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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Understanding and optimizing quality of life and psychological well-being presents a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the enhancement of the lives of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers. ALS is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder. No current medical therapy can reverse or stop its progression, and the promotion of quality of life and psychological well-being is a central component of ALS care. Health care professionals who work in this field should incorporate attention to psychological, emotional, and relational aspects of the disease into their approach to care. This book provides some of the knowledge and direction necessary for optimizing the quality of care for individuals with ALS and their caregivers. Topics discussed include an ALS-centred view of quality of life, depressive features, anxiety, resilience, cognitive impairment, complementary and alternative medicines, and psychological research. Specific elements of ALS, such as end-of-life concerns and bulbar dysfunction, are described through the lens of their psychological impact. There is extensive discussion of the development of new psychological treatments, as well as the impact and incorporation of new technologies, with the goal of fostering optimal quality of life and psychological well-being as key parts of a holistic approach to care for the patients and for those who are close to such individuals.Less

Autism is an emerging area of basic and clinical research, and has only recently been recognized as a major topic in biomedical research, and is now an intense growth area in behavioral and educational treatments. This resource provides a comprehensive summary of all current knowledge related to the behavioral, experiential, and biomedical features of the autism spectrum disorders, including major behavioral and cognitive syndromology, common co-morbid conditions, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, and other neurological correlates such as seizures, allergy and immunology, gastroenterology, infectious disease, and epidemiology.Less

This book provides clinicians with a theoretically motivated guide to the assessment of patients with cognitive complaints. Its main goal is to teach physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists how to assess cognition in the clinic or at the bedside based around the instrument, the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE), developed in Cambridge over many years and subsequently refined and modified. The latest version is the ACE-III, which is freely available and has been translated into many languages. The early chapters provide a framework in which aspects of cognition are considered as those with a distributed representation in the brain (such as attention and memory) versus those with more focal representation (such as language, praxis, and spatial abilities). There are descriptions of the major syndromes encountered in clinical practice, notably delirium and dementia, which have been updated to incorporate recent discoveries. There follows the all-important section on history taking and the ‘meat of the book’: how to perform bedside cognitive testing. The ACE-III is contrasted to other commonly used brief standardized mental test schedules (such as the Montreal Cognitive Examination). Sixteen cases with a full range of cognitive disorders illustrate the method recommended. Finally, there is an appendix outlining the range of formal tests commonly used in neuropsychological practice.Less

Chronic back pain continues to be a major cause of distress, disability, work loss, and a huge cost to society. This resource examines the risk factors and mechanisms involved in the transition from acute to chronic back pain. It integrates genetic, biomechanical, neurobiological, psychophysiological, psychosocial, and socieconomic risk factors. Less

An exhaustive biography of French neuropsychiatrist Georges Gilles de la Tourette (1857–1904) has never been undertaken. Gilles de la Tourette worked closely with the nineteenth-century founder of neurology in Paris, Jean-Martin Charcot. His name is universally known because of the eponymous, disabling syndrome that affects 0.9% of children/adolescents. Unpublished family archives, as well as Gilles de la Tourette’s correspondence with the Parisian journalist Georges Montorgueil, conserved at the national Archives in Paris, were examined together with press and police archives to portray Georges Gilles de la Tourette’s family and professional life in an original light. These archives have never before been studied or made available to the public. How the eponymous syndrome was isolated, the errors initially made in its description, the hidden role of Jean-Martin Charcot, and the disputes with other authors are covered in detail based on multiple sources, original or already published. An in-depth analysis of the genesis of Gilles de la Tourette’s prolific neurological and psychiatric works within their historical context rounds out this biography. Major figures of neurology of the time are also featured—including Freud, Charcot and his son, Brissaud, and Babiński. Interwoven with Gilles de la Tourette’s life and times are discussions of politics, theater, literature, the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, and numerous letters exchanged with Jules Claretie of the Académie Française to highlight his significant involvement in each of these domains. The book concludes with a complete bibliography of all works written by Gilles de la Tourette, compiled for the first time.Less

No other neurological condition allows the same opportunities for intracranial electrophysiological study of the human brain as epilepsy does. What ensues is exponentially expanding knowledge of the human epileptic brain, as well as windows into the physiology of the normal human brain itself. In Invasive Studies of the Epileptic Human Brain, some of the most renowned epilepsy experts of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries provide their expertise and insights into the identification and mapping of intracranial epileptiform and non-epileptiform activity, mapping of human brain function, and approaches to the use of invasive electroencephalography in a variety of clinical situations. It is an essential read for neurologists and neurosurgeons involved in epilepsy surgery, as well as neuroscientists and clinician researchers interested in the epileptic brain. It is organized in an easily readable series of chapters that will also appeal to trainees and students of these fields. Many of the chapters are brilliantly illustrated with case studies, and each provides an intuitively comprehensive approach to invasive brain studies. A burgeoning, worldwide, interest in stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG), the use of sophisticated, cutting edge, multimodal imaging and other ancillary techniques, and the increasing complexity of epilepsy surgery cases makes this a timely publication, and a likely classic.Less

Stroke in the young is different, complex, and challenging. This book delivers a comprehensive review of the different aspects of young ischaemic stroke. Incidence, risk factors, and aetiology differ notably from those seen in the elderly. There is an increased prevalence of traditional risk factors already at a young age, but the book also focuses on special risk factors in young stroke patients. In many young stroke patients, aetiology remains unclear. The book outlines an extensive diagnostic workup and a stroke subtype classification adapted for young strokes. Gender differences are prevalent in young stroke. The book describes risk factors that are either unique or more prevalent in women and the importance of treating them aggressively. Stroke symptoms in children are comparable to those in adults, but there is a dramatic bystander delay in diagnosing the stroke. The text therefore also deals with rapid stroke recognition and adaption to the special needs in children. Young stroke patients are under-represented in randomized controlled treatment trials. In the emergency setting, unusual clinical findings and off-label situations may be faced and the decision-making process may be challenging. Recommendations for secondary prevention are also mainly extrapolated from studies in older individuals. The authors extrapolate data and draw conclusions on the acute and prophylactic treatment of young stroke. Prognosis after young stroke is poor. Even minor stroke may have devastating life-long consequences for quality of life, education, and working capacity. The book points to the opportunity for lifelong prevention of vascular events.Less

Written and designed to provide comprehensive, easily accessible advice for all healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with this challenging condition, this resource addresses the entire care pathway from presentation to diagnosis to symptom management and end of life issues.Less

Multiple Sclerosis Care - A Practical Manual is a concise and easy to use reference source for all aspects of care in the management and understanding of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Teams of doctors, nurses, physio and occupational therapists, social workers and other care workers will find it an accessible, useful and handy resource. Less

Nerve Repair summarizes the basic and clinical science pertaining to the repair and regeneration of peripheral nerves. Although these nerves are able to regenerate after injury, functional restoration is usually limited. Improving the outcome of nerve repair will require close cooperation between surgeon and scientist. Skyrocketing clinical demands on the surgeon and the rapidly increasing sophistication of neuroscience have interacted to form two distinct cultures. Nerve Repair was written to bridge these cultures by providing a translational review of the clinical and basic science relevant to nerve repair. It provides the clinician with an understanding of pertinent research, and the basic scientist with an overview of the clinical manifestations of nerve injury and regeneration. Nerve Repair is grounded in the history of peripheral nerve surgery and biology, so that modern concepts can be understood in the context of their origins. If there is a dominant theme, it is that neural organization is critical to function. In the periphery, axons must not only regenerate, they must also restore connections with functionally appropriate end organs. In the brain, normal functional patterns will determine the potential for compensation after peripheral miswiring. Given the propensity for axonal misdirection at the site of nerve repair and the constrained flexibility of the brain, enhancing the specificity of nerve regeneration is a critical goal for future research.Less

This resource discusses how neurological complications of progressive HIV-1 infection remain a common cause of morbidity even during widespread use of antiretroviral therapy (ART). It addresses how long-term resistance to ART, drug compliance, untoward drug side effects, a myriad of opportunistic infection, depression and other psychiatric disease manifestations, concomitant drug abuse, neuropathies, and an inability to clear viral reservoirs, explain, in large measure, disease progression and immune deterioration. It then covers the association with a number of psychiatric, muscle, nerve, infectious, as well as cognitive, behavioral, and motor disturbances seen in infected people, with a focus on the neurological complications, molecular and viral disease processes, cellular factors influencing viral replication therapeutic challenges, and the changing epidemiological patterns of disease. Less

A practical resource for anyone caring for people with progressive disability due to muscle wasting conditions

The Oxford Textbook of Clinical and Biomedical Disorders of the Skeleton provides an up-to-date account of the ‘classic’ and ‘new’ metabolic disorders of the skeleton, and deals with their causes, clinical aspects, and treatment. Bone biology and investigation precede chapters on osteoporosis, osteomalacia and rickets, parathyroid bone disease, Paget disease, and the effects of malignancy on the skeleton. The ‘new’ metabolic bone disorders follow, with chapters on osteogenesis imperfecta, skeletal dysplasias, osteopetrosis, and osteosclerosis, Marfan syndrome, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, enzyme defects and the skeleton, fibrous dysplasia, fibrogenesis imperfecta ossium, and ectopic mineralization. In all the latest known molecular causes are discussed and personal experiences of the disorders are described.Less

The Oxford Textbook of Neuroscience and Anaesthesiology is the first book of its kind to comprehensively address the care of neurosurgical and neurological patients, the study of neuroscience in anaesthesiology, and neurologic outcomes of non-neurosurgical interventions, which make up the ‘three pillars’ of neuroanesthesiology. The first section of the book covers the neuroscientific foundations of anaesthesiology, including the neural mechanisms of general anaesthetics, cerebral physiology, the neurobiology of pain, and more. The second section represents the traditional pillar related to the care of patients with neurologic disease in the operating room or intensive care unit, with a focus on clinical neuroanaesthesia. These chapters systematically treat the perioperative considerations of both brain and spine surgery, and provide introductions to neurocritical care and paediatric neuroanaesthesia. Finally, the last section examines some connections of neurology and anaesthesiology, discussing how conditions such as dementia, stroke, or epilepsy interface with the perioperative period. The book brings together specialists from around the world, whose comprehensive expertise is distilled into 28 concise but informative chapters that describe the cutting edge of neuroscience and neuroanaesthesia.Less

Charles Bell (1774–1842) was a Scottish anatomist–surgeon whose original ideas on the nervous system have been equated with those of William Harvey on the circulation. He suggested that the anterior and posterior nerve roots have different functions, and based on their connectivity he showed that different parts of the brain have different functions. He noted that individual peripheral nerves actually contain nerve fibers with different functions, that nerves conduct only in one direction, that sense organs are specialized to receive only one form of sensory stimulus, and that there is a sixth (muscle) sense. In addition to the facial palsy and its associated features named after him, he provided the first clinical descriptions of several neurological disorders and important insights into referred pain and reciprocal inhibition. Bell helped to change the way art students are taught, described the anatomical basis of facial expressions, initiated the scientific study of the physical expression of emotions, and stimulated the later work of Charles Darwin on facial expressions. His teachings influenced British and European art. Bell was a renowned medical teacher who founded his own medical school, subsequently took over the famous Hunterian school, and eventually helped establish the University of London and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London. However, his belief in intelligent design caused him to be left behind by the evolutionist thought that developed in the nineteenth century. He was a brilliant but flawed human being who contributed much to the advance of knowledge.Less