• Filter By:
• Specialty
• Source
• Condition
• Cancer
• Infectious Disease
• Drug
• Training
• Management
• Procedure
• Therapy
• Vaccine
• Nutrition
• Country

Can a high-tech treatment help combat some of our oldest fears?
Conclusion This experimental study assessed whether it is possible to counter-condition people against their fear memories by using reward without actually having to re-expose the person to the fearful stimulus. The researchers conclude that they have shown this can be done, all with participants remaining unaware of the content and purpose of the procedure. They further suggest the procedure may be an initial step towards novel treatments for fear-related disorders such as phobia and PTSD, via unconscious processing. While these findings show promise, there are some key limitations, the main one being the small number of ...
Source: NHS News Feed - November 22, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Neurology Source Type: news

Air pollution linked to silent strokes
Conclusion This cross-sectional study has suggested a link between exposure to small particles in the air (one form of pollution) and the presence of "silent stroke" in older adults – small areas of damage to the brain tissue that are not severe enough to cause obvious symptoms. There are a number of limitations to be aware of when assessing the results of this study: While there was an association between particulate matter in the air and total brain volume, this was no longer statistically significant after taking into account whether people have conditions such as high blood pressure, which can also affec...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 24, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Neurology Source Type: news

Claims magnetic brain stimulation helps memory
ConclusionIn this study, TMS was found to improve performance on the associative memory test by more than 20%, whereas sham stimulation had no significant effect.TMS also increased connectivity between specific cortical (grey-matter) regions of the brain and the hippocampus.This interesting research increases our knowledge of how memory works. However, it was a very small trial with only 16 participants. It is also unclear whether electromagnetic stimulation would be effective for people with memory disorders such as dementia. The media has reported that the researchers are now planning to study the effect of TMS on people...
Source: NHS News Feed - August 29, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Neurology Source Type: news

Can a 'microwave helmet' really detect strokes?
Conclusion This study has shown that haemorrhagic strokes could potentially be distinguished from ischaemic strokes by analysing microwave scattering measurements. While the two types of stroke can already be accurately diagnosed by CT or MRI scans in hospital, the “microwave helmet” development is important because it could potentially be used before someone arrives in hospital. This would avoid any time delay and allow people with ischaemic stroke to receive the anti-clotting medication that they need as soon as possible, potentially reducing the extent of damage the stroke causes. The technique isn’t perfect ye...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 17, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medical practice Source Type: news

PET scans may improve brain injury diagnosis
ConclusionThis is a valuable diagnostic study that tested how accurate PET and fMRI imaging are at distinguishing between different levels of conscious state and helping to predict recovery. Diagnostic assessments are traditionally made using bedside clinical tests – but as the researchers say, judging the level of awareness in people with severe brain damage can be difficult.In particular, the researchers wanted to see whether the scans could accurately distinguish between people with “unresponsive wakefulness syndrome” and “minimally conscious state”, as distinguishing between these two states can have impor...
Source: NHS News Feed - April 16, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Neurology Source Type: news