1/6. Anoxic-hypotensive brain injury: neuropsychological performance at 1 month as an indicator of recovery.DESIGN: This case control study included assessments at 3 and 8 weeks post brain injury. Controls were the non-brain injured subjects whose normative data has been published for neuropsychological measures. Data and medical information were obtained with informed consent. OBJECTIVE: This study explored cognitive sequella of anoxic-hypotensive brain injury following cardiac arrest in a 49 year old man with high premorbid function. RESULTS: Improvement was noted at 3 weeks post-injury. By 8 weeks neuropsychological test scores including verbal and visual memory were in the normal range, although they were likely to be lower than premorbid levels. CONCLUSIONS: Relatively good cognitive function within the first month post-anoxia likely indicates improved recovery and benefit from continued rehabilitation. Despite initial presentation, steep recovery curves can be found among survivors of anoxia with eventual return to independent function including driving/child care and return to gainful employment. rehabilitation teams are encouraged to remember that good cognitive function is not predicted by initial Glasgow coma Scores, but may be predicted by return of recall memory during the first month post-anoxic event. Serial cognitive screens can identify individuals with the potential for better recovery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = brain injury, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/6. Functional MRI follow-up study of language processes in healthy subjects and during recovery in a case of aphasia.BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to develop a functional MRI (fMRI) paradigm robust and reproducible enough in healthy subjects to be adapted for a follow-up study aiming at evaluating the anatomical substratum of recovery in poststroke aphasia. methods: Ten right-handed subjects were studied longitudinally using fMRI (7 of them being scanned twice) and compared with a patient with conduction aphasia during the first year of stroke recovery. RESULTS: Controls exhibited reproducible activation patterns between subjects and between sessions during language tasks. In contrast, the patient exhibited dynamic changes in brain activation pattern, particularly in the phonological task, during the 2 fMRI sessions. At 1 month after stroke, language homotopic right areas were recruited, whereas large perilesional left involvement occurred later (12 months). CONCLUSIONS: We first demonstrate intersubject robustness and intrasubject reproducibility of our paradigm in 10 healthy subjects and thus its validity in a patient follow-up study over a stroke recovery time course. Indeed, results suggest a spatiotemporal poststroke brain reorganization involving both hemispheres during the recovery course, with an early implication of a new contralateral functional neural network and a later implication of an ipsilateral one.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0065919119734882keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/6. Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment.Major depression is a mood disorder characterized by a sense of inadequacy, despondency, decreased activity, pessimism, anhedonia and sadness where these symptoms severely disrupt and adversely affect the person's life, sometimes to such an extent that suicide is attempted or results. Antidepressant drugs are not always effective and some have been accused of causing an increased number of suicides particularly in young people. magnesium deficiency is well known to produce neuropathologies. Only 16% of the magnesium found in whole wheat remains in refined flour, and magnesium has been removed from most drinking water supplies, setting a stage for human magnesium deficiency. Magnesium ions regulate calcium ion flow in neuronal calcium channels, helping to regulate neuronal nitric oxide production. In magnesium deficiency, neuronal requirements for magnesium may not be met, causing neuronal damage which could manifest as depression. Magnesium treatment is hypothesized to be effective in treating major depression resulting from intraneuronal magnesium deficits. These magnesium ion neuronal deficits may be induced by stress hormones, excessive dietary calcium as well as dietary deficiencies of magnesium. Case histories are presented showing rapid recovery (less than 7 days) from major depression using 125-300 mg of magnesium (as glycinate and taurinate) with each meal and at bedtime. Magnesium was found usually effective for treatment of depression in general use. Related and accompanying mental illnesses in these case histories including traumatic brain injury, headache, suicidal ideation, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, postpartum depression, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco abuse, hypersensitivity to calcium, short-term memory loss and IQ loss were also benefited. Dietary deficiencies of magnesium, coupled with excess calcium and stress may cause many cases of other related symptoms including agitation, anxiety, irritability, confusion, asthenia, sleeplessness, headache, delirium, hallucinations and hyperexcitability, with each of these having been previously documented. The possibility that magnesium deficiency is the cause of most major depression and related mental health problems including IQ loss and addiction is enormously important to public health and is recommended for immediate further study. Fortifying refined grain and drinking water with biologically available magnesium to pre-twentieth century levels is recommended.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.198775271813keywords = brain injury, brain, trauma (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/6. Thoracoscopic management of spontaneous pneumothorax allows prompt return to aviation duties.Primary spontaneous pneumothorax, a disease of young adults, is occasionally encountered in aviation personnel. Surgical intervention is often recommended after the first episode for those patients involved in aviation or diving duties due to the increased risk of recurrence secondary to barotrauma. Thoracoscopic surgery can be used effectively to resect the causative blebs or bullae and to perform a mechanical pleurodeisis. When compared to the traditional open technique, post-operative recovery time is less with this approach and allows more rapid return to aviation duties. Thoracoscopic surgery should be considered in all cases of spontaneous pneumothorax encountered in aviators.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 9.3654207700855E-5keywords = trauma (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/6. An ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery.This paper presents an ecological view of psychological trauma and trauma recovery. Individual differences in posttraumatic response and recovery are the result of complex interactions among person, event, and environmental factors. These interactions define the interrelationship of individual and community and together may foster or impede individual recovery. The ecological model proposes a multidimensional definition of trauma recovery and suggests that the efficacy of trauma-focused interventions depends on the degree to which they enhance the person-community relationship and achieve "ecological fit" within individually varied recovery contexts. In attending to the social, cultural and political context of victimization and acknowledging that survivors of traumatic experiences may recover without benefit of clinical intervention, the model highlights the phenomenon of resiliency, and the relevance of community intervention efforts.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.001311158907812keywords = trauma (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/6. Biofeedback-assisted relaxation training with brain injured patients in acute stages of recovery.There are few published accounts or empirical studies of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training with brain injured patients still in acute stages of recovery. Given the efficacy of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training with other medical populations, brain injured patients in acute stages of recovery with anxiety-based symptoms may also stand to gain some benefits from this form of treatment. It has yet to be determined, however, if severe cognitive impairment or disorientation contraindicate biofeedback treatment. The cases profiled here tentatively suggest that consideration of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training, even for severely cognitively impaired brain injured patients in acute stages of recovery, may be appropriate. Empirical investigations will be needed to determine selection criteria and contraindications for biofeedback treatment in the acute brain injury population.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.22175330951251keywords = brain injury, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |