Nervous System Diseases Commons^™

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: Need For Early Diagnosis And Therapy, Humaira M. Khan, Nadir A. Syed, Mughis Sheerani, Bhojo Khealani, Ayeesha Kamal, Mohammad Wasay

Department of Medicine

Background: Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) is a medical entity that has received little attention in the clinical settings in Pakistan. The aim of our study was to review the predisposing factors, outcomes and characteristics of in-patients diagnosed with NMS.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of all cases (age > 15 years) at a tertiary care center in Karachi between January 01, 1990 and November 30, 2001, diagnosed using ICD 10 coding. Data was collected using a standardized data entry form and statistical analysis was performed using Epi Info 6, Version 6.02.

Results: There were a total of 20 patients …

Eliciting Facial Expressions In Children With And Without Down Syndrome, Orietta Coz

Master's Theses

This study investigated facial expressions of children between the ages of 10 and 15 years with Down Syndrome (experimental group) and compared them to typically developing children (control group). Elicitation of facial expressions was carried out through showings of video clips. Trained observers were used to code expressions of happiness, anger, and disgust from video recordings that were made of the children’s reactions while they watched the video clips.

I hypothesized that Down Syndrome children will not differ from typically developing children in the frequency of elicited happy expressions. However, I expected them to differ in the frequency of elicited …

A Huntington's Christmas Story: Ten Years Of Wondering, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

A Thanksgiving Visit: A Time To Reflect On Hd, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

An Uncertain Journey Along The Genetic Trail, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Dr. Martha Nance To Do Live Chat On Hd, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Validation Of A Serotonin Depletion Checklist In Parkinson’S Disease, Kelly Diane Darby Holder

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The distinctive pathological marker of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the progressive death of neurons that produce dopamine; however, there are also major alterations in the production of quantities of other neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine and serotonin that contribute to the signs, symptoms, neuropsychological manifestations of the diseases. PD patients can be divided into classes based on the manifestation of motor symptoms, type A, classified as tremor dominant, and type B PD, classified as akinetic. Type B PD patients, often manifest symptoms in which serotonin deficiency plays an important role, such as frontal cognitive impairments, which often includes a history of …

Prognostic Indicators In Patients With Primary Intraventricular Haemorrhage, Bilal Hameed, Bhojo A. Khealani, Tahseen Mozzafar, Mohammad Wasay

Department of Medicine

Objectives: Primary intraventricular haemorrhage (PIVH) is a rare clinical entity. We sought to evaluate risk factors, clinical and radiological features, and outcome of patients with PIVH.

Materials and Methods: Cases of PIVH were identified from cohort of patients with non traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) by reviewing the radiological data. Their charts were reviewed and demographic, clinical, radiological and laboratory data was recorded and analyzed. Chi square and t test were used to determine predictors of poor outcome.

Results: Fifteen of 677 (2%) patients with ICH had PIVH. Nine (60%) were men. Median age was 56 years. Predisposing factors included hypertension …

Planning For Mom's Move To A Nursing Home, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Rapidly Developing Optic Neuritis Secondary To Ethambutol: Possible Mechanism Of Injury, Sajjad Ali, Uzma Usman, Mohammad Wasay

Department of Medicine

Optic neuritis has been described among the toxic effects of Ethambutol. This side effect is dose related. The mean duration of Ethambutol induced optic neuritis (EON) is three months. We report a case of EON after few days of exposure to Ethambutol and the symptoms resolved after discontinuation of Ethambutol. This most likely represents an idiosyncratic reaction which is different as compared to dose related optic neuritis.

Alzheimer's Disease And Contrast Sensitivity: Implications For Everyday Functioning, Sandra Neargarder

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Preparing For A Lonely Day, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

The Ups And Downs Of Waiting For A Cure, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Seeing Mom (Part Ii): A Family's Emotions, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Seeing Mom (Part I): Falling Down, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

What Is Wrong With Grandma?, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Hd's Financial Devastation, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

To Go – Or Not To Go – Public, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

At Risk, But Not Alone, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Giving Up My Dreams, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Peptide 15-Mers Of Defined Sequence That Substitute For Random Amino Acid Copolymers In Amelioration Of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, Joel N.H. Stern, Zsolt Illés, Jay Reddy, Derin B. Keskin, Masha Fridkis-Hareli, Vijay K. Kuchroo, Jack L. Strominger

Jay Reddy Publications

Myelin basic protein (MBP) is a major candidate autoantigen in multiple sclerosis (MS). Its immunodominant epitope, MBP 85–99, forms a complex with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR2 with which multiple sclerosis is genetically associated. Copolymer 1 (Copaxone), a random amino acid copolymer [poly (Y,E,A,K)n] as well as two modified synthetic copolymers [poly (F,Y,A,K)n and poly (V,W,A,K)n] also form complexes with HLA-DR2 (DRA DRB1*1501) and compete with MBP 85–99 for binding. Moreover, two high-affinity synthetic peptide 15-mers that could inhibit binding even more effectively were previously designed. Here, we show that further-modified peptide 15-mers inhibited even more strongly (in order J5 > J3 …

Overcoming Hd's Tyranny Of Time, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Learning About Hd, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Huntington's Disease: An Early Date With Mortality, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Convergence Analysis Of Mcmc Method In The Study Of Genetic Linkage With Missing Data, Diana Fisher

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Computational infeasibility of exact methods for solving genetic linkage analysis problems has led to the development of a new collection of stochastic methods, all of which require the use of Markov chains. The purpose of this work is to investigate the complexities of missing data in pedigree analysis using the Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) method as compared to the exact results. Also, we attempt to determine an association between missing data in a familial pedigree and the convergence to stationarity of a descent graph Markov chain implemented in the stochastic method for parametric linkage analysis.

In particular, we will …

Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction Predicts Poor Prognosis In Patients With Mild To Moderate Tetanus, Mohammad Wasay, Bhojo A. Khealani, Naasha Talati, Rohmah Shamsi, Nadir Ali Syed, Naseem Salahuddin

Department of Medicine

Background

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is present in up to one third of patients with tetanus. The prognostic value of ANS dysfunction is known in severe tetanus but its value is not well established in mild to moderate tetanus.

Methods

Medical records of all patients admitted with tetanus at two academic tertiary care centers in Karachi, Pakistan were reviewed. The demographic, clinical and laboratory data was recorded and analyzed. ANS dysfunction was defined as presence of labile or persistent hypertension or hypotension and sinus tachycardia, tachyarrythmia or bradycardia on EKG. Patients were divided into two groups based on presence …

Gene Therapy And Targeted Toxins For Glioma, James Curtin, Gwendalyn King, Marianela Candolfi, Kurt Kroeger, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

The most common primary brain tumor in adults is glioblastoma. These tumors are highly invasive and aggressive with a mean survival time of nine to twelve months from diagnosis to death. Current treatment modalities are unable to significantly prolong survival in patients diagnosed with glioblastoma. As such, glioma is an attractive target for developing novel therapeutic approaches utilizing gene therapy. This review will examine the available preclinical models for glioma including xenographs, syngeneic and genetic models. Several promising therapeutic targets are currently being pursued in pre-clinical investigations. These targets will be reviewed by mechanism of action, i.e., conditional cytotoxic, targeted …

Combining Cytotoxic And Immune-Mediated Gene Therapy To Treat Brain Tumors, James Curtin, Gwendalyn King, Marianela Candolfi, Remy Greeno, Kurt Kroeger, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a type of intracranial brain tumor, for which there is no cure. In spite of advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, patients die within a year of diagnosis. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop novel therapeutic approaches for this disease. Gene therapy, which is the use of genes or other nucleic acids as drugs, is a powerful new treatment strategy which can be developed to treat GBM. Several treatment modalities are amenable for gene therapy implementation, e.g. conditional cytotoxic approaches, targeted delivery of toxins into the tumor mass, immune stimulatory strategies, and these will all …

Modified Amino Acid Copolymers Suppress Myelin Basic Protein 85–99-Induced Encephalomyelitis In Humanized Mice Through Different Effects On T Cells, Zsolt Illés, Joel N.H. Stern, Jay Reddy, Hanspeter Waldner, Marcin P. Mycko, Celia F. Brosnan, Stephan Ellmerich, Daniel M. Altmann, Laura Santambrogio, Jack L. Strominger, Vijay K. Kuchroo

Jay Reddy Publications

A humanized mouse bearing the HLA-DR2 (DRA/DRB1*1501) pro- tein associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and the myelin basic protein (MBP) 85–99-specific HLA-DR2-restricted T cell receptor from an MS patient has been used to examine the effectiveness of modified amino acid copolymers poly(F,Y,A,K)n and poly- (V,W,A,K)n in therapy of MBP 85–99-induced experimental auto-immune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in comparison to Copolymer 1 [Copaxone, poly(Y,E,A,K)n]. The copolymers were designed to optimize binding to HLA-DR2. Vaccination, prevention, and treatment of MBP-induced EAE in the humanized mice with copolymers FYAK and VWAK ameliorated EAE more effectively than Copolymer 1, reduced the number of pathological lesions, and …

Neurology In The 21st Century: Contemporary State Of Diagnostics And Therapeutics, Saad Shafqat, Mohammad Wasay

Department of Medicine

Although neurological disease has been recognized since antiquity, neurology as a systematic clinical discipline is less than 130 years old. Neurological practice has traditionally been constrained by the complexity of the human nervous system, which has been slow to yield its secrets. Over the last three decades, however, clinical neurology has been transformed in terms of both diagnostics and therapeutics and now marches in lockstep with the cutting edge of medicine. Efficacious treatments are now available for the majority of neurological diseases, including epilepsy, migraine, Guillain-Barre syndrome, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and ischemic stroke. This neurological revolution has been enabled …