I run a Multiple Sclerosis clinic and I am running a small scale observational study in my head. The aim is straight forward: to monitor the fluctuating fortunes of the various treatments that are viewed by MS patients and their families as ‘cures’ for MS. None of the treatments have anything to do with big […]
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Eat up and protect your brain!
Pull up a chair next to the cardiologists and have a look at the menu – seems like the Mediterranean diet remains flavour of the day. What is this Mediterranean diet? Well, if I can take you on a ‘Cook’s tour’ (excuse the pun…it gets worse…), this diet essentially puts emphasis on extra virgin olive oil and nuts […]
A sexy summer tan…good for MS?
Aussie Gen Y’ers have slipped, slopped, slapped all their lives, thanks to a very successful public health campaign aimed at reducing skin cancer. Our pale generation, although less inclined to melanomas, are more likely to be Vitamin D deficient, which is linked to diseases such as osteoporosis. Not as widely noted is that lack of sun exposure in […]
When being overweight pays off!
Factors influencing mortality in ALS are clearly multifactorial. The ability to determine these factors and subsequently modify them could be of therapeutic significance in ALS. The large EPIC cohort recently established that a higher body mass index may be neuroprotective, i.e. reduce mortality in ALS, which was evident in both males and females. This association […]
Seizures, strokes, and plane flights
Planes and an ailing brain…. A high ranking politician got off a longhaul plane flight and promptly had a seizure. Made me wonder what we know about this type of presentation. Certain types of illness – especially heart attacks and blood clots – have been linked to air travel aka economy class syndrome. But […]
The First Week
Dr Susanna Park from the Institute of Neurology, UK critically considers Stroke and the First Week The focus of the March issue of JNNP is stroke, highlighting a range of research assessing risk factors, prognosis, treatment and management. In this timely issue, Kauranen and colleagues1 present a study which emphasises the importance of cognitive function […]
When chocolate does not taste sweet!
Omar and colleagues identified abnormalities in processing and identification of common flavors in patients with frontotemporal lobe syndromes. This loss of flavor processing was associated with atrophy of the left entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus and temporal pole. From a clinical perspective, these findings provide insights into abnormal eating behavior patterns in FTD and ultimately […]
Do patient ratings of symptoms match functional improvements in Parkinson’s Disease?
It may seem strange, but asking patients with Parkinson’s disease to rate how much their symptoms have improved doesn’t seem to match up to clinical improvements, at least as assessed by using the conventional symptoms scores used by clinical researchers. Doctors and researchers use different symptom scores to help measure the symptoms of […]
Launch of a new cover – JNNP in 2013!
Medical publishing metrics and financial yields In “Chapters from My Autobiography” published in 1906, Mark Twain noted that “figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned […]
Can an app diagnose visual problems and monitor your recovery?
Introduction A web app has been developed that can test the eyesight of people with conditions that cause vision loss – particularly stroke. Hemianopia is a condition that causes a loss of vision in either the right or left sides of both eyes. It is a common side effect of stroke. Less […]