NeuroFrontiers

Host: Michele Longo, MD Medical gaslighting refers to the situation where a medical professional disregards an individual's health concerns. It most often affects patients suffering from neurological disorders like long COVID and MS, and it can be extremely damaging to the physician-patient relationship. This underscores the importance of knowing how to recognize and reduce medical gaslighting in...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Nabil Ali, MD When it comes to treating patients with schizophrenia, it’s important to remember to not have one particular medication that you stick by at all times and to consider things like their personal history and their side effects. To learn more about the treatment algorithm when managing these patients, join in with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Ashl...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Lauren Walker, OT Occupational therapists (OT) play a crucial role in the management of schizophrenia by focusing on enhancing the patient’s ability to engage in meaningful activities and daily life tasks. Working towards a goal that a patient has by breaking it down into smaller parts is one of the ways to help a patient be successful and spark motivation. Di...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Amber Salter, PhD In 2016, an International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) recommended that comorbidities be more clearly and consistently described in enrolled clinical trial populations for common comorbidities so we can better understand the applicability of these trial findings to those in clinical practice. And so a recen...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: Dejan Jakimovski, MD, PhD Despite the fact that categorial scores like the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the MS Severity Scale (MSSS) are considered to be the gold standard, a recent study found that the Scripps Neurological Rating Scale (SNRS) and the Combinatorial Weight-Adjusted Disability Score (CombiWISE) may be better suited for assess...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: Victoria Leavitt, PhD Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are an effective option for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In fact, a recent study presented at the 2023 joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting in Italy found that MS patients being treated with a DMT had better cognitive function than those who were not. However, the same study also found that women...

Host: Mary Katherine Cheeley, PharmD, BCPS, CLS, FNLA Guest: Ahmed Z. Obeidat, MD, PhD Guest: Lauren Beranek, BS Polypharmacy is defined as the regular use of five or more prescribed medications, and due to their disease course, related symptoms, and side effects, patients with multiple sclerosis are at an increased risk of polypharmacy. So to hear insights on ways to identify, manage, and prevent...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Samuel Dienel, PhD Using postmortem brain tissue, a recent study investigated how alterations in somatostatin messenger RNA levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affect cognition among individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. Dive into the findings with psychiatric nurse practitioner Ashley Baker and Dr. Samuel Di...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Stanley N. Caroff, MD Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by disturbances in psychomotor function, stemming from various disorders impacting brain function. And while catatonia is not specifically related to schizophrenia alone, it’s important to know how to recognize and treat schizophrenic patients with catatonic symptoms. That’s why psyc...

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Jagan Pillai, MD, PhD Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common neurological change that frequently coexists with other pathologies like Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, which led a team of researchers to investigate the risk factors and prevalence of CAA. The study found that not only is age a risk factor for CAA, but CAA is also seen...

Guest: Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD Cognitive rehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis started about 20 to 25 years ago when it transitioned from predominantly patients with traumatic brain injury to other patient populations including multiple sclerosis. And over that period of time, the number of studies that have examined the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation in MS has grown substantia...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Anna A. Shah, MD The prevalence of multiple sclerosis seems to be increasing in patients, and the majority of those patients are diagnosed with MS around the peak family planning age. So family planning should be an integral part of comprehensive patient-centered MS care. Learn more with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Ashey Baker as she speaks with Dr. Anna Sh...

Guest: Daniel Harrison, MD Adaptive optics is a promising tool for studying MS-related changes in the retina at a cellular level, providing valuable insights into the disease's progression and potential treatments. Dive further into this line of research with Dr. Daniel Harrison, an Associate Professor of Neurology and the Director of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology at the U...

Guest: Robert Motl, PhD Rehabilitation training for multiple sclerosis patients aims to improve mobility, cognitive function, and quality of life. But one of the largest barriers to having more high-quality randomized control trials of rehabilitation in MS is that most researchers could not be following a stage of different research approaches. So addressing the unmet needs in rehabilitation resea...

Guest: Marisa McGinley, DO The amount of patients being diagnosed with neurological conditions and multiple sclerosis (MS) is a growing number, which causes a need for more neurologists, MS specialists, and better access to care. A potential advantage of using technology in MS care would be to break down the geographic barrier. To learn more about telehealth in MS care, tune in with Dr. Marisa McG...

Guest: Yinan Zhang, MD Chronological age is the biggest early driver of disease progression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). That’s why a team of researchers wanted to explore whether biomarkers like p16 and the epigenetic clock can be used to assess biological aging in patients with MS. They found that while patients with MS are aging faster than people without MS based on the epigenetic...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: Marcus E. Peter, PhD Death induced by survival gene elimination (DISE) is a cell death mechanism mediated by short RNAs. And according to a recent study, there may be a correlation between toxic DISE, DNA damage, and neuronal cell death in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more about the study’s findings and potential implications with Dr. Andrew W...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Morris Goldman, MD Guest: Dara Sanandaji A diagnosis of schizophrenia can be distressing, making clinical interventions crucial for both the patient and their family. With the assistance of an appropriate treatment plan and peer support, the patient can gain empowerment to take control of their life and pursue long-term goals. Joining Psychiatric Nurse Practit...

Host: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP Guest: Stefano Pluchino, MD, PhD An international collaborative phase 1 study has shown that the injection of a specific form of stem cells into the brains of patients with progressive multiple sclerosis is safe and effective in preventing further brain damage. However, a different type of clinical trial is needed to address whether an advanced cell therapy...

Guest: J. William Lindsey Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has long been associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), but a recent study from UTHealth Houston has shed light on its role in the development of MS. To learn more on what we know about EBV-specific T-cells, join Dr. J. William Lindsey, Senior Author of the study, titled UTHealth Houston Study: EBV-specific T-cells play key role in development of m...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: George Bloom, PhD Toxic tau protein refers to an aberrant form of the tau protein in the brain, commonly associated with Alzheimer's disease, where it forms tangles and disrupts normal cellular function, which contributes to cognitive decline and neuronal damage. To learn more about the role of toxic tau proteins in Alzheimer’s disease, tune in to hear Dr...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: Marc Haut, PhD A recent phase 1 study investigated the safety and feasibility of combining focused ultrasound and aducanumab, which is a monoclonal antibody for amyloid, to open the blood-brain barrier in patients with Alzheimer's disease. And what the researchers found was about a 50 percent overall reduction of cerebral amyloid-beta load in the target a...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, Author of "The Locum Life: A Physician's Guide to Locum Tenens" Guest: Jini Naidoo, PhD According to new research featured in Aging Biology , a treatment involving 4-phenylubrate (PBA) may delay or reverse signs of Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more, Dr. Andrew Wilner dives into the results and potential implications of this mouse-model study with Dr. Jini N...

Host: Ashley Baker, MSN, PMHNP Guest: Hannah Brown, MD Unfortunately, when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia, there is nothing to definitively give clinicians a diagnosis, so it’s important to have a clinical evaluation and rule out everything else. But once a first episode psychosis diagnosis has been made, what treatment options are available? Dive into this episode with P...

Host: Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN Guest: William A. Kilgo, MD According to new research featured at the joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, the Multiple Sclerosis Disease Activity (MSDA) Test is a reliable indicator of recent objective disease activity when used within an academic clinic. Based on these findings, Dr. Andrew Wilner sits down with lead author of the study, Dr. William Kilgo, to discuss...