AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALITIS, only fully understood in the two thousands*, can cause psychosis, rapid deterioration in memory, and altered behaviour. As a result, people with this disorder can present to psychiatric/mental health services and professionals, sometimes after being declared ‘psychiatric’ by medical services or professionals. The 2012 book and 2016 film ‘Brain on Fire. My month of madness’ recorded Susannah Calahan’s experience of delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, but with ultimately successful treatment for autoimmune encephalitis (AE). AE occurs when antibodies are…..
Many people with autism, especially some with High Functioning Autism HFA/Aspergers have expressed concerns about therapy for children which prioritizes changing the child’s behaviour to mimic or fit ‘neurotypical norms’ – that is, the norms that apply to usual, non-autistic people. Which is not to argue against early detection and intervention directed towards improving language, adaptive behaviour, daily living skills, functional communication skills. Geraldine Dawson, writing in JAMA Pediatrics*, quotes studies which showed “good” outcomes for individual people whether the…..
MUHAMMAD ALI’S ILLNESS: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or Parkinson disease? Many, including myself, doubted the nineteen-eighties diagnosis of Muhammad Ali’s disabling illness as Parkinson’s disease. Instead, I assumed he must have had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) as a result of many blows to his head during his stellar boxing career. CTE in those days was known as ‘dementia pugilistica’ or ‘punch-drunk syndrome’. This tragic condition has now been found to be more common than previously thought in association with several…..
MELATONIN FOR INSOMNIA: SAFETY CONCERNS. A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association raises concerns about widespread use of melatonin in the USA, particularly in children. The article draws attention to the strong possibility that long term and/or high dose use could have unwanted effects including interfering with onset and progression of puberty. I recommend reading the original article for a much more complete account than I can provide here. Link provided at the end of this…..
Voluntary assisted dying is generally called ‘physician assisted death’ in the USA. I acknowledge that this is a sensitive and divisive issue. However, it is important that as many people as possible, especially in Australia, and whatever their attitude to the issue, should be informed about some aspects of the recent New South Wales (NSW) legislation, where the legislation relates to dementia and mental illness. I emphasise in advance that I am merely reporting on some of the provisions of…..
DBS FOR SEVERE, TREATMENT REFRACTORY OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER. The idea that brain surgery can help someone suffering from a mental illness is still a controversial and, to many people, a confronting one. However, there is now firm evidence that a procedure called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) can improve the lives and relieve the crippling and distressing symptoms for some people suffering from very severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). There have now been four placebo-controlled trials (one of which was Australian) providing…..
BRAIN EFFECTS OF COVID-19. A recent study from Oxford University confirmed that Covid-19 often does produce changes in the brain during and after infection. These changes may explain some of the symptoms of ‘Long Covid’. The study compared MRI imaging before and after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most of the infections studied were not associated with severe illness. Participants in the study who had experienced a Covid-19 infection had more grey matter loss and abnormalities in the area of the brain associated…..
In addition to all the negative effects of infection on individuals, especially older people, Covid has had severe and often fatal indirect effects on the care of older people, including those older people with dementia. During the peak of the recent Omicron wave the exacerbation of existing shortages of skilled workers, and other effects on care had a demonstrable effect on mortality rates in Australian Aged Care. In January 2022 there was a substantial increase in death risk “in aged…..
Recent research has provided strong evidence of an identified area of the brain associated with the control of hunger. Unexpectedly this area is in the cerebellum – the anterior deep cerebellar nuclei – aDCN. Until recent years the role of the cerebellum, at the base of the brain, was thought only to assist with coordination of movement. It is now known to have a wider role in cognition, emotion and behaviour – incidentally including laughing. People with a rare genetically…..
A useful article by Canadian Pat Croskerry, summarises some recent important, relevant and practical information that can help with diagnostic and other decisions. In our lives and work we repeatedly make quick judgments and decisions – that is not only a good thing but essential to ordinary and professional life. A lot of very good research over recent years has looked at the nature of this intuitive and near intuitive thinking – how it happens and how it can go…..