Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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Nutritional peripheral neuropathies are a global problem, heavily influenced by geopolitical, cultural and socioeconomic factors. Peripheral neuropathy occurs most frequently secondary to B-vitamin deficiencies, which is suspected to increase in years to come due to the popularity of vegan and vegetarian diets and increased use of bariatric surgery. This review will focus on the common B-vitamins for which a causal link to peripheral neuropathy is more established (vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9 and B12). ⋯ Endemic outbreaks of peripheral neuropathy over the last two centuries have been linked to food shortages and nutritional deficiency. These include outbreaks in Jamaican sugar plantation workers in the nineteenth century (Strachan's syndrome), World War two prisoners of war, Cuban endemic neuropathy and also Tanzanian endemic optic neuropathy, which remains a significant public health burden today. An improved understanding of lack of which vitamins cause peripheral neuropathy and how to identify specific deficiencies may lead to prevention of significant and irreversible disability in vulnerable populations.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2023
Effectiveness and safety profile of greater occipital nerve blockade in cluster headache: a systematic review.
Greater occipital nerve (GON) blockade is a short-term preventive therapy for cluster headache (CH). We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of GON blockade in patients with CH. ⋯ CRD42020208435.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2023
ReviewAdvances in diagnosis and management of distal sensory polyneuropathies.
Distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP) is characterised by length-dependent, sensory-predominant symptoms and signs, including potentially disabling symmetric chronic pain, tingling and poor balance. Some patients also have or develop dysautonomia or motor involvement depending on whether large myelinated or small fibres are predominantly affected. Although highly prevalent, diagnosis and management can be challenging. ⋯ Improving and standardising DSP metrics, as already accomplished for motor neuropathies, would permit in-clinic longitudinal tracking of natural history and treatment responses. Standardising phenotyping could advance research and facilitate trials of potential therapies, which lag so far. This review updates on recent advances and summarises current evidence for specific treatments.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2023
Epigenetic clocks in neurodegenerative diseases: a systematic review.
Biological ageing is one of the principal risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases. It is becoming increasingly clear that acceleration of DNA methylation age, as measured by the epigenetic clock, is closely associated with many age-related diseases. ⋯ CRD42022365233.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Dec 2023
ReviewAnomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a disabling long-term condition of unknown cause. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline in 2021 that highlighted the seriousness of the condition, but also recommended that graded exercise therapy (GET) should not be used and cognitive-behavioural therapy should only be used to manage symptoms and reduce distress, not to aid recovery. This U-turn in recommendations from the previous 2007 guideline is controversial. ⋯ The committee: (1) created a new definition of CFS/ME, which 'downgraded' the certainty of trial evidence; (2) omitted data from standard trial end points used to assess efficacy; (3) discounted trial data when assessing treatment harm in favour of lower quality surveys and qualitative studies; (4) minimised the importance of fatigue as an outcome; (5) did not use accepted practices to synthesise trial evidence adequately using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations trial evidence); (6) interpreted GET as mandating fixed increments of change when trials defined it as collaborative, negotiated and symptom dependent; (7) deviated from NICE recommendations of rehabilitation for related conditions, such as chronic primary pain and (8) recommended an energy management approach in the absence of supportive research evidence. We conclude that the dissonance between this and the previous guideline was the result of deviating from usual scientific standards of the NICE process. The consequences of this are that patients may be denied helpful treatments and therefore risk persistent ill health and disability.