Neurology Alert – December 1, 2023
December 1, 2023
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Repetitive Head Impacts and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Young Contact Sport Athletes
In a first of its kind study, researchers found neuropathological markers suggestive of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) pathology in 41% (n = 152) of young contact sport athletes (< 30 years of age) at autopsy. Clinical measures (obtained retrospectively via informant report) assessing for cognitive and psychiatric/behavioral dysfunction, while elevated across most measures for the entire group, did not significantly differ between brain donors with and without a CTE diagnosis. Functional impairments also were not commonly found.
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Slow-Wave Sleep and Risk of Dementia
In this long-term observational study of sleep efficiency in the Framingham Heart Study population, researchers found a strong correlation between a decline in duration of slow-wave sleep during aging and the risk of incident dementia from all causes. However, a direct cause-and-effect relationship cannot be determined from this observational study.
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Gut Microbiome Metabolites and Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
A Mendelian randomization study shows that trimethylamine N-oxide and its precursor metabolites are not associated with risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD) but have both positive and negative causal effects on some indicators of PD severity and progression.
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Safety and Efficacy of Mogalizumab in HTLV-1-Associated Myelopathy
Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis develops in a small number of carriers of this retrovirus as the result of infection and suppression of CD4+ T-cells. Therapy with steroids has been the mainstay but is not safe or effective for the long term. Mogalizumab shows promise as long-term therapy of this debilitating disease.
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What Are F-Waves and What Do They Tell Us?
The presence or absence of F-waves is an important observation during the electrophysiological investigation of a patient with acute, progressive weakness. But the underlying physiological basis of F-waves has been elusive. This ex vivo animal study showed that F-waves are solely generated by motor nerves arising from the ventral horn of the spinal cord and require intact synapses.