Despite improvements in the pre-hospital and critical care management of persons with hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HI-BI) and the conditions with which it is associated, acute and chronic cognitive impairments remain problems for many survivors of such injuries. Disorders of consciousness, attention, speed of processing, and memory impairments, and executive dysfunction are among the most prominent and common disturbances of cognition after HI-BI. Acute interventions, including therapeutic hypothermia, may improve global outcomes after HI-BI, but their specific effects on post-hypoxic cognitive impairments remain uncertain. Additionally, treatments for cognitive impairments after HI-BI are underdeveloped and are generally arrived at by analogy to the treatment of such problems arising from other neurological conditions, especially traumatic brain injury. In the service of offering a practical approach to the evaluation and care of persons with cognitive impairments after HI-BI, the most common types of post-hypoxic cognitive impairments are reviewed. Cognitive outcomes after HI-BI are discussed and suggestions for the nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic neurorehabilitation of these problems are offered.
Colorado death certificate data from 1979 through 2001 show that the risk for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease did not increase for residents of counties where chronic wasting disease is endemic among deer and elk.
Aims: To examine the effects of pioglitazone or endurance exercise training on cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and insulin resistance. Methods: Seventy-eight adults (mean age ± SD: 65 ± 7 years) with central obesity and MCI were randomized to6 months of endurance exercise, pioglitazone or control. Results: Sixty-six participants completed the study. Exercise training did not significantly increase peak oxygen uptake compared to control (p = 0.12). Compared to control, insulin resistance improved in the pioglitazone group (p = 0.002) but not in the exercise group (p = 0.25). There was no measureable effect of pioglitazone or exercise on cognitive performance compared to control. Conclusion: In this pilot study, pioglitazone improved insulin resistance but not cognitive performance in older adults with MCI and insulin resistance.
Delayed post-hypoxic encephalopathy is an uncommon but potentially debilitating consequence of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. This condition is characterized by delayed neurological deterioration days-to-weeks after an initial partial or complete recovery from hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. The course of recovery from this condition is highly variable, ranging from rapid and fatal progression over several weeks to delayed but occasionally complete recovery. There are no reports describing neurorehabilitative, including neuropharmacologic, interventions for persons with persistent neurological and/or neurobehavioural deficits following delayed post-hypoxic encephalopathy. This study describes the case of a 24-year old male who developed delayed post-hypoxic encephalopathy following an unintentional methadone and diazepam overdose and who demonstrated cognitive and neurobehavioural improvements during treatment with amantadine HCl hydrochloride in a single-case, open-label design. A brief review of the literature regarding this condition, its treatment and suggestions for further study are presented.
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