Kathlyn Stone

An analysis of 1274 patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) admitted to a single Colorado medical center over a 2-year period found that application of any acute stroke treatment strategy improved the patients’ NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score.

The total direct and indirect costs for treating patients with chronic migraines (CM) are 2.6 times higher than costs associated with episodic migraine (EM). Containing those costs through better management of the illness should be a priority, according to migraine researchers who led a nationwide study comparing the costs of CM and EM as part of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study.

Thirteen years have passed since intravenous tissue plasminogen activator was approved for treating patients with acute ischemic stroke, but some experts think hospitals-even those designated as primary stroke centers-have been slow to implement the strategy.

Sleep disorders are common in persons older than 70 years, according to a large community-based study of age-related diseases and cognitive functioning. The most common disorder, sleep-related leg cramps, occurred in 32% of the study participants, according to investigator Jennifer Molano, MD, a behavioral neurology fellow at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Researchers have identified 2 gene variations that are resistant to interferon ß therapy. This finding could lead to a biomarker for determining when IFN-ß is appropriate for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.