Compared to civilians, veterans experience a greater delay in diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), according to a study published in the September 6 Neurology. “PNES are frequently encountered in epilepsy monitoring units and can result in significant long-term disability,” the investigators wrote. “We reviewed our experience with veterans undergoing seizure evaluation in the epilepsy monitoring units to determine the time delay to diagnosis of PNES, the frequency of PNES, and cumulative antiepileptic drug treatment.” They found that PNES were identified in 25% of veterans and 26% of civilians admitted to epilepsy monitoring units, and that the average delay from onset to diagnosis was about five years for veterans and one year for civilians. In addition, treatment with antiepileptic drugs was four times greater for veterans with PNES compared with civilians.
Rates of hospitalizations for ischemic stroke in adolescents and young adults increased up to 37% between 1995 and 2008, according to a study published in the September 2 online Annals of Neurology. Investigators analyzed discharge data for patients between the ages of 5 and 44 hospitalized for ischemic stroke, as well as information about comorbidites and stroke risk factors. The prevalence of hospitalizations increased among all age and gender groups, except females ages 5 to 14 years, the researchers reported. The most common coexisting conditions among the study population were hypertension, diabetes, obesity, lipid disorders, and tobacco use; these were increased among patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke. “Our results … accentuate the need for public health initiatives to reduce risk factors for stroke among adolescents and young adults,” the investigators concluded.
Researchers have identified a mutation in the sigma-1 receptor that is responsible for the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The results of the study, appearing in the August 12 online Annals of Neurology, could lead to the development of potential therapeutic targets for the disease. “We performed homozygosity and direct sequencing to detect the genetic variant and tested the effect of this variant on a motor neuron-like cell line model expressing the wild-type or mutant gene,” the investigators explained. They identified a shared homozygosity region in persons with the disease; they also observed that cells expressing the mutant protein were less resistant to apoptosis induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress. “Sigma-1 receptors are known to have neuroprotective properties,” the authors concluded. “Our findings emphasize the role of sigma-1 receptors in motor neuron function and disease.”