Lancet neurology
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This overview of population-based studies of incidence, prevalence, mortality, and case-fatality of stroke was based on studies from 1990. Incidence (first stroke in an individual's lifetime) and prevalence were computed by age, sex, and stroke type. ⋯ The main features of stroke epidemiology include modest geographical variation in incidence, prevalence, and case-fatality among the--predominantly white--populations studied so far, and a stabilisation or reversal in the declining secular trends in the pre-1990s rates, especially in older people. However, further research that uses the best possible methods to study the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of stroke are urgently needed in other populations of the world, especially in less developed countries where the risk of stroke is high, lifestyles are changing rapidly, and population restructuring is occurring.
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Review Comparative Study
Intravenous immunoglobulin for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: a systematic review.
This review discusses the efficacy and safety in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) of intravenous immunoglobulin and compares this treatment with plasma exchange and prednisolone. We searched publications from 1985 onwards for randomised controlled studies examining the effects of intravenous immunoglobulin in patients with this immune-mediated neuromuscular disorder. ⋯ During this period, intravenous immunoglobulin has similar efficacy to plasma exchange and oral prednisolone; therefore which of these treatments should be the first choice is currently uncertain. An algorithm on treatment approaches for CIDP is proposed.
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Despite the many studies into the history of headache, the ways in which the disorder was treated in medieval Persia are not well known in the west. Several documents still exist from which the definitions and treatments of headache in medieval Persia can be ascertained. These documents give detailed and precise clinical information on different types of headache. ⋯ The medieval writings are both accurate and vivid, and they provide long lists of substances used in the treatment of headaches. Many of the approaches of physicians in medieval Persia are accepted today; however, still more of them could be of use to modern medicine. The main objective of this paper is to review the clinical approaches to headache used by practitioners in medieval Persia.
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Biography Historical Article
Santiago Ramón y Cajal and the Spanish school of neurology.
Advances in neurology are now possible thanks to the endeavours of a few scientists who in the past laid firm foundations for the study of the nervous system. Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) was one such pioneer of brain exploration and is acknowledged as the founder of modern neuroscience. He described the structure and organisation of virtually all parts of the nervous system and developed theories, including the neuron doctrine and the law of functional polarisation, that are the cornerstones of neuroscience. In addition to devoting his life to research, Ramón y Cajal was a dedicated teacher and mentor and created a school that greatly contributed to the flourishing of neurology.