NeuroFrontiers

Medical gaslighting refers to the situation where a medical professional disregards an individual's health concerns. It most often affects patients suffering from neurological disorders like long COVID and MS, and it can be extremely damaging to the physician-patient relationship. This underscores the importance of knowing how to recognize and reduce medical gaslighting in clinical practice, which is why Dr. Michele Longo is here to discuss the “Healing Doubt: Confronting and Overcoming Medical Gaslighting” session she presented at the 2024 AAN Annual Meeting.

When it comes to treating patients with schizophrenia, it’s important to remember to not have one particular medication that you stick by at all times and to consider things like their personal history and their side effects. To learn more about the treatment algorithm when managing these patients, join in with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Ashley Baker as she speaks with Dr. Nabil Ali, Assistant Consulting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.

Occupational therapists (OT) play a crucial role in the management of schizophrenia by focusing on enhancing the patient’s ability to engage in meaningful activities and daily life tasks. Working towards a goal that a patient has by breaking it down into smaller parts is one of the ways to help a patient be successful and spark motivation. Dive in further on how OT’s assist patients through first-episode psychosis and subsequent life changes with Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Ashley Baker as she speaks with Lauren Walker, Occupational Therapist at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.

In 2016, an International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) recommended that comorbidities be more clearly and consistently described in enrolled clinical trial populations for common comorbidities so we can better understand the applicability of these trial findings to those in clinical practice. And so a recent study investigated the prevalence of comorbidities in MS clinical trial populations and found that 46 percent of the participants had one or more comorbid condition. Dive further into the findings from the study that was presented at the 2023 joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting with Ashley Baker and Dr. Amber Salter, Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are an effective option for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In fact, a recent study presented at the 2023 joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting in Italy found that MS patients being treated with a DMT had better cognitive function than those who were not. However, the same study also found that women are less likely than men to receive DMT treatment. Dive further into the findings with Dr. Andrew Wilner and Dr. Victoria Leavitt, Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University.

Despite the fact that categorial scores like the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the MS Severity Scale (MSSS) are considered to be the gold standard, a recent study found that the Scripps Neurological Rating Scale (SNRS) and the Combinatorial Weight-Adjusted Disability Score (CombiWISE) may be better suited for assessing disability in patients who are severely affected by MS. Learn more about this study’s findings with Dr. Andrew Wilner and Dr. Dejan Jakimovski, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Buffalo who presented this research at the joint 2023 ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting.

Using postmortem brain tissue, a recent study investigated how alterations in somatostatin messenger RNA levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affect cognition among individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. Dive into the findings with psychiatric nurse practitioner Ashley Baker and Dr. Samuel Dienel, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Polypharmacy is defined as the regular use of five or more prescribed medications, and due to their disease course, related symptoms, and side effects, patients with multiple sclerosis are at an increased risk of polypharmacy. So to hear insights on ways to identify, manage, and prevent polypharmacy, Dr. Mary Catherine Cheeley is joined by Dr. Ahmed Obeidat, Associate Professor of Neurology, and Lauren Beranek, MD candidate at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Find a full article on their findings published in Practical Neurology.

Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by disturbances in psychomotor function, stemming from various disorders impacting brain function. And while catatonia is not specifically related to schizophrenia alone, it’s important to know how to recognize and treat schizophrenic patients with catatonic symptoms. That’s why psychiatric nurse practitioner Ashley Baker speaks with Dr. Stanley Caroff about his research focusing on the management of schizophrenia with catatonic symptoms. Dr. Caroff is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common neurological change that frequently coexists with other pathologies like Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia, which led a team of researchers to investigate the risk factors and prevalence of CAA. The study found that not only is age a risk factor for CAA, but CAA is also seen in patients with Lewy body pathology alone and in patients with both Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body pathology. Dive further into the findings with Dr. Charles Turck and Dr. Jagan Pillai, a behavioral neurologist at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.