Clinical practice
Lincolnshire Community Hospitals Group has joined with Spinal Injuries Association to improve patient experiences for people who have lost bowel function after injury or illness. While no official figures on the prevalence of paralysed bowels exist, the charity estimates that over 457,000 people in the UK with neurological conditions, including spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, [...]
A new blood test tracks brain injury after stroke and predicts outcomes months to years later, researchers have said. The biomarker, brain-derived tau (BD-tau), could let clinicians monitor how damage evolves in the hours and days after stroke, which scans alone cannot show. In ischaemic stroke, part of the brain loses its blood supply. Decisions [...]
Over a third of severe TBI patients could regain partial independence if life-sustaining care continues, new research suggests. The study challenges assumptions about early withdrawal of care, suggesting that meaningful recovery is possible at a higher rate than many clinicians and families might expect. The research, led by University of Pittsburgh School of [...]
A simple tool predicts five-year dementia risk in stroke survivors using routine clinic and hospital data, an international team reports. The analysis drew on more than 2,600 stroke survivors across 12 studies in 10 countries, coordinated through the global Stroke and Cognition Consortium (STROKOG). Researchers found that a combination of age, sex, education, stroke severity, [...]
People experiencing delusions during psychosis may be ‘living out’ deep emotions, research suggests, offering a new way to understand the condition. The study sets out a “radically different perspective” on delusions, challenging older ideas that they are only a ‘glitched brain’. About 2-3 per cent of people in the UK and Australia experience psychosis, often [...]
An automated consciousness tool that fuses six tests has been built to sharpen diagnosis and estimate recovery in patients with disorders of consciousness. Tested in three European centres, the tool may help clinicians give more tailored assessments of disorders of consciousness, its developers say. After stroke, traumatic brain injury or cardiac arrest, some people sustain [...]
NICE has recommended natalizumab, sold as Tysabri and Tyruko, as an option for certain people with hard-to-control multiple sclerosis. The decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will allow NHS coverage of the drug in England, with decisions also influencing NHS coverage in other parts of the UK. The guidance specifically recommends [...]
Healthcare professionals are being exposed to “avoidable moral conflicts” at work, leading to ill health and many of them quitting their profession, says a team of international experts. Dr Deborah Morris, Director of the Centre for Developmental and Complex Trauma (CDCT), part of St Andrew's Healthcare located in Northampton, was asked to co-write an article [...]
By Gerry Roxburgh, specialist neurological Speech and Language Therapist, Elysium Healthcare
In an early new year boost for Calvert Reconnections, case managers and NHS clinicians throughout the UK have praised the centre’s “life-changing” approach to ABI rehabilitation. Following recent experience days and visits to the Keswick-based residential centre, a range of brain injury professionals have shared their thoughts. “Calvert Reconnections is an amazing place,” said Jamie [...]
