A Memorial for Harry Grundfest

A Memorial for Harry Grundfest (1904 - 1983) Harry Grundfest was an American neurologist. He was the president of the Association of Scientific Workers, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, professor emeritus of neurology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, a member of the Physiological Society of London and the Japanese Physiological Society. He was also the chairman of the American Medical Advisory Board to Hebrew University and the Hadassah Medical School. He received the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government, which is the highest award given to foreigners and seldom is given to U.S. scientists. He also received the Claude Bernard Medal of the Sorbonne, as well as the Physicians and Surgeons Distinguished Service Award from Columbia University. His research at the Rockefeller Institute (1935-45) was done in collaboration with H. S. Gasser. Their work was a milestone in neurophysiology, determining for the first time the different nerve fiber types whose action potentials compose the compound spike of nerve bundles, and describing the relationship between nerve fiber diameter and conduction velocity.https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/artifacts-ephemera/1049/thumbnail.jp

Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Neurological disorders are increasingly recognised as major causes of death and disability worldwide. The aim of this analysis from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 is to provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the global, regional, and national burden from neurological disorders. METHODS: We estimated prevalence, incidence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs; the sum of years of life lost [YLLs] and years lived with disability [YLDs]) by age and sex for 15 neurological disorder categories (tetanus, meningitis, encephalitis, stroke, brain and other CNS cancers, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron diseases, idiopathic epilepsy, migraine, tension-type headache, and a residual category for other less common neurological disorders) in 195 countries from 1990 to 2016. DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, was the main method of estimation of prevalence and incidence, and the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm) was used for mortality estimation. We quantified the contribution of 84 risks and combinations of risk to the disease estimates for the 15 neurological disorder categories using the GBD comparative risk assessment approach. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2016, neurological disorders were the leading cause of DALYs (276 million [95% UI 247-308]) and second leading cause of deaths (9·0 million [8·8-9·4]). The absolute number of deaths and DALYs from all neurological disorders combined increased (deaths by 39% [34-44] and DALYs by 15% [9-21]) whereas their age-standardised rates decreased (deaths by 28% [26-30] and DALYs by 27% [24-31]) between 1990 and 2016. The only neurological disorders that had a decrease in rates and absolute numbers of deaths and DALYs were tetanus, meningitis, and encephalitis. The four largest contributors of neurological DALYs were stroke (42·2% [38·6-46·1]), migraine (16·3% [11·7-20·8]), Alzheimer's and other dementias (10·4% [9·0-12·1]), and meningitis (7·9% [6·6-10·4]). For the combined neurological disorders, age-standardised DALY rates were significantly higher in males than in females (male-to-female ratio 1·12 [1·05-1·20]), but migraine, multiple sclerosis, and tension-type headache were more common and caused more burden in females, with male-to-female ratios of less than 0·7. The 84 risks quantified in GBD explain less than 10% of neurological disorder DALY burdens, except stroke, for which 88·8% (86·5-90·9) of DALYs are attributable to risk factors, and to a lesser extent Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (22·3% [11·8-35·1] of DALYs are risk attributable) and idiopathic epilepsy (14·1% [10·8-17·5] of DALYs are risk attributable). INTERPRETATION: Globally, the burden of neurological disorders, as measured by the absolute number of DALYs, continues to increase. As populations are growing and ageing, and the prevalence of major disabling neurological disorders steeply increases with age, governments will face increasing demand for treatment, rehabilitation, and support services for neurological disorders. The scarcity of established modifiable risks for most of the neurological burden demonstrates that new knowledge is required to develop effective prevention and treatment strategies

Amantadine can Ameliorate Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction and Nocturnal Polyuria in Patients with Parkinson Disease and Vascular Parkinsonism

Background:Amantadine is a drug used for patients with Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) and vascular parkinsonism (VP). These patients often have lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and nocturnal polyuria (NP). Thus, we investigated the effect of amantadine on these in parkinsonian patients.Methods:Twenty-two patients with LUTS, including 13 with PD and nine with VP, were recruited. We performed a urinary questionnaire, frequency-volume chart, and residual urine (RU) measurement before and after daily administration of 150 mg and 300 mg amantadine.Results:Before amantadine administration, mean daytime urinary frequency was 9.07(standard error [SE], 0.64), nighttime urinary frequency 2.89 (0.24), urinary urgency per week 24.2 (6.69), urge incontinence per month 15.1( 9.94), urine volume per void 145.6( 12.6) mL, and residual urine volume 12.5( 6.30) mL. After daily 150 mg amantadine administration, mean daytime and nighttime urinary frequency, urinary urgency, and urge incontinence decreased to 6.9( 0.42), 1.97( 0.21), 13.0( 3.58), and 14.2( 10.2), respectively, and urine volume per void increased to 174.1( 11.3) mL. NP( N=8) was ameliorated in six patients. No patient had side effects. After daily 300 mg amantadine administration( N=8), mean daytime and nighttimeurinary frequency, urinary urgency, and urge incontinence decreased to 6.90 (0.33), 1.69 (0.10), 5.88 (1.61), and 2.31 (0.61), respectively, and urine volume per void increased to180.2 (15.0) mL. NP (N=4) was ameliorated in two patients. One patient developed hallucination, and two patients developed flashing sensation.Conclusion:Amantadine has beneficial effects on LUTS and NP in patients with VP and PD