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General Neurology

News, opinions and meeting coverage in neurology.

'Sensory Tricks' in Dystonia Examined

PHILADELPHIA -- The mystery of how "sensory tricks" adopted by patients to relieve symptoms of dystonia work is beginning to be unraveled, research presented here suggested.

APA Meeting Highlights Mental Health Biology

NEW YORK CITY -- The biological basis for normal and abnormal mental function is emerging as a dominant theme in psychiatry research, and the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting that starts here Saturday won't be an exception.

Environmental Factors Tied to Autism Clusters

An analysis of an insurance claims database of 100 million patients has found clustering of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability in counties across the U.S.

Stroke Rounds: Early Surgery Looks Safe After tPA

Performing carotid endarterectomy or stenting in patients who were recently treated with thrombolytic therapy for an acute stroke appeared to be safe, an observational study showed.

Medtronic Sued by 1,000 Infuse Patients

Medtronic said about 1,000 people have sued the company over its bone morphogenetic protein-2 product, Infuse, and that many more lawsuits may be coming.

Killing Pain: Xanax Tops Charts

Alprazolam, more popularly known by its brand name -- Xanax--is America's favorite tranquilizer and one that is often used in combination with an opioid.

FDA OKs Northera for Hypotension

The FDA has approved droxidopa (Northera) for the treatment of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension, a rare disease that results in a drop in blood pressure when patients try to stand up.

Lyrica Edges Mirapex for Restless Legs

Patients with restless legs syndrome treated with pregabalin (Lyrica) had as much symptom improvement as those receiving pramipexole (Mirapex) in a large year-long trial, with fewer showing "augmentation."

Is There a Flaw in This Large Vitamin D Trial?

A co-principal investigator of the VITAL trial addresses the possibility that out-of-study testing of vitamin D levels and initiation of high-dose supplementation could be a limitation, but not a serious one.

CardioBuzz: More Money Needed for Heart Research?

The NIH dedicates a lot of money for research into heart disease and stroke, but it still might not be enough, a new study suggested.

Pay and Practice: Are Neurologists Primary Care Docs?

WASHINGTON -- Neurology isn't often mentioned in the same breath as primary care, but the American Academy of Neurology is again lobbying to gain that sobriquet -- this time to take advantage of a recent policy change that benefits primary care providers.

Droxidopa for OH Slammed by FDA Reviewers

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Droxidopa (Northera) is getting a second look by an FDA advisory committee for the treatment of orthostatic hypotension stemming from neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, but an agency review doesn't look promising for approval.

Killing Pain: Tramadol the 'Safe' Drug of Abuse

Almost 2 decades have passed since the FDA approved tramadol as a 'safe' opioid, but the intervening years provide evidence to question that 'safe' claim, as this latest investigation by John Fauber for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-麻豆传媒 revealed.

Neuropathy May Signal Lupus

Peripheral neuropathy is a more common manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus than has been previously appreciated, and often is a small-fiber neuropathy affecting the dorsal root ganglia, a large retrospective study found.

Women on Seizure Meds Need More Folic Acid

WASHINGTON -- About half of epileptic women taking anti-seizure drugs who could have become pregnant said they were not taking the recommended folic acid supplements, results of a survey found.

At-Home Seizure Tests Promising

WASHINGTON -- Technologies to provide instant at-home detection of life-threatening seizures and that could allow epilepsy patients to monitor their own drug levels are almost ready, researchers said here.

Satisfaction With Epilepsy Surgery Lasts Long Term

WASHINGTON -- More than 90% of patients who had surgery for drug-resistant epilepsy said it was worthwhile when interviewed up to 20 years later, even when quality-of-life indicators were not improved, researchers said here.

Laser Epilepsy Surgery Boosts Memory Function

WASHINGTON -- Stereotactic laser ablation of seizure foci in the hippocampus appeared to reverse certain types of memory deficits that commonly occur in this population, researchers said here.

ADHD: Brain Iron May Be Marker

CHICAGO -- Low Fe levels in the brain may signal the presence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), researchers reported here.

Magnet Therapy Cuts Binge-Purge Eating

SAN DIEGO -- A course of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) helped about half of patients with binge/purge eating disorders to cut the frequency of such episodes significantly, a researcher said here.

Brain Stimulation Helps Smokers Quit

SAN DIEGO -- Magnetic brain stimulation with a sensory cue was associated with reduced smoking rates and improved quit rates among heavy smokers unaffected by prior therapy, researchers reported here.

Teens More Apt to Fight Than Flee

SAN DIEGO -- Teens were more likely to actively respond to aggressive cues than were children or adults, researchers reported here.

Exercise May Allay Anxiety, Depression

SAN DIEGO -- Exercise may have modest benefits as a treatment for patients suffering from anxiety or depression, researchers reported here.

Gestational Diabetes Tied to Perinatal Stroke

AUSTIN, Texas -- Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke has many possible risk factors, including gestational diabetes, researchers reported here.

Stem Cells Help ALD Kids Live Longer

AUSTIN, Texas -- Survival in children with cerebral adrenocerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) appeared to be improved with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants compared with untreated patients, a researcher said here.

NICU Survivors May See Higher Autism Rates

AUSTIN, Texas -- Autism spectrum disorder incidence was significantly higher in babies who spent time in the neonatal intensive care unit, versus the general population, and was often accompanied by comorbidities, researchers said here.

Mom's Lupus Tied to Child's Autism

SAN DIEGO -- Children born to mothers with systemic lupus erythematosus have twice the risk for autism spectrum disorders as those whose mothers are unaffected, a Canadian researcher reported here.

Striking a Nerve: Heinz Kerry Recovers

Teresa Heinz Kerry is back at work less than 4 months after a mysterious seizure hospitalized her. Striking a Nerve is a blog by John Gever for readers interested in neurology.

Sleep Problems, Poor Angioplasty Outcomes Linked

Disturbed sleep is common in heart patients following coronary angioplasty and is an independent risk factor for poor cardiac outcomes, researchers reported.

Common Cause for Bruxism, Restless Legs, Migraine?

NEW ORLEANS -- About half of patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) seen in a single neurology practice also qualified for diagnoses of bruxism and migraine, suggesting a possible common cause for these disorders, a researcher said here.

Heart Surgery as Infant Hikes Risk for ADHD Later

Children who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease in the first year of life appeared to carry an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) once they reached school age, researchers found.

MoCA Beats MMSE to Assess Dementia

NEW ORLEANS -- The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was better than the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at teasing out subtle differences in cognitive performance among mildly impaired individuals, researchers reported here.

Xyrem Helps With Nighttime Sleep in Narcolepsy

NEW ORLEANS -- Narcolepsy patients troubled by frequent nighttime awakenings had less sleep disruption when taking sodium oxybate (Xyrem) than modafinil (Provigil) in a randomized trial, a researcher reported here.

Striking a Nerve: MS Cured With an OTC Drug?

A neurology researcher is planning a clinical trial of a widely available drug that he thinks could stave off disability in multiple sclerosis patients. How much should he (or we) say publicly about it?

Opioid Use Common After Spine Surgery

NEW ORLEANS -- One year after surgery to relieve back pain, about of third of patients still were using narcotic painkillers, according to a study that raised new concerns about the long-term use of opioids.

Data Supports Eslicarbazepine in Epilepsy

VIENNA -- Pooled phase III study results on eslicarbazepine acetate, a prodrug for S(+)-liscarbazepine, showed that the drug outperformed placebo as add-on therapy for partial-onset seizures in adults, a researcher said here.

N.H. Hospital May Have Exposed Patients to CJD

Health officials in New Hampshire said eight neurosurgery patients at one hospital in the state may have been unwittingly exposed to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

FDA Adds Black Box Warning to Malaria Drug

The FDA has added a boxed warning to the labeling of the antimalarial drug mefloquine, advising of the possibility of neurologic and psychiatric adverse events, the agency announced.

Hangover Risk Prompts Ambien Label Changes

New dosing recommendations for products containing zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar) are now included in their labels, along with warnings of next-day hangover effects, the FDA said Tuesday.

FDA Allows Opana Generics

The original formulation of extended-release oxymorphone (Opana ER) that lacked abuse-resistant mechanisms was not pulled from the market for safety reasons, and therefore generics based on that recipe are permissible, the FDA said.

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