A research study headed by Victoria Leavitt, Ph.D. and James Sumowski, Ph.D., of Kessler Foundation, provides the first evidence for beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on brain and memory in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Hippocampal atrophy seen in MS is linked to the memory deficits that affect approximately 50% of individuals with MS. Despite the prevalence of this disabling symptom, there are no effective pharmacological or behavioural treatments. ‘Aerobic exercise may be the first effective treatment for MS patients with memory problems,’ noted Dr. Leavitt, research scientist in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation. ‘Moreover, aerobic exercise has the advantages of being readily available, low cost, self-administered, and lacking in side effects.’ No beneficial effects were seen with non-aerobic exercise. Dr. Leavitt noted that the positive effects of aerobic exercise were specific to memory; other cognitive functions such as executive functioning and processing speed were unaffected.

The study

New research suggests that sedating patients before a nerve block needed to diagnose or treat chronic pain increases costs, risks and unnecessary surgeries, and sedation does nothing to increase patient satisfaction or long-term pain control.
‘Sedation doesn

Patients with bladder cancer are two times more likely to have complications after a radical cystectomy procedure if they have a biomarker for poor nutritional status before the operation, according to study findings presented last week at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Surgeons from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center identified a potentially modifiable risk factor for such post-surgical problems: a low preoperative level of albumin, a marker of the protein level in the blood.

David C. Johnson, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and a senior urology resident at UNC School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated the impact that patients

New research from McMaster University suggests that a commonly performed test during certain types of heart surgery is not helpful and possibly harmful.
The testing procedure, known as defibrillator testing (DT), is commonly used on people who require implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to prevent sudden cardiac death. It involves putting the patient into cardiac arrest to determine if the defibrillator can first recognise, then successfully shock the patient back into a normal heart rhythm. It requires the use of general anaesthesia and is associated with uncommon but potentially life-threatening complications.
‘As with many things in medicine, technology evolves and our knowledge grows and we have presented good evidence that the DT, which has been in use for nearly 30 years, is no longer necessary,’ says lead author Jeff Healey, associate professor of medicine, in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University.
‘Without the testing we can save a significant amount of time, money and more importantly, avoid potentially serious complications in patients who are receiving an ICD,’ he says.
Similar to a pacemaker, an ICD is a small battery-powered electrical impulse generator meant as a permanent safeguard against sudden arrhythmias. Each year, about 300,000 worldwide receive an ICD. Of these, approximately 70 per cent undergo the routine defibrillation testing that often leads to potential complications including possible harm from ICD shocks, says Healey.
‘Over the last 10 years, there has been an important shift in practice around the world towards ICD implantation without the test. However, until now, there has been no scientific evidence to support this change in practice. Our study now provides clear and robust evidence to guide practice.’
To test the procedure, Healey initiated a randomized trial, called the ‘Shockless IMPLant Evaluation (SIMPLE)’ study. It is the largest randomised clinical trial of ICD recipients to date, involving a cohort of 2,500 patients worldwide.
The trial compared standard DT in a patient to those who do not have the testing performed and revealed that those who received ICDs without DT did as well as those who underwent the standard testing. McMaster University

Max Ortiz Catalan has developed a new method for the treatment of phantom limb pain (PLP) after an amputation. The method is based on a unique combination of several technologies, and has been initially tested on a patient who has suffered from severe phantom limb pain for 48 years. A case study shows a drastic reduction of pain.
People who lose an arm or a leg often experience phantom sensations, as if the missing limb were still there. Seventy per cent of amputees experience pain in the amputated limb despite that it no longer exists. Phantom limb pain can be a serious chronic and deteriorating condition that reduces the quality of the person