Latest news with #neurology
The Independent
a day ago
- General
- The Independent
A father-of-two assumed tingling in his hands was pins and needles. One week later, he was paralysed
A father-of-two who assumed a tingling sensation in his hands was just pins and needles woke up paralysed a few days later – and couldn't even close his eyes for weeks. Luke Pickering, a mechanic from Nottingham, went to work as normal when he first noticed the strange sensation in his hands. The next day it had progressed to his toes and despite trying to carry on as normal, he soon took a turn for the worse. 'I was carrying my eldest down the stairs and I just felt weak, and I thought I was going to drop him,' Mr Pickering told the Independent. He insisted that he was still able to go to work but his partner Alix, 31, realised he wasn't well and took him to A&E where he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) – a rare condition where the immune system begins to attack the nervous system. From that moment in November 2023, Mr Pickering did not return home for another 94 days. 'I thought I'd be coming back out soon, but as the week progressed, I just got weaker and weaker. I went from using crutches to being put into a full hoist. I couldn't do anything for myself,' he said. 'I was paralysed from the head down. Even my face was paralysed so I had to sleep with my eyes open for three weeks.' Normally triggered by a virus infection, the condition usually causes tingling, numbness, or pins and needles in the arms and legs first before the symptoms spread to other parts of the body, causing muscle weakness. However, Mr Pickering did not recall having any colds, fevers or stomach bugs before his symptoms hit. The condition, which affects around 1,300 people in the UK a year, is treated through immunotherapy including intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and plasma exchange. Mr Pickering had IVIG, but his condition continued to deteriorate so doctors decided to transfer him to the Intensive Care Unit at NUH's City Hospital. 'I could feel myself getting worse. I prepared myself to say my goodbyes to my family, but I wasn't willing to say it. I just said 'see you later,'' he added. Mr Pickering was visited by his partner, their two-year-old son and their newborn baby every day and was determined to get better for them. He said: 'I was really hard on myself at the time, but the only way I was going to be happy was by getting home. I was determined to get out and walk again.' The third round of IVIG and a blood plasma transfusion worked allowing Mr Pickering to start recovery at the Linden Lodge rehabilitation unit in Nottingham just before Christmas. There he had speech and language therapy and learnt how to walk again. Recalling feeling 'terrified' to stand and walk again, he said: 'I knew my body wasn't ready for it, but you just have to keep doing it.' Eventually in February 2024, Mr Pickering learnt to walk again and now a year after coming home, he is living an almost normal life again, including being back fixing cars and tractors in his job as a mechanic. Although he still can't feel his toes, Mr Pickering said he is grateful for the treatment he received. However, the small risk of his condition relapsing still hangs over him. 'If I wake up in the middle of the night with pins and needles, that's it. I'm awake all night because I think it's happening again,' he explained. Following his recovery Mr Pickering has also become a patient ambassador for the National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), a brand new 70-bed rehab facility. In his voluntary ambassador role, Mr Pickering will support other patients going through similar rehabilitation. Talking about his role at the centre, he said: 'I just wanted to give back. When I was going through it, I wanted someone with a positive outcome to just talk to.'
Medscape
2 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
When MS Meets Menopause: Is It Time to Rethink HRT?
PHOENIX — The overlapping symptoms of menopause and multiple sclerosis (MS) in aging women may warrant hormone replacement therapy (HRT), says one expert, who argues that the potential benefits in easing the combined symptom burden outweigh the therapy's modest risks. It is suspected but not proven that menopause increases the risk and severity of menopausal symptoms such as urinary dysfunction, vasomotor dysregulation, disturbed sleep, and anxiety, but it is known that HRT offers benefit against these, said Kate Petheram, MD, a consultant neurologist for the Royal Sunderland Hospital, Sunderland, UK. In women with MS, 'there is a clear benefit from controlling symptoms associated with menopause even if we do not know yet whether the benefit involves reducing symptoms driven by MS,' Petheram reported. The modest amount of attention paid to the overlap between symptoms of MS and menopause is an important issue for a disease with a 3:1 female to male ratio, said Petheram, in a May 29 presentation at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2025 Annual Meeting. WHI: Flawed Data Speaking at a symposium dedicated to the topic, Petheram noted that her audience was almost entirely female: a pattern she has observed in previous iterations of the same talk. She urged all neurologists to recognize the interplay between menopause and MS, emphasizing that 30% of people with MS are peri- or postmenopausal women. In the UK, as in the US, prescriptions for HRT plummeted following the 2002 publication of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI): a study involving more than 16,000 participants that was halted after 5.2 years of follow-up. At the time, a widely used combination of conjugated equine estrogen and medroxyprogesterone was linked to several risks — including breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke — that were deemed to outweigh its symptomatic benefits. Subsequent data have refuted most of those claims, said Petheram, who described the WHI study design as flawed. In fact, current evidence suggests HRT lowers cardiovascular risk. While it does increase the risk of breast cancer, she noted that the increase is modest — and importantly, the risk of dying from breast cancer is not significantly elevated. Yet the reexamination of the evidence has never received the attention needed to shift perceptions shaped by the original WHI study, said Petheram. She described a 'loss of confidence' in HRT that has been only modestly reversed in the UK and not at all in the US. Drawing on published data, she noted that HRT use among menopausal women remains below 5% in the US, compared to 15% in the UK. This poses a particular challenge for women with MS, given the overlap between menopausal symptoms and MS-related complaints. While some issues — such as anxiety and sleep disturbances — may be managed with other therapies, HRT remains one of the most effective treatments for vasomotor symptoms, sexual dysfunction, and urinary complaints. An Effective Option Both historical and emerging evidence suggest that HRT can reduce symptoms shared by MS and menopause, Petheram said. In the observational Nurses' Health Study — a 2016 analysis published in Neurology , for example — women with MS who began HRT 3-10 years after their final menstrual period showed significant improvements across multiple validated quality-of-life measures compared to those who did not use HRT. 'Menopausal women do well on HRT, and they do less well when they quit,' said Petheram, citing multiple studies, including several published in recent years. While she acknowledged that HRT is not a panacea, she emphasized that it remains the only therapy that effectively targets the wide range of symptoms common to both MS and menopause. The ability to address a wide range of symptoms is a significant advantage. Citing fatigue, mood disorders, and sexual and urinary issues as the most common overlapping complaints, Petheram noted that HRT offers additional documented benefits — such as improved bone health — that are meaningful not only to aging women in general, but especially to those with MS. This message is starting to gain traction in the UK, but Jennifer Graves, MD, PhD, director of the Neuroimmunology Research Program at the University of California, San Diego, acknowledged that it will be a tougher sell in the US without targeted education to overcome longstanding biases. 'The WHI is still being taught in some medical schools,' she said. While she agreed that some of the most serious risks linked to HRT in the WHI have since been rescinded — warranting a reassessment of the benefit-to-risk ratio — she also emphasized that aging and menopause in women with MS remain largely overlooked. 'We need greater awareness of the challenges of menopause in women with MS and I think this involves better educating clinicians about how aging, menopause, and MS intersect,' Graves said. Petheram clarified that she doesn't prescribe HRT to women with MS, but she does discuss the overlap between menopausal and MS symptoms — explaining both the potential benefits and risks to help patients make informed decisions. She believes all neurologists should take responsibility for understanding the interaction between menopause and MS in order to better manage overlapping symptoms.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Critical shortage of neurologists as multiple sclerosis cases rise
Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand is calling for more governmental investment in specialist neurologists, clinical nurse specialists and allied healthcare workers to better diagnose and treat the growing numbers of people with MS in Aotearoa New Zealand. National manager Amanda Rose told Jesse the need is urgent. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Shortage of neurologists as multiple sclerosis cases rise
Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand is calling for more governmental investment in specialist neurologists, clinical nurse specialists and allied healthcare workers to better diagnose and treat the growing numbers of people with MS in Aotearoa New Zealand. National manager Amanda Rose told Jesse the need is urgent. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Autism in adulthood is on the rise. A Maryland medical expert explains the symptoms.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has long been associated with childhood diagnoses, but as new research shows a shift, a Maryland medical expert is sharing insight into symptoms for adults. A recent study shows that a growing number of adults are learning they've been living with autism for their entire lives. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, recorded a 450% increase in autism diagnoses among adults ages 26 to 34 between 2011 and 2022. Signs of autism in adults Dr. Peter Crino is the Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Chief of Neurology at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He said the signs of adult autism can be subtle and long overlooked, especially for those who have spent years unsure of their symptoms. "I had one patient once tell me, 'I felt my whole life as though I didn't get the memo,'" Dr. Crino said. "I thought it was a beautiful way of explaining it. And I think for those individuals, yes, the first step is to reach out to your primary care physician and just talk about your concerns." Once that conversation starts, getting a diagnosis is often more straightforward than people expect. "Most primary care physicians can then place a referral to a behavioral health specialist who can just simply go through the questions that we ask," Dr. Crino said. "It's not by any stretch an opaque diagnosis or a challenging diagnosis. We have diagnostic criteria that we can use." What is ASD? Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects communication, behavior and sensory processing. Though it presents differently in everyone, common adult symptoms include social anxiety, a preference for routine, sensory sensitivities and difficulty with interpersonal communication. Many adults with ASD also experience co-occurring mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, sometimes as a result of years of feeling out of place. "Having the diagnosis for many people retrospectively gives them tremendous relief," Dr. Crino said. "They worry their whole life there's something wrong with them, and the truth is, there isn't. It's just a neurodivergent, neurotypical world in just a very different way. I think it may allow them a little bit of grace and sort of giving themselves some understanding, but also some new strategies." Therapy and resources for ASD Experts say a diagnosis can also unlock access to helpful therapies and resources, from cognitive behavioral therapy to occupational support and workplace accommodations. It may even lead to a stronger sense of identity and self-acceptance. Dr. Crino believes the broader culture is beginning to shift, but said much of the responsibility lies with the world around neurodivergent individuals. "With a world that's, let's face it, designed largely for neurotypical individuals, I think that's gone a long way to help the ASD community feel as though they have a very prevalent and very common way of looking at the world," he said. "And I think the responsibilities, frankly, are going to come on the rest of the world to sort of find ways to integrate better with the neurodivergent community." Adults seeking a diagnosis are encouraged to speak with their primary care provider or contact a local autism center. National organizations, like Autism Speaks, also offer directories to adult ASD assessment specialists.
