Neurology Medicine

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Spend time surfing the internet is normal among teenagers, but a new study suggests that doing many or few hours would be associated with depression. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, internet do not hold, since study participants who did not use the Internet also had risk of developing depressive symptoms.

The authors argue that both overuse, as the non-use of the website would serve as a warning sign that a teen is having difficulty. The team of Pierre-Andre Michaud, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, interviewed 7,200 people between 16 and 20 years on the use of internet.

Those who spent more than two hours per day “online” users were considered “excessive” and those who were connected a few times a week and two hours per day users were considered “regular.” Teenagers also answered several questions related to health and the “downward trend” to measure how often a person feels sad or hopeless. Users “excessive” or “non-users” of the internet were more likely to be depressed or very depressed that users ‘regular’.

Among men, users “excessive” and “non-users” were a third more likely that users ‘regular’ to get a record high on the scale to measure depression, while among women, the users ‘excessive’ 86 percent were more likely to develop depression than users ‘regular’.

In the group of “non-users” that can reach 46 percent.

Still, the average records of depression in the “non-users,” users “excessive” and the “regulars” were placed at the bottom on a scale of 1 to 4 (between 1 and 2, 1 means “no depression” ). The team did not answer how many participants in each group had depression. Another study from Switzerland published in 2010 had estimated a rate of pediatric depression of 1.4 percent.

Is unknown, the team, why not overuse and Internet use were associated with an increased risk of developing depression. One hypothesis is that, as teenagers connect with friends, those who never use the Internet would be more socially isolated.

As for the excessive use of the network, previous studies have found an association with depressive symptoms, but for reasons still unknown. A study of adolescents in Taiwan had shown that depressive symptoms precede excessive Internet use.

In this study raised other concerns associated with the health of users “excessive” Internet: 18 percent of men were overweight, compared with 12 percent of user group “regular” and 59 percent of women slept little, unlike 35 percent of user group “regular.”

As with depression, it is unclear what causes these results.

As for the loss of sleep, the team claimed that some teenagers replaced by long time off online. And on the overweight men, it is unknown whether sedentary time in front of the screen enhances the increase in weight or overweight teens tend to spend more time on the computer.

The important thing, according to the researchers, is that excessive hours both online and non-use (or few hours) internet may indicate a teen is in trouble. On the other hand, use “regular” internet (up to 2 hours per day in the studio) would be a teenage behavior “normal”.

Even so, the team explained that the study was conducted in 2002, before the emergence of popular social networks Facebook and Twitter. Now, many teens spend more time online and the definition of an exhibition “regular” may vary.

Polysomnography, polysomnographic testing, or more commonly “sleep study” is a test used in health as a diagnostic tool in medicine sleep.

The test result is called a polysomnogram. It is a complete record of bio-physiological changes that occur during sleep. Controls many body functions including:

• The brain (electroencephalogram – EEG)
• eye movements (Electro– EOG)
• Muscle activity (electromyography – EMG)
• Heart rate (electrocardiogram – ECG)

Indications polysomnographic testing

Polysomnography is used to diagnose or rule out many types of sleep disorders such as:

• Narcolepsy
• syndrome of periodic limb movements
• REM behavior disorder
• Parasomnias
• Sleep Apnea
• Etc.

Operation of polysomnographic testing

Polysomnography records usually twelve to fourteen channels. They are usually:

• Three channels are for the electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Two are for the tone of the chin, two for the movements of the leg (electromyography – EMG)
• Two for eye movements (Electro– EOG)
• Three for the electrocardiogram (ECG)
• One for the oxygen saturation
• One to measure the movement of the chest wall and the superior movement of the abdominal wall.

Cables for each channel of recorded data converge in a patient’s central box, which in turn is connected to a computer system to record, store and display data. During sleep, the computer monitor can display multiple channels continuously. In addition, most labs have a small video camera in the room so that the technician can visually observe the patient was doing at the time polysomnographic testing.

Research in the U.S. states that HIV-infected patients are three times more likely to suffer a stroke than people not infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Scientists say they still do not know what could be the cause, but suspect it may be due to antiviral treatment taking these patients.

Another reason, they say, is because patients with HIV can now live longer thanks to these drugs and, therefore, older than the risk of stroke. “Although these therapies have greatly increased the expectations of life also could have stimulated the presence of risk factors associated with stroke, “he told BBC, Bruce Ovbiagele, a researcher who led the study.

This research, published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, also found that HIV patients showed an increase in the number of spills of ischemic, but not in hemorrhagic.Un ischemic stroke is caused by a clot and is the most common type of stroke.

Learning languages ​​is the best brain gym there, as it not only provides the ability to communicate with others, but prevents senile dementia such as Alzheimer’s, said a panel of experts in Washington.

During the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), researchers indicated that studies of individuals at different stages of learning, from babies to adults, have shown that bilinguals have greater capabilities concentration and learning.

“They say that children who have two languages ​​seem to have it more confusing but that’s not the case, since very young learn to separate the languages ​​and avoid interference,” said Dr. Maria Teresa Bajo, the department of experimental psychology University of Granada.

He added that there is evidence that children who learn two languages, Castilian and Catalan either, which have a common root, or are two completely different languages, English and French are the working memory at all times.

This benefits the ability to concentrate when performing a task when there are others that interferes with attention, and help develop more parts of the brain. But be not only bilingual but also to learn a language as an adult can help delay the effects of aging, explained Dr. Ellen Bialystok, professor of psychology at York University in Toronto (Canada).

The doctor agreed to note that one of the reasons that bilingualism is a powerful mechanism for protecting the symptoms of dementia is to keep the brain active because “they are like a gym for the brain.”

Panelists noted that other activities such as hobbies complete sudoku puzzles or help too, but languages ​​are one of the most comprehensive ways to keep your brain in shape.

Those hot days of summer does not help patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), as the temperature slows mental processes. According to data released by the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting prior to April, the cognitive function of these patients decreases with the arrival of warm weather, no matter the temperature indoors.

For Dr. Victoria Leavitt, who will present data at the conference, more than half of patients with MS have problems with cognitive function. “In fact, cognitive factors tend to be more harmful than physical symptoms. The evidence shows that most people with MS leave work because more cognitive than physical symptoms,” said the expert.

Leavitt’s team, the Kessler Foundation in New Jersey, inquired if there is a relationship between cognitive function and the weather when a study published in the journal Neurology last year identified increased T2 lesions, as assessed by imaging MRI in warm seasons and no obvious physical symptoms.

The authors analyzed in 2010 the processing speed, learning and memory of 40 people with MS and 40 healthy people. MRIs were performed in patients with MS to assess brain atrophy.

“We were surprised by the strength of the relationship,” Leavitt told Reuters Health. The results showed that people with MS yielded a 70 percent better on cognitive tasks during seasons with cooler days with warmer days. No similar relationship was found between the results of the tests in people without MS.

Leavitt recommended that people with MS to remember these results when stressful activities organized or important. And researchers should also consider the effect of warm weather in cognitive function to clinical trials. Finally, the author recommends that neurologists refer patients with MS to perform neuropsychological testing and cognitive rehabilitation when a test reveals deficiencies.

“This is one of the few reports that have linked temperature with symptoms or function in MS,” said Dr. Barbara Giesser, professor of neurology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Giesser said that most MS patients are sensitive to heat and fluctuates in symptoms when they are too heated, they may even suffer “pseudo exacerbations.”

However, Leavitt said that patients were in a room with normal temperature at the time of evaluation and MRI were performed in air conditioned offices.

Giesser said: “Many MS patients report feeling worse, more tired especially in warm weather seasons, even if indoors (…) So that would not be warm weather affects cognitive function but that fatigue makes these patients performed worse on cognitive tests. “

If other studies can replicate these results, Giesser said that “investigators should consider the season when clinical trials.”

German research has found that drinking mild to moderate amounts of alcohol can reduce the risk of developing both Alzheimer disease and other forms of age-related dementia.

While stressing that consuming too much alcohol causes about 10 percent of all cases of dementia, researchers reported that consuming one to two drinks a day appears to protect against the overall incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. However, they caution that the study found no evidence of reduced risk of vascular dementia or cognitive impairment generally. Nor was it clear whether the risk varied by type of alcohol consumed.

The findings, which were published online March 2, Age and Ageing, are derived from periodic interviews at an interval of three years to 3.327 participants aged 65 years or more. At the time the study began, 3.202 without dementia and the calculation of new cases of dementia was based on these participants.

At baseline, about half of the participants did not drink, almost one quarter had less than one drink per day, about 13 percent took one or two drinks per day and about 12 percent took more than two drinks per day. The wine was the most popular, followed by beer and then a mixture of alcoholic beverages.

At the end of the study, 217 participants (7 percent) developed dementia and 111 (3.5 percent) had Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say. The mild and moderate consumption of alcohol was associated with a lower incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and is generally associated with mental and physical health relatively good, they said Siegfried Weyer, Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, and his colleagues.

Work divided into three sections that are related to the order in which the clinical encounter takes place. In the first we review the neurological and medical examinations, and outlines the clinical implications of the findings made therein. In the second describes the diagnostic and therapeutic specific neurological signs and symptoms, including information on anatomy, anatomical location, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of presenting symptoms. The third section presents the most important neurological diseases, focusing on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and clinical course.

Finally, it provides quick access to reference information and tabular most significant anatomical and necessary in everyday practice. The extraordinary combination of artwork, succinct text and tables make this compact work of an excellent compendium of quick, convenient access to vital clinical knowledge. Useful tool for the evaluation and management of patients with neurological disorders of particular interest to medical students, residents and specialists in neurology, family medicine and internal medicine.

Neurology Service HospitalRegional de Punta Arenas and the Medical Society of Magellan, developed the VII Conference 2011 Neurological Patagonia, an activity that was aimed at general practitioners, internists, rheumatologists, physiatrists, neurologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses , Technicians, paramedics and students. The meeting was headed by Dr. Ramiro Fernandez and Paola Amaro, and coordinated by Dr. Octavio Azaldegui and Javier Gaete, who prepared for months a comprehensive program that seeks to provide current concepts and treatments for major diseases of concern to specialists in the area Magallanes Region.

Among these, a special treatment had hemorrhagic and ischemic AVE care models in neurology from a rehabilitative approach, Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, brain tumors, meningitis, acute neurological complications in HIV patients, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, apnea sleep and its medical consequences, narcolepsy, tetraparesis in an emergency; vertiginous syndrome, management of seizures, and headache are some of the topics to be discussed at the seventh edition of this traditional event, which brings together physicians from Chile and Argentina. Read the rest of this entry »

Iberoamerican Academy of Pediatric Neurology (AINP) legally began in 1992 in Avila (Spain), founded by a group of Latin American pediatric neurologists who had completed three graduate courses in pediatric neurology at Miami, and Cancun Margarita. These courses were successful not only in establishing links of friendship, affection and respect, but in exchange knowledge in order to unify and improve treatment of children with central nervous system diseases. Objectives. It describes the origins and history legalization of the organization in its 10 years of work, highlighting the reason that led to its founding and its subsequent evolution. We must know our history and provenance is vital for developing countries and institutions to which we belong. Conclusions. The AINP has grown rapidly and plays an important role in the development of the Latin American Pediatric Neurology in several respects: first, continuing medical education, our annual conference, and secondly, to implement training of young physicians full graduate courses or partial updates of doctors who are studying in their home country training in pediatric neurology. In all Latin American countries should seek to pediatric neurology is recognized by the governments.

In recent years various studies have shown a progressive increase in the demand for neurological care in the emergency services. To analyze the appropriateness of specific neurology guards or the role it should play a neurologist in the emergency services, it is necessary to answer questions such as: What is the demand for emergency neurological care?, What are the most common neurological emergencies? Who should attend neurological emergencies and why are they needed specific neurology guards? Neurological emergencies are between 2.6% and 14% of medical emergencies. Stroke represents a third of all neurological emergencies, while the diagnoses of acute cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy and headache constitute 50% of all neurological care in the emergency department. Based on criteria of quality of care and professional competence, the best care for patients with a neurological emergency is provided by a specialist in neurology. The implementation of specific physical presence of neurology for 24 hours is associated with a higher quality of care, improved diagnostic and therapeutic guidance when the patient arrives at the emergency room reduces unnecessary admissions, reduces the cost of neurological care and enhances the Neurology service.