Women with neurologic issues need specialized care
Posted by on October 27, 2012 - 7:49am

Conditions that affect the brain can be more complicated in women compared to men, partly because of hormones and reproductive issues.   Did you know:

  • Twenty percent of women have migraines
  • Primary care doctors often ignore sleep disorders in women
  • Epilepsy and its treatment can be impacted by hormonal cyclic changes
  • Neurologic treatments interfere with contraceptive effectiveness and fertility
  • Stroke mortality is higher in women than men but 30% of women are unaware of this fact.

To address these concerns at NorthwesternMedicine, a group of neurology specialists who have a strong interest in women's health and sex-specific care have opened the Women's Neurology Clinic at Northwestern.  The center plans to incorporate integrated medicine approaches and  not rely solely on pharmacologic interventions.    To learn more about this clinic, visit their website.

 

FDA approves botox for urinary incontinence (UI)
Posted by on August 30, 2011 - 7:07am

The FDA approved Botox injection to treat urinary incontinence (UI) in people with neurologic bladder conditions such as spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis who have over activity of the bladder. The effectiveness of Botox to treat this type of incontinence was demonstrated in two clinical studies involving 691 patients. Both studies showed statistically significant decreases in the weekly frequency of incontinence episodes in the Botox group compared with placebo.

Injection of the bladder with Botox is performed using cystoscopy, a procedure that allows a doctor to visualize the interior of the bladder. Cystoscopy may require general anesthesia. The duration of the effect of Botox on urinary incontinence in patients with bladder overactivity associated with a neurologic condition is about nine months.In addition to its use to improve the appearance of facial frown lines, Botox also is FDA-approved to treat chronic migraine headaches, certain kinds of muscle stiffness and contraction, severe underarm sweating, abnormal twitch of the eyelid and a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned. While not a FDA-approved for the treatment of interstitial cystitis (IC), the use of Botox to treat IC is becoming more common.

Will IC soon be added to this list of FDA-approved indications? Stay tuned.

8/25/2011  Source:  Interstitial Cystitis Association

Multiple Sclerosis Strikes Women More Than Men
Posted by on March 7, 2011 - 11:02am

Multiple sclerosis (MS) disrupts communication between the brain and other parts of the body.  In the worst cases, it can bring partial or complete paralysis. Researchers don’t yet know what causes this disease or how to cure it, but they’ve been making progress on both fronts.

Symptoms of MS arise most often between the ages of 20 and 40. It often begins with blurred or double vision, color distortion, or even blindness in one eye. It can cause muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness or tingling, and difficulty with coordination and balance. MS can bring many other symptoms as well.

In some people, doctors may not be able to readily identify the cause of these symptoms. Patients may endure years of uncertainty and multiple diagnoses while baffling symptoms come and go.  The vast majority of patients are mildly affected, but in the worst cases, MS can leave a person unable to write, speak or walk.

MS is a disease in which the body’s immune system inappropriately attacks the brain and spinal cord. Specifically, the immune system targets the fatty insulating material around nerves called myelin. When myelin is damaged, the messages that nerve cells send and receive can be interrupted.

Researchers estimate that 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States have been diagnosed with MS. Scientists don’t yet understand what triggers the immune system to attack myelin in these people. But researchers do know that whites are more than twice as likely as others to develop MS, and women almost twice as likely as men.

Geography seems to play a role in MS. The disease is much more prevalent in temperate climates than in tropical regions. Your risk for MS seems to depend on where you live before the age of 15. Some studies have found that a person who moves before the age of 15 tends to adopt the risk of the new area. People moving after age 15 seem to maintain the risk level of the area where they grew up. Some researchers believe that vitamin D, which the body makes when sunlight strikes the skin, may lower the risk of MS and help explain these findings, but studies haven’t yet confirmed this link.

Some microbes, such as the Epstein-Barr virus, have been suspected of causing MS. But researchers haven’t been able to prove for certain that any microbes raise your chances of getting MS. Cigarette smoking, however, does appear to raise your risk.

Genes clearly affect how likely you are to develop MS. Having a sibling with MS raises your risk of getting MS to about 4% to 5%; having an identical twin raises your risk to about 25% to 30%. These facts suggest a strong genetic component to MS. However, although some studies have linked specific genes to MS, most of the results haven’t been definitive. Researchers are now working on more detailed studies.

There’s no cure yet for MS, but various therapies can treat it. Researchers are continuing to develop new and better therapies for MS, with several now in the pipeline.

Source:  National Institutes of Health

Overlooked or misdiagnosed conditions in women
Posted by on October 19, 2009 - 9:18am
Image: WOLDCnews.com

Image: WOLDCnews.com

CNN Health has just published a nice article outlining many conditions that can be overlooked in women, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and several autoimmune disorders such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. Included in the article is a quote from Virginia Ladd, founder and executive director of the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association:

"More than 40 percent of women eventually diagnosed with a serious autoimmune disease have basically been told by a doctor that they're just too concerned with their health or they're a hypochondriac."

The resounding message of the article is to trust your (possibly irritable) gut; if you feel off somehow, keep pursuing the topic with your doctor or get a second opinion.

PS- Look for our blog entry on Wednesday about autoimmune disorders and X chromosome inactivation. It will be a more in-depth entry about the genetic reasons women are more at risk for these conditions.

Autoimmunity Disorders and Gender
Posted by on September 22, 2009 - 12:48pm

The NIH has a pretty cool monthly podcast called “Pinn Point on Women’s Health,” which is hosted by Dr. Vivian Pinn, director of the NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. For September, the topic was Autoimmune Disease in women (NIH summary and directions for downloading the podcast can be found here.)

The topic is fascinating! Autoimmune diseases are those where the body , for whatever reason, starts fighting its own cells with an immune response in the same way it would if the cells were a foreign invader (bacteria, virus etc). Women are more likely to get a whole host of autoimmune diseases than men are, including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. Apparently, out of all the people suffering from auto-immune diseases in the US, 80% are female. That’s a phenomenal bias for a condition that, on the surface at least, has no clear tie to gender. According to the research (great review here), our increased risk of getting these diseases is simply our great immune systems working against us. Apparently, our immune systems are so great that we’re less prone to infection and have a much greater antibody response to those little invaders that do get in. Unfortunately, our systems are so strong that they also tend to go into overdrive, leading to this attack of our own bodies. The culprits (or overachieving heroes, depending on how you look at it), are likely exactly what you’d expect: hormones or chromosomal influences. The hormone research actually shows that during pregnancy, women's immune systems switch to a far less aggressive regimen, likely to avoid attacking the fetus as an invader. This decreased immunity is the reason for the increased risk of pregnant women getting the flu that Alison mentioned, but it’s also the reason that many pregnant women notice a decrease in their symptoms of autoimmune disorders. I actually have/had a condition called tranverse myelitis, which is thought to be an autoimmune disorder; I also very rarely catch the normal seasonal bugs that float around the office, and I don’t think I’ve ever had the flu (knock on wood!). It’s kind of amazing to think that both the bad and the good stem from the same source: an incredibly strong immune system! Anyone else notice that same thing in his/her self, or anyone they know with autoimmune disorders?