Researchers Test Implanted Brain Stimulator for Alzheimer's

They hope the device will restore some thinking ability and improve focus, attention

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are testing whether applying electrical stimulation directly to the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease might improve thinking, focus and alertness.

The process, called direct brain stimulation, or deep brain stimulation (DBS), has been used to treat Parkinson's disease and is being tested as a treatment for other conditions, including traumatic brain injuries and obesity, according to the researchers.

Two women have had the electronic brain stimulators implanted, and eight more patients will participate in this initial research.

"There are a lot of studies out there that say physical or mental stimulation may reduce the risk or impact of Alzheimer's disease, so we wondered if increasing stimulation to certain parts of the brain may be protective," explained study co-author Dr. Douglas Scharre, director of the division of cognitive neurology at Ohio State University.

Scharre said that while Alzheimer's tends to affect the temporal, parietal and frontal lobes of the brain, he wanted to focus particularly on the frontal lobe for two reasons: it's typically the last brain area to degenerate, and its functions -- decision-making, problem-solving, focus and alertness -- are necessary for a person to be independent.

Placing the DBS system involves two steps. First, in a surgical procedure that requires about a three-day hospital stay, the patient has tiny holes made in each side of the skull, and hair-thin wires are placed in precise spots of the brain using computer-guided technology. The wires are fed through the neck -- in the subcutaneous tissue just under the skin -- and left there for about a week while the burr holes heal, explained Scharre.

Then, in an outpatient surgery, the patient has two battery packs that look like heart pacemakers placed on each side of the chest. The wires placed the week before are then connected to the batteries.

Six weeks after the second surgery, the stimulator is turned on. "My job [as the neurologist] is to find the right settings to get the maximum benefit," said Scharre. Each wire has four contacts, providing a wide range of different voltage combinations, and the challenge is to determine the right amount to produce the best benefit, he explained.

The research could potentially be of value to millions of Americans: a recent report from the Alzheimer's Association found that one in every three seniors now dies while suffering from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia. Alzheimer's disease becomes progressively disabling with loss of memory, thinking skills, the ability to socialize and independence.

To assess the effects of DBS, the researchers give short tests to the patients, starting about two months after the surgeries, to evaluate their level of attention and alertness, and to see how fast they can complete a particular task. For example, one test shows a variety of different geometric shapes all over the page, and [the patient] is asked to pick out all the stars in a 30-second timeframe.

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Ollie Locke at the launch of new book in London

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Better Sleep for Baby –- and You

Kara Cantrell knew she was in trouble by the second night after her son was born. "He screamed through the night," remembers the 41-year-old actor from Atlanta. "I'd
had a 4-day labor and C-section and was just a mess. And there was this screaming creature and I didn't know what to do."

A couple months later, things weren't much better. Just when her son seemed to be settling into a sleep pattern, he'd switch things up. "Suddenly he'd get up six times a night, or he'd sleep miraculously for 10 hours," Cantrell says.

About the only thing parents can predict about their newborn's sleep cycles is that they'll be unpredictable. "When babies are first born they're all over the place," says Jodi Mindell, PhD, associate director of the Sleep Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and author of Sleeping Through the Night: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleep. Hunger -- or a lack of it -- usually determines when a newborn sleeps and wakes. By around 3 months, babies start making the hormone melatonin, which puts their sleep cycle into a more regular rhythm.

Every baby's sleep needs are different. Newborns can sleep 10 to 18 hours a day. From 4 months to about 1 year of age, they'll sleep 9 to 12 hours at night, with a couple added naps during the day. But remember, most babies will sleep only about 5 to 6 hours at a time to start. Still, even a 5-hour interval will give you some rest.

After your baby is about 4 months old, running into the nursery at every whimper can set a pattern that's hard to break.

"You really want to start having your child fall asleep independently so that they're not dependent on rocking, nursing, going in the stroller," Mindell advises. "Then when they wake up in the middle of the night, they can fall asleep on their own."

Wrapping your baby in a blanket can help him feel secure enough to drift off to sleep. When you swaddle, make sure your baby's legs can bend at the hips, to avoid hip problems later. Also, make sure you only swaddle when you're awake and watching him. If your baby is alone in the crib, no blankets should be on or around him (you want to lower the risk of SIDS).

"Unless you plan on having a family bed indefinitely, don't co-sleep with your baby, thinking you'll transition them to their own crib at some point in the future." -- Sara DuMond, MD

Find more articles, browse back issues, and read the current issue of "WebMD Magazine." 

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MERS Virus May Never Become Big Threat in U.S., Experts Say

New strain will most likely weaken over time, infection specialists explain

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- Anyone who has watched the movie "Contagion" has seen how fast a virus can spread and how deadly it can be, but is it reality?

Much like the film, a new emerging virus called the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which kills half the people it infects, has spread from the Middle East to Europe. Since September, there have been 54 reported cases and 30 deaths, making some consider it a worldwide threat.

"Looking at the overall global situation, my greatest concern right now is the novel coronavirus," Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, told delegates at a recent meeting. "The novel coronavirus is a threat to the entire world."

Experts, however, aren't sure the virus is as big a threat as Chan believes.

"Anytime there is a new virus that has the potential to kill people, we ought to take it seriously," said Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

But while Siegel believes the virus's spread should be tracked and studied, he doubts it will ever become a real threat.

"Fear is the biggest virus going," he said. "The amount of concern is already outweighing the risk. People have seen 'Contagion' too many times."

MERS-CoV is one of many viruses that can cause everything from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). This virus, however, is new and it's not SARS.

Comparing this virus to the 2003 SARS outbreak is a mistake, Siegel said. "The SARS outbreak, although it was also a coronavirus, was overly hyped. You ended with 8,000 cases around the world and only about 700 deaths."

Every year, the flu kills more than 30,000 people in the United States alone and 500,000 around the world, he said, to put things in perspective.

When a new virus like MERS-CoV comes along, it is often very deadly, but as it spreads it becomes less so, Siegel explained.

"The fact that it has a 50 percent mortality rate means it's a very serious virus, but as viruses get out in the world more, the mortality rate usually goes down," he explained. "With SARS, it started at 50 percent and ended up at 10 percent."

The reason viruses get less deadly is simply that a virus that kills its host can't survive to infect others. "If the virus kills its host, it's much harder to spread," Siegel said.

The key question is how easily does the virus travel from one person to another. "Right now, it does not look that transmissible. Otherwise, it would have spread already more than it has," he said.

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Valley Fever Fungal Infection on Rise in Southwest

Flu-like symptoms can last weeks or months, CDC researchers say

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Cases of a fungal lung infection called Valley Fever increased sharply in several southwestern states since the late 1990s, according to a report released Thursday.

In Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, the number of cases climbed from less than 2,300 in 1998 to more than 22,000 in 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

During that time, Arizona and California had the largest average increases in Valley Fever incidence, at 66 percent and 31 percent per year, respectively.

Valley Fever (Coccidioidomycosis) is caused by inhaling a fungus called Coccidioides, which lives in the soil in southwestern states. Not everyone who is exposed to the fungus gets sick, but those who do become ill typically have flu-like symptoms that can last for weeks or months.

More than 40 percent of patients who get sick may require hospitalization, with an average cost of nearly $50,000 per visit. And research has shown that 75 percent of those who get sick miss work or school for about two weeks, the CDC said.

Between 1998 and 2011, nearly 112,000 cases of Valley Fever were reported in 28 states and Washington, D.C., but 66 percent of the cases were in Arizona, 31 percent were in California, 1 percent were in Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, and about 1 percent were in all other states combined.

More research is needed to determine what is causing the increase in Valley Fever and how to reduce its effects, the CDC said. Possible reasons could be population growth, weather changes that could affect where the fungus grows and how much of it is circulating, or changes in the way the disease is detected and reported to the CDC.

"Valley Fever is causing real health problems for many people living in the southwestern United States," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in an agency news release. "Because fungus particles spread through the air, it's nearly impossible to completely avoid exposure to this fungus in these hardest-hit states. It's important that people be aware of Valley Fever if they live in or have traveled to the southwest United States."

Doctors and patients need to be aware that the symptoms of Valley Fever are very similar to flu or pneumonia symptoms, the CDC said. A lab test is the only way to diagnosis Valley Fever.

Not everyone who gets Valley Fever requires treatment, but early diagnosis and treatment are important for those at risk for the more severe forms of the disease. Those at higher risk for severe disease include people of Asian descent (particularly Filipino), blacks, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC website.

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Scientists ID Gene Behind Early Onset Puberty

Discovery could help children with 'central precocious puberty,' give insights to development

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 5 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've identified a gene mutation behind a condition that causes children to undergo puberty before the age of 9.

The condition, known as central precocious puberty, appears to be inherited via a gene passed along by fathers, say researchers reporting online June 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Besides helping children with central precocious puberty, "these findings will open the door for a new understanding of what controls the timing of puberty" generally, co-senior study author Dr. Ursula Kaiser, chief of the endocrinology, diabetes and hypertension division at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a hospital news release.

According to the authors, the mutation leads to the start of puberty before age 8 in girls and before age 9 in boys. That's earlier than the typical onset of puberty, which begins in girls between ages 8 and 13 and in boys between ages 9 and 14.

The study included genetic analyses of 40 people from 15 families with a history of early puberty. In five of the 15 families, the researchers discovered four mutations in the MKRN3 gene. A mutation in the MKRN3 gene can lead to premature activation of reproductive hormones and trigger early puberty, the study authors explained in the news release.

All of the people with the MKRN3 mutations inherited them from their fathers.

One expert who reviewed the research said the finding should be a great advance for children with central precocious puberty.

Testing children for the MKRN3 mutation "may help in the diagnosis, preventing the use of extensive testing and procedures such as MRI of the head," explained Dr. Patricia Vuguin, pediatric endocrinologist at Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

She said better diagnostic tests would help spot patients at risk for early puberty and problems that often accompany it, such as short stature, psychological issues and other possible health issues. More generally, "the diagnosis will also help understand the role of this gene and other associated genes on how and when kids go into puberty, an area that is currently not clear," Vuguin said.

The findings will also be presented June 17 at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting.

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Rubella in Pregnancy Rare in U.S., But Can Be Devastating for Baby

Title: Rubella in Pregnancy Rare in U.S., But Can Be Devastating for Baby
Category: Health News
Created: 3/28/2013 12:35:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 3/29/2013 12:00:00 AM

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