Pujar SS, Martinos MM, Cortina-Borja M, et al. Long-term prognosis after childhood convulsive status epilepticus: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2017 Dec 5 [Epub ahead of print].
Protein Aggregation May Not Affect Cognition in Parkinson’s Disease
Patterns of cortical β-amyloid and tau do not differ between people with Parkinson’s disease who are cognitively normal (PD-CN), people with Parkinson’s disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI), and healthy older adults, according to a study published online ahead of print December 11, 2017, in JAMA Neurology. This cross-sectional study included 29 patients with Parkinson’s disease from a tertiary care medical center and research institutions. Imaging measures were compared with those of 49 healthy control participants. Outcomes were tau PET measurements of groups of patients with PD-CN and PD-MCI. Of the participants, 47 were female, and the mean age was 71.1. Voxelwise contrasts of whole-brain tau PET uptake between patients with PD-CN and patients with PD-MCI, and between patients with Parkinson’s disease and β-amyloid-negative controls, did not reveal significant differences.
Winer JR, Maass A, Pressman P, et al. Associations between tau, β-amyloid, and cognition in Parkinson disease. JAMA Neurol. 2017 Dec 11 [Epub ahead of print].
Hormone Therapy Not Linked to Increased Stroke Risk
Postmenopausal hormone therapy is not associated with increased risk of stroke, provided that it is started early, according to a study published November 17 in PLoS Medicine. Researchers analyzed data on postmenopausal hormone therapy from five cohort studies including 88,914 women, combined with data from national registries on diagnoses and causes of death during a follow-up period. During a median follow-up of 14.3 years, 6,371 first-time stroke events (1,080 hemorrhagic) were recorded. Hormone therapy was not linked to increased risk of stroke if the therapy was initiated within five years of menopausal onset, regardless of means of administration, type of therapy, active substance, and treatment duration. In subanalyses, researchers observed an increase in risk for hemorrhagic stroke if the therapy contained the active substance conjugated equine estrogens.
Carrasquilla GD, Frumento P, Berglund A, et al. Postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of stroke: a pooled analysis of data from population-based cohort studies. PLoS Med. 2017;14(11):e1002445.
Restless Sleep May Be Linked to Parkinson’s Disease
In patients with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (IRBD), PET shows increased microglial activation in the substantia nigra, along with reduced dopaminergic function in the putamen, according to a study published in the October 2017 issue of Lancet Neurology. This prospective, case–control PET study included 20 patients with IRBD and no clinical evidence of parkinsonism and cognitive impairment recruited from tertiary sleep centers and 19 healthy controls. 11C-PK11195 binding was increased on the left side of the substantia nigra in patients with IRBD, compared with controls, but not on the right side. 11C-PK11195 binding was not significantly increased in the putamen and caudate of patients with IRBD. 18F-DOPA uptake was reduced in IRBD in the left putamen and right putamen, but not in the caudate.
Stokholm MG, Iranzo A, Østergaard K, et al. Assessment of neuroinflammation in patients with idiopathic rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder: a case-control study. Lancet Neurol. 2017;16(10):789-796.
Can Playing Video Games Benefit the Brains of Older Adults?
Playing 3D video games may prevent mild cognitive impairment and, perhaps, Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published December 6, 2017, in PLoS One. In two separate studies, adults in their 20s played 3D video games on platforms such as Super Mario 64. The gray matter in their hippocampus increased after training. Researchers examined whether the results could be replicated in healthy seniors. Thirty-three people, ages 55 to 75, were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The video game experimental group engaged in 3D-platform video game training over six months. An active control group took a series of self-directed, computerized piano lessons, and a no-contact control group did not engage in any intervention. Participants in the video-game cohort had increases in gray matter volume in the hippocampus and cerebellum. Their short-term memory also improved.
West GL, Zendel BR, Konishi K, et al. Playing Super Mario 64 increases hippocampal grey matter in older adults. PLoS One. 2017;12(12):e0187779.
FDA Approves Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System
The FDA has approved the Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System (DBS) to treat symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The approval is based on the INTREPID study, a multicenter, prospective, double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled trial of DBS for Parkinson’s disease in the US. The study evaluated the system’s safety and efficacy in 292 patients at 23 sites. The Vercise DBS System successfully met its primary end point of mean change in waking hours with good symptom control. The filing also was supported by safety data from the VANTAGE study, in which 40 patients treated with the system demonstrated a 63% improvement in motor function at 52 weeks from baseline, as measured by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III. Boston Scientific markets Vercise.