Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Lupus Foundation Of America Web Chat Explores "Your Skin And Lupus"
Approximately two-thirds of the 1.5 million Americans living with lupus will develop some type of skin disease. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system is unbalanced causing it to become destructive to any organ and tissue in the body. Skin disease in lupus can cause rashes or sores (lesions), most of which will appear on sun-exposed areas, such as a person"s face, ears, neck, arms, and legs. In addition, 40-70 percent of people with systemic lupus will find that their disease is made worse by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight or artificial light. For this and other reasons, people with lupus are advised to take steps to protect themselves from exposure to UV light.

Anti Nausea Drug Deemed Safe For Fetuses: Ben-Gurion U.
Metoclopramide, a drug approved in the U.S. for nausea, vomiting and heartburn poses no significant risks for the fetus according to a large cohort study published in the June 11 issue of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, "The Safety of Metoclopramide Use in the First Trimester of Pregnancy" (N Engl J Med 2009;360:24 June 11, 2009).
News of the day
New National Cancer Standards For Sarcoma Services Published, Wales
New standards to improve access to diagnosis and treatment of sarcomas have been published by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Medical Devices

Deep Brain Stimulation Shows Promising Results For Some Patients With Cerebral Palsy

Deep brain stimulation improves movement skills and quality of life in some patients with a subtype of cerebral palsy (CP) (dystonia-choreoathetosis CP)*, and could be an effective treatment option for these patients, finds an Article published Online first and in the July edition of The Lancet Neurology. Cerebral palsy with dystonia-choreoathetosis is a common and progressively disabling disorder in children and adults for which no effective treatment exists. Bilateral pallidal deep brain stimulation (BP-DBS) is a surgical procedure which involves the implantation of electrodes to stimulate parts of the brain in order to reduce involuntary movements and tremors, and has been shown to be an effective treatment for primary generalised dystonia. However, the effect of this treatment on a secondary dystonia such as dystonia-choreoathetosis, which shares most of the features of primary dystonia, is not clear. To investigate the effectiveness of BP-DBS on movement skills, functional disability, and quality of life, Marie Vidailhet and colleagues implanted leads in the globus pallidus internus (GPi) area of the brain of 13 patients with dystonia-choreoathetosis CP. All patients were evaluated for changes in the severity of dystonia-choreoathetosis using the Burke-Fahn-Marsden dystonia rating scale before surgery and again after 12 months of continuous neurostimulation. Quality of life, cognitive function, and mood were also assessed. Findings showed that after 1 year, in most cases BP-DBS resulted in sustained improvement in motor symptoms in most areas of the body (neck, trunk and limbs). The average improvement in the Burke-Fahn-Marsden dystonia rating scale movement score was 24.4% after 1 year. However, the response was varied with improvement between 21% and 55% in eight of the patients, two patients showing little benefit, and three having no benefit or deteriorating slightly. Importantly, functional disability, pain, mental health-related quality of life, and social interaction seemed to improve and there was no worsening of cognition or mood. The authors report that one factor that might be key to a good outcome in patients is the optimal placement of leads in the GPi area of the brain, with no beneficial affect shown in patients with leads positioned outside the boundaries of the GPi. They say that despite the promising findings the study only involved a small number of patients and should be interpreted with caution. They call for further studies to evaluate the effect of DBS on more complex and common types of CP, particularly in children. The Lancet Neurology


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009