Category: Neuroscience/Mental Health
The NFL and Brain Injury
Last week I wrote about traumatic brain injury (TBI). By coincidence, the BMJ just published a study looking at a type of TBI called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated head injuries over a long period of time, even those not severe enough to cause an acute TBI. They were looking specifically at former NFL football players, because that...
“Autism biomed” is now in charge of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
The NIH announced that Dr. John Gaitanis, who has served as expert witness for plaintiffs of "vaccine injury" cases and is affiliated with the autism biomed quackery group MAPS, will lead the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Lysenko marches on.
Preventing Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects tens of millions of people worldwide each year with about 5 million deaths. For those who survive there is often permanent neurological impairment. TBI is therefore a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed. The largest international study of TBI was recently published in Nature Medicine, providing some insight into how best to approach the...
NYT Article on Rapid Prompting Method
This is one of those stories that will not go away, and a recent NYT article is fresh evidence of that. The title is: An Autism Breakthrough, or an Illusion? The Fight Over Assisted Spelling.” I always approach such articles cautiously, bracing myself for the cringing experience of reading a non-expert butcher such topics in depressingly predictable ways. This article was not...
Stem Cell Therapy for Autism
If you are a parent of a young child with autism (especially level 2 or 3, requiring significant support), the promise of a cure or even an effective treatment is irresistible. This is exactly why there needs to be science-based regulatory standards – to protect vulnerable patients and their loved-ones. RFK Jr., however, wants to weaken these protections – even removing from...
In Animal Study, Nanobots Repair Spinal Cords
For my entire career as a neurologist the ability to repair an injured spinal cord has been one of the holy grails. There has always been promising new research that definitely increases our knowledge but doesn’t lead to an effective treatment. This is not for lack of trying – I also remember the period when Christopher Reeve was a tireless promoter of...
New Review Casts Doubt On Alzheimers Drugs But Is Controversial
There's a lot less than meets the eye to a recent Cochrane review that casts doubt on the efficacy of drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
Creatine Supplements for Brain Function
There is a long history of supplements marketed to enhance memory, focus, overall cognitive function, and brain health. None of them are backed by quality scientific evidence, and they seem to go through the typical conveyor belt of claims – by the time one claim is collapsing, such as ginkgo biloba, the industry is happy to move on to the next. The...
Stem Cell Stroke Therapy
We have written quite a bit about fraudulent stem cell clinics. They have followed a typical pattern of overhyping new potential therapies, with some clinics going as far as selling fake stem cell treatments. Stem cells were a likely target – they sound extremely advanced, their potential is easy to understand, and you can use them to justify extreme claims of healing....
Tylenol and Autism
Earlier this year, HHS secretary RFK Jr. predicted that, “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” Scientists have been researching autism for decades, including what factors are driving changes in diagnostic patterns. Promising such a major breakthrough in just six months is beyond ridiculous, and strongly implies that RFK Jr....