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Having health issues such as smoking, high cholesterol or a high body mass index (BMI) in your 20s may make you more likely to have problems with thinking and memory skills and even the brain’s ability to properly regulate its blood flow, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 72nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020.

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Pingpong may hold promise as a possible form of physical therapy for Parkinson’s disease. People with Parkinson’s who participated in a pingpong exercise program once a week for six months showed improvement in their Parkinson’s symptoms, according to a preliminary study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 72nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020.

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As out-of-pocket costs go up for drugs for the neurologic disorders Alzheimer’s disease, peripheral neuropathy and Parkinson’s disease, people are less likely to take the drugs as often as their doctors prescribed, according to a study funded by the American Academy of Neurology and published in the February 19, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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It is not uncommon for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder to struggle with sleep. Trouble falling asleep and staying asleep or refusing to go to bed are just some of the sleep problems they can experience. To help families, neurologists and other healthcare providers make decisions on the best treatments, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has issued a new guideline for sleep problems in children and teens with autism, published in the February 12, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Cluster headaches are short but extremely painful headaches that can occur many days, or even weeks, in a row. Now a new study has found that people who have this debilitating form of headache may miss twice as many days of work as people without such headaches. The study is published in the February 5, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People who eat or drink more foods with the antioxidant flavonol, which is found in nearly all fruits and vegetables as well as tea, may be less likely to develop Alzheimer’s dementia years later, according to a study published in the January 29, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Does race play a role in how well someone recovers after stroke? New research focused on younger people who have had a hemorrhagic stroke found that young black and Latino people may be less likely than young white people to be disabled or even die within three months after a stroke. The new study is published in the January 22, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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The cost of prescriptions for multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs nearly tripled over seven years, and the introduction of a generic version of one of the most common drugs had little overall effect on prices, according to a study published in the January 15, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A preliminary study has found that when young, healthy men were deprived of just one night of sleep, they had higher levels of tau, a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, in their blood than when they had a full, uninterrupted night of rest. The study is published in the January 8, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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The scientific community has long believed that beta-amyloid, a protein that can clump together and form sticky plaques in the brain, is the first sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Beta-amyloid then leads to other brain changes including neurodegeneration and eventually to thinking and memory problems. But a new study challenges that theory. The study suggests that subtle thinking and memory differences may come before, or happen alongside, the development of amyloid plaques that can be detected in the brain. The study is published in the December 30, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A large study that followed more than one million women for nearly two decades has found that obesity in midlife is linked to a greater risk of dementia later in life; however, poor diet and lack of exercise are not. The study is published in the December 18, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People who take long naps during the day or sleep nine or more hours at night may have an increased risk of stroke, according to a study published in the December 11, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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For people with many neurologic disorders, seeing the neurologist by video may be as effective as an in-person visit, according to a review of the evidence conducted by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The evidence review examined all available studies on use of telemedicine for several neurologic conditions – stroke being one of the conditions that is well-validated and highly utilizes telemedicine – and is published in the December 4, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the AAN. The results indicate that a diagnosis from a neurologist by video for certain neurologic conditions is likely to be as accurate as an in-person visit.

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Researchers have identified nine cases of people who lost their ability to swim after having a deep brain stimulation device implanted to control symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The new research is published in the November 27, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. All nine people had been good swimmers even after their Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. But once they had deep brain stimulation surgery, researchers found while other movement symptoms improved, their swimming skills deteriorated.

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People with tremors in their hands, head or voice may find some relief for up to three years from a treatment using ultrasound waves to destroy the area of the brain causing the tremor, according to a study published in the November 20, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The treatment is used for people whose tremors do not improve with medication.

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New research has found that people who are illiterate, meaning they never learned to read or write, may have nearly three times greater risk of developing dementia than people who can read and write. The study is published in the November 13, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People who have trouble sleeping may be more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or other cerebrovascular or cardiovascular diseases, according to a study published in the November 6, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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How well eight-year-olds score on a test of thinking skills may be a predictor of how they will perform on tests of thinking and memory skills when they are 70 years old, according to a study published in the October 30, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that education level and socioeconomic status were also predictors of thinking and memory performance. Socioeconomic status was determined by people’s occupation at age 53.

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How long does it take an athlete to recover from a concussion? New research has found an athlete’s brain may still not be fully recovered one year after being allowed to return to play. The study is published in the October 16, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Using sex-specific scores on memory tests may change who gets diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by 20 percent, with possibly more women and fewer men being diagnosed, according to a study published in the October 9, 2019, online issue of Neurology®

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Young adults who experience annual income drops of 25 percent or more may be more at risk of having thinking problems and reduced brain health in middle age, according to a study published in the October 2, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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There may be some good news for people with vestibular migraine, a type of migraine that causes vertigo and dizziness with or without headache pain. A small, preliminary study suggests that non-invasive nerve stimulation may show promise as a treatment for vestibular migraine attacks, a condition for which there are currently no approved treatments. The study is published in the September 25, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People with mild cognitive impairment have thinking and memory problems but usually do not know it because such problems are not severe enough to affect their daily activities. Yet mild cognitive impairment can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

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Even before a dementia diagnosis, people with mild cognitive impairment may have different changes in the brain depending on what type of dementia they have, according to a study published in the September 11, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Could a chemical produced by the brain that regulates mood, sleep and breathing also be protective in people with epilepsy? New research has found that higher levels of serotonin in the blood after a seizure are linked to a lower incidence of seizure-related breathing problems called apneas, when a person temporarily stops breathing. The study is published in the September 4, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Can a person with multiple sclerosis (MS) get regular vaccines? According to a new guideline, the answer is yes. The guideline, developed by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), recommends that people with MS receive recommended vaccinations, including yearly flu shots. The guideline is published in the August 28, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the AAN

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A new study finds that up to 10 percent of people with headaches also have facial pain. The study is published in the August 21, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Having either low or high levels of hemoglobin in your blood may be linked to an increased risk of developing dementia years later, according to a study published in the July 31, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Having a bigger waistline and a high body mass index (BMI) in your 60s may be linked with greater signs of brain aging years later, according to a study published in the July 24, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study suggests that these factors may accelerate brain aging by at least a decade.

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The style of tackling used in rugby may be associated with a lower force of impact than the style used in football, according to a preliminary study of college athletes released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology Sports Concussion Conference in Indianapolis July 26–28, 2019.

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A new study has found that mentally stimulating activities like using a computer, playing games, crafting and participating in social activities are linked to a lower risk or delay of age-related memory loss called mild cognitive impairment, and that the timing and number of these activities may also play a role. The study is published in the July 10, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A study of high school and college football players suggests that biomarkers in the blood may have potential use in identifying which players are more likely to need a longer recovery time after concussion, according to a study published in the July 3, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A study of high school and college football players suggests that biomarkers in the blood may have potential use in identifying which players are more likely to need a longer recovery time after concussion, according to a study published in the July 3, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People who have a high body mass index (BMI) or who gain weight as they get older may have a lower risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, according to a large study published in the June 26, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People with epilepsy have a rare risk of sudden death. A new study shows that risk may apply even to people whose epilepsy is well-controlled, which is contrary to previous, smaller studies that showed the risk was highest among those with severe, difficult-to-treat epilepsy. The new study is published in the June 19, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A new study finds that people who have movement problems, symptoms that cannot be explained by an underlying disease, may have chemical changes in specific areas of the brain. The study is published in the June 5, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. These symptoms, which include tremors, muscle contractions or problems with walking, are called functional or psychogenic motor symptoms.

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What if wearing a blood pressure cuff could help prevent stroke? In a new study, people who restricted their blood flow by wearing inflated blood pressure cuffs on an arm and leg showed signs of more controlled blood flow to their brain, a process that could be protective if blood flow is more severely restricted in the event of a stroke, according at a study published in the May 29, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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People who have bipolar disorder may be more likely to later develop Parkinson’s disease than people who do not have bipolar disorder, according at a study published in the May 22, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Vertigo is a form of severe dizziness that can result in a loss of balance, a feeling of falling, trouble walking or standing, or nausea. There is more than one type of vertigo, each with a different cause, and sometimes requiring different treatment. Now a proof-of-concept study has found that special goggles that measure eye movements during an episode of vertigo may help more accurately diagnose which type of vertigo a person has. The study is published in the May 15, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A study of a blood pressure drug does not show any benefit for people with Parkinson’s disease, according to findings released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019. The drug isradipine had shown promise in small, early studies and hopes were high that this could be the first drug to slow the progression of the disease.

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An early stage trial of an investigational therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suggests that people could tolerate the experimental drug and, in exploratory results, the experimental drug was linked to possible slower progression in people with a genetic form of the disease caused by mutations in a gene called superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). The preliminary study released today will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019.

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The amount of money people pay out-of-pocket for drugs to treat neurologic conditions like multiple sclerosis, dementia and Parkinson’s disease has risen sharply over 12 years, with the most dramatic increase for multiple sclerosis (MS) medications, according to a study published in the May 1, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study, funded by the American Academy of Neurology, found that average out-of-pocket costs for people taking MS drugs were 20 times higher in 2016 than they were in 2004.

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Taking a pharmaceutical formulation of cannabidiol, a cannabis-based medicine, cut seizures nearly in half for children with a rare and severe type of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, according to a phase 3 study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, May 4 to 10, 2019. Dravet syndrome, which starts in infancy, can lead to intellectual disability and frequent, prolonged seizures. Cannabidiol is derived from marijuana that does not include the psychoactive part of the plant that creates a “high.”

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There is now further evidence that a drug that is effective in treating the rare muscle-wasting disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) early in life may be associated with improvement in older children, according to a study published in the April 24, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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In a small, pilot study, a non-invasive device that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain was associated with temporary improvements in age-related memory loss in older people, according to a study published in the April 17, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol reduces the risk of heart attacks and stroke, with an ideal value below 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). But can it be too low? A new study finds that women who have levels of LDL cholesterol 70 mg/dL or lower may be more than twice as likely to have a hemorrhagic stroke than women with LDL cholesterol levels from 100 to 130 mg/dL. The study is published in the April 10, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Some studies have suggested that minerals such as zinc and iron may play a role in how multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses, once people have been diagnosed with it. But little was known about whether zinc, iron and other minerals play a role in the development of the disease. A new study shows no link between dietary intake of several minerals and whether people later develop MS. The study is published in the April 3, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Women who start their period later, go through menopause earlier or have a hysterectomy may have a greater risk of developing dementia, according to a new study published in the March 27, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found a link between increased risk of dementia and fewer total reproductive years when women are exposed to higher levels of estrogen hormones.

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Some studies have suggested that people who are younger when they enter puberty are more likely to later develop multiple sclerosis (MS). But a new study attributes that link to body mass index (BMI). The study is published in the March 20, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Having a parent with Alzheimer’s disease has been known to raise a person’s risk of developing the disease, but new research suggests that having second- and third-degree relatives who have had Alzheimer’s may also increase risk. The study is published in the March 13, 2019, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.