Dementia with Lewy bodies

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second commonest cause of neurodegenerative dementia in older people. It is part of the range of clinical presentations that share a neuritic pathology based on abnormal aggregation of the synaptic protein alpha-synuclein. DLB has many of the clinical and pathological characteristics of the dementia that occurs during the course of Parkinson's disease. Here we review the current state of scientific knowledge on DLB. Accurate identification of patients is important because they have specific symptoms, impairments, and functional disabilities that differ from those of other common types of dementia. Severe neuroleptic sensitivity reactions are associated with significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors is well tolerated by most patients and substantially improves cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Clear guidance on the management of DLB is urgently needed. Virtually unrecognised 20 years ago, DLB could within this decade be one of the most treatable neurodegenerative disorders of late life.     

Handgrip strength in English schoolchildren

Aims: The aims of this study were to evaluate patterns of handgrip (HG) strength in relation to gender and age in English schoolchildren and to compare this with existing data and produce reference data for this population. Methods: The HG of 7147 English schoolchildren (3773 boys and 3374 girls) aged 10–15.9 years was measured using a portable Takei handgrip dynamometer (Takei Scientific Instruments Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan). Centile data were produced using the Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape. Z‐scores were generated using existing data for European children. Age and gender interactions were analysed using analysis of covariance. Results: In boys and girls, significant increases in HG were found between every age‐group (p < 0.001). Boys were significantly stronger than girls at every age (p < 0.001) and the boys’ age‐related increase was significantly greater than the girls’ (p < 0.001). Conclusion: This study provides reference data for handgrip strength in English schoolchildren. Handgrip strength in English children is broadly similar to existing European data, after adjusting for mass and stature. These data could be used for clinical or athletic screening of low and high strength in this population.     

卡巴拉汀治疗路易体痴呆的疗效——一项随机双盲安慰剂对照的国际研究(译文)

1　前言路易体痴呆在过去 1 0年中已被认定是老年人痴呆的常见类型 ,占痴呆的 1 5 %～ 2 0 %。表现为波动性认知障碍和注意受损并常伴有反复的视幻觉及帕金森病表现。妄想、抑郁情绪、睡眠障碍、听幻觉是路易体痴呆的常见神经精神症状。对这一大组患者的治疗比较困难 ,因为在大     

Movement Disorders Society Scientific Issues Committee report: SIC Task Force appraisal of clinical diagnostic criteria for Parkinsonian disorders.

As there are no biological markers for the antemortem diagnosis of degenerative parkinsonian disorders, diagnosis currently relies upon the presence and progression of clinical features and confirmation depends on neuropathology. Clinicopathologic studies have shown significant false-positive and false-negative rates for diagnosing these disorders, and misdiagnosis is especially common during the early stages of these diseases. It is important to establish a set of widely accepted diagnostic criteria for these disorders that may be applied and reproduced in a blinded fashion. This review summarizes the findings of the SIC Task Force for the study of diagnostic criteria for parkinsonian disorders in the areas of Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple system atrophy, and corticobasal degeneration. In each of these areas, diagnosis continues to rest on clinical findings and the judicious use of ancillary studies.     

Effect of quinolone antibiotics on hepatic growth and protein synthesis following partial hepatectomy in rats

Quinolone antibiotics inhibit eukaryotic as well as prokaryotic cell growth and protein synthesis. To determine whether these properties adversely affect hepatic growth and recovery following surgical resection, five groups of healthy, adult male rats (n = 7–8/group) were treated for 10 days with equal volumes of either ofloxacin (50 mg/kg), fleroxacin (25mg/kg), ciprofloxacin (25 mg/kg), norfloxacin (15mg/kg) or sterile saline (controls) prior to 70% partial hepatectomy (PH) and daily thereafter until death. Restituted liver mass, DNA and protein synthesis rates were determined at 24, 48 and 72 h PH. The results of the study revealed that all parameters of hepatic regeneration were similar in the five study groups at each time interval. To ensure that an effect on hepatic regeneration was not dose-dependent, additional experiments were performed where 1, 10 and 100 mg/kg ciprofloxacin was administered and DNA synthesis was measured 24 h post-PH. Once again, the results were similar to sterile saline-treated controls. These findings suggest that the quinolone antibiotics are unlikely to have an adverse effect on hepatic recovery following surgical resection of the liver and are safe to use in that setting.