Caffeine for Headaches: Helpful or Harmful? A Brief Review of the Literature.

Consumption of caffeine in the diet, both daily and occasional, has a significant biological effect on the nervous system. Caffeine, through various and not yet fully investigated mechanisms, affects headaches. This is especially noticeable in migraine.

The Pathogenetic Role of Melatonin in Migraine and Its Theoretic Implications for Pharmacotherapy: A Brief Overview of the Research.

Migraine is a chronic disease of global concern, regardless of socio-economic and cultural background. It most often and intensely affects young adults, especially women. Numerous mechanisms of a migraine attack have been identified (disturbances in the reaction of vessels, functions of neurotransmitters, cortical neurons, ion channels, receptors, the process of neurogenic inflammation), and many of its symptoms can be explained by activation of the hypothalamus and disturbances in its communication with other brain regions (including the brainstem).

Magnesium as an Important Factor in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Migraine-From Theory to Practice.

So far, no coherent and convincing theory has been developed to fully explain the pathogenesis of migraine, although many researchers and experts emphasize its association with spreading cortical depression, oxidative stress, vascular changes, nervous excitement, neurotransmitter release, and electrolyte disturbances. The contribution of magnesium deficiency to the induction of cortical depression or abnormal glutamatergic neurotransmission is a likely mechanism of the magnesium-migraine relationship. Hence, there is interest in various methods of assessing magnesium ion deficiency and attempts to study the relationship of its intra- and extracellular levels with the induction of migraine attacks.

Migraine and Its Association with Hyperactivity of Cell Membranes in the Course of Latent Magnesium Deficiency-Preliminary Study of the Importance of the Latent Tetany Presence in the Migraine Pathogenesis.

So far, there is no consistent and convincing theory explaining the pathogenesis of migraines. Vascular disorders, the effect of oxidative stress on neurons, and the contribution of magnesium-calcium deficiencies in triggering cortical depression and abnormal glutaminergic neurotransmission are taken into account. However, there are no reliable publications confirming the role of dietary deficits of magnesium and latent tetany as factors triggering migraine attacks.

Variability in melatonin concentration in blood serum of patients with episodic migraine: a pilot study.

Aim Of Study: This study was aimed at assessing the possible effect of melatonin concentration on migraine. The serum concentration profile of melatonin in patients with diagnosed episodic migraine in the interictal period was compared to the profile in patients without migraine. Then, a correlation between the frequency and duration of migraine attacks, and the possible relationship between these parameters and melatonin levels in individual patients, was established.

Evaluation of activities of daily living in patients with slowly progressive neuromuscular diseases.

Slowly progressive neuromuscular diseases include but are not limited to: facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (HMSN) and spinal muscular atrophy type III (SMA3). The purpose of this study is to present an evaluation of basic and complex activities of daily living in patients suffering from these diseases. The study was conducted on a group of 58 Polish patients: 25 patients with HMSN, 19 with LGMD and FSHD and 14 with SMA3.

Low-symptomatic skeletal muscle disease in patients with a cardiac disease - Diagnostic approach in skeletal muscle laminopathies.

Mild skeletal muscle symptoms might be accompanied with severe cardiac disease, sometimes indicating a serious inherited disorder. Very often it is a cardiologist who refers a patient with cardiomyopathy and/or cardiac arrhythmia and discrete muscle disease for neurological consultation, which helps to establish a proper diagnosis. Here we present three families in which a diagnosis of skeletal muscle laminopathy was made after careful examination of the members, who presented with cardiac arrhythmia and/or heart failure and a mild skeletal muscle disease, which together with positive family history allowed to direct the molecular diagnostics and then provide appropriate treatment and counseling.

Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy type 2 associated (?) with mild peripheral polyneuropathy.

In recent years numerous mutations in the LMNA gene encoding lamin A/C were shown to segregate with a wide spectrum of phenotypes. A recurrent p.R377H mutation in the LMNA gene was reported in patients with Emery-Dreifuss dystrophy (EDMD2) with various ethnic backgrounds.

A severe recessive and a mild dominant form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease associated with a newly identified Glu222Lys GDAP1 gene mutation.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease caused by mutations in the GDAP1 gene has been shown to be inherited via traits that may be either autosomal recessive (in the majority of cases) [CMT4A] or autosomal dominant [CMT2K]. CMT4A disease is characterized by an early onset, and a severe clinical course often leading to a loss of ambulation, whereas CMT2K is characterized by a mild clinical course of benign axonal neuropathy beginning even in the 6th decade of life. Clinical data from a GDAP1 mutated patient suggests that the presence of a particular mutation is associated with a certain trait of inheritance.

[Electrophysiological evaluation of peripheral nerves in ischemic lower limbs].

The study concerned electrophysiological parameters during stimulation of peroneal, tibial, sural and femoral nerves of patients with ischemia of lower limbs. The disease was clinically verified and confirmed on the basis of an ankle-brachial index (ABI). Peripheral nerves injuries caused by other reasons have been excluded from the research.