Knowing the signs of a concussion is an important part of ensuring that young athletes dont suffer further brain damage. Looking for those signs and knowing the ways to deal with the traumatic brain injury are Dr. Anthony Alessis area of expertise. Alessi, the medical director of the Backus Hospital Stroke Center and in private practice at NeuroDiagnostics in Norwich, appeared before parents, coaches and athletes Thursday for a presentation hosted by The William W. Backus Hospital. Alessi covered the clinical and medical causes of concussions, a topic which has come to the forefront of sports medicine, he said. There are only two ways you can die in sports, he said. One, cardiac something that affects the heart or neurological. Nobody died from a broken bone. Studies have shown that young, developing brains are more vulnerable to traumatic injury from concussive blows, according to Alessi. These injuries can result in chronic headaches and learning disabilities if they are not managed properly. Parent Melinda Bryan has a daughter who plays soccer and lacrosse. Bryan, of Voluntown, was glad she attended the presentation. Its good to know what the symptoms are and what to look for, she said. Connecticut now has laws … Continue reading →

Kevin Ward experienced a brainstorm after suffering a concussion in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain on Christmas Day. Ward, president of the Aspen Strategy Center, was frustrated by the lack of information when he tried to research what he should eat and do to recover from the concussion. As a man of science, he had the ability to understand doctors and scientists, but they had little to offer. He kept hearing, Were 10 years from knowing what we should do, he said. So Ward immersed himself in everything related to brain research. Frankly, we know more about the universe than we do about the brain, Ward said. Every other part of the body we know a ton about. But the lack of knowledge is poised to change. The Obama administration committed billions of dollars to brain research, and Europe is investing millions of euros in The Human Brain Project. Wards interest in the brain led him to Jeannie Andlinger, an Aspen resident whose son, Ger, suffered two consecutive concussions while playing prep school lacrosse and ended up committing suicide. The incident got Gerry and Jeanne Andlinger committed to supporting traumatic-brain-injury research, diagnosis and treatment. Jeanne has been pursuing this … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology Article Date: 08 Aug 2013 - 10:00 PDT Current ratings for: MRI-guided brain cancer breakthrough - exclusive interview Neurosurgeons from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have conducted the first real-time MRI-guided gene therapy for patients with brain cancer, advancing the clinical trial of new cancer drug, Toca 511. The new treatment, carried out by neurosurgeons at the UCSD School of Medicine and the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, uses real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a way of guiding the delivery of the new gene therapy directly into brain tumors. MRI navigational technology, called Clearpoint, enables the neurosurgeons to inject Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) directly into a brain tumor. Following our earlier news story Brain cancer: groundbreaking MRI-guided gene therapy, Clark Chen, chief of stereotactic and radiosurgery and vice chairman of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Diego, has spoken exclusively to Medical News Today about how the MRI-guided gene therapy works, and what this means for the future of brain cancer treatment. Previous efforts with gene therapy for brain cancer were largely limited by the inability to deliver the drug into the … Continue reading →