Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Related Motor Neuron Diseases: An Overview.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative motor neuron disease, resulting in the destruction and ultimate death of neurons that control muscles. ALS affects motor neurons in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord (upper motor neurons, bulbar region of the brain, and lower motor neurons). ALS patients have an average life expectancy of 3-5 years, therefore, proper diagnosis, care, and treatment is essential in order to provide the best quality of life for these patients.

Mortality benefits of population-wide adherence to national physical activity guidelines: a prospective cohort study.

We quantified the mortality benefits and attributable fractions associated with engaging in physical activity across a range of levels, including those recommended by national guidelines. Data were from the Allied Dunbar National Fitness Survey, a population-based prospective cohort comprising 1,796 male and 2,122 female participants aged 16-96 years, randomly selected from 30 English constituencies in 1990. Participants were tagged for mortality at the Office for National Statistics.

Technical tips: methods of warming and maintaining limb temperature during nerve conduction studies.

Many physiologic and nonphysiologic factors contribute to performing correct or incorrect nerve conduction studies. Nonphysiologic factors such as filter settings, averaging techniques, stimulus artifact, and supramaximal stimulation are just a few of the ones encountered during the nerve conduction study examination. Physiologic factors such as muscle atrophy, tremors and spasticity, edema, and profuse sweating are physical conditions that may pose technical problems during the study.

Is adult education associated with reduced coronary heart disease risk?

Background: Although there is consistent evidence that higher levels of education are associated with better health and reduced disease risk, there is little evidence on whether this is true throughout the lifecourse. This study examines whether additional higher educational qualifications acquired later on in adulthood are associated with a reduction in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk over and above qualifications from earlier on in life.

Methods: The National Child Development Study 1958 British birth cohort was analysed, with data at birth, age 7 (1965), age 23 (1981), 42 (2000) and age 44 years (2002).

RNA interference (RNAi)-induced suppression of nicotine demethylase activity reduces levels of a key carcinogen in cured tobacco leaves.

Technologies for reducing the levels of tobacco product constituents that may contribute to unwanted health effects are desired. Target compounds include tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), a class of compounds generated through the nitrosation of pyridine alkaloids during the curing and processing of tobacco. Studies have reported the TSNA N'-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals.

Race disparities in psychiatric rates in emergency departments.

Psychiatric diagnoses based on the International Classification of Diseases--Ninth Revision were examined in the medical discharge records of 33,000 emergency department (ED) patients to determine if (a) psychiatric disorders were underdiagnosed, (b) there were race and gender disparities in psychiatric rates, and (c) psychiatric rates varied as a function of type of injury (e.g., self vs.