Australian doctors have found a new link between epilepsy and obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition where patients stop breathing at night. Professor Terry O'Brien from the Royal Melbourne Hospital says there has been some evidence from other studies that patients with epilepsy may have an increased incidence of sleep-disordered breathing. Professor O'Brien says there are similar symptoms of daytime sleepiness and fatigue between the two conditions. He says patients with epilepsy can gain weight as a result of their medications, something that increases their risk of sleep-disordered breathing. "We put two and two together and thought we should look into this," he said. Doctors recruited 87 patients with epilepsy and monitored them in a sleep unit. They found 25 per cent had significant sleep-disordered breathing that was severe enough to require treatment. In the general population, the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing is 3 to 7 per cent. Awake for up to three days straight Thirty-six-year-old Daniel Goldstein had always had strange sleeping habits, which included rocking back and forth during the night while he slept. Read the original here: Doctors find epilesy and sleep apnoea link … Continue reading →

Australian doctors have found a new link between epilepsy and obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition where patients stop breathing at night. Professor Terry O'Brien from the Royal Melbourne Hospital says there has been some evidence from other studies that patients with epilepsy may have an increased incidence of sleep-disordered breathing. Professor O'Brien says there are similar symptoms of daytime sleepiness and fatigue between the two conditions. He says patients with epilepsy can gain weight as a result of their medications, something that increases their risk of sleep-disordered breathing. "We put two and two together and thought we should look into this," he said. Doctors recruited 87 patients with epilepsy and monitored them in a sleep unit. They found 25 per cent had significant sleep-disordered breathing that was severe enough to require treatment. In the general population, the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing is 3 to 7 per cent. Awake for up to three days straight Thirty-six-year-old Daniel Goldstein had always had strange sleeping habits, which included rocking back and forth during the night while he slept. Go here to read the rest: Doctors find key link between epilepsy and obstructive sleep apnoea … Continue reading →

P-NC AUTISM TREATMENT BILL PKG 5-16-13 By: Adam Hillberry … Continue reading →

Washington, June 2 (ANI): A new study has shown that the pattern of brain responses to words in 2-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder predicted the youngsters' linguistic, cognitive and adaptive skills at ages 4 and 6. The findings are among the first to demonstrate that a brain marker can predict future abilities in children with autism. "We've shown that the brain's indicator of word learning in 2-year-olds already diagnosed with autism predicts their eventual skills on a broad set of cognitive and linguistic abilities and adaptive behaviors," said lead author Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the University of Washington's Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences. "This is true four years after the initial test, and regardless of the type of autism treatment the children received," she said. In the study, 2-year-olds - 24 with autism and 20 without - listened to a mix of familiar and unfamiliar words while wearing an elastic cap that held sensors in place. The sensors measured brain responses to hearing words, known as event-related potentials. The research team then divided the children with autism into two groups based on the severity of their social impairments and took a closer look at the brain responses. Youngsters … Continue reading →

Recent studies conducted by the Ohio State University have found that a natural compound of vitamin E called alpha-tocotrienols may play a role in reducing stroke-related damage. IMAGINE having the world you know ripped from beneath your feet. Your vision blurs. Colours once resoundingly familiar grow faint. Your memory fails you. Abilities you have been well-acquainted with from infancy, including the simple acts of walking and talking, become a daily struggle. Having a stroke can leave you with severe and lasting debilitations. Currently, it is also the leading cause of serious long-term disability around the world. Strokes occur when the blood flow to your brain is halted. Within minutes, brain cells become damaged and may die. When this occurs, the body parts that are controlled by these cells can no longer function. This loss of function may range from mild to severe, or temporary or permanent; depending on where and how much of the brain is damaged, as well as how fast the blood supply can be returned to the affected areas. Types of stroke There are two types of stroke. The more common one, called ischaemic stroke, is caused by blood clots that block the blood vessels to the … Continue reading →