PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 24-Jun-2014 Contact: Emily Ortman media@sfn.org 202-962-4090 Society for Neuroscience Washington, DC Within hours of a fever-induced seizure, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be able to detect brain changes that occur in those most likely to develop epilepsy later in life, according to an animal study published in the June 25 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings may one day help improve methods to detect children at a heightened risk for developing epilepsy and guide efforts to prevent epilepsy development in those at greatest risk. Febrile seizures convulsions brought on by fever typically last only a few minutes and are relatively common in infants and small children. However, in some cases, children experience febrile seizures that last for more than 30 minutes (known as febrile status epilepticus, or FSE). Of these children, 40 percent will go on to develop temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) a common and often treatment-resistant brain disorder. Physicians currently have no way to anticipate which of the children with a history of extended febrile seizures (FSE) will go on to develop TLE, and children typically do not experience the onset of the disease until 10-12 years after the onset of FSE. In the … Continue reading →

By Mitchell and Marcia Shear June 24 Dr. and Mrs. Shears daughter, Samantha, has been a student at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Mass., since 2005. He is an internist. They live in Roslyn Heights, New York. Samantha, our 21-year-old daughter, attacked other children, her teachers, and us. She bit, scratched, kicked, hit, pinched, and head-butted whoever was in range. Her relentless compulsion for self-abuse led her to throw herself on the floor.When she was 12 years old, she finally hit herself in the head hard enough to detach both retinas, rendering herself virtually blind. Her autism was so bad that it proved impervious to professional therapists, powerful medications, and the love of her parents and siblings. She was expelled from numerous schools and treatment centers. Her life was in danger. Then, after years of this self-abuse, something happened. We found a program for Samantha that actually works the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) in Canton, Mass. JRCs behavioral treatment, including a controversial electrical device, is a program of last resort to treat children and adults with life-threatening behavior disorders that are resistant to all other forms of psychological and psychiatric care.The results are life-changing. Within several weeks of … Continue reading →

Many families with children who have autism count on their insurance to help pay for expensive, long-term treatment. But a recent bulletin issued by the Connecticut Insurance Department may undermine existing coverage protections, some advocates say, and they are concerned that other states might follow suit. Autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 68 children, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The developmental disorder includes a range of conditions that are characterized by difficulties in communication and social interaction as well as repetitive behaviors. In recent years, advocates for people with autism and their families have pushed hard to get better insurance coverage, prompting 37 states and the District of Columbia to pass laws that require insurers to cover autism treatment, according to Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization. In addition, some advocates look to new policies on mental health coverage to aid families. Until recent years, coverage for mental health conditions was often significantly more limited than coverage for physical ailments. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 required that mental health benefits be covered at least as generously as medical/surgical benefits in large group plans. The Affordable Care Act extended those protections this … Continue reading →

Today, many families with autistic childrencount on their insurance coverage to help pay for the often expensive, long-term treatment their kids need. But advocates and public policy experts say a recent bulletin issued by the Connecticut Insurance Department may undermine existing coverage protections and they're concerned that other states might follow suit. Autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 68 children, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The developmental disorder includes a range of conditions that are characterized by difficulties in communication and social interaction as well as repetitive behaviors. In recent years, advocates for people with autism and their families have pushed hard to get better insurance coverage, prompting 37 states and the District of Columbia topasslaws that require insurers to cover autism treatment, according to Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization. In addition, some advocates look to new policies on mental health coverage to aid families. Until recent years,coverage for mental health conditions was often significantly more limited than coverage for physical ailments. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 required that mental health benefits be covered at least as generously as medical/surgical benefits in large group plans. The Affordable Care Act extended … Continue reading →

Kansas City, Mo. (PRWEB) June 25, 2014 Saint Lukes Hospital of Kansas City has received top honors from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for excellence in the treatment of stroke patients. The hospital was awarded the Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award and the Target: Stroke Honor Roll, the most prestigious honors for stroke programs awarded by the organization. The Gold Plus Award is reserved for stroke centers that meet quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients for a designated period. These measures include the aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. Quality achievement measures include the implementation of antithrombotic therapy, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), stroke education such as recognizing symptoms of stroke and learning to call 911 immediately, and more for every stroke patient. Saint Lukes Hospital also achieved the Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster, tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. Persons who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within three … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise ANN ARBOR, Mich. Its a classic Catch-22: Medical researchers need to figure out if a promising new treatment is truly better than a current one, by randomly assigning half of a group of patients to get each treatment. But when they approach patients about taking part in the study, those 50-50 random odds dont sound good enough and the study struggles to get enough volunteers. That slows down the effort to improve treatment for that condition. Now, new research shows the promise of an approach that takes some of the random out of the process, while preserving the ability to compare treatments. Instead of every patient getting a randomly chosen treatment, the approach adjusts the odds as the study goes along. So if early results show that one of the two treatments appears to work better, each new patients odds of getting that treatment increase. Its called response-adaptive randomization, or RAR. In a new brief report in the journal Stroke, University of Michigan Medical School researchers report the results of how 418 emergency department patients responded to the two approaches to medical studies. The researchers asked the patients to imagine they had … Continue reading →