg http://goo.gl/xTnn1

Eating egg yolks as 'bad as smoking' - NHS Choices blog reviews the evidence http://goo.gl/IosBG

30% of new prescriptions never get filled. Will smart pills boost drug compliance? http://goo.gl/omhjJ

Small practices may be least able to take new Medicaid patients - NJ Medicaid physicians get paid 37% of Medicare rates http://goo.gl/g3RLN

4 ways for practices to benefit from a social media presence: Offer information beyond the appointment, Raise physician profiles, Influence online search, Marketing toolkit http://goo.gl/5mAz4

The articles were selected from my Twitter and Google Reader streams. Please feel free to send suggestions for articles to clinicalcases@gmail.com and you will receive acknowledgement in the next edition of this publication.

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Guideline: Test can help make diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

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Public release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Seroka rseroka@aan.com 612-928-6129 American Academy of Neurology

MINNEAPOLIS A new guideline released by the American Academy of Neurology may help doctors in making the diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The guideline is published in the September 19, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare, always fatal brain disorder that involves quickly progressing dementia. New cases appear in about one person per million each year worldwide and confirming the diagnosis is challenging. People with the disease can have a wide range of symptoms. Many other conditions can cause similar symptoms, and with some of these conditions the dementia can be treated.

The guideline focused only on the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

While several tests are available to help diagnose sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a brain biopsy is the most accurate test that can be performed on a person living with the disease. Brain biopsy is potentially dangerous.

The guideline examined the diagnostic accuracy of testing for a protein called 14-3-3 in the spinal fluid. The guideline authors reviewed all of the available evidence on the test, which included samples of 1,849 people with suspected sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease from nine studies.

They found that in cases where doctors strongly suspect Creutzfeldt-Jakob to be the cause of the dementia, the test can be helpful in reducing the uncertainty of the diagnosis. However, the test is not accurate enough to diagnose the disease with certainty or to rule it out completely. The test has a sensitivity of about 92 percent and a specificity of about 80 percent. Sensitivity is the percentage of patients with the disease who have a positive test result, and specificity is the percentage of patients who do not have the disease and who are correctly identified as having a negative test result.

The guideline determined that the 14-3-3 protein test can be useful when the probability of the person having Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is between 20 percent and 90 percent.

"This means that if the physician considers the likelihood of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to be extremely low or extremely high, then testing for 14-3-3 protein would not be useful regardless of the result," said guideline author Taim Muayqil, MBBS, FRCPC, of King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Guideline: Test can help make diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Chronic insomnia – Lancet 2012 review

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Insomnia is a common condition that can present independently or comorbidly with another medical or psychiatric disorder.

Treatment of chronic insomnia

Benzodiazepine-receptor agonists (BzRAs) and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) are supported by the best empirical evidence.

Benzodiazepine-receptor agonists (BzRAs) are effective in the short-term management of insomnia, but evidence of long-term efficacy is scarce. Also, most hypnotic drugs are associated with potential adverse effects.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective alternative for chronic insomnia.

CBT is more time consuming than drug management but it produces sleep improvements that are sustained over time.

However, CBT is not readily available in most clinical settings. Access and delivery can be made easier through:

- telephone consultations
- group therapy
- self-help approaches

How to succeed? Get more sleep

In this 4-minute talk, Arianna Huffington (founder of The Huffington Post) shares a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones: the power of a good night's sleep. Instead of bragging about our sleep deficits, she urges us to sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness -- and smarter decision-making.

References:

Chronic insomnia. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9821, Pages 1129 - 1141, 24 March 2012.

Image source: A halo around the Moon. Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

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New Clinical Trials Network for Neurological Disorders Helps UT Southwestern Evaluate Cutting-Edge Treatments

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Newswise DALLAS Sept. 13, 2012 UT Southwestern Medical Centers expertise in neurology has earned it a place in an innovative national clinical trials network that will make it easier to test promising treatments for patients with brain, muscle and nerve disorders.

UT Southwestern, one of 25 sites selected for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) new Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials, is the only participating medical center in Texas and its bordering states.

The network, known as NeuroNEXT, represents a unique model of clinical trials for brain diseases. By creating a shared infrastructure and institutional review board, institute officials said they expect to minimize the time and expense of studies while making new treatments available to patients more quickly.

We want to bring the fruits of discovery in the laboratory as quickly as we can to the patients who need them, said Dr. Mark Goldberg, chairman of neurology and neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern and a co-principal investigator for the project. It is more efficient to have a well-organized team in place, allowing us to test one therapy after the next.

UT Southwestern is expected to receive $1.4 million in NINDS support over the next seven years for its role in the network.

Dr. Petra Kaufmann, the NINDS associate director for clinical research, said UT Southwestern was an excellent candidate for NeuroNEXT because of the medical centers breadth of multidisciplinary expertise across the subspecialties of neurology, neurological surgery and neuroradiology for pediatrics and adults. She also cited the medical centers clinical research experience and access to a large patient population.

An important piece was the strength in the coordination and collaboration of the investigators, Dr. Kaufmann said. UT Southwestern also is built on solid basic science enterprise and has translational research capacity. This really was a very good fit.

NeuroNEXTs first clinical trial is designed to identify biomarkers for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a motor-neuron disease that causes progressive weakness and respiratory disease. It is the most common genetic cause of death in infants, and those with the most aggressive form of the disease often die before they are 2 years old. There currently is no effective treatment or cure.

UT Southwesterns participation in the trial includes Dr. Susan Iannaccone, a NeuroNEXT co-principal investigator who treats one of the nations largest populations of spinal muscular atrophy patients. In 2000, she set up one of the diseases first national clinical trial groups, which was expanded from five sites to 15 through two rounds of funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Although successful, that earlier network required expensive and time-consuming planning and execution, said Dr. Iannaccone, professor of pediatrics and of neurology and neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern. Centralizing those efforts through NeuroNEXT, she said, will allow investigators to focus on research and treatment.

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New Clinical Trials Network for Neurological Disorders Helps UT Southwestern Evaluate Cutting-Edge Treatments

Study: Gingko biloba does not improve cognition in MS patients

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Public release date: 13-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Todd Murphy murphyt@ohsu.edu 503-494-8231 Oregon Health & Science University

PORTLAND, Ore. Many people with multiple sclerosis for years have taken the natural supplement Gingko biloba, believing it helps them with cognitive problems associated with the disease.

But the science now says otherwise. A new study published in the journal Neurology says Gingko biloba does not improve cognitive performance in people with multiple sclerosis. The research was published in the Sept. 5, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The current study was a more extensive look at the question after a smaller 2005 pilot study suggested there might have been some cognitive benefits in MS patients using the supplement. That study found that Gingko seemed to improve attention in MS patients with cognitive impairment.

But the larger follow-up study, conducted with patients at the Portland and Seattle Veterans Affairs medical centers, found no cognitive benefits to using Gingko.

"It's important for scientists to continue to analyze what might help people with cognitive issues relating to their MS," said Jesus Lovera, M.D, the study's lead author, a former fellow at the Portland VA Medical Center and former instructor in Oregon Health & Science University's Department of Neurology, where he did much of the work on the study. Lovera is now with the Department of Neurology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

"We wanted to follow up on the earlier findings that suggested there may be some benefit. But we believe this larger study settles the question: Gingko simply doesn't improve cognitive performance with MS patients," said Lovera.

About one-half of people with MS will develop cognitive problems, and those cognitive problems can be debilitating in some people, said Dennis Bourdette, M.D., a co-author of the study, co-director of the VA MS Center of Excellence-West at the Portland VA Medical Center and chairman of the OHSU Department of Neurology. The most common problems relate to memory, attention and concentration, and information processing.

There is no known treatment that can improve cognition with MS patients which is partly why MS patients and researchers had hoped that Gingko biloba could help.

Originally posted here:
Study: Gingko biloba does not improve cognition in MS patients

Ellis Neuroscience Campaign features Conversations from Head2Toe

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Troy, NY (PRWEB) September 10, 2012

This month began Ellis Medicines sixth service line campaign of 2012 that promotes its neuroscience and neurosurgery care from the perspective of the hospital systems patients. Created by healthcare marketing agency Smith & Jones, the campaign uses patient stories to demonstrate how the care they received at the Neuroscience Center changed their lives.

The campaign features Kevin Keelan, a patient from Charlton, NY who rushed to Ellis Medicine for emergency brain surgery after his wife noticed that his motor skills werent quite right. In a candid interview, Keelan talks about how lucky he was to have a hospital that serves as a national model for the care of brain, spine and nerve disorders so close to home.

I found I was very, very fortunate that Ellis had such a team that was ready to, on extremely short notice, to be able to save my life, said Keelan.

Keelan is the face of the neuroscience campaign, called Head2Toe Conversations, and can be seen throughout the multi-channel advertising campaign in print ads, online display ads, Facebook ads, television commercials, posters, and in a long-form web video on the hospitals website.

Two more patients, Bill Broland and Michael Nasser, also have long-form web videos new to this years Head2Toe campaign. Nasser is a spine and pain care patient from Ballston Spa, and Broland is a stroke survivor from Niskayuna, NY.

They must put the best people up there [in the Neurosciences unit].... theyre like family, said Broland.

To learn more about Ellis Medicines neuroscience services, including a nationally recognized Stroke Center, and to watch the patient videos, please visit http://www.ellismedicine.org.

About Ellis Medicine The Ellis Medicine hospital system provides acute care for Schenectady County and a diverse community of 150,000 people located just west of the state capital in upstate New York. Learn more at http://www.ellismedicine.org.

About Smith & Jones Smith & Jones is an advertising and brand strategy agency based in Troy, NY, that specializes in marketing for hospital systems and large physician practices. Learn more at http://www.smithandjones.com.

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Ellis Neuroscience Campaign features Conversations from Head2Toe

Heavy drinking may lead to stroke earlier in life

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Public release date: 10-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Seroka rseroka@aan.com 612-928-6129 American Academy of Neurology

MINNEAPOLIS A new study shows that people who have three or more alcoholic drinks per day may be at higher risk for experiencing a stroke almost a decade and a half earlier in life than those who do not drink heavily. The research is published in the September 11, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Heavy drinking has been consistently identified as a risk factor for this type of stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain rather than a blood clot," said study author Charlotte Cordonnier, MD, PhD, with the University of Lille Nord de France in Lille, France. "Our study focuses on the effects of heavy alcohol use on the timeline of stroke and the long-term outcome for those people."

For the study, 540 people with an average age of 71 who had a type of stroke called intracerebral hemorrhage were interviewed about their drinking habits. Doctors also interviewed the participants or the caregivers or relatives about the participants' drinking habits. A total of 137 people, or 25 percent, were heavy drinkers, which was defined as having three or more drinks per day, or about 1.6 ounces per day of "pure" alcohol.

Participants also underwent CT brain scans and their medical records were reviewed.

The study found that heavy drinkers experienced a stroke at an average age of 60, 14 years before the average age of their non-heavy drinking counterparts. Among people younger than 60 who had a stroke that occurred in the deep part of the brain, heavy drinkers were more likely to die within two years of the study follow-up than non-heavy drinkers.

"It's important to keep in mind that drinking large amounts of alcohol contributes to a more severe form of stroke at a younger age in people who had no significant past medical history," said Cordonnier.

###

The study was supported by the University of Lille Nord de France and the Association for the Development of Research and Innovation the North Pas de Calais (ADRINORD).

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Heavy drinking may lead to stroke earlier in life

LSUHSC research finds ginkgo biloba doesnt improve cognitive function in MS

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Public release date: 11-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Leslie Capo lcapo@lsuhsc.edu 504-568-4806 Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center

New Orleans, LA A research study conducted by Dr. Jesus Lovera, Assistant Professor of Neurology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues has found that the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba does not improve cognitive function in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS.) Cognitive impairment affects 40-60% of people with MS, most commonly affecting their processing speed, memory, and executive skills. The research findings were published online ahead of print in Neurology on September 5, 2012.

This study followed up on a promising earlier small study by Dr. Lovera and his colleagues that had shown improvement in cognitive function with Ginkgo biloba in people with MS. Some studies have also shown improvement after treatment with Ginkgo biloba in people with Alzheimer's disease.

"Ginkgo biloba supplements are frequently used by people with MS. Ginkgo appeared beneficial in a prior small pilot study we had done," said Dr. Jesus Lovera, a neurologist at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans who specializes in MS.

The researchers wanted to conduct a larger more robust study to determine the validity of the preliminary results. One hundred twenty people with MS were randomized to either the group treated with 120 mg of Ginkgo biloba twice a day, or to the group taking matching placebo tablets. Participants were treated for 12 weeks and then underwent a battery of cognitive tests. Participants and their families also answered standardized questionnaires about their cognitive function and social integration. The tests found that there were no statistically significant improvements in cognitive function between the two groups.

"Unfortunately we did not see any improvement with Ginkgo in this new study," notes Dr. Lovera. "Several drugs such as Namenda and Aricept that work for people with Alzheimer's have been tested without success in people with MS. Unfortunately now Ginkgo is added to the list of therapies thought to be effective in Alzheimer's disease that failed to improve cognitive performance in MS."

While the study provides solid evidence, the researchers noted several limitations. Participants were treated for only 12 weeks and perhaps that was not long enough to modify the disease. The median duration of MS was 20 years, and it is possible that Ginkgo may improve cognitive function earlier in the MS disease process. It is also possible that there could have been a positive effect in participants with more severe impairments than those in this study. Additional functional assessments that measure performance in real-life situations may also have detected an effect that was missed by limiting the outcome measures to cognitive tests and questionnaires.

According to the National Institutes of Health, Multiple Sclerosis is an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system, that can range from relatively benign to somewhat disabling to devastating, as communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted. Many investigators believe MS to be an autoimmune disease -- one in which the body, through its immune system, launches a defensive attack against its own tissues. In the case of MS, it is the nerve-insulating myelin that comes under assault. Such assaults may be linked to an unknown environmental trigger, perhaps a virus.

According to the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America, MS is the most common neurological disorder diagnosed in young adults.

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LSUHSC research finds ginkgo biloba doesnt improve cognitive function in MS

Professional Football Players Have Higher ALS And Alzheimer's Death Risks

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Editor's Choice Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;Alzheimer's / Dementia Article Date: 06 Sep 2012 - 3:00 PDT

Current ratings for: Professional Football Players Have Higher ALS And Alzheimer's Death Risks

The scientists gathered data on 3,439 ex-professional football players, average age 57 years, who had played during at least five seasons from 1959 to 1988 for the National Football League. They searched through all the death certificates, specifically looking out for deaths caused by ALS, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. When the study was ongoing, 10% of the ex-footballers had died.

The team discovered that professional football players:

Everett J. Lehman said:

A brain autopsy is necessary to diagnose CTE and distinguish it from Alzheimer's or ALS. While CTE is a separate diagnosis, the symptoms are often similar to those found in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, and can occur as the result of multiple concussions."

The authors pointed out one limitation in their study; the small number of deaths they assessed.

Researchers from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC, found that collegiate football players have a much higher risk of sustaining head injuries and concussion than the rest of the population.

A two-year study carried out by scientists from Purdue University indicated that concussions among high school football players are probably caused by several hits over time, rather than one single blow to the head.

Written by Christian Nordqvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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Professional Football Players Have Higher ALS And Alzheimer's Death Risks

Thyrotoxicosis – Lancet 2012 review

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Thyrotoxicosis is a common disorder, especially in women. Thyroid disease affects 7 times more women than men.

Etiology

There are 3 main causes of thyrotoxicosis: Graves' disease, toxic nodular hyperthyroidism, and thyroiditis.

Here are some more details about them:

- Graves' disease (autoimmune hyperthyroidism) is the most frequent cause of thyrotoxicosis
- toxic nodular hyperthyroidism, due to the presence of one or more autonomously functioning thyroid nodules
- thyroiditis caused by inflammation, which results in release of stored hormones

Treatment

The available treatments for thyrotoxicosis have been unchanged for 60 years.

Antithyroid drugs are the usual initial treatment. Thionamides such as carbimazole or its active metabolite methimazole are the drugs of choice.

A prolonged course leads to remission of Graves' hyperthyroidism in only 30% of cases.

Because of this low remission rate in Graves' disease (only 30%) and the inability to cure toxic nodular hyperthyroidism with antithyroid drugs alone, radioiodine is increasingly used as first line therapy. It is the preferred choice for relapsed Graves' hyperthyroidism.

Surgery with total thyroidectomy is an option in selected cases. .

References:

Thyrotoxicosis. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9821, Pages 1155 - 1166, 24 March 2012.

Thyroid disease—more research needed. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9821, Page 1076, 24 March 2012.

Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

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NFL players may be at higher risk of death from Alzheimer's and ALS

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Public release date: 5-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Seroka rseroka@aan.com 612-928-6102 American Academy of Neurology

MINNEAPOLIS New research shows that professional football players may be at a higher risk of death from diseases that damage the cells in the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease and ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), compared to the general U.S. population. The study is published in the September 5, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study included 3,439 players with an average age of 57 from the National Football League with at least five playing seasons from 1959-1988. Researchers reviewed death certificates for causes of death from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ALS. At the time of the analysis, only 10 percent of the participants had passed away.

The research found that professional football players in this study were three times more likely to die as a result of diseases that damage brain cells compared to the general population. A player's risk of death from Alzheimer's disease or ALS was almost four times higher than the general population. Of the 334 who died, seven had Alzheimer's disease and seven had ALS. The risk of dying from Parkinson's disease was not significantly different than that of the general population.

To determine if these risks differed by position played, researchers divided the players into two groups: those who played non-line ("speed") positions which included quarterbacks, running backs, halfbacks, fullbacks, wide receivers, tight ends, defensive backs, safeties and linebackers, and those who played line ("non-speed") positions, which included defensive and offensive linemen. Speed position players were more than three times more likely to die from a neurodegenerative cause than non-speed position players. A total of 62 percent of the players were in speed positions.

"These results are consistent with recent studies that suggest an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease among football players," said study author Everett J. Lehman, MS, with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati. "Although our study looked at causes of death from Alzheimer's disease and ALS as shown on death certificates, research now suggests that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) may have been the true primary or secondary factor in some of these deaths. A brain autopsy is necessary to diagnose CTE and distinguish it from Alzheimer's or ALS. While CTE is a separate diagnosis, the symptoms are often similar to those found in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, and can occur as the result of multiple concussions."

Lehman said the study was limited by the small number of deaths in the analysis.

###

The study was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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NFL players may be at higher risk of death from Alzheimer's and ALS

Specialists On Call Helps 50,000th Emergency Patient

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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Specialists On Call, Inc. (SOC), announced today that it recently delivered its 50,000th emergency teleneurology consultation since the companys inception. This achievement in patient volume is unprecedented for any telemedicine company as well as for any single bricks and mortar healthcare facility treating emergency neurology cases.

SOC provides hospitals with immediate 24/7/365 access to board certified, fellowship trained neurologists for recommendations on stroke or any other neurologic emergency via telemedicine. By leveraging the skills of its expert neurologists, SOC helps hospitals and health systems treat neurologic emergencies and stroke patients with greater efficiency and effectiveness. Today, Specialists On Call provides nearly 2,000 emergency consultations each month to over 200 hospitals across 22 states. With access to around-the-clock on-call neurology coverage, these facilities among others have demonstrated increased tPA administration rates as well as reduced length of stay for stroke patients. Since 2006, SOC has helped oversee the administration of more tPA to eligible stroke patients than any single healthcare facility in the same amount of time.

Specialists On Calls new telepsychiatry service line delivers access to expert psychiatrists for hospitals hard pressed to provide 24/7/365 psychiatric on-call coverage in their emergency room. This turnkey service alleviates common hospital mental health care pain points such as staffing, boarding, security and depleted clinical resources. Thus far, SOCs telepsychiatry service has already produced thirty-three times the consult volume that their teleneurology service line generated during its first six months of operation and currently boasts an industry leading ECO reversal rate of over sixty percent.

To have helped over 50,000 patients with a critical medical emergency is truly remarkable, commented Specialists On Calls CEO, Joe Peterson, M.D. Were incredibly proud of what weve built, and we share our success with the countless number of lives weve impacted. Everyone at Specialists On Call is witness to the power of telemedicine and committed to further growth that will help even more patients and the hospitals that treat them.

Specialists On Call

Specialists On Call, Inc. (SOC), is a Joint Commission-accredited organization that is changing emergency medicine. As the leading provider of emergency telemedicine consultations, SOC gives hospitals vital 24/7/365 access to more than 55 board certified, fellowship trained academic specialists, each with a minimum of 10 years experience. With operations on both coasts, SOC provides more than 2,000 emergency consultations per month for hospitals nationwide and hospital systems such as Vanguard Health Systems, HCA, Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corporation.

For more information please visit http://www.specialistsoncall.com

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Specialists On Call Helps 50,000th Emergency Patient

Rosacea – NHS Choices video

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From NHS Choices YouTube channel: Rosacea is a common but poorly understood long-term skin condition that mainly affects the face. It most commonly affects fair-skinned people from northern Europe and is estimated to affect up to 1 in 10 people. In this video, an expert explains what rosacea is, the symptoms to look out for and the various treatments.

Cathelicidin dysfunction may be a central factor in the pathogenesis of several cutaneous diseases, including rosacea.

Cathelicidins are antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that protect the skin through 2 pathways:

- antimicrobial activity
- cytokine release, inflammation, angiogenesis, and reepithelialization

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Conservatives and Liberals Have Different Brains, Studies Show

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Sep 3, 2012 6:00am

Conservatives and liberals may have one less thing in common: neurology.

ProCon.org has gathered 13 peer-reviewed studies of behavioral and neurological studies and come to the conclusion that differences between Republicans and Democrats are more than skin-deep.

Basically, the different sides have been yelling at each other for millennia, and were trying to figure out what could be the root cause of this, said Steven Markoff, ProCon.orgs founder.

The studies looked at things like differences between groups perception of eye movement, and aversion to threatening noises. Researchers also noted that Democrats had larger anterior cingulate cortexes, which are associated with tolerance to uncertainty, while Republicans had larger right amygdalas, which are associated with sensitivity to fear.

Everybody seems to basically agree, and these are people that have scientific backgrounds, Markoff said of the repetition in the studies. That to me is probably the biggest eye-opener.

Although Markoff concluded the studies combine to mean that the different groups communicate in different ways, psychiatrist Greg Appelbaum said the studies point toward conservatives tendency to avoid something called self-harm, while liberals avoid collective group harm.

That said, Appelbaum the studies are not representative of all Republicans or Democrats, given that researchers are weaving different small studies together to draw conclusions, and several different opinions designate whether someone is liberal or conservative.

Its important to keep in mind that this is a big, multidimensional space, Appelbaum said.

He also said someones brain makeup doesnt necessarily predispose that person to think one way or another politically, calling it a chicken or the egg issue. In fact, its possible that a persons political thinking can change their physiological traits.

Continued here:
Conservatives and Liberals Have Different Brains, Studies Show

Even in normal range, high blood sugar linked to brain shrinkage

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Public release date: 3-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rachel Seroka rseroka@aan.com 612-928-6102 American Academy of Neurology

MINNEAPOLIS People whose blood sugar is on the high end of the normal range may be at greater risk of brain shrinkage that occurs with aging and diseases such as dementia, according to new research published in the September 4, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Numerous studies have shown a link between type 2 diabetes and brain shrinkage and dementia, but we haven't known much about whether people with blood sugar on the high end of normal experience these same effects," said study author Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, with Australian National University in Canberra.

The study involved 249 people age 60 to 64 who had blood sugar in the normal range as defined by the World Health Organization. The participants had brain scans at the start of the study and again an average of four years later.

Those with higher fasting blood sugar levels within the normal range and below 6.1 mmol/l (or 110 mg/dL) were more likely to have a loss of brain volume in the areas of the hippocampus and the amygdala, areas that are involved in memory and cognitive skills, than those with lower blood sugar levels. A fasting blood sugar level of 10.0 mmol/l (180 mg/dL) or higher was defined as diabetes and a level of 6.1 mmol/l (110 mg/dL) was considered impaired, or prediabetes.

After controlling for age, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol use and other factors, the researchers found that blood sugar on the high end of normal accounted for six to 10 percent of the brain shrinkage.

"These findings suggest that even for people who do not have diabetes, blood sugar levels could have an impact on brain health," Cherbuin said. "More research is needed, but these findings may lead us to re-evaluate the concept of normal blood sugar levels and the definition of diabetes."

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The study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia and the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

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Even in normal range, high blood sugar linked to brain shrinkage

Passaic Sleep Medicine & Neurological Services Expands to Bergen County

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RUTHERFORD, NJ--(Marketwire -08/31/12)- Malo Clinic Health & Wellness today announced their latest partner practice, Passaic Sleep Medicine & Neurological Services, led by Dr. Fawad Mian, who is board-certified in neurology, sleep medicine, and clinical neurophysiology.

Dr. Fawad Mian specializes in the assessment and treatment of neurological disorders, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of many sleep disorders. He began his burgeoning practice in 2011 where he regularly sees patients with a variety of complaints including back and neck pain, headaches, tremors, numbness/tingling, seizures, etc. Dr. Mian also subspecializes in the assessment and diagnosis of patients with sleep disorders. He will begin seeing patients with neurologic and sleep disorders on September 4TH at his new satellite office located at the MALO Clinic Health & Wellness center on route 17 North in Rutherford, New Jersey. "As one of the region's only complete preventative care centers, we look forward to working with Dr. Mian to bring awareness and treatment of neurologic and sleep disorders to Bergen County," said Joseph Testani, Chief Administrative Officer of MALO Clinic Health & Wellness.

Dr. Mian is a graduate of St. George's University School of Medicine. He went on to do his residency in neurology at New York University. He completed his fellowship in sleep medicine and clinical neurophysiology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fawad Mian currently resides in Bergen County.

About MALO Clinic Health & Wellness

MALO Clinic Health & Wellness offers a unique approach to complete wellness through a comprehensive array of world-class services. It is a brand new concept in North America, and set to be the world's largest facility of its kind. Since 2010, MALO CLINIC Health & Wellness features a team of health professionals and wellness therapists delivering the highest standards of medical and dental services in a healthy and relaxing spa environment. For more information please visit malohealthandwellness.com.

About Passaic Sleep Medicine and Neurological Services

Since 2011, Passaic Sleep Medicine and Neurological Services, has been actively serving the community with advanced therapeutics in sleep medicine and neurology. Led by Dr. Fawad Mian, Passaic Sleep Medicine and Neurological Services aims to continue to bring quality care to patient suffering from debilitating neurologic and sleep disorders. For more information please visit passaicsleepneuro.com.

Link:
Passaic Sleep Medicine & Neurological Services Expands to Bergen County

What are the New Risk Markers for Coronary Heart Disease?

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Traditional CHD risk factors used in the Framingham risk score (FRS) predictions include:

- age
- gender
- systolic blood pressure
- treatment of hypertension
- total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels
- smoking
- diabetes

The newer CHD risk factors include:

- N-terminal fragment of prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide levels
- von Willebrand factor antigen levels
- fibrinogen levels
- chronic kidney disease
- leukocyte count
- C-reactive protein levels
- homocysteine levels
- uric acid levels
- coronary artery calcium [CAC] scores
- carotid intima–media thickness
- peripheral arterial disease
- pulse wave velocity

Adding coronary artery calcium [CAC] scores to the FRS improved the accuracy of risk predictions.

Levels of N-terminal fragment of prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide also improved risk predictions but to a lesser extent.

Improvements in predictions with other newer markers were marginal.

References:

Evaluation of Newer Risk Markers for Coronary Heart Disease Risk Classification: A Cohort Study. Maryam Kavousi et al. Ann Intern Med. 20 March 2012;156(6):438-444.
Image source: Gray's Anatomy, 1918, public domain.

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Michael Mirochna, MD @DocRockne:  unfortunately, no evidence they help with OUTCOMES

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