Cerebral vasculopathy after 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine ingestion.

Background: 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) is a designer-drug variant of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) whose recreational use has increased significantly over the last 10 years. Neurologic consequences of 2C-B usage are currently unknown.

Case Report: A 43-year-old woman experienced severe headaches within 48 hours of taking liquid 2C-B, after which time she developed progressive encephalopathy and quadraparesis, which did not improve over several months.

Confronting the growing burden of chronic disease: can the U.S. health care workforce do the job?

The U.S. chronic illness burden is increasing and is felt more strongly in minority and low-income populations: in 2005, 133 million Americans had at least one chronic condition.

Memory for facial expressions: the power of a smile.

Faces with expressions (happy, surprise, anger, fear) were presented at study. Memory for facial expressions was tested by presenting the same faces with neutral expressions and asking participants to determine the expression that had been displayed at study. In three experiments, happy expressions were remembered better than other expressions.

Seizures and metabolic disease.

Seizures represent an important clinical manifestation of inborn errors of metabolism. The presence of myoclonic seizures and very early onset are clues to a metabolic disorder. Specific correlations between age of seizure onset and electroencephalogram patterns with inborn errors of metabolism are discussed.