BrainBlog

From the Guardian : NHS warned of 'neurology timebomb' Call for 'neurology tsar' as growing numbers are diagnosed with Parkinson's, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis The Guardian Tuesday 17 January 2012 Read full article

From HealthGrades : Download a copy of the report

Last week, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report about individuals with chronic diseases and their use of the Internet to obtain and share information. The report is available at the link below: Pew Report on Chronic Disease and the Internet From the summary: "The deck is stacked against people living with chronic disease. They are disproportionately offline. They often have complicated health issues, not easily solved by the addition of even the best, most reliable, medical advice. "And yet, those who are online have a trump card. They have each other. This survey finds that having a chronic disease increases the probability that an internet user will share what they know and learn from their peers. They unearth nuggets of information. They blog. They participate in online discussions. And they just keep going. "

Several days ago, the CDC released a report entitled, "Traumatic Brain Injury in the United States: Emergency Department Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, 2002-2006" - available as a .pdf (and .doc) download. Download the report

From the King's College London website: Seminar: The computer as the third actor in the clinical consultation 17 Mar 2010, 12:45-13:45, 6th Floor Seminar Room, Capital House, Guy's Campus Speaker: Dr Simon de Lusignan Speaker institution: St George's University of London Full information

TEDMED2010 website 26-29 October 2010 San Diego, California From the homepage: "Created by Marc Hodosh and Richard Saul Wurman, TEDMED celebrates conversations that demonstrate the intersection and connections between all things medical and healthcare related: from personal health to public health, devices to design and Hollywood to the hospital. Together, this encompasses more than twenty percent of our GNP in America while touching everyone's life around the globe."

My brain abscess and me I had no idea I had a potentially fatal infection. Now, after my life-saving surgery, I will never take my health for granted again Tim Lusher The Guardian Tuesday 3 November 2009 Read Tim's narrative report here . [snip] "Finally, on Tuesday morning, someone realises something is horribly wrong. My GP sees immediately that my gait is clumsy, my focus wild, my speech slurring. She sends me straight to A&E at the Royal London hospital and phones ahead to order a brain scan. There, I collapse gratefully into the care of doctors and nurses." [snip]

The Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit takes place this 1st and 2nd of December at the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel in London, England. According to the conference website, topics include: - Using Mobile Healthcare Partnership to Transform a Health System From Responsive Into Preventative - Using Mobile Healthcare to Improve Precision in the Diagnosis and Cure of Patient Illness - Freeing the Patient and the System with Intelligent Biometric Diagnostics - Defining the Data Management of Digital Healthcare - What Are The Technical Platforms For Mobile Healthcare Success? - SMS, Devices, Intelligent M2M - Globalising Mobile Healthcare: Regional Case Studies and Uniting the Service – South Korea, North America, Japan Visit the conference website for detailed information.

The Cardiff Neuroscience Centre Webpage Read about neuroscience research activities in and around Cardiff and their collaboration with Bristol via this virtual centre.

From The Times (UK): Case study: ‘It’s hard to recognise the man I married’ Judith Magill’s retirement dreams were dashed when her husband, Patrick, had Parkinson's disease diagnosed aged 57 21 September 2009 [snip] "People die with Parkinson’s disease, not of it,” said the specialist to my husband, Patrick, when he got the diagnosis at the age of 57. He was upbeat, though leaving us in no doubt that the condition would worsen. Parkinson’s would nibble away at Patrick’s physical and, if we were unlucky, his mental reactions. It would fundamentally change our lives after just two years of marriage. [snip] Read the full piece

For Speech-Impaired, Insurance Fights Remedy By ASHLEE VANCE The New York Times Published: September 15, 2009 "Despite their usefulness and lower cost, devices like iPhones and netbook PCs that can help the speech-impaired are not covered by Medicare or insurers." Read the article

From The Utica Observer-Dispatch : Obama adviser speaks about epilepsy locally Axelrod also touts healthcare reform By ELIZABETH COOPER Observer-Dispatch Posted Sep 12, 2009 @ 09:01 PM Last update Sep 12, 2009 @ 10:59 PM WHITESBORO —Amid the national debate on health care, a top White House adviser related his personal story about troubles his family encountered in getting care for a daughter with epilepsy. David Axelrod, a close adviser to President Barack Obama, was the keynote speaker at a fundraiser for Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, known as CURE, at Hart's Hill Inn Saturday evening. Axelrod's wife, Susan Landau, is one of the founders of CURE, and she has come to the Mohawk Valley in the past for CURE fundraisers, though Saturday was Axelrod's first visit. More than 700 people attended Saturday's fundraiser, which raised $207,000. Before the event, he took questions from reporters about his personal story, and said it had been “the cause of our lives to...

After a Diagnosis, Someone to Help Point the Way By LESLEY ALDERMAN The New York Times Published: September 12, 2009 "Patient advocates can help research treatment options, sort out insurance claims and open doors to specialists." Read the full article

Tara Calishain and her diverse service specialty called Research Buzz provides a link to a new Google Custom Search Engine specific to hospital websites in the U.S., 2800 of them at current count. For specifics, please see her website/blog entry: click here

Center for Bioethics Fall Seminar Series Time: 12:15 to 1:30 pm Location: 1-451 Moos Tower, University of Minnesota campus (unless noted otherwise) Minneapolis, MN ITV to University of Minnesota, Duluth, Room 160 Life Science November 13 “Family Stories: Decision Making in Advanced Dementia” Presented by Barbara Elliott, PhD Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Medical School, Duluth; Director, Clinical Research, Department of Family Medicine; Adjunct Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Duluth Seminars are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. For more information email visit www.bioethics.umn.edu

The New York Times : Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies The Independent : Legacy of the only Kennedy brother to grow old The White House : Statement by the President The Office of the Vice President : Statement by the Vice President (includes YouTube link.) (Photo: The White House)

Cleveland Clinic considering telemedicine services for ICUs, home health care MedCity News August 20, 2009 by Chris Seper Read the article

From The New York Times : And You Thought a Prescription Was Private By MILT FREUDENHEIM Published: August 9, 2009 "Prescriptions and the information on them are bought and sold in a murky marketplace, often without the patients’ knowledge or permission." Read the article

Yet another case from the UK: Woman dies of meningitis after swine flu diagnosis • Woman prescribed Tamiflu and paracetamol dies in hospital • Son urges doctors to heed symptoms of other illnesses Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk Wednesday 12 August 2009 17.02 BST A man whose mother died of meningitis days after being misdiagnosed with swine flu has called on doctors to pay more heed to other illnesses when treating patients. Jasvir Kaur Gill, 48, a mother of three from Leicester, began suffering from a sore throat and vomiting during the evening of Saturday 1 August. She was told to take Tamiflu after a telephone diagnosis, but 12 hours later she suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital. She died without regaining consciousness, four days later. An inquest, which opened today, heard how her death was caused by meningococcal septicaemia, or blood poisoning caused by meningitis. After the hearing, her son Sukhvinder Gill, 25, said: "We said to the doctors in the hospital, ever...

From The Guardian : Girl, two, dies after swine flu misdiagnosis Child with possible meningitis was 'failed by system' say parents Jo Adetunji guardian.co.uk Saturday 8 August 2009 01.08 BST [snippet] The parents of a two-year-old girl thought to have died from meningitis after they were told she was suffering from swine flu said yesterday that she had been "failed by the system". Georgia Keeling, from Norwich, died after being rushed to hospital on Tuesday. Her parents, Paul Sewell, 21, and Tasha Keeling, 22, said they contacted health services, including NHS Direct, the swine flu helpline and the emergency services, five times after their daughter first developed a temperature on Saturday. The couple said that by Tuesday she had also developed a rash, bruising and had been sick, but their concerns that she might have meningitis were ignored. They said that on two occasions they were told Georgia did not need to be admitted to hospital and after one 999 call, a param...