PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 13-Oct-2014 Contact: Cassandra Aviles cmaviles@partners.org 617-724-6433 Massachusetts General Hospital @MassGeneralNews A small study led by investigators at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has found evidence that daily treatment with sulforaphane a molecule found in foods such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage may improve some symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. In their report being published online in PNAS Early Edition, the investigators describe how participants receiving a daily dose of sulforaphane showed improvement in both behavioral and communication assessments in as little as four weeks. The authors stress that the results of this pilot study conducted at the MGHfC-affiliated Lurie Center for Autism must be confirmed in larger investigations before any conclusions can be drawn about sulforaphane's therapeutic benefit. "Over the years there have been several anecdotal reports that children with autism can have improvements in social interaction and sometimes language skills when they have a fever," explains Andrew Zimmerman, MD, a co-corresponding author of the current report who also published a 2007 paper documenting the fever effect. "We investigated what might be behind that on a cellular level and postulated that it results from fever's activation of the cellular stress … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 13-Oct-2014 Contact: Catherine Kolf ckolf@jhmi.edu 443-287-2251 Johns Hopkins Medicine @HopkinsMedicine Results of a small clinical trial suggest that a chemical derived from broccoli sprouts and best known for claims that it can help prevent certain cancers may ease classic behavioral symptoms in those with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The study, a joint effort by scientists at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, involved 40 teenage boys and young men, ages 13 to 27, with moderate to severe autism. In a report published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Oct. 13, the researchers say that many of those who received a daily dose of the chemical sulforaphane experienced substantial improvements in their social interaction and verbal communication, along with decreases in repetitive, ritualistic behaviors, compared to those who received a placebo. "We believe that this may be preliminary evidence for the first treatment for autism that improves symptoms by apparently correcting some of the underlying cellular problems," says Paul Talalay, M.D., professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences, who has researched these vegetable compounds for the past 25 years. "We are far from being … Continue reading →

Sulforaphane is a chemical made when we eat broccoli, cabbage and sprouts Chemical - which gives broccoli its bitter taste - could help treat autism Teenagers with autism showed 'remarkable improvements' after 4 weeks Helped young men with autism become calmer and more sociable People with autism tend to have various abnormalities in their cells Sulforaphane repairs the damage and protects against further problems Existing drugs control symptoms like aggression and hyperactivity Researchers have patented their discovery and want to do more studies They cant say how much broccoli a person would have to eat to benefit By Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent Published: 14:00 EST, 13 October 2014 | Updated: 14:03 EST, 13 October 2014 Suforaphane - which gives broccoli its bitter taste - could help treat autism, a study found Broccoli could hold the key to treating autism, research suggests. The chemical that gives broccoli its distinctive bitter taste made teenagers and young men with autism calmer and more sociable, a study found. Remarkable improvements were seen in as little as four weeks and by the end of the study, some of those given a capsule a day felt able to look the researchers in the eye and shake … Continue reading →

BENNINGTON -- United Counseling Services of Bennington County held its last in a series of three community autism forums on Thursday. The forums will help the agency's mental health professionals gear new autism programming and services to the needs of area children and families. The Vermont legislature enacted a law related to insurance coverage for autism diagnosis in 2011, which was based on research that supported the need for early detection, diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, ages 21 and under. This year, that law was expanded with Act 158, which will give UCS a greater ability to bill for services for children with ASD. UCS now may also provide those services and parental support within the home, using behavioral interventions. The newly bolstered law makes it so that private insurance companies reimburse for those ASD treatment services that they were not covering previously. It has also set aside a small portion of funds for UCS to initiate some of those services. In order to assume the most fitting services and interventions for the individuals in its service area, UCS created the community autism forums to gauge the needs of children and families. The forums gave parents … Continue reading →

If someone you know shows signs of stroke, call 9-1-1 right away. If you have a stroke, you may receive emergency care, treatment to prevent another stroke, rehabilitation to treat the side effects of stroke, or all three. Your emergency treatment starts in the ambulance. The emergency workers may take you to a specialized stroke center to ensure that you receive the quickest possible diagnosis and treatment. At the hospital, health care providers will ask about your medical history and about the time your symptoms started. Brain scans will show what type of stroke you had. You may also work with a neurologist who treats brain disorders, a neurosurgeon that performs surgery on the brain, or a specialist in another area of medicine. If you get to the hospital within 3 hours of the first symptoms of an ischemic stroke, a health care provider may give you a type of medicine called a thrombolytic (a "clot-busting" drug) to break up blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is a thrombolytic. tPA improves the chances of recovering from a stroke. Studies have shown that patients with ischemic strokes who received tPA are more likely to recover fully or have less disability than … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise In recognition of World Stroke Day Oct. 29, Loyola University Medical Center neurologist Jose Biller, MD, lists seven surprising things you may not know about strokes. Time is brain. During a stroke, 32,000 brain cells per second (1.9 million per minute) die. But if a patient receives timely treatment, the damage can be minimized. So its critically important to know the warning signs and symptoms of a stroke. However . . . One in three Americans cant name even a single stroke warning sign. These warning signs include sudden: numbness or weakness of the leg, arm or face; confusion or trouble understanding; trouble seeing in one or both eyes; trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; or severe headache with no known cause. An easy way to remember signs and symptoms is FAST. F: Face drooping. A: Arm weakness. S: Speech difficulty. T: Time to call 9-1-1 if any of these symptoms are present. Strokes are surprisingly common in young people. And more young people are showing risk factors for such strokes. Between 532,000 and 852,000 people ages 18 to 44 in the United States have had a stroke. And between … Continue reading →

London, GB (PRWEB) October 13, 2014 Dr. Allens Device provides a unique opportunity to enhance the blood flow in the brain naturally. A recent research from the Heart and Stroke Foundation said just 16% of patients who have had a stroke are discharged to inpatient rehabilitation. Furthermore, some patients who enter rehabilitation programs don't need it, while some who do need it and get it don't receive the right amount of services, Fine Treatment reveals. The article Canadian stroke patients not getting help they need to fully recover: Study, dated October 3, 2014, in the Sun News, states that recovery from a stroke can take years, and the study noted the majority of people who had a stroke said they needed some kind of help to recover, while 80% said they experienced restrictions to their daily activities. According to the article Important findings released at the Canadian Stroke Congress, dated October 3, 2014, too many stroke patients need to return to a healthy, active life. The study suggests there are a large number of Canadian stroke patients who are not getting the help they need at hospital discharge to get back to an active life, says Dr. Michael Hill, director … Continue reading →

By Linda Searing October 13 at 1:53 PM THE QUESTION The benefits of healthful living make for a long list. Should preventing strokes be among them? THIS STUDY collected data on five lifestyle factors diet, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and weight for 31,696 women, age 49 and older (most about 60), who did not have cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start of the study. Factors it defined as contributing to a beneficial lifestyle and a low risk for stroke included eating healthfully (including such foods as fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy), drinking in moderation (three to nine alcoholic drinks a week), never having smoked, being physically active (walking or biking at least 40 minutes a day, for instance, and exercising more vigorously at least an hour a week) and maintaining a healthful weight (defined as having a body mass index of less than 25). During the next 10 years, 1,554 of the women had a stroke. The better a womans lifestyle, the less likely she was to have a stroke. Those whose behaviors in all five categories were best had a 54 percent lower risk for stroke and a 62 percent lower risk for ischemic stroke (the type … Continue reading →