Category Archives: Neurology

Join Johns Hopkins registered dietitian, Arielle Rosenberg, as she walks through the aisles and offers suggestions on how to lower salt intake -- but not compromise flavor.

Cutting U.S. salt intake by just half a teaspoon (3 grams) a day would prevent up to 92,000 deaths, 99,000 heart attacks, and 66,000 strokes -- a benefit as big as smoking cessation. A 3-gm per day reduction in salt (1,200 mg of sodium) will result in 6% fewer new cases of heart disease and 3% fewer deaths.

The average U.S. man gets about 10.4 grams a day and the average U.S. woman gets about 7.3 grams a day.

77% of the salt in the American diet comes from processed food. Only 6% is shaken out at the table, and only 5% is sprinkled during cooking.

Once people cut back on salt -- whether or not they know they are doing it -- they begin to prefer less salt in their food. This happens in a matter of weeks.

References:

"Cutting Salt as Good as Quitting Smoking"

Source:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/CasesBlog

From The Economist:

"Academic papers cited by bloggers are far more likely to be downloaded. Blogging economists are regarded more highly than non-bloggers with the same publishing record.

The back-and-forth between bloggers resembles the informal chats, in university hallways and coffee rooms, that have always stimulated economic research, argues Paul Krugman, a Nobel-prize winning economist who blogs at the New York Times. But moving the conversation online means that far more people can take part.

Despite the low barriers to entry, blogs do impose some intellectual standards. Errors of fact or logic are spotted, ridiculed and corrected. Areas of disagreement are highlighted and sometimes even narrowed."

Similar dynamics are in work on many medical blogs authored by physicians.

WIN-WIN, as the author of the blog "The Happy Hospitalist" likes to say.

References:

Economics blogs. A less dismal debate. The Economist, 01/2011.

Source:
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Depression in later life, traditionally defined as age older than 65, is associated with disability, increased mortality, and poorer outcomes.

Compared to younger adults with depression:

- cognitive and functional impairment and anxiety are more common in older adults

- older adults with depression are at increased risk of suicide

Depression is associated with cognitive impairment and an increased risk of dementia.

A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) should be the first line pharmacological treatment for depression for most older adults.

Psychological and drug treatment is as effective in older as in younger adults

References:

Depression in older adults. Rodda et al. BMJ, 2011.

Image source: Vincent van Gogh's 1890 painting At Eternity's Gate. Wikipedia, public domain.

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More than 90% of Americans score poorly on at least one of the American Heart Association’s 7 factors defining ideal cardiovascular health.

The 7 factors (with lack of a diagnosis of heart or blood vessel disease) include:

- smoking status
- weight
- physical activity
- healthy diet
- cholesterol concentration
- blood pressure
- fasting glucose concentration

The new data by CDC and NIH show that 94% of US adults score at a “poor” level on at least one of those factors and that 38% have at least 3 factors at a poor level.

References:

US citizens score poorly on ratings of cardiovascular risk factors. BMJ 2012; 344 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e22 (Published 4 January 2012).

Source:
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11-01-2012 13:37 "This film has been entered into the 2012 Neuro Film Festival from the American Academy of Neurology Foundation at http://www.NeuroFilmFestival.com.

Read more:
Against the Current - AAN Neurology Film Festival - Video

07-01-2012 14:59 For general use looking for help for Neurological Condition(s), Hemiballismus

See original here:
Charlie's Neurological Disorder - Hemiballismus - Video