Category Archives: Neurology

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Dr. Brian Aalbers, DO, a pediatric neurology specialist, is charged in federal court complaint with one count of attempted production of child pornography.

Court documents stated that Oct. 23, 2023, Kansas City, Missouri, police officers were sent to meet a reporting party who said he located hidden video cameras. The location of where the officers were sent and other details were blacked out in a court document.

Aalbers arrived at the scene, but did not provide a statement, according to the court document.

The person who reported the hidden video cameras contacted KCMO police about text messages he received from Aalbers.

Officers found Aalbers in a Lenexa hotel and took him to Advent Health for voluntary treatment, the document states.

The hospital security staff took a backpack from Aalbers that contained laptop computers, iPad tablets and a cell phone.

Aalbers did not have access to the devices while in the facility and asked a friend to get his backpack.

According to the court document, Aalbers asked that person to destroy the devices because there was "bad stuff" on them.

In November, a forensic examiner told investigators there over 20,000 videos found on a MacBook Pro.

The videos were from December 2020 to October 2023.

In addition, the forensic examiner "noted that approximately 10-12 additional minor victims were captured in the video recordings."

Aalbers is back in court for preliminary and detention hearings on Nov. 21 in federal court in KCMO.

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Well-regarded Johnson County pediatric neurologist charged with ... - KSHB 41 Kansas City News

A Type of Belly Fat May Be Linked to Increased Risk of Developing Alzheimers NBC News November 20 -Joel Salinas, MD, MBA, clinical assistant professor, Department of Neurology, the Pearl I. Barlow Center for Memory Evaluation and Treatment

Avoid Flus, Colds, More This Holiday Season with These Health Tips TODAY Show November 17 -Natalie E. Azar, MD, clinical associate professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology

Can You Eat Enough at Thanksgiving to Make Your Stomach Explode? Technically, Yes New York Post November 17 -Sophie M. Balzora, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Diabetic Eye Disease Treatment Methods WBNG-TV November 17 -Yasha S. Modi, MD, associate professor, Department of Ophthalmology

Nobodys Talking About This Hidden Threat in Generative AI Fast Company November 17 -NYU Langone Health

How Much Does Medical School Cost and Can I Afford It? Business Insider November 17 -NYU Langone Health

Philips Inks Multi-Year Health Technology Deal with NYU Langone Health Mass Device November 17 -Nader Mherabi, executive vice president, vice dean, and chief digital and information officer

Surgeons That Dont Fit the Culture Can Increase Diversity in Spine, Orthopedic Care Beckers Spine Review November 17 -Qusai Hammouri, MD, clinical assistant professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery

Inside a Long COVID Clinics Fight to Meet Crushing Patient Needs (Free log-in required.) Medscape November 17 -Jonathan H. Whiteson, MD, associate professor, Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, and Medicine, the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology, vice chair, Rusk Rehabilitation Clinical Operations

Genetic Information May Predict Recurrence in Lung Cancer Cure Today November 17 -Igor Dolgalev, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine

Surgeons at NYU Langone Perform First-Ever Eye and Partial-Face Transplant Washington Square News November 17 -Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, chair, the Hansjrg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery -Vaidehi S. Dedania, MD, associate professor, Department of Ophthalmology -Steven L. Galetta, MD, the Philip K. Moskowitz, MD Professor and Chair of Neurology, Department of Neurology, professor, Department of Ophthalmology

Man Receives the First Eye Transplant Plus a New Face. Its a Step Toward One Day Restoring Sight Cherokee Phoenix November 17 -Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, chair, the Hansjrg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery -Vaidehi S. Dedania, MD, associate professor, Department of Ophthalmology -Steven L. Galetta, MD, the Philip K. Moskowitz, MD Professor and Chair of Neurology, Department of Neurology, professor, Department of Ophthalmology

The Main Symptoms of Mold Exposure, According to Doctors Mens Health November 17 -Lorna E. Thorpe, PhD, MPH, professor, Department of Population Health

Sharon Osbourne Reveals She Weighs Less Than 100 lbs. After Ozempic. Why Dropping Too Much Weight Is a Legitimate Concern. Yahoo! Life November 17 -Priya Jaisinghani, MD, clinical assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, & Metabolism

Cancer Deaths Among Kids and Teens Fell 24% Over Past Two Decades, CDC Reports: Better Treatments FOX News November 19 -Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine

At Least 20 Potentially Infectious Agents in Illegal Underground Lab, According to CDC FOX News November 17 -Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine

Sam Altman Sought Funding for New AI Ventures Before OpenAI Ouster: Report FOX News November 19 -Marc K. Siegel, MD, clinical professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine

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NYU Langone Health in the NewsMonday, November 20, 2023 - NYU Langone Health

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 22, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Ten hours of acoustic stimulation improves postconcussive symptoms, but linking tones to brain electrical activity does not reduce symptoms more than random tones, according to a study published online Nov. 22 in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.

Wesley R. Cole, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues randomly assigned 106 military service members, veterans, or their spouses with persistent symptoms (Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory [NSI] Score 23) after mild traumatic brain injury three months to 10 years ago to receive 10 sessions of engineered tones linked to brainwaves (LB; intervention) or random engineered tones not linked to brainwaves (NL; sham control).

The researchers observed a reduction in NSI from 41.0 at baseline to 27.2 after, among all study participants, with gains largely sustained at three and six months (31.2 and 28.4, respectively). No significant differences were seen between the LB and NL groups. Patterns were similar for the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition and for depression symptom severity. No difference was seen in heart rate variability between the groups.

"The results of this study do not suggest that in a primarily active duty group with postconcussive symptoms, listening to acoustic stimulation based on one's own brain electrical activity reduces symptoms, or improves brain function or heart rate variability, more than randomly generated, computer engineered acoustic stimulation," the authors write.

One author disclosed being employed by Brain State Technologies.

Abstract/Full Text

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Acoustic Stimulation Reduces Postconcussive Symptoms - HealthDay

By: Lisette Hilton | November 21, 2023 | 5 min. read| Share

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine researchers have developed a protocol to reach the gait-promoting center of the brain for patients with this type of walking difficulty.

Doris Gamelin was years into her Parkinsons disease diagnosis when she began to experience a strange symptom.

Id be walking and everything would be OK. Then Id come to a door frame or a change in flooring, like from a wooden to a tile floor, and I would freeze, Gamelin said. I couldnt walk. And Id fall. It happened quite frequently.

Gamelin broke her hip, arm and chipped a tooth because of those falls.

The 76-year-old said she was desperate for answers. She found them at the University of Miami School of Medicine, where researchers are pioneering a new use of deep brain stimulation to relieve Parkinsons patients of this debilitating symptom.

Gamelins symptoms, called freezing of gait, occur in some with Parkinsons, according to Corneliu Luca, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of clinicalneurology, co-director of the Movement Disorders Fellowship, and director of the Deep Brain StimulationProgram at the Miller School.

Its the inability to initiate walking. Your feet get stuck to the ground and when they try to make a step, they cant, Dr. Luca said. This is very difficult to treat and many in neurology dont know what to do about it.

But laboratory research by Brian R. Noga, Ph.D., research professor at the Miller Schools Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, suggested deep brain stimulation had a place in treating patients like Gamelin. Dr. Noga and colleagues found that they could use deep brain stimulation to target the gait-promoting center in the mid-brain to improve their ability to walk.

Jonathan R. Jagid, M.D., professor of clinical neurological surgery, neurology, orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Miami Health System, The Miami Project and UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital, has since helped to develop an algorithm to reach that specific part of the brain in humans. He also has performed deep brain stimulation for freezing of gait in three people, including Gamelin.

Gamelin said the surgery, from which she went home the next day, gave her many months of walking free of the dangerous freezes. And she didnt fall. Gamelins Parkinsons has deteriorated in other ways in the last few months, but she said she doesnt regret having the surgery.

Before the surgery, they had me walk around a circle and it took me 22 steps. After surgery it took me five steps, Gamelin said. Done by experienced surgeons like those at the University of Miami, the surgery does what its supposed to do.

Dr. Jagid said he believes the Miller School is one of the few facilities in the U.S. targeting this area of the brain stem with deep brain stimulation, using a directional lead.

Other attempts have not used new technology, Dr. Jagid said. Directional leads steer currents, which gives an advantage when targeting this area of the brain stem.

Results, according to Dr. Luca, have been spectacular.

People who have an inability to walk, as soon as you turn on the electricity you are able to make steps, turn around, etc., Dr. Luca said.

Freezing of gait is a unique symptom complex of Parkinsons. A subset of patients who have dopamine-resistant freezing of gait.

That means that their Parkinsons medication helps with a lot of the symptoms, but it does not help with their significant and profound freezing of gait, Dr. Jagid said. Before this, you really couldnt do much for dopamine-resistant freezing of gait because the commonly used medication for Parkinsons was not working for that particular symptom in that particular subset of patients.

Deep brain stimulation has long been used to address other types of debilitating neurological symptoms, from tremors to slow movement and stiffness.

The standard approach to deep brain stimulation, however, will not help freezing of gait.

The difficulty with this particular area of the brain stem is that the target that were trying to put this electrode into is not visible on imaging. We at the university have developed a protocol that allows us to try and hone in on where this small nucleus is in the brain stem, Dr. Jagid said. The way we do it is by using fiber tracking to get a particular type of image that allows us to see and target some of the deep circuitry of the brain.

Dr. Jagid said he and Dr. Luca continue to accrue patients who are candidates for the surgery to better determine consistency of results and the procedures safety.

If the safety record is proven and we see a few more patients with the same kind of results, the next step would be to submit grants for funding and then potentially carry this onto a larger study, Dr. Jagid said.

While standard deep brain stimulation has about 25 years of safety and effectiveness data and is FDA-approved, there is still much to learn about this specific approach and indication.

We are following these patients over time. We dont have long-term data but, so far, the results are lasting. That is the hope that its more than a temporary solution, Dr. Luca said.

Tags: Deep Brain Stimulation Program, Department of Neurology, Dr. Corneliu Luca, Dr. Jonathan Jagid, Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Parkinson's disease

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Deep Brain Stimulation for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease ... - University of Miami

Newly published in the journal of JCI insight, findings from a study showed that stimulation in a specific area of the amygdala brain region produced a persistent loss of breathing that continued following the end of a seizure among patients with epilepsy.1 These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms that underlie the probable cause of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) which may help uncover preventative treatments and identify those most at risk of it.2

In the study, investigators observed that seizures that originated in the amygdala caused postictal apnea and identified a distinct region in the amygdala where electrical stimulation was sufficient to reproduce prolonged breathing loss continuing well after stimulation. Among 20 participants, 5 patients developed postictal apnea following the stimulation of the amygdala region. According to the authors, this suggested that some individuals with uncontrolled seizures may be more prone to the condition than other patients with epilepsy.1

"The importance of our latest work is immense. As you may know, the majority of SUDEP cases are due to loss of breathing that occurs after a seizure ends (postictally)," senior author Brian Dlouhy, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery and pediatrics at the University of Iowa, told NeurologyLive. We have now identified a focal site in the amygdala that not only causes ictal apnea but also persistent and prolonged postictal apnea following amygdala seizures. We also identify novel connections between this site and the brainstem critical for chemosensation using novel intraoperative experiments and electrical stimulation concurrent with blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI)."

READ MORE: Intermittent Use of Midazolam Shows Continued Favorable Profile in Seizure Clusters

Investigators enrolled 12 adults and 8 children with epilepsy that could not be managed with medications, and who also were undergoing intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) to control their seizures. Seizures were induced in the participants by the researchers using direct electrical stimulation under medical supervision to assess forebrain control of breathing and apnea. The authors then used a technique combining electrical stimulation with fMRI to recognize any connections between the amygdala site and the brainstem region that could be critical for sensing changes in blood CO2 levels and breathing control.

These new findings are a critical step in developing our understanding of what causes SUDEP and in the development of ways in which to identify those individuals at highest risk and ways to prevent SUDEP, Vicky Whittemore, PhD, program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, which contributed funding for the study, said in a statement.2

In the patients who experienced postictal apnea with the stimulation, the persistent apnea was resistant to rising CO2 levels and air hunger failed to occur. Based on this finding, the authors suggested that postictal apnea impaired CO2 chemosensitivity among the patients. Additionally, investigators observed that amygdala stimulation altered BOLD activity in the pons and medulla and in the ventral insula when combining electrical stimulation with functional MRI. Overall, the authors noted that additional research is required to confirm these results on the role of the amygdala in breathing suppression and its involvement in SUDEP.3

"We have identified a focal site in the amygdala that is critical for postictal apnea and possibly SUDEP. We may be able to identify patients at highest risk of SUDEP and we may now have a potential therapeutic target to prevent SUDEP," Dlouhy, also a member of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, told. "With this work along with some upcoming and potentially groundbreaking discoveries we will be submitting soon for publication, we believe we are at the precipice for understanding amygdala's role in all of breathing, SUDEP, and interoception/fear/anxiety, and possibly a future clinical trialfor SUDEP in epilepsy patients at the highest risk of SUDEP."

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Study Reveals Association Between Amygdala Region and ... - Neurology Live

After the initial data was presented earlier this year, investigators have published full findings of the phase 3 PRODROME study (NCT04492020) demonstrating ubrogepants (Ubrelvy; AbbVie) positive impact on migraine during the prodrome phase in The Lancet.

Led by David W. Dodick, MD, professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, PRODROME was the first large placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of an acute treatment administered during the prodrome. At the conclusion of the trial, absence of moderate or severe headache within 24 hours after initiating treatment occurred in 46% (190 of 418) of qualifying prodrome events that had been treated with ubrogepant compared with 29% (121 of 423) of events treated with placebo (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.63-2.69; P <.0001).

"As a neurologist, I have many patients who can describe the premonitory, or prodrome, symptoms of their migraine attacks, and previously we have not had adequate data for treatment options during this earliest phase, Peter J. Goadsby, MD, PhD, FRS, neurologist and professor at Kings College London, said in a statement.1 "These new data speak directly to a gap in migraine treatment and the option to use ubrogepant."

Conducted between April 2020 and April 2022, 518 participants aged 18-75 years with at least 1-year history of migraine with or without aura were randomly assigned to double-blind crossover treatment. Patients were split 1:1 to either placebo to treat the first qualifying prodrome event and ubrogepant 100 mg to treat the second qualifying prodrome event or to receive ubrogepant 100 mg to treat the first qualifying prodrome event and placebo to treat the second. Those who gave interventions and assessed outcomes were masked to group assignment during the study.

READ MORE: Nerivio Neuromodulation Therapy Demonstrates Continued Efficacy, Safety At 1 Year

The safety population included 480 participants and the modified intent-to-treat (mITT) population included 477 participants, most of which were female (88%). Patients underwent a 60-day screening period followed by the 60-day double-blind portion. In total, 85% (n = 438) of patients the total sample completed the trial, with failure to treat 2 qualifying prodrome events (10%) within 60 days as the most common reason for discontinuation.

Within 48 hours after initiating treatment, the absence of moderate or severe headache was achieved in 41% (159 of 391) of qualifying prodrome events treated with ubrogepant 100 mg vs 25% (100 of 407) of qualifying prodrome events that were treated with placebo (OR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.63-2.78; P <.0001). During 24 hours after treatment, more participants had no disability, able to function normally, status after a prodrome event with ubrogepant 100 mg than on placebo (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.40-1.96; P <.0001).

"Migraine impacts nearly 40 million Americans and is a highly debilitating disease that can cause people to miss work, and time with friends and family. For patients who are able to identify prodromal symptoms, the ability to treat a migraine attack before the headache phase creates an opportunity to stop migraine attacks before they become fully debilitating," Dawn Carlson, vice president of Neuroscience Development at AbbVie, said in a statement.1 "These data published inThe Lancetdemonstrate the important role of UBRELVY in treating migraine attacks early and reducing the overall burden of a migraine attack."

Between the 2 groups, adverse events (AEs) occurring 48 hours after study-drug administration were found in 17% (77 of 456) and 12% (55 of 462) of qualifying prodrome events for those treated with ubrogepant and placebo, respectively. In the study, nausea (ubrogepant: 5%; placebo: 3%), fatigue (3% vs 2%), dizziness (2% vs 3%), and somnolence (2% vs 11%) were reported as the most common AEs observed.

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Phase 3 PRODROME Study Highlights Ubrogepant's Impact on ... - Neurology Live