LifeBridge Health Blogs » Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month
Epilepsy can strike anytime, anywhere. For an estimated three million Americans, they never know when they will be struck by a seizure, the telltale sign of the condition. These seizures are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain and can result in changes in behavior. During a seizure, a person may experience uncontrollable movements, abnormal sensations and alterations in consciousness. Watch this video to learn how to help someone with a seizure: Epilepsy can lead to a … Read entire article »
Filed under: epilepsy, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute, Sinai Hospital
Neurologist Michael A. Williams, M.D., Testifies Before Congressional Hydrocephalus Caucus on Capitol Hill
Today LifeBridge Health neurologist Michael A. Williams, M.D. will present testimony on hydrocephalus before the newly formed Congressional Pediatric & Adult Hydrocephalus Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Williams, the medical director of The Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute of LifeBridge Health and the director of the Adult Hydrocephalus Center at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, will serve as lead witness at the hearing, which is the first official meeting of the caucus. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Adult Hydrocephalus Center, dr. michael williams, hydrocephalus, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute, Sinai Hospital
Members of Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute Go Retro for Flashback Friday
If you walked into Sinai Hospital‘s cafeteria around noon on Friday, September 2, you may have thought that you were in the middle of a disco dance off. To celebrate Sinai Hospital’s Freedom to Have Fun at Work Week, members of the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute went retro for Flashback Friday. Just how retro did they go? To pay homage to the hippie and disco-inspired fashions of the 1970′s members wore bell-bottom … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute, Sinai Hospital
Neurosurgery Chief Explains Giffords’ Surgery
Following the Arizona shootings, many have been following the progress of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. Against the odds, she is holding her own, even breathing by herself after being taken off a respirator. The lifesaving surgery she underwent included removing part of her skull to allow the bullet in her brain to be taken out and her brain to swell unencumbered. Neal Naff, M.D., chief of Neurosurgery at the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, has performed the same type of surgery many times and explains that doctors are monitoring her progress very closely. “At this point, they will be keeping an eye out for increased pressure on the brain as well as any seizure activity and infections,” he says. Giffords’ physicians … Read entire article »
Filed under: dr. neal naff, gabrielle giffords, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
Concussions: More Than a Knock on the Head
Two or more athletes collide on a football field. One hits the ground hard suffering a head impact. The athlete gets up, shakes it off and continues to play. Not always the wise thing to do. “I often say that football is not a contact sport, it is a collision sport,” says Kevin Crutchfield, M.D., the director of the Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program at the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. A concussion is not a simple knock on the head but an injury to your brain that should be taken seriously, he says. Dr. Crutchfield presented a lecture about sports-related concussions at Sinai Hospital’s Grand Rounds last week. Neurology, rehabilitation and other experts collaborate to monitor and treat sports-related concussions in high school- and college-aged athletes to predict when … Read entire article »
Filed under: dr. kevin crutchfield, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
Keeping Your Head: The Most Dangerous Games
by Mark Huslage, LCSW-C, CBIST Coordinator of Brain Injury Programs, LifeBridge Health As stories like this show us, emergency room visits are rising for concussions among student athletes. While we often focus on the risks of football, that’s only one of many sports that place players at risk for significant neurological injury such as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or “concussion.” Fall sports such as soccer, lacrosse and cheerleading have high rates of concussive injury, especially as the age and athletic abilities of participants increase. Thankfully, with the increasing awareness of parents, players and coaches, along with coordinated medical approaches at places like the Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program at The Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute, improved management of mTBI continues to emerge. “It’s all about concussion awareness and paying attention on … Read entire article »
Filed under: concussions, dr. kevin crutchfield, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute, Sinai Rehabilitation Center
New Scanning Technique May Lead the Way to Alzheimer Treatment
by Robin K. Wilson, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Director, Adult Hydrocephalus Center, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute Ever forget where you put your keys and worried for a moment that you’ve started to develop Alzheimer disease? A study presented at last week’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference suggests that a noninvasive imaging procedure using a PET scan and a new radioactive tracer called AV-45 (Avid Radiopharmaceutical, Inc.) may eventually allow your physician to check for the presence of amyloid – a protein that is associated with AD – before true symptoms of dementia develop. Though the buildup of amyloid does not guarantee that a person will become cognitively impaired, this new technique may allow the detection and – eventually – treatment of cognitive changes before irreversible damage occurs. AD is just one of … Read entire article »
Filed under: alzheimer's, Dr. Robin Wilson, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
Grey Matter
by Robin Wilson, M.D., Ph.D. Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute Last night, we once again got to see Grey’s Anatomy’s Dr. Izzie Stevens at Seattle Grace Hospital (Season 6, episode 9, “New History”), pushing the wheelchair of her high school teacher, Dr. Singer (played by Joel Grey). Izzie returned not to reclaim her career, but to demand a medical workup to determine why her mentor went from teaching school to living in a nursing home in less than one year. After a lumbar puncture, Dr. Singer leapt from the exam table, his confusion cleared and his ability to walk restored. Izzie realized that Dr. Singer had a treatable disease – normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) – and set out to talk her friends into providing free shunt surgery for him. Every … Read entire article »
Filed under: Dr. Robin Wilson, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
Sinai Hospital Auxiliary Awards Grant to Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program
The Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program (CSCP) at LifeBridge Health has been awarded a $5,800 grant by the Sinai Hospital Auxiliary. Designed to diagnose and treat sports-related concussions with the most optimal treatment, the CSCP is a collaboration between LifeBridge Sports Medicine, the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute, and the Sinai Rehabilitation Center. The CSCP will use the funds to support the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of concussions in student-athletes at schools in underserved communities that surround Sinai Hospital. “We are honored to have received this award. It provides us an exciting opportunity to identify student-athletes in need of intervention, to promote their recovery and to help them keep pace in class while they are recovering from their concussive symptoms,” said Julie O’Reilly, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at the Berman Brain … Read entire article »
Filed under: concussions, dr. kevin crutchfield, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute, Sinai Rehabilitation Center
Kevin Crutchfield, M.D., Named to NFL Committee
Kevin Crutchfield, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program at the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute of LifeBridge Health, has been appointed to the National Football League Players Association Concussion and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Committee. The committee will meet on January 26 in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss issues regarding the handling of concussions by the NFL. The 15-member panel is composed of experts from differing backgrounds, including players and medical professionals. Members of prominence include post-concussion syndrome advocate and former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski, and Mark Lovell, M.D., director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. The panel will look at how NFL research funds should be used to improve concussion and traumatic brain injury research. This committee will give the NFL … Read entire article »
Filed under: brain injury, dr. kevin crutchfield, NFL, Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain and Spine Institute
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