For immediate release (April 9, 1998)
Doctors Look For Answers to Brain Diseases Through Space, Underwater Research at Washington Meeting; Sen. John Glenn To Be Featured Speaker
WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- The links between underwater and space research and possible solutions to a host of neurological problems -- such brain injury, stroke and epilepsy -- will be explored at a Washington, D.C., meeting by the Space and Underwater Neurology Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology.
Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) will be the featured speaker at a plenary session on Monday, May 11, at 1 p.m. at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (formerly the Washington Sheraton Hotel). His topic is "A Vision for Space as a Vehicle for Aging Research."
Glenn, one of the original astronauts, will become the oldest person to venture into space this fall aiming to conduct space-based research on aging. Aging and space flight share a number of similar physiological responses, such as bone and muscle loss, balance disorders and sleep disturbances.
Also speaking at that plenary session are Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director of the National Institute on Aging, and Arnauld Nicogossian, M.D., associate NASA administrator for Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications. The agencies are cosponsoring Glenn's flight.
James Collier M.D., director of NASA's Aerospace Medicine Division, will deliver a report on Neurolab, the 16-day space shuttle mission dedicated to the nervous system, brain and behavioral research, at 7:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 12.
The meeting, called the Congress on Cerebral Ischemia, Vascular Dementia, Epilepsy and CNS Injury, will focus on new aspects of prevention and treatment from the discoveries from space and underwater exploration. The meeting is May 10-13 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park. Investigators from around the world -- including Russia, Germany, Austria, South America and the United States -- will present papers or scientific posters describing results of recent research.
"This will be an international forum for scientific communication among a global network of neurologists, neuroscientists, biomedical engineers, and scientists specializing in space, environmental and underwater physiology and pathophysiology," said James F. Toole M.D. president of the World Federation of Neurology and one of two conference chairs, along with Franz Gerstenbrand of Vienna, Austria.
"There will be extensive opportunity for these groups and others to develop international collaborations regarding prevention, recognition and management of persons at excess risk for neurologic deficit, particularly those suffering from cerebrovascular problems, dementia, central nervous system trauma, and other disorders which cause brain dysfunction on earth and in space," said Toole, Teagle Professor of Neurology and director of the Stroke Research Center at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
The meeting will have separate symposiums that focus on hyperbaric medicine -- use of oxygen under higher than normal atmospheric pressure, on epilepsy, on prevention and management of brain injury, on use of hyperbaric medicine on acute injuries of the central nervous system, and on a number of other topics.
A major question at the meeting is whether some of the lessons learned in space and in undersea research can be transferred to patient care or prevention of illness.
For instance, it turns out that the deconditioning that occurs during extended space flight is very similar to the effects of prolonged bed rest.
Prolonged airline travel can be dangerous. Russell Rayman MD, executive director of the Aerospace Medical Association, will be talking about the plethora of risks associated with airline travel -- particularly for long distances. Toole explained that the longer the flight, the greater the risk of blood clots blocking critical arteries or veins and causing stroke or other conditions.
Dr. Steven Thom, president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, will explain current theories about how hyperbaric oxygen works.
Researchers at the conference will be planning for an acute stroke trial to test the value of using hyperbaric oxygen on stroke patients to slow down the destruction of brain tissue. That could extend the time when use of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is useful from its current limit of three hours after the stroke begins.
The increase in tissue oxygen achievable by hyperbaric oxygen would support brain cells that would then benefit from restored blood flow after the tPA dissolves the clot. The combined process would increase the possibility of survival from stroke without longterm damage.
Among the sponsors of the meeting are NASA, the Aerospace Medical Association, the European Space Agency, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine, the American affiliate of the International Stroke Society, the National Stroke Association and companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Glaxo Wellcome Inc. and Transworld Information Systems Inc.
NASA's Collier and James G. McCormick Ph.D. of Winston-Salem, representing the World Federation of Neurology, will co-chair the session featuring Glenn.
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Contact: Robert Conn, Mark Wright or Jim Steele at 336-716-4587.
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