Victor Dostrow, MD

"Statin" (HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, used for dyslipidemia) use in the US is very high and climbing. As the population becomes fatter and even some children become extremely obese, these agents are often prescribed to address elevated LDL and other lipid perturbations.

Carbamazepine has long been a mainstay of epilepsy pharmacotherapy. However, this agent is not without problems, such as significant rashes and strong hepatic enzyme induction.

Until just a few years ago, neurologists could only observe as MS ravaged the nervous systems of our patients. The therapies available were basically symptomatic, and didn't really alter prognosis. The advent of disease modifying therapies (DMT) made a big difference: These immune system modifying agents slowed the progression of MS and improved quality of life for many patients.

AEDs are the mainstay of the treatment of epilepsy. A large number of new drugs have become available in the last two decades. These newer agents generally offer a better adverse effect profile and fewer drug-drug interactions compared with the older drugs. Efficacy, however, may not be much better.

There are few domains of physical function upon which exercise does not have a positive impact. Neurologic function is not different in this respect.

Vitamin D has been much in vogue of late. Like many micronutrients preceding it, such as vitamin B12 and folic acid, it is touted as a cure for a variety of ills.

As the mean BMI in the U.S. edges higher, I thought that a discussion of 2 recent analyses regarding lipids was pertinent to the season.

Some neurologic disorders increase the risk of problematic outcomes of pregnancy. Data on such associations have been scant, but this is beginning to change. For example, with regard to epilepsy, there are a number of pregnancy registries which track outcomes related to antiepileptic drug therapy. However, large trials and population studies are not common.