Decrease Risk of Alzheimer's with Frequent Sauna Bathing

  2,000 men from Finland in a 20 year follow-up as a part of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) that took a sauna 4-7 times per week were found to have a 66% decreased risk of dementia than those that took a sauna once a week.
Age Aging. 2016 Dec 7

Dr Prusinski Featured in ROAD & TRACK Magazine

  For this article, Dr. Christopher Prusinski was interviewed by Max Prince regarding concussion from the perspective of a Neurologist and race car driver and instructor.
Road&Track May 2017 Vol 68, No. 8 pp. 98-99

Autism Able to be Predicted in Infants

  1 in 68 children have been diagnosed with autism in the US. The risk increases to 1 in 5 for those children that have an affected sibling.
  Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill used MRI to evaluate the brains of high risk infants (those with a sibling with ASD). Overall brain volume, surface area and thickness of the cerebral cortex in select areas were measured. They discovered an overgrowth of cortical surface area in infants later diagnosed with autism. Using an algorithm they developed researchers were able to predict with near certainty which infants would later go on to develop autism by age 2. Further, cortical thickness was found to remain unchanged but the surface area of the brain increased at a higher rate than normal between 6 and 12 months of age. This expansion is believed to be due to an increase in neural progenitor cells (immature pre-neurons). Additionally, only the social symptoms of autism were found to be a consequence of these brain changes not the repetitive behaviors.
   The study is important in that the earlier we begin behavioral therapy in autism the greater the chance of limiting its adverse consequences.
Nature 542, 348-351 (16 Feb 2017)

Hypnosis: Brain Activity and Connectivity Changes Identified

  Stanford researchers using functional MRI have discovered changes in those highly hynotizable while undergoing hypnosis. First, a decrease in brain activity was seen in brain's salience network (dorsal anterior cingulate). Second, an increase in brain connections that help the brain process and control activity in our bodies (connections between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the insula). Lastly, reduced connections between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the default mode network (medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex).
  This study offers evidence that hypnosis is more than a swinging pocket watch it is a powerful means of changing the way we use our minds to control our body and our perceptions. One example: pain control.
Cereb Cortex. 2016 Jul 28

Pregnant Moms Take Your Ditamin D to Protect Your Baby Against MS

  According to a Danish registry study higher levels of vitamin D in newborns was associated with less risk of developing multiple sclerosis decades later.
Neurology 2016 Nov 30;[e-pub]
  Comparable findings were reported in a Finnish registry measuring the mother's serum vitamin D level.
NEJM JW Neurol May 2016
JAMA Neurol 2016;73:515

Disrupted Sleep Increases Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

   Researchers at UCSF after examining three sources of data have concluded that disruptions in sleep may increase the risk of developing atrial fibrillation later in life.
  People with frequent nighttime awakening had a 26% increase risk of developing atrial fibrillation. People with insomnia had a 29% increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation. 
  Why disturbed sleep is associated with the development of atrial fibrillation is unknown. It may be hypothesized that disturbed sleep negatively impacts the autonomic nervous system.
  Poor sleep is associated with other risk factors for heart disease including stroke, high blood pressure and obesity.
  Improved sleep hygiene may help prevent atrial fibrillation and its associated risk of stroke.
American Heart Association Meeting Presentation: 733 Session: AR.RFO.52 and 218-AR.AOS.780

High Blood Pressure ? Blame it on Your Childhood

  Children with a history of  childhood mistreatment, poverty or family dysfunction may have poor blood pressure regulation. Blood pressure variability has been linked to numerous problems in adults including increased risk of stroke, poor post-stroke recovery and decreased brain function in the elderly.
AHA Meeting Report  Presentation: 307 Session : EP.AOS.760
  Previous research has found an association between adverse childhood experiences and a more rapid increase of blood pressure in adulthood. Further, early-onset hypertension and prehypertension have been linked to preclinical heart disease such as increased arterial stiffness and left ventricular hypertrophy.