That Beethoven suffered from deafness is well known, but how did the progression of the condition affect his composition? In this 8-minute video the Isola string quartet demonstrate how his style changed over time: Read about the science behind the video in the paper, Beethoven’s deafness and his three styles, from BMJ. Switch to lower notes Details of Beethoven’s hearing loss can be derived from his own letters. His left ear was affected first, and he reported bilateral tinnitus, high tone hearing loss associated with poor speech discrimination, and recruitment with loud noises. After 1812 people had to shout to make themselves understood. In 1818 Beethoven started to communicate through notebooks. There are no reports that he could still understand spoken conversation after …
Source: MedWorm Query: tinnitus
AbstractAlthough the pathogenesis of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome remains unknown, there is a significant correlation of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome with other chronic pain disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis and fibromyalgia syndrome. In this review, we highlight evidence supporting neural cross‐talk in the dorsal root ganglia, spinal cord and brain levels, which might play a role in the development of chronic pain disorders through central sensitization. In addition, we focus on transient receptor potential V1 and transient receptor potential A1 as the receptor targets for chronic pain conditions, because transient receptor potential V1 and transient receptor potential A1 act as a nocisensor to mediate not only an afferent signal to…
Hat Tip To: MedWorm: Back Pain
Introduction/Objective: Using overnight polysomnography to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is labor intensive, time consuming, and costly, particularly for patients with little or no insurance. Population-based symptom questionnaires have been developed to assess OSA among Caucasian and African American populations, but have yet to be developed for Spanish-speaking Hispanics. The purpose of the study was to examine the overall utility of the English to Spanish translated and validated Sleep Habits Questionnaire (SHQ) items used to assess subjective OSA in the Sleep Heart Health Study as a diagnostic tool with underserved Hispanic populations in clinical settings. (Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association)
Hat Tip To: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
Abstract: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder with a high prevalence that causes pathological changes in cardiovascular regulation during the night and also during daytime. We investigated whether the treatment of OSA at night by means of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) improves the daytime consequences. Twenty-eight patients with OSA, 18 with arterial hypertension, 10 with normal blood pressure, were investigated at baseline and with three months of CPAP treatment. Ten age and sex matched healthy control subjects were investigated for comparisons. We recorded a resting period with 20min quiet breathing and an exercise stress test during daytime with ECG and blood pressure (Portapres). The bicycle ergometry showed a significant reduction of the diastolic blood pres…
Hat Tip To: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
While we treat the elderly as a set of symptoms and problems, we ignore what we will be one dayAndrew Motion has written a poem for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s new website, A Better Life, part of a five-year project to promote a positive agenda for older people. The poem distils fragments of lives past: red varnished toenails on a Llandudno honeymoon; “defending the realm” as a soldier then slaking its thirst as a brewer; Rowena who likes “a slice of sponge cake”. Well intentioned, the poem comes over with as much bounce as a mattress with its springs taken out.Ageing undoubtedly has its problems, many of them created by those who have yet to cross the threshold and don’t believe they ever will; the invincibility of youth. And yet, ironically, being reminded of the process of decline …
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A 30-year-old white man with established Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and continued symptoms of chronic severe heartburn, persistent cough, throat irritation, and asthma was referred for surveillance EGD at the VA Boston Healthcare System. During retraction of the endoscope, a pink circular lesion () was observed under white light endoscopy in the upper esophagus (spanning 20-22 cm from the incisors). Three-dimensional endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) images were obtained of the region under direct visualization with white light by passing the probe through the standard accessory channel. An en face projection image () at 400-μm depth underneath the tissue surface showed columnar epithelium consistent with a cervical inlet patch (CIP) and surrounding normal squamous epithelium (S…
Credit: MedWorm Query: heartburn
We describe the mechanisms, pattern of injuries, management and outcomes of severe injuries to the brachial plexus sustained during the play of rugby.Thirteen cases of severe injury to the brachial plexus caused by tackles in rugby had detailed clinical assessment, and operative exploration of the brachial plexus. Seventeen spinal nerves were avulsed, two were ruptured and there were traction lesions in continuity of 24 spinal nerves. The pattern of nerve lesion was related to the posture of the neck and the forequarter at the moment of impact. Early repair by nerve transfer enabled some functional recovery, and decompression of lesions in continuity was followed by recovery of nerve function and relief of pain. (Source: Injury)
Original: MedWorm: Back Pain
Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed an increasing number of stories in the main stream media focused on various types of health apps. Dieting apps, sexual health apps, sleep apnea apps, fitness apps, emergency care apps, psychiatry apps and more have received ink — in some cases — from big name publications and media [...] (Source: mobihealthnews)
Via: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
Summary: Obstructive sleep apnea is characterized by recurrent obstruction of the upper airway during sleep, resulting in episodic reductions in blood oxygen saturation and arousals from sleep. Mandibular repositioning appliances (MRAs) which are worn intra-orally at night, mechanically advance the mandible to help maintain a patent oropharygeal airway and have been proven to be an effective alternative for continuous positive airway pressure in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Titratable MRAs are designed to gradually protrude the mandible applying an easy-to-use mechanical advancing mechanism, until a protrusive position with positive effect on sleep apnea is reached. Considering the relatively low-tech approach of the basic advancement mechanism, the interest in the mechanistic…
Source: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
In conclusion, TRT employing monaural NGs was an effective intervention especially for SD patients, although plateau of the effects after 6 months may be indicative of limitation of applying NGs monoaurally. Reducing the patients’ hearing handicap may reinforce the effects of TRT in SD patients. Additional evaluation and interventions for both SD and MD patients might be needed. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory OtologyPages 1-6DOI 10.1007/s00405-012-1951-5Authors Naoki Oishi, Department of Otolaryngology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8582 JapanSeiichi Shinden, Department of Otolaryngology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8582 JapanSho Kanzaki, Department of Otolaryngology, Keio Unive…
Original: MedWorm Query: tinnitus
DENVER – An ERISA-governed disability insurer’s reliance on record reviews and a vocational assessment in its decision to terminate benefits to a claimant with back pain was reasonable, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 7 in an unpublished decision (Kandace Williams v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., et al., No. 10-1504, 10th Cir.; 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 2291). Full story on lexis.com (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Disability Insurance Legal News)
Origin: MedWorm: Back Pain
(Source: Archives of Neurology)
Origin: MedWorm Query: tinnitus
Children and adolescents with obstructive sleep apnea had substantial improvements in attention, anxiety and quality of life after treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP) – a nighttime therapy in which a machine delivers a stream of air through a mask into the nose. “The benefits occurred even when children didn’t fully adhere to the treatment,” said study leader Carole L. Marcus, M.D., a sleep specialist and director of the Sleep Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The Sleep Center follows thousands of children and adolescents with sleep problems… (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Original: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
Acid reflux is the condition where food and stomach acids regurgitate back into the esophagus, causing burning pain in the lower chest accompanied by a host of other symptoms such as bloating, belching, sore throats, snoring, difficulty breathing and ulcers. The early… (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Source: MedWorm Query: heartburn
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that upregulation of IL-8 in the ACC is partly attributable to the enhanced prefrontal synaptic transmission in the mice with persistent inflammatory pain. (Source: Molecular Pain)
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(MedPage Today) — Using positive airway pressure to treat obstructive sleep apnea in children and teens appears to improve neurobehavioral outcomes, even with suboptimal adherence, researchers found. (Source: MedPage Today Neurology)
Source: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
We report a case of infarction of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) with peripheral facial palsy following vertigo and acute sensorineural hearing loss. A 39-year-old female presented with vertigo and sudden hearing loss, tinnitus, and aural fullness of the right ear. An audiogram revealed a severe hearing loss at all tested frequencies in the right ear. Spontaneous nystagmus toward the left side was also observed. Otoneurological examinations showed sensorineural hearing loss of the right ear and horizontal and rotatory gaze nystagmus toward the left side, and a caloric reflex test demonstrated canal paresis. Initially, we diagnosed the patient for sudden deafness with vertigo. However, right peripheral facial palsy appeared 2 days later. An eye tracking test (ETT) and optoki…
By: MedWorm Query: tinnitus
Conclusion: Based on the size of population studied, this study showed a prevalence of acromegaly of 29 per million. The cure rate was low following surgery but with adjuvant medical treatment disease control was achieved in most individuals. PMID: 22309962 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Clinical and Investigative Medicine)
Source: MedWorm Query: “sleep apnea”
BOSTON (CBS) – We text. We tweet. We surf. Technology has changed the way we live our lives and for many of us, that means working more hours. Just ask Jeff Prag, who runs his own consulting company in Needham. “It starts probably about 5:30 in the morning. The phone is going off, checking emails and trying to respond to client needs,” he said. There are many days, according to Prag, that he is plugged into his business until midnight. That constant contact leaves him feeling exhausted. Fatigue is only part of the problem. There are a number of ways that technology can have an impact on our physical and emotional health. WBZ-TV’s Paula Ebben reports var videoCanvas = new WNVideoWidget(“WNVideoCanvas”, “wnVideo_6719190″);videoCanvas.SetWidth(320);videoCanvas.SetHeight(240);v…
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Eye care physicians are at particular risk for hand/wrist, neck, and lower back pain compared with family medicine physicians. Several job factors contribute to their musculoskeletal symptoms. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
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