“Rise in brain injuries may be linked to bike-sharing programs”
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/25902944/rise-in-brain-injuries-may-be-linked-to-bike-sharing-programs
“Rise in brain injuries may be linked to bike-sharing programs”
http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/25902944/rise-in-brain-injuries-may-be-linked-to-bike-sharing-programs
The discovery of a new link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain and children with traumatic brain injuries could lead to better treatment methods, according to a new study.
University of Queensland researcher Erin Brown said the study, led by the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD), found PTSD was contributing to pain in children with traumatic brain injuries, and not the other way around.
“It has been well established that PTSD and pain are related after injury, but until now it has been unclear whether pain is causing children to develop PTSD, or whether PTSD is causing the pain,” Ms Brown said. “The study indicates that PTSD is the driving cause of lingering pain in children with a traumatic brain injury. “This contradicts previous theories that PTSD may have been caused by lingering pain.”
Older veterans who have experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are 60 percent more likely to later develop dementia than veterans without TBI, according to a study published in the June 25, 2014, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that veterans with a history of TBI developed dementia about two years earlier than those without TBI who had developed dementia.
As part of the Choosing Wisely initiative, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) have released a list of the 5 tests or procedures that are commonly ordered, but not always necessary, in neurosurgery.
The following 5 “evidence-based recommendations” can support physicians in working with their patients to make wise choices about their care, the organizations say.
In soldiers who survive traumatic brain injury from blast exposure, pituitary dysfunction after their blast injury may be an important, under-recognized, and potentially treatable source of their symptoms, a new study finds. The results were presented Saturday at ICE/ENDO 2014, the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society in Chicago.
“Our study suggests that deficiencies in the pituitary’s growth hormone and testosterone are commonly seen after blast traumatic brain injury, especially in patients who are overweight. Because multiple symptoms common with blast traumatic brain injury are also seen with growth hormone and testosterone deficiencies, perhaps treating these hormone deficiencies will help improve the symptom burden and quality of life for these veterans,” said lead study author Jeffrey S. Taylor, MD, endocrinology fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.
Since February, when a New York Times article linked heading soccer balls to the possibility of brain injury, the media—eager for a new angle on the 2014 World Cup—has fixated on the dangers of headers. The Boston Globe, Slate, and Fox Newshave all warned of that heading the ball might cause serious damage to players’ brains.
Scientific studies have shown that rates of concussions and head injury in soccer are comparable to football, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby. But news stories that focus on the danger of heading have it all wrong. It’s not the ball that soccer players should be worried about—it’s everything else. Player-to-player, player-to-ground, and player-to-goalpost collisions are soccer’s biggest dangers, explains Robert Cantu, a professor at Boston University who has researched the issue. An opponent’s head, foot, or elbow is much more dangerous than a one-pound soccer ball. It’s true that “the single most risky activity in soccer is heading the ball,” Cantu says—but that’s because contact with other players, the goalposts, or the ground is so much more likely when a player goes up for a header.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV), or blood vessel growth, is the primary cause of blindness in elderly individuals of industrialized countries. The prevalence of the disease is projected to increase 50% by the year 2020. There is an urgent need for new pharmacological interventions for the treatment and prevention of AMD.
Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School and other institutions have demonstrated for the first time that the omega (ω)-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids(LCPUFAs), DHA and EPA, and their specific bioactive products derived from the cytochrome P450 (CYP) pathway, can influence choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and vascular leakage by modulating micro-environmental immune cell recruitment to the site of these lesions. Their findings will be published in PNAS Online Early Edition the week of June 16-20, 2014.
Explosions are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. A new study shows that military personnel with mild brain trauma related to such blasts had outcomes similar to those with mild brain injury from other causes, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
However, nearly 80 percent of patients in both categories of brain trauma suffered moderate to severe overall disability within a year after injury.
The analysis appears June 16 in JAMA Neurology.
The FDA and the EPA are revising their joint fish consumption Advice and Questions & Answers to encourage pregnant women, those who may become pregnant, breastfeeding mothers, and young children to eat more fish and to eat a variety of fish from choices that are lower in mercury.
We (the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency) are issuing this advice to encourage women to eat recommended amounts and types of fish. Recent reports show many pregnant women in the United States are not consuming fish in amounts recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. This advice is being issued now to encourage women who are pregnant (or may become pregnant) or breastfeeding and young children to eat more fish and to eat a variety of fish from choices that are lower in mercury. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, the federal government’s evidence-based nutritional guidance to promote healthy eating, now recommends that “women who are pregnant or breastfeeding consume at least 8 and up to 12 ounces of a variety of seafood per week, from choices lower in methyl mercury.”
There is longstanding evidence of the nutritional value of fish in the diet. Fish contain high quality protein, many vitamins and minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, are mostly low in saturated fat, and some fish even contain vitamin D. The nutritional value of fish is especially important during growth and development before birth, in early infancy for breastfed infants, and in childhood.
Be sure to read the latest peer-reviewed manuscript publication, a review article by Dr. Lewis in Agro FOOD Industry Hi Tech.
http://www.teknoscienze.com/Articles/Agro-FOOD-INDUSTRY-hi-tech-Innovative-uses-for-omega-3s-traumatic-brain-injuries.aspx#.U5WnivldUmQ
You may have to register to get the article, but registration is free.
DR. LEWIS’ NOTE: This is a really important concept to grasp but is going to be difficult for many people to accept as it goes against everything we have been taught since we were little. A lot we have been taught by the government about nutrition over the past 40 years has been pretty much wrong. I urge you to read the entire article and pass it forward. In graduate school, I did a paper in a nutrition class that correlated the amount of low- and non-fat sales with the rise of obesity in America. The issues are complex and there are no easy answers. It is not just about fat and carbs. For example, there is a direct correlation between poverty and obesity. But the science about fat and carbs – well, read this article!
“Saturated fat does not cause heart disease”—or so concluded a big study published in March in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. How could this be? The very cornerstone of dietary advice for generations has been that the saturated fats in butter, cheese and red meat should be avoided because they clog our arteries. For many diet-conscious Americans, it is simply second nature to opt for chicken over sirloin, canola oil over butter.
The new study’s conclusion shouldn’t surprise anyone familiar with modern nutritional science, however. The fact is, there has never been solid evidence for the idea that these fats cause disease. We only believe this to be the case because nutrition policy has been derailed over the past half-century by a mixture of personal ambition, bad science, politics and bias.
What is the takeaway from this research? There is growing evidence that very long chain omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for maintaining cognitive health, and many Americans do not have an adequate intake of these nutrients. “While more research is needed to determine whether intake of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and trout can help prevent against cognitive decline, our preliminary data support previous research showing that intake of these types of fish have health benefits,” Dr. Scott said. –
Though previous studies have shown that concussions can hinder cognitive function, recent research shows that they can also increase suicidal tendencies in teens.
Lead study author Dr. Gabriela Ilie, a post-doctoral fellow at St. Michael’s Hospital, said he discovered that teens who suffered a traumatic brain injury, including a concussion, were at “significantly greater odds” of attempting suicide. They were also at an increased risk of being bully or engaging in different high-risk behaviors.
The study results showed that teens who had suffered from a concussion were more likely to engage in risky behaviors, including drug use, drinking and driving and potentially using a deadly weapon.
“These results show that preventable brain injuries and mental health and behavioral problems among teens continue to remain a blind spot in our culture,” Ilie said, via a press release. “These kids are falling through the cracks.”
Damage to specific brain regions may be linked to the prognosis of concussion patients with vestibulopathy, according to a study published online April 14 in Radiology.
With an aging population looking to live longer and function better in their later years, people are desperate for anything that might help them combat this mysterious enemy responsible for aching knees, degenerating joints, and even more serious conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
This isn’t just a concern for seniors; inflammation needs to be taken seriously no matter what your age or physical condition. In fact, though hypertension has traditionally been known as the “silent killer,” chronic inflammation deserves that reputation as well.
Unfortunately, whether by design or not, the pharmaceutical and supplement industries have made understanding inflammation incredibly confusing for the average consumer. Far too often this leads people to either get “locked on” to a minor part of the puzzle, thinking they’re taking care of inflammation while ignoring the big picture; or simply give up on preventing inflammation and reach for their NSAIDs instead.
What is possibly the most fascinating thing about this study is that it was conducted by two brothers in Montana – a high school junior and freshman. (comment – mdl)
While most high school kids are deficient in DHA, supplements derived from salmon could address the deficiency, the Noricks hypothesized.
The brothers set up an experiment to test their theory. First, each subject student agreed to provide a pin-prick’s worth of a blood, gathered by the high school nurse. The samples were then sent to a lab at Montana State University for DHA analysis. The samples showed that the students, were, in fact, low in DHA.
At the same time, the subject students took standardized cognitive tests that measured working memory and reaction times. Then for the next two months, one-third took a standard DHA supplement, another third took double the standard dose, and the rest took a placebo.
DHA levels were measured again, and subject students re-took the standardized cognitive tests. Those given the regular supplement showed marked improvement on the tests, and those given the placebo did not.
But what really interested the brothers was the group given double the supplements. While they showed improvement, they didn’t do any better than those on a regular dosage.
People who suffer a brain injury – for example through trauma, stroke or infection – are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy, and this is often difficult to treat. The precise mechanisms involved are still not fully understood and research is ongoing. In a recent study, scientists in Boston investigated changes in GABA- and glutamate-signalling following traumatic brain injury, to see whether these contribute to the development of epilepsy.
Be sure to read this great article published by Dr. Michael Lewis in Inform: The business and scientific magazine of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS).
Not my typical subject for posts, but a well written article worth reading.
It was big news… and positive: A new meta-analysis of 70 randomized clinical trials – the gold standard – showed that omega-3s from supplements and fortified foods could significantly improve blood pressure. So why is the mainstream media silent over findings that could have significant public health implications?