Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Neurology for January 2018. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Eye Tests Tied to Less Dementia in Older Drivers Who Crash
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Vision testing and in-person renewal requirements are significantly related to a reduced prevalence of dementia in older adults hospitalized after car crashes, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Neurology.
Multifaceted Rehab Program Improves Balance in MS
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a multifaceted vestibular-related rehabilitation program (Balance and Eye-Movement Exercises for Persons with Multiple Sclerosis [BEEMS]) is associated with improved outcomes, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in Neurology.
Survival Trends for Cancer Generally Increasing Worldwide
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Worldwide, survival trends for cancer are generally increasing, although there is considerable global variation in survival rates, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in The Lancet.
Non-Sleep Specialists May Offer Similar Quality Sleep Apnea Care
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Non-sleep specialists (NSSs) and sleep specialist physicians (SSPs) provide similar quality care with similar patient outcomes for adults with known or suspected obstructed sleep apnea (OSA), according to a review published online Jan. 30 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
TBI Linked to Increased Dementia Risk Over Several Years
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with persistently increased risk of dementia, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in PLOS Medicine.
Characteristics of Asymptomatic Paroxysmal A-Fib Identified
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), determinants of asymptomatic status have been identified, and mortality is increased for these patients, according to a study published in the December issue of CHEST.
Early Alzheimer’s Tied to Rest-Activity Rhythm Fragmentation
TUESDAY, Jan. 30, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and aging are independently associated with rest-activity rhythm fragmentation among cognitively normal adults, according to a study published online Jan. 29 in JAMA Neurology.
Case Report: Fentanyl Use Associated With Amnesia
MONDAY, Jan. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Another case of unusual amnestic syndrome that includes bilateral hippocampal lesions on magnetic resonance imaging has been described in a case report published online Jan. 30 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Regulators Trying to Reduce Physician Burden Linked to EHR
MONDAY, Jan. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is trying to address some of the issues relating to physician electronic health record (EHR) burden, partly with the appointment of Don Rucker, M.D., who is skilled in informatics and board-certified in emergency and internal medicine, according to an article published in Medical Economics.
Specific White Matter Patterns Linked to Youth Psychopathology
MONDAY, Jan. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) — General psychopathology is a heritable trait in youth that may be detected early in life through brain structural connectivity, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Health Care Spending Up, Mainly Due to Rising Prices
MONDAY, Jan. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Americans under age 65 years who were insured through their employer spent more than ever before on health care in 2016, with faster spending growth in 2016 than in recent years, according to the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI)’s annual Health Care Cost and Utilization Report.
2016 Saw Increase in Birth Defects Potentially Linked to Zika
MONDAY, Jan. 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) — From the first half of 2016 to the second half of 2016, there was an increase in the number of birth defects potentially related to Zika virus infection, according to research published in the Jan. 26 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Solanezumab Doesn’t Affect Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s
FRIDAY, Jan. 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, solanezumab administered every four weeks does not alter cognitive decline, according to a study published in the Jan. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Review: Lower Cognitive Scores for HIV+, HIV-Exposed Children
FRIDAY, Jan. 26, 2018 (HealthDay News) — HIV-infected (HIV+) and HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) children have lower cognitive and motor scores than HIV-unexposed and uninfected (HUU) children, according to a review published online Jan. 26 in Pediatrics.
Cannabidiol Efficacious for Lennox-Gastaut Drop Seizures
THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with drop seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, add-on cannabidiol is associated with a reduction in monthly drop seizure frequency, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in The Lancet.
Heart Disease, Stroke Risk Up Even Smoking 1 Cigarette/Day
THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Smoking one cigarette per day is still associated with a significant increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, according to research published online Jan. 24 in The BMJ.
Significant Increase in Sleep Duration Reported for 2003-2016
THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — From 2003 to 2016 there was a significant increase in sleep duration on weekdays and weekends, according to a study published online Jan. 8 in SLEEP.
Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention May Aid Cognition in APOE ε4 Carriers
THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — A multidomain lifestyle intervention seems to be beneficial for cognition in older at-risk individuals, even among apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers, according to a study published online Jan. 22 in JAMA Neurology.
Adjunct Zonisamide Beneficial in Dementia With Lewy Bodies
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), zonisamide as an adjunct to levodopa therapy improves parkinsonism, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in Neurology.
Cognitive Training Aids Memory in People With Mild Impairment
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Cognitive training improves memory in older patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), according to a study published online Jan. 4 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Closed-Head Injury May Induce TBI Even If No Concussive Sx
TUESDAY, Jan. 23, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Closed-head impact injuries can induce pathologic traumatic brain injury, independent of concussive signs, according to a study published online Jan. 18 in Brain.
Out-of-Pocket Expenditures Down With ACA Implementation
TUESDAY, Jan. 23, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was associated with reduced out-of-pocket spending, although increases were noted in mean premium spending, according to a study published online Jan. 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
ADHD Meds Increasingly Prescribed to Reproductive-Aged Women
MONDAY, Jan. 22, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Reproductive-aged women are increasingly being prescribed attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications, according to research published in the Aug. 25 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Nutrients in Child’s First 1,000 Days Key for Neurodevelopment
MONDAY, Jan. 22, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The provision of adequate nutrients and healthy eating during a child’s first 1,000 days is important for optimal neurodevelopment, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement published online Jan. 22 in Pediatrics.
Pharmacist Participation in Stroke Response Cuts Door➜Needle Time
FRIDAY, Jan. 19, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Having a pharmacist at bedside during acute ischemic stroke is associated with significantly shorter door-to-needle (DTN) times, according to a study published recently in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
Falls More Common in Elderly With Cognitive Impairment
THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Increasing evidence shows that cognitive therapies may help reduce falls in older adults, according to a review published online Jan. 10 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Professionals Disagree About Asking Patients About Sexuality
THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) — National Health Service (NHS) England recently recommended that professionals ask all patients their sexual orientation at every opportunity, although opinions are divided on whether this is appropriate, according to an article published online Jan. 17 in The BMJ.
Onabotulinum Toxin-A Can Safely Improve Sleep Bruxism
THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Onabotulinum toxin-A (BoNT-A) injections can improve sleep bruxism, according to a study published online Jan. 17 in Neurology.
Alzheimer’s Disease Variants Linked to Brain Amyloidosis
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Certain Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk variants are associated with brain amyloidosis, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in JAMA Neurology.
Brain Is Susceptible to Acute MI, Chronic Heart Failure
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Acute myocardial infarction (MI) and chronic heart failure have effects on the brain, according to a study published in the Jan. 23 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Speech Outcomes Can Be Predicted After Cochlear Implant
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Brain areas unaffected by auditory deprivation can predict speech outcomes after cochlear implant (CI) in children, according to a study published online Jan. 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Deep Brain Stimulation Tied to Improved Symptoms in Tourette
TUESDAY, Jan. 16, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with Tourette syndrome, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is associated with symptomatic improvement but also some important adverse events, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in JAMA Neurology.
Increased Risk of Thrombosis in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
TUESDAY, Jan. 16, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) have increased risk of arterial thrombosis and venous thrombosis across all age groups and MPN subtypes, according to a study published online Jan. 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Sauna Exposure Improves Cardiovascular Function
TUESDAY, Jan. 16, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Sauna exposure is associated with improvements in cardiovascular function and arterial compliance, according to a study published online Dec. 21 in the Journal of Human Hypertension.
Treatment of Urgency Urinary Incontinence Aids Sleep Quality
FRIDAY, Jan. 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Pharmacologic treatment of urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) improves sleep quality, according to research published online Jan. 9 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
AMA Online Tools Address Systems-Level Physician Burnout
THURSDAY, Jan. 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Tools and resources have been developed to help address physician burnout at the systems level, which may affect more than half of doctors, according to a report published by the American Medical Association (AMA).
Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale Cuts Recurrent Stroke/TIA Risk
THURSDAY, Jan. 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Percutaneous and transcatheter patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure prevent recurrent stroke in adults with PFO and cryptogenic stroke, according to two reviews published online Jan. 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Neurodevelopment Not Impacted by Glucocorticoids in Preemies
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Use of inhaled glucocorticoids in extremely preterm infants for the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia does not lead to a higher rate of neurodevelopmental disability at 2 years, according to a study published in the Jan. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Economic Impact of Physicians Quantified for 2015
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Physicians have a large economic impact across the nation, creating an aggregate of $2.3 trillion of economic activity and supporting employment of nearly 12.6 million Americans, according to a report published by the American Medical Association.
Vitamin D3 Improves Arterial Stiffness in Dose-Response Way
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For overweight African-Americans with vitamin D deficiency, arterial stiffness is improved by vitamin D3 supplementation in a dose-response manner, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in PLOS ONE.
Idalopirdine May Not Improve Cognition in Mild Alzheimer’s
TUESDAY, Jan. 9, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The use of idalopirdine does not improve cognition versus placebo over 24 weeks of treatment for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to research published in the Jan. 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Follow-Up Delta CHA2DS2-VASc Score Better Predicts CVA in A-Fib
TUESDAY, Jan. 9, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Assessing change in the CHA2DS2-VASc score over time is more predictive of ischemic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) than the baseline score, according to a study published in the Jan. 16 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Mental Disorders Common in Kids With Chronic Physical Conditions
TUESDAY, Jan. 9, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Children with a physical condition frequently have a mental disorder, which impacts quality of life, according to a study published in the January issue of BMJ Open.
Rituximab Tops Other Disease-Modifying Tx Options in MS
TUESDAY, Jan. 9, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Rituximab has better efficacy and lower discontinuation rates than other disease-modifying treatment (DMT) choices for newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a study published online Jan. 8 in JAMA Neurology.
Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire Helps to Evaluate Migraine Pain
MONDAY, Jan. 8, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) successfully demonstrates the extent of debility in migraine surgery patients and puts migraine pain in perspective within the realm of other known pain conditions, according to a study published in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Maternal Folic Acid, Multivitamin Use May Cut ASD Risk in Offspring
MONDAY, Jan. 8, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is reduced in offspring with maternal exposure to folic acid and multivitamin supplementation before and during pregnancy, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Physicians Frequently Continue to Work While Ill
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Many physicians continue working and caring for patients while they are sick, according to an article published in Medical Economics.
Closed-Loop Neurotechnology Improves PTSD Symptoms
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Service members and veterans show reductions in post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology, insomnia, depression, and anxiety with use of high-resolution, relational, resonance-based, electroencephalic mirroring (HIRREM), a closed-loop, allostatic, acoustic stimulation neurotechnology, according to a study published online Dec. 22 in Military Medical Research.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Promising for Bipolar
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) appears to be effective and safe as an add-on intervention for adults with bipolar depression, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Cancer Death Rate Continuing to Decline in United States
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — In both men and women in the United States, the cancer death rate declined by about 1.5 percent annually from 2006 to 2015, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
KRAS Mutations Linked to Brain Arteriovenous Malformations
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Many patients with arteriovenous malformations of the brain have somatic activating KRAS mutations, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For Hospitals, No Benefit for Early Adoption of Financial Incentives
FRIDAY, Jan. 5, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Hospitals that volunteered to be under financial incentives for more than a decade as part of the Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (early adopters) do not have better process scores or lower mortality than hospitals where these incentives were implemented later under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program (late adopters), according to a study published online Jan. 4 in The BMJ.
Certain Stresses, Burnout Causing Some Women to Leave Medicine
THURSDAY, Jan. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Though equal numbers of men and women are now entering medical schools, the majority of physicians are still male, and female physicians face several unique stressors, according to a report published online in Medical Economics.
Bimodal Auditory-Somatosensory Stimulation May Reduce Tinnitus
THURSDAY, Jan. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Bimodal auditory-somatosensory stimulation that induces long-term depression (LTD) in the dorsal cochlear nucleus appears promising for individuals with tinnitus, according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Science Translational Medicine.
Herpes Simplex Infrequently Found in Infant Meningitis Eval
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Young infants assessed for central nervous system (CNS) infection rarely have herpes simplex virus (HSV), according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Pediatrics.
Serum Caffeine, Metabolites May Predict Early Parkinson’s Disease
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Serum levels of caffeine and its metabolites could be diagnostic biomarkers for early Parkinson’s disease (PD), according to a study published online Jan. 3 in Neurology.
Higher Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Some Physicians
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3, 2018 (HealthDay News) — The prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) appears to be high for at-risk physicians, according to a review published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Surgery.
In Utero Exposure to Topiramate Linked to Risk of Oral Clefts
TUESDAY, Jan. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Infants born to women exposed to topiramate, especially women with epilepsy taking higher doses, have an increased risk of oral clefts at birth, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in Neurology.
Increase Seen in Gabapentinoid Use From 2002 to 2015
TUESDAY, Jan. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) — From 2002 to 2015 there was a substantial increase in gabapentinoid use, according to a research letter published online Jan. 2 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Folic Acid Lessens Autism Risk for Fetal Anti-Epileptic Exposure
TUESDAY, Jan. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For children exposed to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in utero, the risk of autistic traits may be mitigated by use of periconceptional folic acid supplementation, according to a study published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Neurology.
Outcome Scores Predict Discharge Destination Post Stroke
TUESDAY, Jan. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) — For patients with acute or subacute stroke, outcome measure scores are associated with discharge destination, according to a review published in the January issue of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy.
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