All posts; Tags Include "Clinical Research"
- October 24, 2016
- 11:19 AM
- 17 views
Exercise After Study Boosts Memory
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
There is significant interest in activities that may boost academic achievement in the classroom.I previously posted on evidence that exercise prior to a learning task improved reading comprehension scores.You can access that post by clicking HERE.Now a study has compared two types of activities after a memorization task in male students.In this study, 60 male students completed a learning task and then were randomized into one of three activities for one hour. The three activities were playing ........ Read more »
Kindermann, H., Javor, A., & Reuter, M. (2016) Playing counter-strike versus running: The impact of leisure time activities and cortisol on intermediate-term memory in male students. Cognitive Systems Research, 1-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2016.01.002
- October 14, 2016
- 11:50 AM
- 116 views
Pathways to Substance Use and Abuse
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Neuroscience medicine clinicians encounter patients every day who have both a mental and substance use disorder.This co-occurrence, or comorbidity, complicates diagnosis, treatment and outcome.The exact mechanism for this comorbidity issue is unclear.A recent study out of Washington University in St. Louis and King's College London provides some insight into this comorbidity issue.They examined participants in the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment (SAGE). These subjects provided genet........ Read more »
Carey CE, Agrawal A, Bucholz KK, Hartz SM, Lynskey MT, Nelson EC, Bierut LJ, & Bogdan R. (2016) Associations between Polygenic Risk for Psychiatric Disorders and Substance Involvement. Frontiers in genetics, 149. PMID: 27574527
- October 14, 2016
- 06:20 AM
- 121 views
Forgetting Earth, forgetting Mars: Dementia, pollution, and space travel
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Forgetting Earth Dementia. Few words inspire greater fear in those of us who value (quasi-?) independent thought. The term ‘dementia’ encompasses various brain disorders that all share some scary traits: general decline in cognitive function, decreased ability to speak, and in later stages, being unable to take care of oneself. Unfortunately, as human lifespan increases […]... Read more »
Killin LO, Starr JM, Shiue IJ, & Russ TC. (2016) Environmental risk factors for dementia: a systematic review. BMC geriatrics, 16(1), 175. PMID: 27729011
Parihar VK, Allen BD, Caressi C, Kwok S, Chu E, Tran KK, Chmielewski NN, Giedzinski E, Acharya MM, Britten RA.... (2016) Cosmic radiation exposure and persistent cognitive dysfunction. Scientific reports, 34774. PMID: 27721383
- October 10, 2016
- 11:54 AM
- 128 views
Alzheimer's Disease: Atrophy Pattern and Symptoms
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Memory impairment is a key symptom of Alzheimer's dementia common to patients with the condition.However, additional cognitive and behavioral symptoms vary between patients with a clinical and pathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.A key area of research is focused on understanding factors that contribute to symptom variability in Alzheimer's disease.A team of researchers from Singapore and Harvard Medical School recently published an important study on this topic.They analyzed structural........ Read more »
Zhang X, Mormino EC, Sun N, Sperling RA, Sabuncu MR, Yeo BT, & Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. (2016) Bayesian model reveals latent atrophy factors with dissociable cognitive trajectories in Alzheimer's disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 27702899
- September 30, 2016
- 06:12 AM
- 190 views
BHD at the International Rare Lung Diseases Research Conference 2016
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
The International Rare Lung Diseases Research Conference (RLDC) and LAM symposium were held last week over four days. They brought together clinicians, scientists, patients and families to Cincinnati to review research developments in rare lung disease and to promote dialogue between the research community and patients. Next week’s blog will focus on the highlights of the entire conference. This week the blog is focused on the BHD syndrome specific talk and poster.... Read more »
Toro JR, Pautler SE, Stewart L, Glenn GM, Weinreich M, Toure O, Wei MH, Schmidt LS, Davis L, Zbar B.... (2007) Lung cysts, spontaneous pneumothorax, and genetic associations in 89 families with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 175(10), 1044-53. PMID: 17322109
- September 28, 2016
- 11:10 AM
- 180 views
Lewy Body Versus Alzheimer's Dementias and Parkinson's
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
One clinical challenge is making an accurate diagnosis in patients with dementia.Alzheimer's disease is typically the predominant diagnosis in dementia. However a significant number of patients will present with dementia due to Lewy Body disease, Parkinson's dementia, frontotemporal dementia or vascular dementia.A recent study helps clinicians to distinguish Lewy Body from Alzheimer's dementia and Parkinson's disease.Douglas Scharre and collegues from Ohio State University conducted ........ Read more »
Scharre, D., Chang, S., Nagaraja, H., Park, A., Adeli, A., Agrawal, P., Kloos, A., Kegelmeyer, D., Linder, S., Fritz, N.... (2016) Paired Studies Comparing Clinical Profiles of Lewy Body Dementia with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 1-10. DOI: 10.3233/JAD-160384
- September 21, 2016
- 11:46 AM
- 212 views
Brain Imaging: UK Biobank Epidemiology Study
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
I wanted to alert Brain Posts readers to a very important ongoing study out of the United Kingdom.The UK Biobank prospective epidemiological study is a study designed to identify imaging markers for a wide variety of diseases. Additionally, a goal of the study is to better understand disease mechanisms.Here is what is being collected on 100,000 healthy participants who will be tracked over decades:Brain structural and functional imaging (fMRI)Brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)Neuropsychologica........ Read more »
Miller KL, Alfaro-Almagro F, Bangerter NK, Thomas DL, Yacoub E, Xu J, Bartsch AJ, Jbabdi S, Sotiropoulos SN, Andersson JL.... (2016) Multimodal population brain imaging in the UK Biobank prospective epidemiological study. Nature neuroscience. PMID: 27643430
- September 19, 2016
- 11:11 AM
- 205 views
Preventing Depression Following Brain Injury
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Depression is a common feature following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Post-TBI depression may be difficult to treat and evolve into a chronic depression syndrome.A recent published study demonstrates that prophylactic SSRI antidepressant treatment may reduce the incidence of depression following TBI.This study was conducted by investigators affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa.Ninety four subjects were recruited to this randomized........ Read more »
Jorge RE, Acion L, Burin DI, & Robinson RG. (2016) Sertraline for Preventing Mood Disorders Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA psychiatry. PMID: 27626622
- September 16, 2016
- 10:16 AM
- 246 views
The Brain in Super Agers
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
My Twitter post on a recently published study of brain structure in a group of high performing older adults received quite a bit of attention (see below).Felicia Sun and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School selected an interesting research design.A group of elderly subjects between the ages of 60 and 80 years were identified as showing "superaging". This was defined as scoring like young adults on two neuropsychological tests: The Long Delay Free Recall measure........ Read more »
Sun FW, Stepanovic MR, Andreano J, Barrett LF, Touroutoglou A, & Dickerson BC. (2016) Youthful Brains in Older Adults: Preserved Neuroanatomy in the Default Mode and Salience Networks Contributes to Youthful Memory in Superaging. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 36(37), 9659-9668. PMID: 27629716
- September 12, 2016
- 12:36 PM
- 216 views
Opioid Abuse: Treatment Guidelines
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Molecular model of the drug buprenorphineThe U.S. Surgeon General recently sent a letter to all physicians about the danger of prescription opioids, particularly when used in combination with benzodiazepines (i.e. Valium, Xanax). This combination greatly increases the risk of overdose death.Clinicians can successfully assist those with opioid use disorders. Marc Schuckit, M.D. recently published a nice summary review of entitled "Treatment of Opioid-Use Disorder" in the New England Journal........ Read more »
Schuckit, M. (2016) Treatment of Opioid-Use Disorders. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(4), 357-368. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1604339
- September 9, 2016
- 12:10 PM
- 294 views
Statin Therapy: Rethinking Benefits and Risks
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
A recent 30-page manuscript provides an exhaustive review of the evidence for the efficacy and safety of statin therapy.The authors of this excellent review provide some context for the relative value of statins.The note that putting 10000 individuals with a history of a vascular event on a statin drug for 5 years would prevent 1,000 subsequent events. This is an example of secondary prevention--preventing another adverse outcome in those already experiencing an adverse event.But the statin drug........ Read more »
Collins, Rory, Reith, Christina, & Emberson, Jonathan. (2016) Interpretation of the evidence for the efficacy and safety of statin therapy. Lancet. info:/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31357-5
- September 7, 2016
- 12:05 PM
- 254 views
Nuturing the Gifted: II
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Earlier this summer I posted a review and commentary on a Duke University study of the outcome of children identified as gifted.You can access this post by clicking HERE.Today in Nature News, Tom Clynes publishes a nice review of the history of this topic.He notes there have several large scale studies to examine prospectively children with high academic potential. The cohorts include:Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth-SMPY (Johns Hopkins)Duke University Talent Identification ProgramMunich........ Read more »
Clynes, T. (2016) How to raise a genius: lessons from a 45-year study of super-smart children. Nature, 537(7619), 152-155. DOI: 10.1038/537152a
- September 6, 2016
- 11:17 AM
- 250 views
Keeping the Weight Off
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Weight loss and maintenance of weight loss is difficult if not nearly impossible for most people.A registry of individuals who have lost 30 pounds or more and maintained their weight loss over a year exists in the U.S. This research effort is known as the National Weight Control Registry. It currently has over 10,000.I was looking at some of the published research results from this study. A paper published in 2012 used cluster analysis to identify sub-types of individuals with successful long-te........ Read more »
Ogden, L., Stroebele, N., Wyatt, H., Catenacci, V., Peters, J., Stuht, J., Wing, R., & Hill, J. (2012) Cluster Analysis of the National Weight Control Registry to Identify Distinct Subgroups Maintaining Successful Weight Loss. Obesity, 20(10), 2039-2047. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2012.79
- September 2, 2016
- 11:53 AM
- 262 views
Obesity Surgery: VA Outcome Study
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Weight loss (bariatric) surgery is likely to become increasingly important to address the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and other nations.There are several types of surgical techniques used for bariatric surgery.One of the most invasive is the Rous-en-Y gastric bypass (RYG) operation. This operation involves bisection of the small intestine and reattachment of the upper section to a position lower down the small intestine. This provides for a shorter distance for food to be absorbed.Less invasive........ Read more »
Maciejewski ML, Arterburn DE, Van Scoyoc L, Smith VA, Yancy WS Jr, Weidenbacher HJ, Livingston EH, & Olsen MK. (2016) Bariatric Surgery and Long-term Durability of Weight Loss. JAMA surgery. PMID: 27579793
- August 30, 2016
- 11:59 AM
- 276 views
Dyslexia Improvement in Medication Trial
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Dyslexia or developmental reading disorder is a common learning disorder affecting about 5% of the school age population.Treatment of dyslexia is difficult and typically is focused on special education classes and reading exercises.Medication treatment for dyslexia is nearly unheard of as no FDA-approved drug is available for the condition.However, a recent randomized clinical drug trial found evidence to support the potential use of atomoxetine for dyslexia.Atomoxetine is a drug approved for at........ Read more »
Shaywitz S, Shaywitz B, Wietecha L, Wigal S, McBurnett K, Williams D, Kronenberger WG, & Hooper SR. (2016) Effect of Atomoxetine Treatment on Reading and Phonological Skills in Children with Dyslexia or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Comorbid Dyslexia in a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology. PMID: 27410907
- August 29, 2016
- 12:08 PM
- 249 views
Mediterranean Diet and Cognition
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
The evidence for a beneficial effect of a Mediterranean style diet (MedDiet) on brain health grows on a regular basis.For those interested in a good summary of the effects of the MedDiet on cognition, I recommend reading the free full text review recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.In this review, Roy Hardman and colleagues searched for research studies on cognition and the Mediterranean diet published between 2000 and 2015.A figure in the review proposed several mechanisms where com........ Read more »
Hardman RJ, Kennedy G, Macpherson H, Scholey AB, & Pipingas A. (2016) Adherence to a Mediterranean-Style Diet and Effects on Cognition in Adults: A Qualitative Evaluation and Systematic Review of Longitudinal and Prospective Trials. Frontiers in nutrition, 22. PMID: 27500135
- August 23, 2016
- 10:36 AM
- 325 views
The Brain: Red Meat and Mediterranean Diet
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
Entorhinal Cortex Highlighted in BluePrevious posts in this blog have highlighted some the research related to links between brain health and elements of the Mediterranean diet.I want to inform readers of a new important research study from the Mayo Clinic.In this study, researchers completed brain cortical thickness analyses on 672 cognitively normal adults. It is generally accepted that greater cortical thickness relates to improved cognitive performance.The participants completed an extensive........ Read more »
Staubo SC, Aakre JA, Vemuri P, Syrjanen JA, Mielke MM, Geda YE, Kremers WK, Machulda MM, Knopman DS, Petersen RC.... (2016) Mediterranean diet, micronutrients and macronutrients, and MRI measures of cortical thickness. Alzheimer's . PMID: 27461490
- August 17, 2016
- 01:30 PM
- 333 views
The PROCAMIO Trial – IV Procainamide vs IV Amiodarone for the Acute Treatment of Stable Wide Complex Tachycardia
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
This is a very interesting trial that may surprise the many outspoken amiodarone advocates, but it should not surprise anyone who pays attention to research.
ALPS showed that we should stop giving amiodarone for unwitnessed shockable cardiac arrest. The lead researcher is still trying to spin amiodarone for witnessed shockable cardiac arrest, even though the results do not show improvement in the one outcome that matters – leaving the hospital with a brain that still works.[1],[2],[3]... Read more »
Kudenchuk PJ, Brown SP, Daya M, Rea T, Nichol G, Morrison LJ, Leroux B, Vaillancourt C, Wittwer L, Callaway CW.... (2016) Amiodarone, Lidocaine, or Placebo in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. The New England journal of medicine, 374(18), 1711-22. PMID: 27043165
Ortiz M, Martín A, Arribas F, Coll-Vinent B, Del Arco C, Peinado R, Almendral J, & PROCAMIO Study Investigators. (2016) Randomized comparison of intravenous procainamide vs. intravenous amiodarone for the acute treatment of tolerated wide QRS tachycardia: the PROCAMIO study. European heart journal. PMID: 27354046
Marill KA, deSouza IS, Nishijima DK, Senecal EL, Setnik GS, Stair TO, Ruskin JN, & Ellinor PT. (2010) Amiodarone or procainamide for the termination of sustained stable ventricular tachycardia: an historical multicenter comparison. Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, 17(3), 297-306. PMID: 20370763
Marill KA, deSouza IS, Nishijima DK, Stair TO, Setnik GS, & Ruskin JN. (2006) Amiodarone is poorly effective for the acute termination of ventricular tachycardia. Annals of emergency medicine, 47(3), 217-24. PMID: 16492484
Tomlinson DR, Cherian P, Betts TR, & Bashir Y. (2008) Intravenous amiodarone for the pharmacological termination of haemodynamically-tolerated sustained ventricular tachycardia: is bolus dose amiodarone an appropriate first-line treatment?. Emergency medicine journal : EMJ, 25(1), 15-8. PMID: 18156531
Kułakowski P, Karczmarewicz S, Karpiński G, Soszyńska M, & Ceremuzyński L. (2000) Effects of intravenous amiodarone on ventricular refractoriness, intraventricular conduction, and ventricular tachycardia induction. Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology, 2(3), 207-15. PMID: 11227590
Bonny A, De Sisti A, Márquez MF, Megbemado R, Hidden-Lucet F, & Fontaine G. (2012) Low doses of intravenous epinephrine for refractory sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. World journal of cardiology, 4(10), 296-301. PMID: 23110246
Kowey PR. (1988) The calamity of cardioversion of conscious patients. The American journal of cardiology, 61(13), 1106-7. PMID: 3364364
- August 11, 2016
- 08:30 PM
- 340 views
Acupuncture vs intravenous morphine in the management of acute pain in the ED
by Rogue Medic in Rogue Medic
Should we have people providing "fake" acupuncture in the Emergency Department?
If so, how should we do this?
Since it is not the acupuncture, but the patient's reaction to the "ceremony of the placebo" that appears to be providing the pain relief, how many different ways might we vary the "treatment" to improve the placebo effect?... Read more »
Grissa, M., Baccouche, H., Boubaker, H., Beltaief, K., Bzeouich, N., Fredj, N., Msolli, M., Boukef, R., Bouida, W., & Nouira, S. (2016) Acupuncture vs intravenous morphine in the management of acute pain in the ED. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2016.07.028
Espay, A., Norris, M., Eliassen, J., Dwivedi, A., Smith, M., Banks, C., Allendorfer, J., Lang, A., Fleck, D., Linke, M.... (2015) Placebo effect of medication cost in Parkinson disease: A randomized double-blind study. Neurology, 84(8), 794-802. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001282
Waber RL, Shiv B, Carmon Z, Ariely D. (2008) Commercial Features of Placebo and Therapeutic Efficacy. JAMA, 299(9), 1016. DOI: 10.1001/jama.299.9.1016
Ee, C., Xue, C., Chondros, P., Myers, S., French, S., Teede, H., & Pirotta, M. (2016) Acupuncture for Menopausal Hot Flashes. Annals of Internal Medicine, 164(3), 146. DOI: 10.7326/M15-1380
Cherkin, D., Sherman, K., Avins, A., Erro, J., Ichikawa, L., Barlow, W., Delaney, K., Hawkes, R., Hamilton, L., Pressman, A.... (2009) A Randomized Trial Comparing Acupuncture, Simulated Acupuncture, and Usual Care for Chronic Low Back Pain. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(9), 858. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.65
Goldman, R., Stason, W., Park, S., Kim, R., Schnyer, R., Davis, R., Legedza, A., & Kaptchuk, T. (2008) Acupuncture for Treatment of Persistent Arm Pain Due to Repetitive Use. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 24(3), 211-218. DOI: 10.1097/AJP.0b013e31815ec20f
- August 5, 2016
- 05:09 AM
- 365 views
Multiple germline mutations in rare inherited cancer syndrome genes
by Joana Guedes in BHD Research Blog
A recent study by Whitworth et al. (2016) reports five new cases of multiple germline mutations in inherited cancer syndrome genes, three of them involve the combination of mutations in FLCN with NF1, TP53, and MSH2, respectively.... Read more »
Whitworth J, Skytte AB, Sunde L, Lim DH, Arends MJ, Happerfield L, Frayling IM, van Minkelen R, Woodward ER, Tischkowitz MD.... (2016) Multilocus Inherited Neoplasia Alleles Syndrome: A Case Series and Review. JAMA oncology, 2(3), 373-9. PMID: 26659639
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