Neurology
Loss of cognitive ability
January 15, 2012 | 
Author 
Human cognitive abilities begin to decline after 45 years, long before the age of 60 as generally believed, according to a study by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) French and University College London .
“Our ability to reason and understanding begins to decline after age 45,” the Inserm in a statement accompanying the appearance, on Friday, an article in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
A series of tests of memory, vocabulary, reasoning, and oral expression were conducted with 5198 men and 2192 women aged 45 to 70 years, as part of a larger study, called “Whitehall II cohort” based on ten years of follow-up care and individual tests.
“The results show that cognitive performance (except for vocabulary tests) declines with age and this increasing rapidly as people age,” he says.
In 10 years, the performance in terms of reasoning declined by 3.6% for men aged 45 to 49, and 9.6% for the 65 to 70 years.
For women, the decline is the same (-3.6%) for the first age group and less pronounced (-7.4%) for women 65 to 70 years.
According to Singh-Manoux Archana, who headed the Inserm team that conducted the study, it is important “to determine the Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Geriatrics, Medical News, Neurology | 
Tags: cognitive, cognitive ability, cognitive aging, Loss | 
No Comments »
Optimism and Good Health
See the glass half full, relative the problems … In short, perceptions and expectations have a positive life and improves the mood every day can generate an extra benefit to their health. If previous research had indicated that optimists are less likely to suffer a heart attack, now a new study suggests that their brain is also more protected from stroke.
It may be as simple as positive people have healthier habits or otherwise, that those who follow a healthy lifestyle habits tend to be happier and do not give too much on the pitfalls of everyday life. And maybe this is the reason that pose less risk of suffering a stroke, also known as stroke, heart attack or stroke. The fact is that this association is that researchers have detected the University of Michigan in an observational study conducted with 6044 adults over 50 years.
Each participant is evaluated their level of optimism with the revised Life Orientation Test, a widely used tool in which responses are measured on a scale of 16 points. After considering numerous factors that could influence the development of stroke, such as having a chronic illness, the socio-demographic or biological, psychological and behavioral, found that for each point on the scale is reduced by 9% risk of acute stroke in the next two years.
“The results suggest that the effect of optimism in stroke is not attributable to other psychosocial risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as anxiety, hostility, depression, neurotic personality, pessimism and low positive affect,” said the authors in their study , which has been published in the journal Stroke. ”
In this case, the test used independently assessed optimism and pessimism, which in previous studies had not been made nor had included such a large sample of participants. “Previous research had suggested that being pessimistic or have a low and transient positive emotions were associated with a lower risk of stroke,” however, this is “the Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Medical News, Neurology, Psychiatry | Tags: Good Health, Optimism, positive life | No Comments »
Treatment of stroke
Stroke is the leading cause of disability after 40 years. It can be ischemic (arterial thrombosis or embolism) or hemorrhagic (intracerebral hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage), but this can be known just after specific studies that we will see later.
When should you suspect a stroke?
Faced with the sudden appearance of one of the following symptoms:
* Numbness, tingling, numbness or weakness on half of the face, arm or leg (especially on one side)
* Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech of others
Difficulty with vision in one or both eyes
* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
* Severe headache with no known cause, “the worst of his life”
How to deal with a suspected stroke?
Call emergency public system or the system of life-threatening emergencies of your prepayment.
Remember that stroke is a medical emergency at the time from onset of symptoms to initiation of treatment should not exceed four hours.
If the patient has no disorder in their state of consciousness or respiratory distress and emergency system can not immediately move him to hospital, equipped with computed tomography, closer.
Never attribute the symptoms to indigestion or liver problems or stress, do not wait “to see if it happens.”
What will happen in the emergency room?
In the emergency room doctor on duty conduct a neurological examination and corroborated that the symptoms are consistent with a stroke. Ideally this test should be done following the guidelines of Stroke Scale, National Institute of Health of the U.S. (NIHSS) so that you can follow the evolution objectively.
Immediately perform a CT scan, which must be reported within 40 minutes. If you rule out brain hemorrhage and the patient has no contraindications to thrombolytic drug administered rTPA (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator) intravenously, ideally at the time of entering the guard of the hospital.
These recommendations, evaluation, and treatment studies are a standard of care according to the guidelines of the American Heart Association. This means that every medical practitioner should emergency medicine knowledge and practices.
Is it safe rTPA administration?
An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Health and Society, Medical News, Neurology | Tags: Stroke, treatment, trouble speaking | No Comments »
Brain Response to Fear
According to Aristotle described the fear, the identification with the suffering of the characters and the emotions that inspired the rest of Greek tragedy achieved a ‘catharsis’ of the spectators, who were thus released from their own fears. His soul, said the philosopher, was purified.
Now, brain scanning techniques and analysis of hormones have allowed scientists to delve into the biomedical foundation of this purgative experience.
Stressful experiences rewire the way the brain works: the senses are sharpened, bad memories are relived and blocked the mechanisms we use to deliberate slowly. This prompts us to act quickly and offer a reply attack, flee … – the threat that we face.
In order to analyze the neurochemical mechanisms associated with this condition, a team of researchers has exposed 80 volunteers to viewing scenes of terror.
The study, led by Erno Hermans, University of New York (USA), and published in the journal Science’, has confirmed that the brain reorganizes its neural networks to respond to stress and has generated trace how this change .
Several cortical and subcortical areas of the brain are activated and increase their connectivity during the viewing, as has been shown resonance imaging.
This restructuring is motivated, according to research by the action of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, as has been measured in the participants. By contrast, cortisol, another hormone involved in stress response is not involved in this process, as scientists have found.
To measure the response of the volunteers, the researchers underwent both horror films scenes as current volunteers, and measured in their Read the rest of this entry »
Major Benefits of Siesta
During this week there are activities and conferences to help raise awareness of problems caused by lack of sleep and its results: increasing levels of stress and chronic impact on physical and mental health.
Argentine researchers recommend giving pause to the pace of life to feel the powerful natural physiological effects generated by the good sleep.
Sleep is a vital function as important as eating or breathing. During sleep develop various fundamental physiological processes that are related to neurocognitive function, immune, endocrine and metabolic diseases.
However, an average of Argentines sleep two hours less than 60 years ago, and this brings a profound impact on the quality of life and health of people.
“Change the way you breathe and our heart beats. And prolonged changes in the quantity or quality of sleep are associated with the onset of various diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, “said Daniel Vigo, CONICET research assistant at the Laboratory of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine / UBA
Moreover, lack of sleep decreases performance during the day and involves exposure to an increased risk of accidents such as driving a car. It can take several steps to improve sleep.
At midday, a little rest
The nap is very beneficial, especially when it has a duration of less than 45 minutes and is done before 16. Proved to have a beneficial effect on alertness, creativity, morale and productivity.
“Several studies indicated that the habit of taking naps is associated with a lower risk of various diseases such as cardiovascular disease or Alzheimer’s disease,” said Vigo.
In conclusion, the siesta is a habit that can be used to alleviate many problems associated with inadequate sleep and beyond thinking it’s a waste of time, a nap can improve our activity during wakefulness and make it more productive.
Posted in Neurology, Psychiatry | Tags: diabetes, lack of sleep, life, mental health, obesity, physiological, Siesta, sleep, stress | No Comments »