Overdiagnosing Trump
By SAURABH JHA, MD
When I first read about neurosyphilis in medical school, I became convinced that Mrs. Thatcher, who I detested intensely because it was fashionable detesting her, had General Paralysis of the Insane. The condition, marked by episodic bouts of temporary insanity, which indicated that the spirochetes were feasting on expensive real estate in the brain, seemed a plausible explanation why she had introduced the retarded Poll Tax.
A little bit of medical knowledge can lead to tomfoolery by the juvenile. I began diagnosing the powerful with medical conditions. I thought the former leader of the Labour Party, ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 19, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: at RogueRad Tags: Trump Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
A compound derived from marijuana decreases seizure frequency in children with Dravet syndrome, and there ’ s nothing “ miraculous ” about it
There's a new clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing a beneficial effect due to cannabidiol, a chemical isolated from marijuana, on drug-resistant seizures due to Dravet syndrome. Medical marijuana advocates are crowing, "I told you so!" As is usually the case, the real story is more nuanced. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 26, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking cannabidiol cannabinoids Dravet syndrome epilepsy herbalism marijuana seizure Source Type: blogs
Postdoctoral Research Position Available
One postdoctoral research position is available at the NeuroImaging and Electrophysiology Lab (www.tandonlab.org) in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. This position is funded by a recently awarded BRAIN Initiative U01 grant for which Dr. Tandon is the PI. The project uses intracranial EEG (iEEG) recordings on a large cohort (n=80) to evaluate psycho-linguistic models of reading and speech production with the goal being to create network level representation of language. Collaborators on the project with whom the post-doc will work closely are Nathan Crone (Hopkins), Greg H...
Source: Talking Brains - May 19, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greg Hickok Source Type: blogs
The Reality of Conversion Disorder
Stress is widely defined as a constraining force or influence. Sooner or later, it affects everyone. Most of the time, it’s temporary, but what happens when it’s not?
Long term emotional stress can frequently occur with past trauma, producing a series of real and sometimes dangerous medical consequences. Often times a patient who is suffering from severe pain and does not receive a medical diagnosis, fears that a doctor may label the situation as “Just stress”. But when “Just stress” manifests physically, it should be handled with just as much care as any physically produced injury or disease.
Conversi...
Source: World of Psychology - May 16, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Rebecca Lee Tags: Anxiety and Panic Disorders Dissociative Stress Anxious Thoughts Conversion Disorder Dissociation functional neurological symptom disorder Hysteria hysterical blindness stress reduction Source Type: blogs
Connecting cardiological and neurological health: Key neurotech patent by Medtronic
– Illustrative image from U.S. Patent No. 8,209,009
Today we are sharing a fascinating Medtronic patent combining cardiac monitoring with brain stimulation. (As mentioned, we are featuring foundational Pervasive Neurotech patents, from older to newer by issue date)
U.S. Patent No. 8,209,009: System and method for segmenting a cardiac signal based on brain stimulation
Assignee(s): Medtronic, Inc.
Inventor(s): Jonathon E. Giftakis, Nina M. Graves, Mark Turner Rise
Technology Category: Neuro-monitoring
Issue Date: June 26, 2012
SharpBrains’ Take:
This patent considers the inter-relationship and co-oc...
Source: SharpBrains - May 11, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Technology Brain Monitoring brain-stimulation cardiac signal Medtronic neuro-monitoring neuro-technology neurological neurological health patent Source Type: blogs
Are Silent Seizures a Symptom of Alzheimer's Disease?
While I was taking care of my mom, Dotty, I often worried about seizures. Silent Seizures.My mother often suffered from severe headaches particularly in the morning. This was an ongoing problem that would come and go. The research below indicates that the silent seizures occurred while patients were sleeping..I actually received training on what to look for, and the signs and symptoms of seizures.6 reasons why you might have to put someone with dementia in a memory care facility or nursing homeBy Bob DeMarcohttp://www.alzheimersreadingroom.comSubscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading RoomEmail:I clearly remember our doctor...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - May 6, 2017 Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's care caring for dementia patients at home dementia care dementia confusion family caregiving home care memory care facility nursing home seizures in alzheimer patients Source Type: blogs
The Future of 3D Printing Drugs In Pharmacies Is Closer Than You Think
3D printing drugs is not a phantasy anymore. Unbelievable shapes and any kind of drug can be fabricated with the groundbreaking technology. The UK biotech company, FabRx believes it could even appear as a regular technique in hospitals and pharmacies for creating personalized drugs in specific doses within 5-10 years.
Print out starfish-shaped drugs for your child at home
Somewhere in the 2030s: Annie was called by the teacher of her daughter that she had a high fever and went with her to the school doctor. He told the girl that she had the flu, and it would be better for her to go home. He also prescribed some pills; and...
Source: The Medical Futurist - May 4, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: 3D Printing in Medicine Future of Medicine Future of Pharma 3d printed drugs GC1 Healthcare Innovation personalized drugs Personalized medicine pharmacies Source Type: blogs
Looks like we ’re going to have to re-write the textbooks on split-brain patients
Figure from Pinto et al 2017, via ResearchGate
By Christian Jarrett
Back in the 1960s, Nobel-prize winning research shook our understanding of what it means to be a conscious entity. Epilepsy patients who’d had the thick bundle of nerves connecting their two brain hemispheres either severed or removed (as a drastic treatment for their epilepsy) responded in laboratory tasks as if they had two separate minds.
It’s an unsettling idea that has appeared in psychology textbooks for decades. But dig into the original studies and you’ll find the evidence for split brains leading to split minds was mostly descr...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - May 3, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Brain Perception Textbooks Source Type: blogs
Pre-Existing Conditions: How the New Proposed Healthcare Plan Could Deny You Coverage
Congressional Republicans are dead-set on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, seemingly without regard for making improvements to the system. The President’s promise was more people covered with better care at less cost. That is not what the new GOP proposal would provide.
The main criteria for GOP proposals seems to be to make plans cheaper by eliminating access to care for millions of Americans. The latest iteration of the Republican healthcare proposal is to remove protections for “pre-existing conditions” from health insurance policies. This is the most disastrous of the Republican proposals to dat...
Source: Cliffside Malibu - May 1, 2017 Category: Addiction Authors: Constance Scharff, PhD Tags: Abuse Addiction Recovery Addiction to Pharmaceuticals Addiction Treatment and Program Resources Alcoholism Behavioral Addictions Current Events Drug Rehab Information Drug Treatment Mental Health addiction treatment center drug treat Source Type: blogs
The impact of the CHC theory of intelligence: Impacting other disciplines and applied applications
In a prior post I documented the global impact of the CHC theory of intelligence. Another indicator of the impact of the CHC model and taxonomy is how it has been recognized and used forimportant research functions in psychology, other disciplines, and applied settings. A number of diverse examples are summarized here.The common CHC nomenclature assists different researchers better understand what they are measuring and facilitates better communication between and among professionals and scholars (McGrew, 1997). The CHC taxonomy has been used to organize meta-analyses that investigate the relations between cognitive ...
Source: Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) - April 28, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Tags: CHC chc impact CHC theory Source Type: blogs
Study: Brain stimulation can work –if properly timed
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Electrical Stimulation To Boost Memory: Maybe It’s All In The Timing (NPR):
“People with a brain injury or dementia often struggle to remember simple things, like names or places. In research published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, scientists have shown it may be possible to improve this sort of memory using tiny pulses of electricity — if they’re properly timed…They tried the approach with a group of patients who had severe epilepsy.
These people already had electrodes temporarily implanted in their brains as part of their treatment. And that gave the scientists a way to deliver tiny pulses of ...
Source: SharpBrains - April 21, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Technology boost memory brain-injury brain-stimulation dementia electrical stimulation electrodes improve memory performance neurotechnologies Source Type: blogs
Virtual Reality Is Used in Clinical Practice
Dr. Brennan M. Spiegel and his research team at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have been experimenting with virtual reality (VR) for years. I had a fruitful and very exciting correspondence with him about moments of immersion, virtual pharmacies or how to travel to Iceland without leaving your hospital bed. Read on!
VR is an area of endless possibilities
VR has not just moved the imagination of science-fiction fans, but also clinical researchers and real life medical practitioners. As a doctor, you could assist in the OR without ever lifting a scalpel. If you are a medical student, you could study the human body more clo...
Source: The Medical Futurist - April 20, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Virtual Reality in Medicine clinical practice future GC1 Healthcare Innovation technology VR Source Type: blogs
