Browse Neurology Alert Articles by Topic

Diet and the Risk of Dementia

Specific dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean-style diet, have been shown to promote brain health, mitigate neuro-inflammation, and reduce the risk of dementia. This prospective cohort study demonstrated an association between a high inflammatory potential diet and increased risk for incident dementia.

Acute Muscle Weakness in Children: Acute Flaccid Myelitis or Guillain-Barré Syndrome?

Compared to children with Guillain-Barré syndrome, children with acute flaccid myelitis have a more rapid presentation to nadir of weakness, fewer sensory abnormalities, and an inflammatory spinal fluid early in the course.

The Effect of Epilepsy on Patients with Brain Tumors

Cancer cells form direct synapses with neurons, whose electrical activity stimulates brain tumor growth. Accumulating evidence suggests that epilepsy enhances the proliferation of malignant brain tumors and that improved management of epilepsy may reduce morbidity and mortality in these patients.

Neuropathological Variability of NMDAR-Encephalitis

The neuropathological features of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-encephalitis are described in an autopsy cohort of four patients — two diagnosed in life with comorbid brain disorders, and two diagnosed at autopsy and never treated. The two untreated patients had inflammatory infiltrates composed of perivascular and parenchymal T cells and B cells/plasma cells in the basal ganglia, amygdala, and hippocampus. The two treated patients had variable pathologies that reflected their underlying neurological disorders (lymphoproliferative disease and multiple sclerosis). Overall, the topographic distribution of inflammation in patients with NMDAR-encephalitis reflects the clinical symptoms of movement disorders, abnormal behavior, and memory dysfunction with inflammation predominantly observed in the basal ganglia, amygdala, and hippocampus. Loss of NMDAR-immunoreactivity correlated with disease severity.

Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Stable CIDP: Stop or Taper?

First-line therapy for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), but the timing and method for withdrawal of this treatment are uncertain. In a retrospective review of stable patients on IVIG, investigators at the National Hospital in London observed that there was no significant difference in the likelihood of deterioration or response to retreatment if IVIG was stopped abruptly or tapered slowly.

Neuropathological Findings in the Brains of Patients Who Died from COVID-19

In an autopsy study of 41 patients who died from COVID-19 in a single medical center in New York City, most of the brain pathology was the result of hypoxic-ischemic injury, infarction, and hemorrhage, with microglial activation and neuronophagia caused by inflammation. Studies for the presence of viral proteins were negative, and very low levels of viral ribonucleic acid were detected.

Thalamic Stroke and Sleep Impairment: An Experiment of Nature

In a detailed clinical and electrophysiological study of sleep patterns in 12 patients with thalamic stroke, comparing them with 11 patients who had extrathalamic stroke, the investigators identified a marked decrease in slow wave sleep activity in the group with thalamic stroke. The clinical significance of this finding is uncertain but may have an effect on daytime cognitive performance.

Eculizumab for Refractory Myasthenia Gravis

Eculizumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits the C-5 complement terminal complex formation, is a safe and effective treatment for generalized myasthenia gravis with acetylcholine receptor auto-antibodies, even after failed treatment with other immunosuppressive regimens.

Infections Before Age 20 Years Increase the Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

The relationship between childhood infections and the risk of multiple sclerosis is supported by increasing evidence. Using the Swedish Total Population Register, researchers found that patients diagnosed with infection in adolescence showed an increased risk of multiple sclerosis, even after exclusion of infectious mononucleosis, pneumonia, and central nervous system infection.

Gene and Substrate Therapy for Neurogenetic Disease: A Combined Approach to Treat Mitochondrial Myopathy

A combined adenoviral-mediated gene therapy plus substrate therapy delivered to a mouse model of thymidine kinase 2 (TK2) deficiency, manifested most often as a fatal mitochondrial myopathy in infants and children, rescued TK2 activity and prolonged animal lifespan, thus indicating a promising therapeutic approach for affected patients.