In a nondescript hotel ballroom on Thursday, about two dozen women — some artists, some therapists, some educators — worked together to build human-sized sculptures out of packing tape. The participants went through drama therapy exercises to identify meaningful physical poses. Next, they worked in groups to mold sticky-side-up tape to various parts of their […]
Loneliness can be a problem for older people, especially when they’re in the hospital. Their children may have moved away. Spouses and friends may themselves be too frail to visit. So a California hospital is providing volunteer companions in the geriatric unit.
It’s a heartbreaking consequence of an aging population – an increasing number of hospitalized Angelenos are living in lonely existence. To make a difference where medicine cannot, some hospitals are doing something unique to improve the plight of their unvisited patients. Dr. David Reuben, a geriatrician, said he is still haunted by the image of […]
In a small new study published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers who are pioneering an immune-based treatment for cancer report encouraging results among people with otherwise untreatable non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.
A late-stage trial will begin later this year in South Africa to test the effectiveness of an HIV vaccine that has shown promise in earlier trials, according to the National Institutes of Health. Results from an ongoing preliminary trial in South Africa and a previous late-stage trial in Thailand suggest the new vaccine may provide […]
Her chart said ‘Two weeks to fatal event.’ Ten years later, she’s still alive. Dates are important to a person who knows he’s dying of cancer. There’s the day when he learned he was sick. There’s the date of his first surgery, or of the first time a vein in his forearm was punctured with […]
Becky Anderson and her American quarter horse, Princess. Prior to having deep brain stimulation surgery in 2014, Becky thought early onset Parkinson’s disease would keep her on the ground. Now the Hesperia, California resident is back in the saddle and doing what she loves.
David Williams, MD, has been researching cerebral venous thrombosis since he’s been out of medical school. Little did he know the condition would affect him on a much more personal level.
As coincidences go, this was a doozy.
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One of the biggest challenges neurologists face when managing patients with Parkinson’s disease is making treatment decisions based on relatively brief patient interactions and subjective patient reports about their symptoms. A new wearable device developed by neurologists in Australia has the potential to inject some objectivity into those treatment decisions. Michele Tagliati, director of the […]
No one knows for sure whether they will develop Alzheimer’s disease or not, but certain factors may increase your risk. A new study has identified nine potentially modifiable risk factors that may contribute to more than 75 percent of all Alzheimer’s cases worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an incurable and progressive disease that destroys memory […]
News that a patient’s cancer has spread to the brain typically is a sign the end is near. But cancer experts expressed hope after learning that former President Jimmy Carter’s melanoma would be treated with Merck & Co’s Keytruda, a new treatment that harnesses the body’s immune system to fight cancer. In a news conference […]
People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are known to experience changes in their metabolism after their diagnosis — for example, they burn more calories while at rest. But a new study from the Netherlands suggests these changes happen even before patients have symptoms of the disease. However, it’s too soon to know whether these changes […]
REPORTER: Dr. Keith Black worked hard to follow his dreams to become a leader in brain research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. KEITH BLACK: After my first course in the anatomy of the brain, in the biology and chemistry of the brain, I fell in love with the way the brain works, […]
A test detecting Alzheimer’s disease early may become easily available thanks to one plentiful bodily substance: saliva, a recently released study shows. The saliva test was presented at the 2015 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington this week. Though research is still in its infancy, the saliva test represents the exciting future of diagnostic tools in […]
The Internet and connected devices are fast becoming substitutes for remembering things, reducing our memory’s capability, according to a recent study by Kaspersky Labs. NBC’s Craig Melvin reports.
These headaches can be debilitating, but many treatments offer relief. If you’ve ever experienced the throbbing pain of a migraine, you know how difficult it can be to carry on with your normal routine — especially if you’re one of the 14 million people who experience chronic daily headaches. More than 90 percent of sufferers […]
More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today, with another person developing the disease every 68 seconds. By 2050, the number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to triple.
There is no test doctors can use to conclusively determine whether someone will get Alzheimer’s disease. “If you are in your 20s or 30s and want to know if you will get the disease, we don’t have information to determine that now,” said Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer’s Association. One […]
Robert Baloh, MD, PhD on Brain Blogger: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with no real disease-modifying therapy. Only until recently did we attribute a small portion of individuals with ALS with a genetic basis. Research from Robert Baloh, MD, PhD, Director of Neuromuscular Medicine at Cedars-Sinai, and colleagues at Washington University […]
Dean Sherzi, MD on BrainBlogger.com: Numerous studies show promise in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease in animal models, but invariably fail in humans. However, time after time, lifestyle changes have been shown to alter the course of illness in large population studies. My interview with Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention […]
Former publicist to the stars Nanci Ryder was diagnosed with ALS in August of last year. We met Ryder and her physician Dr. Robert Baloh at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and discussed the debilitating disease and how she’s dedicating the rest of her life to raising awareness and finding a cure.
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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A few years ago, NPR’s Joe Palca first introduced us to a group of medical researchers in Seattle. They were working on what is called tumor paint—glowing paint. A glowing tumor would be easier for surgeons to see and remove. Researchers were trying to modify scorpion venom so that it would stick […]
Alzheimer’s disease is hands-down one of the most feared diseases. But simply worrying that you’ll develop the illness doesn’t do any good. A far better approach is to take action—now! What’s new: Around the country, respected medical centers and hospitals are now creating Alzheimer’s prevention programs staffed by neurologists and researchers who help people do […]
Keith Black, MD on Fox News: Multiple studies have shown that a positive attitude has led to better outcomes in different diseases, which Black credits with Erdman’s recovery and longevity. “I think the fact that he’s a pastor is not lost on this story, and whether you’re religious or not, one thing to me has […]
Keith Black, MD on Today’s Geriatric Medicine: “We’re not aiming to treat patients with Alzheimer’s,” says Black. “What we’re really trying to do is develop an Alzheimer’s prevention program for patients who are in the presymptomatic or early symptomatic stages.” Read the whole article…
Grabbing and removing a clot blocking blood flow to the brain, rather than just administering clot-busting drugs, dramatically improves the likelihood that patients will recover from a stroke, according to two highly-anticipated studies released on Wednesday.
From robot guided lasers which destroy tumors but leave healthy brain tissue unaffected to drugs which can be directed to specific parts of the brain by magnets, BBC Click’s Dan Simmons looks at the future of brain cancer treatments. WATCH THE VIDEO
Each year, half a million people die from aneurysms, blood vessel ruptures in the brain. For survivors, disabilities are often severe – from blindness and trouble speaking, to loss of balance and memory problems. But new technologies are increasing survival rates and reducing disabilities. Shelley Schlender introduces us to one survivor who, because she is […]
Get a glimpse inside one of veteran publicist Nanci Ryder’s ALS treatment appointments. Plus, learn the common signs and symptoms of the progressive disease. WATCH THE VIDEO
Are your little memory lapses really as innocuous as your doctor claims?
Let’s say you’re 55 and learned today that you’d definitely live to be at least 85. That would be pretty good news, right? But what if you learned, at the same time, that you’d positively be in the 47 percent of the population over 85 that gets Alzheimer’s disease. Not such good news, you say.
Dr. Tagliati on LifeScript.com.
Keith Black, MD featured on NBC.com (78 placements from 7-13 to 7-15)
A Profile of Keith L. Black, MD The challenge. Keith L. Black is no stranger to challenges. At age seven, he took on segregationist rules in his hometown of Auburn, Ala., by swimming in a “whites only” pool. Science became Black’s next challenge when he was a teenager. At 17, he published a paper based […]
What if a compound from a common spice could help detect Alzheimer’s in patients? A team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is developing a test that could make early detection possible, and a first step for the patient would be taking pills derived from curcumin, which is found in turmeric, an ingredient often used in Indian curries.
Watch the video.
New Retinal Imaging Test for Alzheimer’s One day when she was 76 years old, Rosa Rodrigo took a wrong turn out of a shopping center parking lot and found she had no idea where to turn next. “It was a little scary because I didn’t remember where I came from, or where I was going,” […]
It is time to stop thinking of stroke as a disease only of the elderly. A study found that people in the 20 to 54 age range accounted for 18.6% of first strokes in a recent 12-month period—a 5.7% rise in little more than a decade—and average age at stroke occurrence dropped from 71 to 69. […]
We can beat Alzheimer’s crushing burdens on families and society—and help may be here soon. I have devoted my professional life to finding treatments—and, I hope, someday cures—for malignant brain tumors, because I always have thought nothing could be worse than a diagnosis of brain cancer. The brain and its thought- and emotion-processing centers give us […]
For two weeks in the fall of 2006, Mary Wong Lee of San Dimas, California, had been plagued by on-and-off headaches, but when words began escaping her the 55-year-old office manager got worried. “I’d be writing letters or reports and know I wanted to say ‘appreciate’ or ‘opportunity,’ but couldn’t think how to spell them,” […]
People keep asking about my stroke.
I am okay, really—not staggering around with one arm hanging limp, or glassy-eyed or slurring my speech, flecks of spittle on my lips. And yet people still say, “How are you doing?” in that special way that means, “Tell us the painful truth and feel free to cry.”
It was a desperate measure, for a desperate disease. Fourteen months ago, Dennis Sugrue let doctors thread a fine tube through his blood vessels and up into his head, so they could spray the drug Avastin directly into the part of his brain where a tumor had been cut out.
An operation commonly performed to remove brain tumors from the pituitary glands of humans is now available to dogs, thanks to a collaboration between a neurosurgeon and some veterinarians in Los Angeles. And that is turning out to be good for humans. So far, nine dogs and one cat that otherwise would have died have […]
Evidence is accumulating that migraines with aura — a transient visual or sensory disturbance, such as light flashes or zigzag patterns– may increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.