iOS 9.3 "Night Shift" will limit sleep disruption from your screen. It makes physiologic sense.

Night Shift: How this iOS 9.3 feature helped me sleep better

By Matt Swider a day agoMobile phones 

It's not a cure-all, but Apple's new setting reduces eye strain

 
 
 

Night Shift is one iOS 9.3 feature that I'm not going to lose sleep over, even if I keep tossing and turning over whether or not to upgrade to that downsized iPad Air 9.7.

This is Apple's brand new display software that tints my screen a more eye-friendly shade of orange by using my iPhone and iPad clock and geolocation to slowly reduce the amount of sleep-inhibiting blue light emitted.

I've basically been bathing in intense blue light every night before this, reading and working on my mobile devices, even though I'm fully aware it messes with my circadian rhythm and makes it harder for me to fall asleep.



Full article HERE

Make a Difference Every Night & Day. Open Position – Sleep & EEG Technician HOUSTON TX

Open Position – Sleep & EEG Technician HOUSTON TX

Open Position – Sleep & EEG Technician HOUSTON TX

Multi-location Pediatric Focused (Adults Welcome too) Sleep/EEG Center in Houston, Texas is currently seeking FT and PT/PRN EEG/ Respiratory/Polysomnographic Technicians to join our team. 

Responsibilities include: Performing sleep studies on adult and pediatric patients, including PAP titrations and oxygen therapy when applicable. Attach electrodes using the 10-20 system ensuring proper lead placement and low impedances. Monitor patients throughout the sleep study - documenting observations, troubleshooting artifact, and collecting data. Attention to patients needs in a courteous and professional manner, safeguarding private/protected information. Clean lab equipment per lab standards while maintaining a clean and safe work environment.

All applicants must have excellent communication skills, comfort with children, experience in sleep OR EEG. Current enrollment /completion of AASM modules is a plus . RTs with previous sleep or EEG experience welcome.

Licensed EMT’s with strong personal skills/ qualifications in pediatrics are welcome to apply. Other requirements include current CPR, BCLS or ACLS certification; computer literacy; excellent verbal and written communication skills. Must be professional, detail-oriented with a high standard of professionalism and work ethic. 

Please send a letter or CV cheryls@academydxsleep.com 

for more information.

Concussion article in The Economist

Its not just a sports injury. Its a brain injury with effects that can last for years. 

If your child has a had a concussion or otehr brain injury and still has problems, call your doctor or a specialist. JR

Concussion

Bang to rights

FRED McNEILL, an American-football player, died in November at the age of 63. Between 1974 and 1985 he appeared for the Minnesota Vikings. After leaving them he became a lawyer but in later years suffered from dementia and was told that he had signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. His recent death has become a milestone in the understanding of brain disorders, for post-mortem examination has confirmed this diagnosis—retrospectively making him the first person to be so diagnosed while alive.

CTE is the physical manifestation in the brain of punch-drunk syndrome—or dementia pugilistica, to give its Latinised, medical name. As that name suggests, this form of dementia particularly affects boxers, who are hit on the head as a matter of course. But doctors now understand that it is also a problem in people like Mr McNeill, who get hit on the head accidentally in contact sports. Mr McNeill, along with several other retired players, volunteered to let researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) use a scanning technique called positron-emission tomography (PET) to look at their brains.

In his case, and in those of others who had suffered concussion (a form of brain injury that leads to headaches, dizziness and nausea, and causes blackouts in 10% of those who experience it), this revealed a pattern of abnormal protein deposits. Mr McNeill’s death enabled his scans to be compared with the results of an autopsy. That confirmed the PET-based diagnosis. Specifically, PET was recording deposits in his brain of a protein called tau, which is tied to CTE and other neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s.

Suffer the little children

In the end, adult athletes can make up their own minds about what risks they wish to take. Children, though, cannot. It is therefore children who should attract the greatest attention. Not only are some children obliged to play contact sports at school, but they may also be participating in an environment that encourages a “stiff upper lip” when they are injured. Yet it has been clear since a study published in 2012 by Andrew Mayer at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque that subtle brain changes in children who have sustained a concussion persist for months after the injury, even when there are no longer any obvious symptoms.

Work published last December by Charles Hillman of the University of Illinois found that children who had sustained a single sports-related concussion still had impaired brain function two years later. 

Ten-year-olds with a history of concussion performed worse on tests of working memory, attention and impulse control than did uninjured confrères. Among the children with a history of concussion, those who were injured earlier in life had larger deficits. This study was small (it involved 15 injured participants) but if subsequent research confirms it, that will be great cause for concern.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Cerebellar Atrophy After Moderate-to-Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

Cerebellar Atrophy After Moderate-to-Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

American Journal of Neuroradiology

By Wilde EA, Bigler ED, Spanos GK, Cleavinger HB, Levin HS, Hunter JV, Fearing MA, Li X

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

Although the cerebellum has not attracted the same degree of attention as cortical areas and the hippocampus in traumatic brain injury (TBI) literature, there is limited structural and functional imaging evidence that the cerebellum is also vulnerable to insult. The cerebellum is emerging as part of a frontocerebellar system that, when disrupted, results in significant cognitive and behavioral consequences. We hypothesized that cerebellar volume would be reduced in children following TBI and wished to examine the relation between the cerebellum and known sites of projection, including the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and pons.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Quantitative MR imaging was used to measure cerebellar white and gray matter and lesion volumes 1-10 years following TBI in 16 children 9-16 years of age and 16 demographically matched typically developing children 9-16 years of age. Cerebellar volumes were also compared with volumetric data from other brain regions to which the cerebellum projects.

RESULTS:

A significant group difference was found in cerebellar white and gray matter volume, with children in the TBI group consistently exhibiting smaller volumes. Repeating the analysis after excluding children with focal cerebellar lesions revealed that significant group differences still remained for cerebellar white matter (WM). We also found a relation between the cerebellum and projection areas, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and pons in 1 or both groups.

CONCLUSION:

Our finding of reduced cerebellar WM volume in children with TBI is consistent with evidence from experimental studies suggesting that the cerebellum and its related projection areas are highly vulnerable to fiber degeneration following traumatic insult.

Does Mechanism of Injury Play a Role in Recovery from Concussion?

Accidents can be worse than sports-related brain injuries. Children and Adolescents have unique developmental considerations.  - JR


Does Mechanism of Injury Play a Role in Recovery from Concussion?

The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation
February 26, 2016

Read original article
By Ellen Deibert, Eva Goldwater, Ashley Seiger

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

High school football and soccer are 2 of the leading causes of concussion injuries. However, concussions also occur from mechanisms of injury such as motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), assault, and work-related accidents.

PURPOSE:

Determine if recovery from concussion could be related to the mechanism of injury.

SETTING:

Berkshire Medical Center Concussion Clinic.

PARTICIPANTS:

Patients aged 13 to 21 years suffering concussion from football (n = 31), soccer (n = 9), or MVAs (n = 20).

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS:

ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment Tool) test scores including symptom inventory; number of days sick; length of time to recovery.

RESULTS:

Most commonly reported symptom at the time of injury was headache. Patients were seen in clinic an average of 16 (football), 14 (soccer), and 21 (MVA) days postinjury. Groups differed significantly on ImPACT Visual Memory and Visual Motor Speed scores (P < .05). MVA patients had a longer median number of days sick (97 days) than football players (32 days; P < .05).

CONCLUSION:

This study suggests that concussion from an MVA may be a more serious injury than a typical concussion sustained during sports. Data suggest that MVA patients take longer to present to clinic, have lower Visual Memory and Visual Motor Speed scores on ImPACT, and take longer to recover. Further studies are needed to better understand how the mechanism of injury of concussion may relate to prognosis.