#93: Reap The Sleep, Installment #2 [33:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (382)

Insights into sleep, and sleep disorders - whether lack of, excessive, or disturbed sleep

Focus: restless leg syndrome (RLS)

Hear these RLS-related reports:

• Frequency and Pain of Restless Legs Should Guide Therapy

• Dopamine Agonists Aid Sleep in Restless Legs

Other reports:

• Vigilance is Impaired in Drivers with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

• Screen Arnold-Chiari Patients for Sleep-Related Breathing Problems

• Ramelteon Effective for Subset of Insomnia Patients

Weblinks: Sleep Research Model Based on Sleeping Drosophila Flies

Restless Leg Syndrome links:

• RLS is a Genetic Disorder According to New Research

• News May Have Exaggerated Prevalence Of RLS

• Prevalence of Clinically Significant RLS 3% in U.S. Population, according to Archives of Internal Medicine

• RLS Linked To Low Serum Iron and Poor Iron Uptake In Brain

Sleep Deprivation Links:

• Co-Morbidities:

• Doubles Risk Of Death From All Causes

• Linked To Hypertension, Especially In Women

• Linked To CVD, Stroke, Diabetes, Cancer

• Physiological Stress from Sleep Deprivation:
  • Activates The HPA Axis
  • May Increase Adrenergic Receptor Function
  • Linked To Increased C-reactive Protein (CRP)

Next week’s show: Theatre Of The Mind – Psychoneuroimmunology: Dynamics Between Psyche, Nerves, The Endocrine System And The Immune System (our second installment). Focus will be the science behind, and importance of…the placebo response. And we’ll touch upon questions like, ‘Homeopathy: The system of therapy based on highly dilute substances. Are they active substances or just placebos?’ And: ‘Are there substantive benefits from Aromatherapy?’

 

 #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.