Articles related to Neurology

Relapsing MS treatment remains difficult, and new therapeutic targets have been investigated. S1P, a bioactive lysophospholipid signaling molecule present in several organs, including the central nervous system, is one such target. S1P plays a role in a variety of physiologic and pathophysiologic processes. S1P levels have been linked to disease progression in the brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid of MS patients. There are 5 recognized S1PR subtypes, and depending on the receptor being targeted, their expression patterns and outcomes change. S1PRMs are a more recent class of RMS treatments, and the FDA has currently approved 4 of these treatments: fingolimod, siponimod, ozanimod, and ponesimod.

A neurologist’s funeral took place this year. His life, experiences, role in their development, and work as a doctor and community member were all discussed by family members. A person’s life is woven together like a tapestry by their experiences, which include success and failure, relationships with others, and other woven connections to the essential experience of life.

The extra calories and lower physical activity of modern culture are yielding higher rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses. Evidence is mounting that intermittent fasting may help reverse these trends. This neuroscientist brings 25 of studying intermittent fasting to explain why and how it works, and what your patients’ options are.

In a retrospectives study with a 13-month follow up, bariatric surgery patients were 16% less likely to die versus matched non-surgical counterparts. However, surgery patients were more than twice as likely to die by suicide and that risk of suicide was significantly higher in those ages 18-34.

Eighty-eight children ages 6 through 12 were randomized to daily pine bark extract, methylphenidate, or placebo for 10 weeks. Total ADHD-Rating Scales scores decreased 29% with pine bark extract, 45% with methylphenidate, and 5% with placebo. Hyperactivity/impulsivity decreased 34% with pine bark extract and 36% with methylphenidate and increased 1% with placebo. Inattention decreased 25% with pine bark extract, 52% with methylphenidate, 9% with placebo. Adverse events were reported 5 times more frequently with methylphenidate than with pine bark.

“Because medicine abhors a therapeutic vacuum,” the hallucinogens psilocybin and LSD are being revisited as potential candidates for treating depression. But effect size seems less than that of currently approved antidepressants.