Nervous System Diseases Commons^™

Belsomra®: A Novel Dual Orexin Receptor Antagonist For The Treatment Of Insomnia, Shane Bogusz, Steven Blake, Michaela Wolford, Victoria Cho, Manoranjan D'Souza

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

Insomnia is a disease state characterized by a persistent difficulty in falling asleep, and results in enormous health-related and economic costs to both the individual and society. Several medications are currently available for the treatment of insomnia; however, these medications are associated with several limitations including anterograde amnesia, dependence, withdrawal symptoms upon stopping the medication and rebound insomnia. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved suvorexant (Belsomra®) as a treatment for insomnia. Suvorexant is a first-in-class dual orexin receptor antagonist for the treatment of insomnia. This review will first describe the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) …

Moyamoya Disease Presenting With Stroke, Timothy Collins, Chimezie Ubbaonu, Phuong Vo

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

Pain Management In Dementia Patients In Nursing Homes, Tiffany Kneuss, Kelsey Weisenburger, Hannah Stewart, Kelly Reilly Kroustos

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

Pain in the elderly, especially those with dementia, is often undertreated and misdiagnosed by health care professionals in the long-term care setting. Communication barriers in patients with cognitive impairment force pain assessment to rely heavily on subjective interpretation of behavioral factors due to the inability of patients to self-report pain symptoms. It is important for clinicians to develop a standard method of identifying and assessing signs of pain in patients with dementia in order to appropriately treat those experiencing discomfort. Patients with dementia who present with a sudden onset of behavioral changes should receive a comprehensive evaluation that includes a …

Current Trials And Therapies For The Treatment Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis And Frontotemporal Dementia, Adam Smith, Angela Chu, Lucy Wagala, Hannah Stewart, Lindsey Peters

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

An area of health care that provides many more questions than answers includes neurodegenerative disorders. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are both diseases about which we know very little. However, ALS and FTD affect nearly 30,000 and 60,000 Americans respectively. Currently, there is not a cure for ALS or FTD and treatment options are aimed toward symptom management. Much of the pathophysiology of these diseases is unknown, but we do know there are genetic implications, specifically in SOD1, TARDBP and c90RF72. These mutations lead to cognitive deficits, muscle weakness and, eventually, …

Emerging Therapies For The Treatment Of Multiple Sclerosis, Sara Swick, Amy Gillman, Lauren Bajbus, Jennifer Bauer, Jeffery Talbot

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that affects millions of people worldwide, yet is not entirely understood. Symptoms of multiple sclerosis most frequently include muscle spasms and extreme fatigue, but patients can experience a wide variety of issues. There are four categories in which patients with multiple sclerosis are typically classified: relapse-remitting, primary-progressive, secondary-progressive and progressive-relapsing. The pathophysiology of the disease is largely unknown, but many theories are being researched. Currently, there are treatments that can alleviate symptoms and halt disease progression, but no cure is known at this time. Most symptomatic relief medications focus on anti-inflammatory mechanisms of action, …

Lithium Therapy In Alzheimer's Disease, Ross Robison, Sara Swick, Lauren Bajbus, Jennifer Bauer, B. Shane Martin

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with no known cure which has a strong impact on patients and their caregivers. Current treatments for AD can slow the disease progression, but cannot reverse the damage that has already been done, resulting in some level of lifelong disability for affected patients. The use of lithium has shown promising results in mice models of AD. While animal models have produced positive results, additional human trials need to be conducted in order to determine a place for lithium in Alzheimer's disease therapy. Pharmacists should be aware of this potential new use of lithium …

As Range Of Possible Therapies Grows, Chdi Expands Efforts To Defeat Huntington's Disease, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Nocardia Beijingensis: A Rare And Unusual Cause Of Intracranial Abscess, Lakshpaul Chauhan Md, Nirali Vassa Md, Elizabeth Henderson Md, Ateeq Mubarik Md, Danish M. Siddiq Md, Abdulmagid Eddib Md

Infectious Disease

Background : Nocardia species are thin, aerobic, filamentous, gram-positive bacilli that are ubiquitous in soil worldwide. Nocardia infections are divided into three main categories: pulmonary nocardiosis, disseminated nocardiosis, and cutaneous nocardiosis.

Methods : We present a case of cerebral nocardiosis in an immunocompetent patient caused by Nocardia beijingensis (NB).

Results : A 60-year-old Caucasian lady from Florida with type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, presented to the emergency room with complaints of altered mentation. Per husband, she was having episodes of emesis and diarrhea three days prior to admission that resolved however, her mentation significantly deteriorated to where she was …

Neurotransmitter, Fall 2019, George Washington Institute For Neuroscience Neurological Institute, George Washington University Hospital

Neurotransmitter

No abstract provided.

The Hapless State Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis In India: A Comprehensive Look At Life And Medical Services For Als Patients In Rural Himachal Pradesh, Carson J. Bergström

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to paralysis. The disease requires a high amount of medical intervention and interdisciplinary focus to achieve quality of life for patients. This study looks at ALS patient’s lifestyles, their access to these medical devices, Indian therapeutic approaches and policy that impacts patients in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. As caretakers have a critical part in the care for this disease, their lives were also considered in the case studies. It was found that ALS patients are not experiencing access to medical devices necessary for life because of physical …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Anastasia M. Georgetson

Student Publications

The word amyotrophic is derived from Greek, and means “without nourishment to muscles”, lateral means to the sides and sclerosis means hardened (“What is ALS?,” n.d.). First described by Jean-Martin Charcot in the 1800s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive degenerative motor neuron disease. Motor neurons are very important cells, and extremely unique since they can be very long with some motor neurons having a length of over a meter (“Disease Mechanisms,” n.d.).

About 5-10% of the cases of ALS are inherited, which is known as familial ALS or fALS, and it is known as autosomal dominant in these …

Effects Of Dabigatran In Mouse Models Of Aging And Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Neethu Michael, Mher Mahoney Grigoryan, Kelley Kilday, Rachita K. Sumbria, Vitaly Vasilevko, Joanne Van Ryn, David H. Cribbs, Annlia Paganini-Hill, Mark J. Fisher

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Oral anticoagulants are a critical component of stroke prevention, but carry a risk of brain hemorrhage. These hemorrhagic complications tend to occur in elderly individuals, especially those with predisposing conditions such as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Clinical evidence suggests that non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants are safer than traditional oral anticoagulants. We analyzed whether the anticoagulant dabigatran produces cerebral microhemorrhage (the pathological substrate of MRI-demonstrable cerebral microbleeds) or intracerebral hemorrhage in aged mice with and without hemorrhage-predisposing angiopathy. We studied aged (22 months old) Tg2576 (a model of CAA) and wild-type (WT) littermate mice. Mice received either dabigatran etexilate (DE) …

Nivolumab Induced Myasthenia Gravis, Elizabeth Henderson Md, Imad Ikhawn Md, Dharti R. Patel Md, Monicka Felix

Internal Medicine

No abstract provided.

A Novel Approach To Treating Alzheimer's Disease, Kristen Quertinmount, Breanne Rizzo, Caitlin Swann, Lindsey Coram, Mary Klein, Whitney N. Detillion

Pharmacy and Wellness Review

No abstract provided.

Post-Dural Puncture Headache Complicated By Subdural Hematomas - A Case Report, Mark Cohen Md, Mays Alani Md, Amir Touray Md, Saif Ullah Md

Neurology

Post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) is a potential iatrogenic complication of procedures which disrupt meningeal integrity, particularly in obstetric patients, which are perhaps the highest-risk group. Common clinical manifestations include severe diffuse headache, neck stiffness, and nausea and vomiting; these symptoms, however, are non-specific and PDPH remains a diagnosis of exclusion that can be ascertained with a thorough history and proper consideration of other etiologies.

What If We Could Turn Off The Cause Of Huntington’S Disease?, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Development Of An Imaging Analysis Algorithm For Fluorescence-Based High Content Screening In Parkinson’S Disease, Ryan Arlinghaus

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Ticked Off: How Expansion Of City Boundaries Affects Rates Of Lyme Disease In The United States, Daphne Fauber

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Factor-H Partners With Latin American Organizations To Aid Destitute Huntington's Disease Families, Seeks To Expand Support, Kenneth P. Serbin

At Risk for Huntington's Disease

No abstract provided.

Further Analyses Of The Safety Of Verubecestat In The Phase 3 Epoch Trial Of Mild-To-Moderate Alzheimer’S Disease, Michael F. Egan, Yuki Mukai, Tiffini Voss, James Kost, Julie Stone, Christine Furtek, Erin Mahoney, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Pierre N. Tariot, Paul S. Aisen, Bruno Vellas, Christopher Lines, David Michaelson

Integrated Health Sciences Faculty Research

Background: Verubecestat, a BACE1 inhibitor that reduces Aβ levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of humans, was not effective in a phase 3 trial (EPOCH) of mild-to-moderate AD and was associated with adverse events. To assist in the development of BACE1 inhibitors, we report detailed safety findings from EPOCH. Methods: EPOCH was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 78-week trial evaluating verubecestat 12 mg and 40 mg in participants with mild-to-moderate AD diagnosed clinically. The trial was terminated due to futility close to its scheduled completion. Of 1957 participants who were randomized and took treatment, 652 were assigned to verubecestat 12 mg, 652 …