A minimally invasive laser-based tool for epilepsy surgery offers a quicker recuperation time for patients than major surgery, Mayo Clinic researchers report. The research is ongoing, but preliminary results were recently presented at the American Academy of Neurology. For more than 50 years, the standard effective treatment for medication-resistant epileptic seizures has been brain surgery. Neurosurgeons remove a small circle of the skull and probe into the brain to cut out or isolate the area where seizures are occurring. The operation, known as a temporal lobectomy, is effective in up to 80 percent of patients when the seizures are localized. However, the recuperation period can be lengthy, involving several days in the hospital and one to three months for the patient to return to ordinary activities. The new technique, now available at Mayo Clinic's Rochester and Jacksonville, Fla., campuses offers significant potential, says co-author W. Richard Marsh, M.D., a Mayo Clinic neurosurgeon. "We continue to investigate this new minimally invasive technique that could change how epilepsy surgery is done," says Marsh. Although approximately 14 patients (eight in Rochester, six in Jacksonville) have undergone this treatment to date, the research team reported positive preliminary results on their first five patients in … Continue reading →

Public release date: 13-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Marla Paul marla-paul@northwestern.edu 312-503-8928 Northwestern University CHICAGO --- In a surprising new finding, a Northwestern Medicine study has found a common molecular vulnerability in autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Both disorders have symptoms of social impairment and originate during brain development in utero. This the first research to explore a common mechanism for these disorders and link their molecular vulnerabilities. The study found male offspring of rat mothers who were given alcohol during pregnancy have social impairment and altered levels of autism-related genes found in humans. Female offspring were not affected. Alcohol Damage is Reversible But the alcohol damage can be reversed. A low dose of the thyroid hormone thyroxin given to alcohol consuming rat mothers at critical times during their pregnancy alleviated social impairments and reversed the expression of autism-related genes in their male offspring, the study reports. Could Novel Drug Treat Both Disorders? "The beneficial effects of thyroxin in this animal model raises an exciting question -- whether novel drug targets and treatments could be developed for both these disorders," said Eva Redei, the senior author of the study and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences … Continue reading →

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - The Missouri Autism Center at the Knights of Columbus Developmental Center is now offering the Autism Siblings Clinic. This is the first clinic in the area, and is affiliated with SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center and Saint Louis University. The Clinic houses an expert medical team, which provides autism and developmental assessment for children under the age of four who have a biological sibling with autism. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the average age of an autism diagnosis is between 4-years-old and 6-years-old. "Siblings of children diagnosed with autism are at significantly increased risk of having developmental delay or developing an autism spectrum disorder," said Rolanda Maxim, M.D., medical director of the Missouri Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center and associate professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "A recent study reported that up to 25 percent of boys and 10 percent of girls who have an older sibling with autism will go on to develop an autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, up to 35 percent of siblings who do not develop autism will still have developmental delays or have some social communication … Continue reading →

Air Force veteran Michelle Linn worries that her two teenage boys will lose access to an autism treatment center because UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) has been slow to pay the provider. The nations biggest insurer took over a $20.5 billion contract to coordinate military health services on April 1. Since then, providers and beneficiaries have cited long delays in medical care and payments. It has been one fiasco after another, said Linn, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. UnitedHealths poor performance prompted a rebuke from the Defense Department, which accused the company of failing to comply with its contract and risking the health of active-duty military, retirees and their families. The failures blemish the insurers reputation and may hurt the companys ability to win more government contracts, said Sheryl Skolnick, a Stamford, Connecticut-based analyst at CRT Capital Group LLC. The egg on their face is pretty thick and its bright yellow, said Skolnick, who has a buy rating on UnitedHealth. The expectation was they would execute this flawlessly. It was a real stunner to see the headline that the Pentagon wasnt happy. It would be difficult for defense officials to award another contract to Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth unless the company … Continue reading →

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Texas is aiming to save thousands of dollars in annual out of-pocket therapy bills for families with children coping with autism spectrum disorder. If Gov. Rick Perry signs the legislation, the new law will compel insurance companies who offer policies in Texas to keep paying for certain treatments after a child turns ten, right through age 18. They cover speech therapies and occupational therapies like handwriting skills up to $36,000 a year. But for about half of Texas families who could use the help, there is no coverage for more expensive treatments like one known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA. Thats a problem for parents like Austins Jacquie Benestante whose 8-year-old son Nolan undergoes three and a half hours of ABA therapy a week at Spark Learning , a local education center. He does social skills there and it's really social-emotional learning, language development, she said. The family pays about $400 a month for the therapy. Benestantes husband, whos an Austin firefighter, must work overtime to pay for it. The Citys group policy does not cover the therapy. So we're still left out, we're still paying out-of-pocket for the most effective therapy. Unfortunately, she said. And … Continue reading →

Whats the first step in preventing a stroke? Maybe its as simple as taking, you guessed it, the first step. According to a recent study released by the American Stroke Association, women who walked for three hours a week lowered their risk for stroke by an impressive 43 percent. This is a remarkable figure considering about 795,000 people experience a stroke every year. That accounts for 137,000 deaths, and nearly 60 percent of those deaths are women. Making simple changes, like parking your car farther away whenever you shop or go to work, is a good start. Walking your children to school, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and taking your dog for more walks than usual are also easy ways to get in more activity. Really, women can take advantage of the health benefits of walking whenever they can. And they should. It appears women, and men, in the United States could incorporate more walking in their lives. According to another recent study, people in the U.S. are behind other parts of the world. It showed Americans took about 5,117 steps a day, less than the averages in Western Australia, Switzerland and Japan. In addition to lowering the … Continue reading →

June 13, 2013 A specific MicroRNA, a short set of RNA (ribonuclease) sequences, naturally packaged into minute (50 nanometers) lipid containers called exosomes, are released by stem cells after a stroke and contribute to better neurological recovery according to a new animal study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers. The important role of a specific microRNA transferred from stem cells to brain cells via the exosomes to enhance functional recovery after a stroke was shown in lab rats. This study provides fundamental new insight into how stem cells affect injured tissue and also offers hope for developing novel treatments for stroke and neurological diseases, the leading cause of long-term disability in adult humans. The study is being published in the journal Stem Cells. Although most stroke victims recover some ability to voluntarily use their hands and other body parts, nearly half are left with weakness on one side of their body, while a substantial number are permanently disabled. Currently no treatment exists for improving or restoring this lost motor function in stroke patients, mainly because of mysteries about how the brain and nerves repair themselves. "This study may have solved one of those mysteries by showing how certain stem cells play … Continue reading →

Public release date: 13-Jun-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Dwight Angell dwight.angell@hfhs.org 313-850-3471 Henry Ford Health System DETROIT A specific MicroRNA, a short set of RNA (ribonuclease) sequences, naturally packaged into minute (50 nanometers) lipid containers called exosomes, are released by stem cells after a stroke and contribute to better neurological recovery according to a new animal study by Henry Ford Hospital researchers. The important role of a specific microRNA transferred from stem cells to brain cells via the exosomes to enhance functional recovery after a stroke was shown in lab rats. This study provides fundamental new insight into how stem cells affect injured tissue and also offers hope for developing novel treatments for stroke and neurological diseases, the leading cause of long-term disability in adult humans. The study, to be published in the journal Stem Cells, is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23630198. Although most stroke victims recover some ability to voluntarily use their hands and other body parts, nearly half are left with weakness on one side of their body, while a substantial number are permanently disabled. Currently no treatment exists for improving or restoring this lost motor function in stroke patients, mainly because of mysteries about how the … Continue reading →

Christal Adams was lucky that when she had her stroke she and her mother, a retired nurse, recognized the symptoms and got her to a hospital fast. That was in September 2011. It was a month after she earned a masters degree from the Goldfarb School of Nursing at Washington University. She made it to Christian Hospital-Northeast and got the treatment to relieve the cause of the stroke. Six months later, she was diagnosed with lupus and that may have caused a glitch, as the doctor called it, in a blood vessel. Upon learning, she took a deep breath. I felt relieved, said Adams, 41. Id been wondering why Id had a stroke at my age. Her father had a stroke when he was 80 that was the only family history. She said her cholesterol was normal, she had no high blood pressure and didnt smoke. Theres no lupus in her family, either. Neurologist Dr. Renee B. Van Stavern, associate processor of neurology and co-director of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Stroke Center, supervised Adams emergency stroke treatment at Christian Hospital remotely from Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Van Stavern said people who have undiagnosed lupus have a risk factor for strokes higher than for … Continue reading →