#82: Medicines with Merit - Installment #4 [36:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (898)

Medicines with Merit - Pharmaceuticals showing promise for the patient with neurological disease.

Focus: Current and emerging applications for Botox: the diluted natural protein from a highly toxic bacterium has many potential uses — maybe even for tension headaches.

And other medicines with merit:

• Ramelteon, a melatonin receptor agonist drug, is approximately 10 times more potent than natural melatonin.
• Pramipexole okayed for restless legs.
• Aspirin may reduce ischemic events in giant cell arteritis: appears to be a safe and effective adjunct in patients whose giant cell arteritis puts them at increased risk for ischemic vision loss and cerebrovascular accidents.
• Rituximab resolved severe vasculitis of the carotid and other vessels.

And last but not least: Granny…. The taser didn’t faze her. Isn’t the use of electricity to stun the body a lot more “holistic” — as a self-defense weapon with merit — than stunning it with piercing lead?

Next week’s show: Our 4th installment of Podcast for Peds - issues related to problems of the developing nervous system, and the young folks who have them. We?re pleased to have as guests Drs. Paul and Kiely Law to tell us more about the Interactive Autism Network!

Weblinks:

• Dr. Alan Scott, botox pioneer of 1980.
• Mechanism of action for botox
• Intrathecal baclofen for cerebral spasticity
• Cannabis sativa for spasticity in MS (Vanderbilt University)
• First-ever finding of genetic risk factors for restless leg syndrome
• Information on hormesis
• Botox ‘Emerging’ Applications:
  • Chronic Low Back Pain
  • Migraine and tension headache
  • BPH
  • Chronic prostatitis (= Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome, CPPS)

Reference (other): Free radical-mediated molecular damage. Mechanisms for the protective actions of melatonin in the central nervous system. Reiter R, Acunastroviejo D, Tan D, Burkhardt S (2001). Ann N Y Acad Sci 939: 200-15. PMID 11462772.

 

 #60: Stroke-Struck, Installment #6 [27:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (557)

Medical and surgical advances for neurovascular disorders. This is the second of three shows covering AHA’s International Stroke Meeting.

Publication Date: Mar 9th, 2007.

1. Tight glycemic control - does it help in acute stroke patients? Even in medicine, we make assumptions about what we think may result in best outcomes for our patients (like stabilizing glucose in stroke patients), but the research can prove us wrong!

2. Get with the guidelines: Diabetes is poorly addressed in acute stroke patients. Significant numbers of stroke patients with diabetes leave the hospital after a stroke without treatment plans that meet evidence-based guidelines.

3. Aspirin may be helpful for more than just pain, fever and thinning the blood. Even at low doses, it appears to prevent age-related declines in gray and white matter integrity.

4. And last but not least, the spirit of Seuss speaks: Call it the ‘bro,’ but into the dustbin, the boy-bras now go!

Links: Brain Awareness Week is coming up: Mar 12th to Mar 18th. It is an international program of public events to celebrate the brain. The campaign unites essentially 2000 partner organizations, including universities, medical and research organizations, patient advocacy groups, schools, government agencies, service groups, and professional organizations in 66 countries - all communicating the progress of brain research. For more information, go to www.dana.org.