Category Archives: Neurology

Cross-examination of the Prosecution’s witnesses continued yesterday in the seventh day of the trial of former University student George Huguely, as expert witnesses described their analysis of former University student Yeardley Love’s brain. Huguely is charged with the murder of Love, his former girlfriend.

Dr. Christine Fuller, a neuropathology Prof. at Virginia Commonwealth University, conducted the initial study of Love’s brain, after the initial autopsy. Fuller identified contusions and hemorrhaging in the space surrounding the surface of the brain, which indicates blunt force trauma.

“It’s trauma. Period,” Fuller said. “It isn’t anything else.”

Fuller said these injuries can be the results of a fall, but usually not one from ground level. She said being punched severely, particularly while against a flat surface, could result in similar contusions.

Fuller found Love’s injuries in the brain stem, the part of the brain which controls basic functions such as consciousness, respiration and circulation, she said. The location of the hemmorhaging in the brain stem, toward the back and side, make the cause of the injury clear, she added.

Fuller explained these contusions in the cerebral hemispheres might cause headaches or small strokes if the patient survived, but the hemorrhaging and contusions she identified in another region of the brain have more severe possible consequences.

This damage “could potentially cause sudden death,” or death within several hours, Fuller said. She later testified during cross-examination she believes Love died two hours after receiving these injuries.

Fuller said the type of hemhorraging found in Love’s brain is not associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which is the defense’s claim.

Fuller told the court she agreed with the report of Dr. Beatriz Lopes, a pathology professor at the Medical School who conducted a second analysis of Love’s brain.

Lopes, who also testified as an expert yesterday, conducted a test Fuller did not have access to — the Beta amyloid precursor protein stain, a process which shows a better time of injury than other methods, she said.

The prosecution re-questioned medical examiner Bill Gormley who testified Monday. Gormley ruled out alcohol and amphetamines for the cause of Love’s death, citing

Love’s 0.14 blood alcohol content and 0.05 for amphetamines. Gormley said the cause of death was “most likely the cardiac arrest” with “contusions to the head” serving as the primary cause.

A slew of forensic specialists took the witness stand for the remainder of the trial.

Curt Harper, a forensic toxicologist in the University’s Department of Forensic Science said although amphetamines such as Adderrol can eventually lead to death, Love exhibited a blood level ten times less than the lethal dose.

The prosecution also brought Jenny Mouer, a latent print expert who explained tests she had performed on Love’s bedroom door and a crushed Natural Light beer can. The white door was on display in the courtroom and visibly showed traces of black powder, which had been used to perform the fingerprint tests. Mouer said none of the prints on the door and the beer-can were usable. “There were no latent prints of value for identification purposes,” she said.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney Chappman presented his next witness, Marjorie Harris, with photographic images of the crime scene. Though the pictures were not explicitly shown to the audience, they were translucent and could be identified from the back as images of Love and a bed covered in red stains.

Harris, an expert of blood stain patterns, classified the majority of the stains on the comforter, bed-skirt and pillow as transfer stains, which indicate the transfer of blood from a blood-bearing source to another source.

When Chappman presented Harris with a picture of a blood-stained pillow, he inquired whether it was possible for Harris to determine whether the image was indicative of “fabric moving over a person or a person moving over fabric,” but Harris said it was impossible to speculate.

“It’s much more difficult working with just photographs,” Harris said.

DNA specialist Angie Rainey provided the final testimony in day seven of the Huguely trial and explained more than 30 pieces of evidence.

The evidence included Love’s left and right fingernail clippings, her underwear, swabs from her bedroom floor, her pillow case, scrapings from both of Huguely’s hands, items of clothing found in Huguely’s apartments and swabs taken from the bath-mats, shower curtains and towels in Huguely’s and Love’s apartments.

Rainey said the blood found under Love’s fingernails belonged to Love and the scrapings taken from Huguely’s hands placed both Love and Huguely at the crime-scene.

The trial resumes today at 9 a.m.

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Neurology Prof. says force caused Love’s initial brain damage, hemorrhaging

Overeating may have effects beyond a big waistline -- a new study shows it could also affect seniors' memory.

A new study, to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April, shows that elderly people who eat up to 6,000 calories a day may have a doubled risk of developing a type of memory loss called mild cognitive impairment.

"We observed a dose-response pattern, which simply means the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI," study researcher Dr. Yonas E. Geda, MD, MSc, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., said in a statement.

Mild cognitive impairment is more pronounced memory loss than what normally comes from aging, and is considered a risk factor of later developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. Recently, a study in the journal Neurology showed that rates of mild cognitive impairment may be higher than previously expected, with men having a higher risk of the condition than women.

Geda's study involved 1,233 people who were between ages 70 and 89, who didn't have dementia; 163 of these people had mild cognitive impairment.

Researchers had the study participants say how many calories they ate or drank each day, and then they divided them up into three groups based on their caloric consumption. One group took in between 600 and 1,526 calories a day; the second group took in between 1,526 and 2,143 calories a day; and the third group took in between 2,143 and 6,000 calories a day.

Researchers found that the third group, which took in the most calories a day, were more than twice as likely to have mild cognitive impairment as the group that took in the fewest calories. These results held true even after researchers factored in history of diabetes and stroke, level of education and other memory-loss risk factors.

The recommended daily intake of calories differs by age group, sex and physical activity level, according to WebMD. For example, a woman between age 19 and 30 who is moderately active should consume between 2,000 to 2,200 calories a day, while a moderately active woman age 51 and older should get 1,800 calories a day. (For the full chart from WebMD, click here.)

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Overeating Raises Risk Of Mild Cognitive Impairment, Study Shows

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Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;  Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 13 Feb 2012 - 2:00 PST

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A new study suggests that overeating in older people may double their risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a term that describes the stage between the memory loss that normally comes with aging and that seen in early Alzheimer's disease. The study, announced in a press release on Sunday, is to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's (AAN's) 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28 and has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

For the study, Dr Yonas E Geda, from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and colleagues examined data on 1,233 dementia-free adults aged 70 to 89 living in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Of those, 163 had MCI.

They found that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day was linked to double the risk for MCI.

Geda, who is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, told the press:

"We observed a dose-response pattern which simply means; the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI."

"Cutting calories and eating foods that make up a healthy diet may be a simpler way to prevent memory loss as we age," said Geda.

The researchers obtained the participants' daily calorie consumption from questionnaires they had filled in that included questions about their food and drink consumption.

They ranked the results into three groups where one-third of participants consumed between 600 and 1,526 calories a day, another third consumed 1,526 to 2,143, and the remaining third between 2,143 and 6,000 calories per day.

They found that for the highest calorie consumers, the odds for having MCI was more than double that of the lowest calorie consumers.

But there was no significant difference in risk between the lowest calorie group and the middle group.

The figures didn't change when they accounted for other risk factors for memory loss, including history of stroke, diabetes, and years of education.

Funds from the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Program helped pay for the study.

Geda recently co-authored a paper published in January 2012 in the AAN's journal Neurology that found incidence rates for MCI varied substantially by subgroups, and were higher in men. That study also drew its data from a cohort of Olmsted County residents.

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Memory Loss In Seniors Tied To Overeating

Public release date: 13-Feb-2012
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Contact: Rachel Seroka
rseroka@aan.com
651-695-2738
American Academy of Neurology

ST. PAUL, Minn. ? A larger waistline may be linked to an increased risk of decreased mental functioning in people infected with the AIDS virus HIV, according to research published in the February 14, 2012, print issue of Neurology?, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Interestingly, bigger waistlines were linked to decreased mental functioning more than was general obesity," said study author J. Allen McCutchan, MD, MSc, of the University of California, San Diego. "This is important because certain anti-HIV drugs cause weight gain in the center of the body that is most dramatic in the abdomen, neck, chest and breasts."

The study was performed in 130 HIV positive people from six clinics. Participants were around the age of 46 with HIV infection for an average of 13 years. Most participants were taking combinations of anti-HIV drugs called antiretroviral therapy. Impaired mental functions such as poor memory and concentration, called neurocognitive impairment (NCI), was diagnosed in 40 percent of study participants.

People with NCI had waist circumferences of an average of 39 inches, compared to 35 inches for those without memory difficulties. NCI was also linked to older age, a longer time living with HIV and diabetes in people older than 55 years. For example, five times as many people with memory problems also had diabetes compared to those with no memory problems (15 percent compared to 3 percent).

"Avoiding those HIV drugs that cause larger waistlines might protect or help to reverse NCI," said McCutchan. "We don't know if central obesity is causing NCI directly or is just a marker for exposure to a more direct cause such as anti-HIV drugs. People with HIV should talk to their doctors before considering changes in their anti-HIV medications."

###

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

To learn more about cognitive impairment, visit http://www.aan.com/patients.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 25,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Media Contacts:
Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (651) 695-2738
Angela Babb, APR, ababb@aan.com, (651) 695-2789

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Larger belly linked to memory problems in people with HIV

09-02-2012 13:33 This is neurofunk (future step),cybergrind and dnb connection Tasty , wash your brain -----I---

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Brainwasher - review of neurology (dryplant_ Laundry records) - Video

Public release date: 12-Feb-2012
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Contact: Rachel Seroka
rseroka@aan.com
651-695-2738
American Academy of Neurology

NEW ORLEANS ? New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012. MCI is the stage between normal memory loss that comes with aging and early Alzheimer's disease.

"We observed a dose-response pattern which simply means; the higher the amount of calories consumed each day, the higher the risk of MCI," said study author Yonas E. Geda, MD, MSc, with the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 1,233 people between the ages of 70 and 89 and free of dementia residing in Olmsted County, Minn. Of those, 163 had MCI. Participants reported the amount of calories they ate or drank in a food questionnaire and were divided into three equal groups based on their daily caloric consumption. One-third of the participants consumed between 600 and 1,526 calories per day, one-third between 1,526 and 2,143 and one-third consumed between 2,143 and 6,000 calories per day.

The odds of having MCI more than doubled for those in the highest calorie-consuming group compared to those in the lowest calorie-consuming group. The results were the same after adjusting for history of stroke, diabetes, amount of education, and other factors that can affect risk of memory loss. There was no significant difference in risk for the middle group.

"Cutting calories and eating foods that make up a healthy diet may be a simpler way to prevent memory loss as we age," said Geda.

###

The co-authors of the study include Ronald C. Petersen, MD, Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and other investigators of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging in Rochester, Minn.

Learn more about Alzheimer's disease at http://www.aan.com/patients.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Robert H. and Clarice Smith and Abigail van Buren Alzheimer's Disease Research Program.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 25,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Media Contacts:
Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (651) 695-2738
Angela Babb, APR, ababb@aan.com, (651) 695-2789

[ | E-mail | Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

See the original post here:
Overeating may double risk of memory loss