Category Archives: Neurology

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

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.

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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

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

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

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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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.

Comments from Twitter:

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

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