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Monday, September 08, 2008
 Latest
Amnesia Medical and Health News Headlines
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Amnesia Medical and Health News Headlines
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All Recent Amnesia Medical Condition News Headlines |
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Deep brain stimulation inexplicably restores vivid memories
(NaturalNews) Scientists searching for a way to suppress appetite accidentally discovered a way to trigger vivid memories. The researchers hope to develop the technique into a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in Annals of Neurology.Researchers at the Toronto Western Hospital in Ontario, Canada, were operating on an obese man in an attempt to find a part of the brain that could suppress the appetite when stimulated electrically. When the scientists stimulated the hypothalamus, which has been associated with hunger, the man suddenly experienced a vivid memory from 30 years before."He reported the experience of being in a park with friends from when he was around 20 years old and, as the intensity of stimulation increased, the details became more vivid. He recognized his girlfriend [from the time] ... The scene was in color. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking, but he could not decipher what they were saying," the researchers wrote.The researchers implanted a device in his brain that would constantly stimulate that section of the hypothalamus. Similar devices have been implanted in other parts of the brain to control tremor in Parkinson's disease.After three weeks of stimulation at a level low enough to avoid triggering the park memory again, the man's performance on two memory tests improved significantly.While the hypothalamus has not previously been associated with memory, it borders a part of the brain that is known to influence memory and emotion.The researchers are now testing the device to see if it can stem the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease."It is a very effective treatment for the motor problems associated with Parkinson's disease and it has been used on 40,000 people," Lozano said. "We are in the early stages of using it with Alzheimer's patients and we don't know if it will work. We want to assess if we can reach the memory circuits and drive improvement. It is a novel approach to dealing with this problem." (Source: NaturalNews.com)...
POSTED 09/06/2008 at 02:00 AM --
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Potential remedy for mental fog in cancer patients
Cancer patients have complained for years about the mental fog known as chemobrain. Now in animal studies at West Virginia University (WVU), researchers have discovered that injections of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, can prevent the memory loss that breast cancer chemotherapy drugs sometimes induce. (Source: Huliq Health News)...
POSTED 09/05/2008 at 01:14 PM --
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Age-related memory loss tied to slip in filtering information quickly
Scientists have identified a way in which the brain's ability to process information diminishes with age, and shown that this contributes to a decreased ability to form memories. (Source: medicexchange.com - Neuro - Industry)...
POSTED 09/05/2008 at 09:57 AM --
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Age-related memory loss tied to slip in filtering information quickly
Scientists have identified a way in which the brain's ability to process information diminishes with age, and shown that this break down contributes to the decreased ability to form memories that is associated with normal aging. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)...
POSTED 09/05/2008 at 02:01 AM --
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Episodes of amnesia and other neuropsychiatric disturbances during the use of zolpidem and other non-benzodiazepine hypnotics.
Page: 885Authors: R (1); M (2); A (1) (Source: Drug Safety)...
POSTED 09/04/2008 at 05:09 AM --
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Memory loss and confusion with statins - an analysis of spontaneous case reports using the dots classification scheme.
Page: 885Authors: C (1); AR (1 2); RE (1 3) (Source: Drug Safety)...
POSTED 09/04/2008 at 05:09 AM --
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Age-related memory loss tied to slip in filtering information quickly
Scientists have identified a way in which the brain's ability to process information diminishes with age, and shown that this break down contributes to the decreased ability to form memories that is associated with normal aging. (Source: Seniors / Aging News From Medical News Today)...
POSTED 09/04/2008 at 05:00 AM --
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Potential remedy for the 'mental fog' in cancer patients
(Springer) Cancer patients have complained for years about the mental fog known as chemobrain. Now in animal studies at West Virginia University, researchers have discovered that injections of N-acetyl cysteine, an antioxidant, can prevent the memory loss that breast cancer chemotherapy drugs sometimes induce. The WVU researchers' study has just been published in the September issue of the Springer journal Metabolic Brain Disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)...
POSTED 09/03/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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The myths of dementia
Many people are afraid of losing their memory as they grow older. But as the population ages, the number of people living with dementia is set to rise. This timely and revealing discussion will transform the way you think about memory loss and open your mind to new ways of dealing with dementia.
This talk will consider the connection between identity and memory and the experience of dementia. You’ll learn about exciting new forms of treatment for people with Alzheimer’s disease that use art, music and the environment to stir memories, enliven minds and improve the quality of life.
Join our guests, John Killick, writer and founder of Dementia Positive, and John Zeisel, founder of Hearthstone Alzheimer’s Family Foundation, which has developed an innovative and non-pharmacological approach to dementia care that is being adopted worldwide. Together they will help us to see how people with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders can have positive and fulfilling experiences.
This event is part of a series exploring identity and change. Further events on 11 September, 13 November, 11 December and 29 January.
Speakers
John Killick is a writer, researcher and broadcaster. He is co-founder of Dementia Positive, which encourages communication, consultation and creativity in work with people who are living with dementia
John Ziesel is the Founder Director of the Hearthstone Alzheimer’s Family Foundation in the US, which initiates and promotes the non-pharmacologic and holistic treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Facilitator
Anne Karpf is a writer, journalist and sociologist who contributes columns, features and reviews on social, cultural and political issues to a wide range of national newspapers and magazines. She wrote a regular column on the family for the ‘Guardian’ and is the author of ‘Doctoring the Media’, which examined the reporting of health and medicine on radio and television; ‘The War After: Living with the Holocaust’, a family memoir about the psycho-social effects of the wartime experiences of her parents, Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivors; and, most recently, ‘The Human Voice: The story of a remarkable talent’, which explores the role of the human voice in forming and communicating our sense of self and intimate bonds. (Source: Nature Network London - Upcoming Events)...
POSTED 09/02/2008 at 08:51 AM --
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Age-related memory loss tied to slip in filtering information quickly
(University of California - San Francisco) UCSF scientists have identified a way in which the brain's ability to process information diminishes with age, and shown that this break down contributes to the decreased ability to form memories that is associated with normal aging. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)...
POSTED 09/01/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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Ados'> a dose of defense? omega-3 supplements appear protective against pm effects omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, believed to lessen the risk of many chronic ailments including arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and memory loss, may also help protect the heart against certain damaging effects of air pollution. in a new study by an international team of researchers, supplementation with omega-3s was associated with significantly reduced cardiac stress caused by particulate matter less than 2.5 microm in diameter (pm2.5) in a group of elderly individuals in mexico city [ehp 116:1237-1242; romieu et al.]. the study is the first to examine the effects of omega-3s on biomarkers of cellular response to the oxidative stress of air pollution. exposure to high levels of particulates from vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions raises the risk of hypertension, heart arrhythmia, heart attack, and stroke, with the elderly being particularly susceptible. some of the authors had previously shown both that pm2.5 promotes heart disease by diminishing heart-rate variability and that omega-3 supplementation could increase heart-rate variability. the current study was intended to find out how omega-3s achieve their effects. the study population of 52 elderly nursing home residents was chronically exposed to high pm2.5 levels; particulate levels inside the nursing home, where residents spent nearly all their time, correlated with the smoggy surroundings outside. for four months starting in 2001, half the participants in the double-blind study received fish oil supplements at doses typical for over-the-counter supplement users; the other half received soy oil supplements. the research team compared blood samples taken from subjects before and during supplementation and found that omega-3 use was associated with diminished oxidative damage in blood cells. the observed antioxidant effect of omega-3s was much greater in fish oil users than in soy oil users, a difference the investigators attribute to the different amounts and types of omega-3s in the two supplement types (docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in fish oil versus -linolenic acid in soy oil). the authors note limitations of their study, such as the small sample size and limited exposure assessment. however, the finding that omega-3s appear effective against oxidative stress related to pm2.5 exposure, with fish oil supplements offering more protection than soy oil supplements, merits further study in larger populations. cynthia washam
ados"> A Dose of Defense? Omega-3 Supplements Appear Protective against PM Effects Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, believed to lessen the risk of many chronic ailments including arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and memory loss, may also help protect the heart against certain damaging effects of air pollution. In a new study by an international team of researchers, supplementation with omega-3s was associated with significantly reduced cardiac stress caused by particulate matter less than 2.5 microm in diameter (PM2.5) in a group of elderly individuals in Mexico City [EHP 116:1237-1242; Romieu et al.]. The study is the first to examine the effects of omega-3s on biomarkers of cellular response to the oxidative stress of air pollution. Exposure to high levels of particulates from vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions raises the risk of hypertension, heart arrhythmia, heart attack, and stroke, with the elderly being particularly susceptible. Some of the authors had previously shown both that PM2.5 promotes heart disease by diminishing heart-rate variability and that omega-3 supplementation could increase heart-rate variability. The current study was intended to find out how omega-3s achieve their effects. The study population of 52 elderly nursing home residents was chronically exposed to high PM2.5 levels; particulate levels inside the nursing home, where residents spent nearly all their time, correlated with the smoggy surroundings outside. For four months starting in 2001, half the participants in the double-blind study received fish oil supplements at doses typical for over-the-counter supplement users; the other half received soy oil supplements. The research team compared blood samples taken from subjects before and during supplementation and found that omega-3 use was associated with diminished oxidative damage in blood cells. The observed antioxidant effect of omega-3s was much greater in fish oil users than in soy oil users, a difference the investigators attribute to the different amounts and types of omega-3s in the two supplement types (docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in fish oil versus -linolenic acid in soy oil). The authors note limitations of their study, such as the small sample size and limited exposure assessment. However, the finding that omega-3s appear effective against oxidative stress related to PM2.5 exposure, with fish oil supplements offering more protection than soy oil supplements, merits further study in larger populations. Cynthia Washam (Source: Science Selections from EHP)...
POSTED 08/31/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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Alcohol-induced retrograde memory impairment in rats: prevention by caffeine
Abstract
Rationale Ethanol and caffeine are two of the most widely consumed drugs in the world, often used in the same setting. Animal models
may help to understand the conditions under which incidental memories formed just before ethanol intoxication might be lost
or become difficult to retrieve.
Objectives Ethanol-induced retrograde amnesia was investigated using a new odor-recognition test.
Materials and methods Rats thoroughly explored a wood bead taken from the cage of another rat, and habituated to this novel odor (N1) over three
trials. Immediately following habituation, rats received saline, 25 mg/kg pentylenetetrazol (a seizure-producing agent known
to cause retrograde amnesia) to validate the test, 1.0 g/kg ethanol, or 3.0 g/kg ethanol. The next day, they were presented
again with N1 and also a bead from a new rat’s cage (N2).
Results Rats receiving saline or the lower dose of ethanol showed overnight memory for N1, indicated by preferential exploration of
N2 over N1. Rats receiving pentylenetetrazol or the higher dose of ethanol appeared not to remember N1, in that they showed
equal exploration of N1 and N2. Caffeine (5 mg/kg), delivered either 1 h after the higher dose of ethanol or 20 min prior
to habituation to N1, negated ethanol-induced impairment of memory for N1. A combination of a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor
and an adenosine A2A antagonist, mimicking two major mechanisms of action of caffeine, likewise prevented the memory impairment, though either
drug alone had no such effect. Binge alcohol can induce retrograde, caffeine-reversible disruption of social odor memory storage
or recall.
Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Original InvestigationDOI 10.1007/s00213-008-1294-5Authors
Michael J. Spinetta, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology 1 University Station, #A8000 Austin TX 78712 USAMartin T. Woodlee, The University of Texas at Austin Institute for Neuroscience Austin TX USALeila M. Feinberg, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology 1 University Station, #A8000 Austin TX 78712 USAChris Stroud, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Austin TX USAKellan Schallert, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Austin TX USALawrence K. Cormack, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology 1 University Station, #A8000 Austin TX 78712 USATimothy Schallert, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology 1 University Station, #A8000 Austin TX 78712 USA
Journal PsychopharmacologyOnline ISSN 1432-2072Print ISSN 0033-3158 (Source: Psychopharmacology)...
POSTED 08/30/2008 at 10:57 AM --
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Newspapers examine issues related to veterans' health care
Summaries of recent news related to health care for veterans appear below.Brain Injuries: The New York Times on Tuesday examined how "a growing tide of combat veterans" returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have sustained "mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, caused by powerful explosions." According to Department of Defense estimates, up to 300,000, or 20%, of veterans who were involved in combat beyond the military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced at least one concussion. According to the Times, about half of the concussed soldiers showed improvements in their conditions "within hours, days or several months and require little if any medical assistance." However, "tens of thousands of others" have experienced long-term problems, such as dizziness, headaches, hearing problems, light sensitivity, mood swings or persistent memory loss. According to the Times, the symptoms "may be subtle and may not surface for weeks or months after their return" and often are "debilitating enough to hobble lives and livelihoods." Some veterans say that mild brain injuries have "entitled them only to low disability payments, or, if the diagnosis was inconclusive, to none at all," because of the lack of a "quantifiable diagnostic test for the injury," the Times reports. According to the Times, the guidelines that the Department of Veterans Affairs uses to rate traumatic brain injury, or TBI, are not adequately clear. Kerry Baker, associate national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said the VA does not rate each symptom separately from a concussion, which the agency is expected to do. Baker said, "The criteria remains ambiguous," adding, "The military way underrates TBI and its symptoms." DOD opened the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury last year and will spend $300 million on research for TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder this year, according to the Times (Alvarez, New York Times, 8/26).VA Services: VA is making a "strong effort" to improve and expand its health care services for veterans with PSTD and brain injuries, VA Secretary James Peake said Monday at the 14th annual San Antonio Trauma Symposium, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Peake said that the Bush administration's fiscal year 2009 budget includes a request for $93.7 billion for VA, and added that Congress is likely to "plus that up" with an additional $3 billion. VA will spend $4 billion on its mental health services and for transformation efforts, such as increasing its staff of psychologists and encouraging primary care clinics to provide mental health care services. In addition, Peake said VA has eliminated a longstanding rule that prohibited paid advertisements about the agency's suicide prevention call center. VA has begun using ads on buses and in the subway system in the Washington, D.C., area. Peake said, "We're really pushing hard at the VA to make sure we reach out," adding, "I'm actually convinced that those who need it most are the least likely to get help." He added that VA has established a PTSD research center. Peake said that PTSD includes a "spectrum" of impairment that is not understood, adding that PTSD could be an issue for all soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (Finley, San Antonio Express-News, 8/26). (Source: kaisernetwork.org: Health Policy Daily Report)...
POSTED 08/29/2008 at 12:00 AM --
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Post-marketing assessment of the safety of strontium ranelate; a novel case-only approach to the early detection of adverse drug reactions
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT [bull] Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard of drug efficacy assessment, but have limited power to assess adverse drug reactions. [bull] Observational data derived from larger populations of patients are often affected by confounding variables, many of which are difficult to measure or simply not known. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS [bull] This study demonstrates the utility of the self-controlled case-series method of analysing the safety profile of drugs, which reduces confounding because comparisons are intraperson. [bull] Although such data should not be viewed in isolation, the efficiency and versatility of this method suggest that it could become a future standard in drug safety assessment.AIMS Post licensing, the evaluation of drug safety relies heavily on the collation of sporadic, spontaneous reports on adverse effects. The aim was to assess the potential utility of a more systematic approach to the detection of adverse events that utilizes routinely collected clinical data from a large primary care population.METHODS We used the UK General Practice Research Database to assess the risk of several recently reported adverse events linked to the use of strontium ranelate for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. The self-controlled case-series method was used to minimize the potential for biases in the quantification of risk estimates.RESULTS Age-adjusted rate ratios for venous thromboembolism, gastrointestinal disturbance, minor skin complaint and memory loss were 1.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2, 5.0], 3.0 (95% CI 2.3, 3.8), 2.0 (95% CI 1.3, 3.1) and 1.8 (95% CI 0.2, 14.1), respectively. No cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw, toxic-epidermal necrosis, Stevens[ndash]Johnson syndrome or drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms were found.CONCLUSIONS Although we confirmed the association between strontium ranelate and adverse events identified in the Phase III publications, there was no evidence of an association between strontium ranelate and the aforementioned potentially life-threatening adverse events. Our study demonstrates the relative ease with which this method can assess a variety of adverse events associated with a new drug in actual clinical practice. We believe this technique could be more widely adopted to assess the safety profile of new drugs. (Source: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology)...
POSTED 08/28/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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Effects of a nr2b selective nmda glutamate antagonist, cp-101,606, on dyskinesia and parkinsonism
Glutamate antagonists decrease dyskinesia and augment the antiparkinsonian effects of levodopa in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD). In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, we investigated the acute effects of placebo and two doses of a NR2B subunit selective NMDA glutamate antagonist, CP-101,606, on the response to 2-hour levodopa infusions in 12 PD subjects with motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. Both doses of CP-101,606 reduced the maximum severity of levodopa-induced dyskinesia [sim]30% but neither dose improved Parkinsonism. CP-101,606 was associated with a dose-related dissociation and amnesia. These results support the hypothesis that glutamate antagonists may be useful antidyskinetic agents. However, future studies will have to determine if the benefits of dyskinesia suppression can be achieved without adverse cognitive effects. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society (Source: Movement Disorders)...
POSTED 08/28/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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Yale researchers find how estrogen aids memory
Yale University researchers reported Tuesday they have found a molecular mechanism by which estrogen improves memory, a finding that may aid the quest to improve cognition in aging women without the negative health effects of hormone therapy. The issue of whether estrogen improves memory in women is still hotly debated. Recent studies have shown little or no benefit of hormone therapy in preventing memory loss or dementia among post-menopausal women. (Source: Psychology / Psychiatry News From Medical News Today)...
POSTED 08/27/2008 at 03:00 AM --
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The course of dissociation for patients with borderline personality disorder and axis ii comparison subjects: a 10-year follow-up study
Zanarini MC, Frankenburg FR, Jager-Hyman S, Reich DB, Fitzmaurice G. The course of dissociation for patients with borderline personality disorder and axis II comparison subjects: a 10-year follow-up study.Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the severity of dissociation reported by borderline patients and axis II comparison subjects over 10 years of prospective follow-up.Method: The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) [ndash] a 28-item self-report measure [ndash] was administered to 290 borderline in-patients and 72 axis II comparison subjects during their index admission. It was also re-administered at five contiguous 2-year follow-up periods.Results: The overall severity of dissociative experiences of those in both study groups decreased significantly over time but was discernibly greater in borderline patients (61% vs. 43%). The same pattern emerged for the subtypes of dissociation that were studied: absorption, depersonalization and amnesia.Conclusion: The severity of dissociation declines significantly over time for even severely ill borderline patients. However, it remains as a recurring problem for over a third of those with DES scores that initially were in the range associated with trauma-spectrum disorders. (Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica)...
POSTED 08/26/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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Cialis, viagra labels to note amnesia
Rare reports of transient global amnesia have been added to the Cialis and Viagra labels; the condition is already on the Levitra label. WebMD Health News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)...
POSTED 08/26/2008 at 10:41 AM --
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Alzheimer's vs. dementia? subtle difference
Reagan Jr. on Thatcher daughter's memory loss tell-all: "monumental bad taste." (Source: ABC News: Health)...
POSTED 08/26/2008 at 09:24 AM --
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Recent insights into the impairment of memory in epilepsy: transient epileptic amnesia, accelerated long-term forgetting and remote memory impairment
Complaints of memory difficulties are common among patients with epilepsy, particularly with temporal lobe epilepsy where memory-related brain structures are directly involved by seizure activity. However, the reason for these complaints is often unclear and patients frequently perform normally on standard neuropsychological tests of memory. In this article, we review the literature on three recently described and interrelated forms of memory impairment associated with epilepsy: (i) transient epileptic amnesia, in which the sole or main manifestation of seizures is recurrent episodes of amnesia; (ii) accelerated long-term forgetting, in which newly acquired memories fade over days to weeks and (iii) remote memory impairment, in which there is loss of memories for personal or public facts or events from the distant past. Accelerated long-term forgetting and remote memory impairment are common amongst patients with transient epileptic amnesia, but have been reported in other forms of epilepsy. Their presence goes undetected by standard memory tests and yet they can have a profound impact on patients’ lives. They pose challenges to current theoretical models of memory. We discuss the evidence for each of these phenomena, as well as their possible pathophysiological bases, methodological difficulties in their investigation and their theoretical implications. (Source: Brain)...
POSTED 08/25/2008 at 11:00 PM --
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