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 […]
Latest articles
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 […]
Cortical atrophy in ALS related to cognitive dysfunction. Food for thought?
Cortical atrophy, as assessed by novel volumetric MRI techniques, have revealed inconsistent results in ALS. Specifically, while cortical thinning, predominantly within the motor/frontal lobe regions, have been reported by some, absence of atrophy has been reported by others. Mioshi and colleagues elegantly demonstrate a potential explanation for such discordant MRI findings. Namely, ALS patients with […]
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 […]
MS and ALS: A common pathophysiological denominator?
Ismail and colleagues report on a high concurrence rate of multiple sclerosis (MS) and ALS. Interestingly, the C9orf72 expansion was identified in 80% of the ALS-MS patients. Given that the inflammatory system appears to be deregulated in patients expressing the c9orf72 expansion, with down-regulation of the neuroprotective CXCL10 chemokine and dysfunction of NF-kB activity, the […]
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 […]