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Category Archives: Neurology

Distracted Walking Featured in the New Windows Phone Ads

Distracted driving has gained much attention lately because of the inflated crash risk posed by drivers using cellphones to talk and text. But phones aren't just distracting drivers; they make pedestrians inattentive too.

Distracted walking combines a pedestrian, an electronic device and an unseen crack in the sidewalk, the pole of a stop sign, a toy left on the living room floor or a parked (or sometimes moving) car.

There are plenty of examples of the dangers of distracted walking in the two videos embedded in this page. These are also examples of "distracted life" in general:

References:
Forget Gum. Walking and Using Phone Is Risky. NYTimes.
Video: Stop texting while driving. Terrifying. All drivers should watch this.

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10 risk factors are associated with 90% of the risk of stroke

The Lancet reported that in 3000 patients with stroke (78%, with ischaemic stroke; 22%, with intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke) and 3000 controls, significant risk factors for all types of stroke were:

- history of hypertension (OR 2·64)
- current smoking (2·09)
- waist-to-hip ratio (1·65)
- diet risk score (1·35)
- regular physical activity (0·69)
- diabetes mellitus (1·36)
- alcohol intake (1·51)
- psychosocial stress (1·30)
- depression (1·35)
- cardiac causes (2·38)
- ratio of apolipoproteins B to A1 (1·89)
Collectively, these risk factors accounted for 88·1% of the PAR for all strokes. When an alternate definition of hypertension was used (history of hypertension or blood pressure higher than 160/90 mm Hg), the combined PAR was 90·3% (85·3—93·7) for all stroke.
These risk factors were all significant for ischaemic stroke, whereas hypertension, smoking, waist-to-hip ratio, diet, and alcohol intake were significant risk factors for intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke.

Ten risk factors are associated with 90% of the risk of stroke. Targeted interventions that reduce blood pressure and smoking, and promote physical activity and a healthy diet, could substantially reduce the burden of stroke.

References:
Stroke Risk Calculator http://goo.gl/elmc
Image source: BP device used for measuring arterial pressure. Wikipedia, GNU Free Documentation License.

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Diabetic retinopathy is identified in a third of people with diabetes

Diabetic retinopathy is a common microvascular complication of diabetes, and remains the leading cause of preventable blindness in working-aged people. It is identified in a third of people with diabetes and associated with increased risk of life-threatening systemic vascular complications, including stroke, coronary heart disease, and heart failure.

Optimum control of blood glucose, blood pressure, and possibly blood lipids remains the foundation for reduction of risk of retinopathy development and progression.
Timely laser therapy is effective for preservation of sight in proliferative retinopathy and macular oedema, but its ability to reverse visual loss is poor.
Vitrectomy surgery might occasionally be needed for advanced retinopathy.
New therapies, such as intraocular injection of steroids and antivascular endothelial growth-factor agents, are less destructive to the retina than are older therapies, and could be useful in patients who respond poorly to conventional therapy.
Future treatment modalities include inhibition of other angiogenic factors, regenerative therapy, and topical therapy.

References:
Diabetic retinopathy [Seminar]. Ning Cheung, Paul Mitchell, Tien Yin Wong. Lancet, 2010.

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What Can You Do To Burn Calories at Work – Cleveland Clinic Video

Dr. Mike Roizen answers the question - What can you do to burm calories at work? Stay awake, have walking meetings, and go to the furthest bathroom to get some extra steps. Visit http://www.letsmoveit.org - Cleveland Clinic | September 23, 2010.

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Short telomeres lead to chromosomal instability and increased cancer risk and mortality

Telomeres are essential to preserve the integrity of the genome. Critically short telomeres lead to replicative cell senescence and chromosomal instability and may thereby increase cancer risk.

Leukocyte telomere length was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 787 participants free of cancer at baseline in 1995 from a prospective, population-based study in Italy. The follow-up period was 10 years.

Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white). Image source: Wikipedia, public domain.

11.7% of participants developed cancer (incidence rate, 13.3 per 1000 person-years).

Short telomere length at baseline was associated with incident cancer independently of cancer risk factors (hazard ratio [HR] 1.60).
Compared with participants in the longest telomere length group, the HR for incident cancer was 2.15 in the middle length group and 3.11 in the shortest length group. Furthermore, short telomere length was associated with cancer mortality and individual cancer subtypes with a high fatality rate.
There is an inverse relationship between telomere length and both cancer incidence and mortality.

References:
Telomere Length and Risk of Incident Cancer and Cancer Mortality. Peter Willeit, MD; Johann Willeit, MD; Agnes Mayr, MD; Siegfried Weger, MD; Friedrich Oberhollenzer, MD; Anita Brandstätter, PhD; Florian Kronenberg, MD; Stefan Kiechl, MD. JAMA. 2010;304(1):69-75.

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The Dentist Of Jaipur (4-minute documentary)

"The Dentist Of Jaipur" - "New teeth, dentures or extractions not a problem at all for Pushkar and his old master Pyara Singh. They treat their patients in front of the train station of Jaipur, on the sidewalk under the pure sky. The short film of filmmaker Falk Peplinski, who has been living in India for three years, is an ironical image-clip for a dentist of its own kind and therefore a homage to the incredibleness of the Indian everyday life. The film had a big success at fim festivals in 2006 and 2007. India, 2006, director & editor: Falk Peplinski, photography: Karsten Hohmann, sound: Valson P.D., producer: Meera Menezes."

Warning: The video contains images that some viewers may find disturbing.

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