Gale Scott

To better define the neuropathology of people over age 95 with and without dementia, a Mayo Clinic team in Jacksonville, FL and Rochester, MN examined results of autopsies of 137 patients.

The American ALS Research Group created ALSUntangled to scientifically review alternative or off-label treatments and allow patients with ALS to make more informed decisions about whether to try these remedies

The causes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) remain a mystery but a Danish study offers one clue: serving in the military seems to increase ALS risk.

Children who develop progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis Type II (PFIC-II) may get better-at least for a while-without getting a liver transplant. But children borne with the condition do not, a team from Belgium found. Bile salt export pump plays a key role.

Diagnosing Anti-N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibody encephalitis in adults differs from doing so in young children. Gait disturbance is a reliable sign, a Johns Hopkins team reports.

Autoimmune encephalitis is often fatal, but with prompt diagnosis and appropriate ICU care, many patients survive.

Contrary to common belief, a team of researchers in Secunderabad, India, has found that dengue fever can be neurotropic.

Since physicians are unlikely to see many opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome patients, a team of researchers from Boston, MA, set out to offer clinical features, diagnostic findings, and recommended treatments for this rare condition that is often a sign of cancer.

Human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) is usually not life threatening. But it can be lethal in patients who are immunocompromised. A new testing technique called Digital Droplet PCR appears to work better than the usual procedures.

The American Academy of Neurology's 67th annual meeting starts April 18 in Washington, D.C. and neurologists attending are expecting to hear more about marijuana and seizures, a cheaper MS drug, and whether sleep apnea leads to dementia. A team from MD Magazine will be at the conference with daily news reports and video interviews.

TV Host Mehmet Oz, MD has survived professionally despite criticism of his promotion of questionable weight loss remedies. In the latest assault, 10 physicians publicized a letter they wrote the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons' dean, protesting Oz's faculty appointment in the department of surgery.

Pain management is part of the pratice in many medical specialities, but it is also a specialty in itself. Groups like the American Society of Interventional Pain Specialists are seeing membership growth--partly because of the need to become more effective advocates.

Drugs have not been shown effective in relieving the debilitating headaches that can follow mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Researchers report that transcranial magnetic stimulation appears to do better.

Pain physicians and surgeons have concerns about performing back surgery on patients already taking opioids to control pain. A report from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers shows those concerns appear to be mostly unfounded.

Surgery appears to work better than conventional medical management to treat discogenic lumbar back pain, team reported at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians meeting in Orlando, FL.

Targeted radiofrequency ablation (t-RFA) can be safely used to alleviate pain from spinal metastatic cancer, a Kansas team found.

Chronic low back pain can make patients miserable. Much of that pain is in the sacroiliac region. Reporting at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, a University of Kentucky department of physical medicine and rehabilitation said Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation (CRFA) is a viable treatment option.

Gabapentin is used to treat neuropathic pain from several causes, including diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia, and central neuropathic pain. In a study presented at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians in Orlando, FL, April 11, Tobore Onojighofia, MD, MPH and colleagues found genetics plays a role in which patients do well on the drug.

Interventional pain management physicians are looking at bringing back an old therapy: destroying pain-causing nerves with cryo-ablation.

With the US population growing older and heavier, chronic knee pain is becoming common, and total knee replacement surgery is on the rise. Some 40% of women age 60 to 70 and 25% of men that age have such pain, and many turn to total knee replacement surgery. New studies suggest denervation of the nerves responsible for knee pain could be an alternative.

An expert on both flight and medical safety, author John Nance tells physicians the recent crash of a German Wings jet holds lessons for medicine as well as aviation.

Interventional pain management-the field of helping patients with acute or chronic pain without doing major surgery--is a both a growing specialty and one that is under assault. As the annual meeting of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians got underway in Orlando, FL today, group leaders outlined the organization's political agenda.

People whose short stature is due to genetics have a higher risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD) a UK team has determined.

Cold Spring Harbor (CSHL) in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, NY announced an affiliation with North Shore LIJ Health System. The new alliance is meant to spur cancer research and bring experimental treatments to the bedside.

Black tea is popular and often promoted as healthy. But drinking too may be an under-recognized cause of kidney damage, a physician team warns in a case reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. The patient, who drank 16 glasses of iced tea daily, had kidney failure due to oxalate accumulation.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a strong warning on a drug used to treat iron deficiency anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease. Intravenous injections of ferumoxytol (Feraheme/Amag Pharmaceuticals) can cause serious allergic reactions including death in patients who are sensitive to the drug, the FDA cautioned in a new boxed warning. The drug was approved in 2009.

Older children sometimes feel stimagized wearing emergency medical information (EMI) bracelets that alert caregivers to conditions like diabetes and hemophilia. That can be a problem for those treating them in an emergency. But Kristina Derrick, MD, a Bronx pediatric endocrinologist, has a better idea. Put the information on the kid's cell phone--a device that most children 8 years old and up have these days.

Making full use of its "breakthrough therapy" accelerated review protocol the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014 approved 51 new therapies, the most in 18 years.

The FDA approved a new vaccine combination that could mean one shot fewer for children getting their recommended routine vaccinations.

The FDA has approved an experimental therapeutic to treat deadly inhalation anthrax. The drug is stockpiled in guarded facilities in preparation for a possible anthrax attack, but the approval means it can be used without an FDA emergency use declaration.