Many of you will have seen Bill Murray’s star performance in the 1990’s comedy classic, Groundhog Day, the story of a man who is forced to re-live the same day over and over again. In clinical neurology, Groundhog Days can occur once in a while but we are particularly blessed in having a wide variety […]
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An encounter with Oliver Sacks
How often is one in the company of greatness? Perhaps you are quite impressive yourself, and to be in a like-minded assemblage is an everyday affair. However, even flinging self-deprecation aside, I would class myself as only ‘reasonably good’. So spending the gloaming hours on a Sydney winter’s eve with the eminent neurologist and author […]
A Themed Issue for JNNP
In the April issue of the journal, we launched the first of JNNP’s mini-themed issues, with a focus on how clinical research was making in-roads in the search for the common and overlapping threads that bind amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and fronto-temporal dementia (FTD). This theme was particularly timely, given the recent discovery of the […]
Complex regional pain syndrome: what is it?
Have you ever had a fracture? If you have, then you are probably aware of how difficult it can be to recover. Today, we have Hannah Pickering, a neuroscientist in Sydney, who provides us with an update on complex regional pain syndrome, a poorly understood neurological disorder that may occur with limb immobilisation. Over to […]
The language of peripheral neuropathy
In daily neurological practice, peripheral neuropathy remains one of the most common reasons for neurological referral. The worldwide diabetes epidemic will no doubt ensure that more and more patients are seen with the classic syndrome of length-dependent sensory and motor impairment that inevitably sets in train a range of investigations: nerve conduction studies, blood tests […]
Lithium debunked for ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brainstem, and motor cortex, with ea median survival of 3-5 years. At present, there is no cure for ALS, and the currently available treatments are of limited efficacy. Recently, a neuroprotective benefit of lithium carbonate was reported in […]
HEXANUCLEOTIDE REPEAT EXPANSION IN C9ORF72: A POTENTIAL GAME CHANGER FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive disorder of motor neurons in the cortex, brainstem and spinal cord, for which there is no cure. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying ALS remain to be fully elucidated, although approximately 10% of cases were previously regarded as familial. Mutations in the superoxide dismuate-1 gene (SOD-1) were first reported […]
Exercise and motor neurone disease
What advice should a neurologist provide to ALS patients about exercise?
In the midpoint of the 1938 season, it became clear there was a problem. James Kahn, a reporter who wrote often about Gehrig, wrote in one article:
“I think there is something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don’t know what it is, but I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers ‘go’ overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It’s something deeper than that in this case, though.” […]
The Impact Commentary
The Impact Commentary, launched in the January 2012 issue, provide a modern perspective on the most highly cited JNNP papers of all time. […]
The Hospital for Incurables: what’s in a name?
By our roving blogger Dr Susanna Park Directly over the fence from my new home, there lies a complex with an impressive Victorian façade, proclaimed as the Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability. It is clear that this facility has been operating here for a long time, probably ever since the Victorian era. What was the […]