Growing Up in U.S. 'Stroke Belt' Bad for the Brain Later in Life

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 12, 2020 -- Americans who grew up in the swath of the South known as the Stroke Belt are more likely to develop thinking declines later in life, even if they moved away as adults, a new study suggests.

But people who grew up elsewhere and moved to the Stroke Belt are less likely to succumb to so-called cognitive decline than if they'd lived there all their lives, researchers found.

Many Can Suffer Facial Paralysis -- and Its Emotional Toll

TUESDAY, Feb. 4, 2020 -- Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans develop some form of facial paralysis from a variety of causes.

The loss of facial control and expression that follows can bring sometimes devastating stigma, depression and anxiety, a new study shows.

3 Drugs for Severe Epileptic Seizures Are Equally Effective: Study

THURSDAY, Dec. 5, 2019 -- Three drugs used to treat severe seizures in epilepsy patients are equally effective, a new study finds.

The three medications -- levetiracetam (Keppra and Roweepra), fosphenytoin (Cerebyx) and valproate -- are commonly used to treat patients with "refractory status epilepticus." In these patients, severe seizures continue after treatment with benzodiazepine medications.

FDA Approves New Type of Drug to Treat Migraines

MONDAY, Dec. 23, 2019 -- Migraine sufferers who cannot get relief from existing medications have a new treatment option, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday.

The pill, called ubrogepant (Ubrelvy) is for the immediate treatment "of migraine with or without aura [a sensory phenomenon or visual disturbance] in adults," the agency said in a news release.

Sleep Disturbances May Trigger Migraine

THURSDAY, Dec. 26, 2019 -- Sleep disturbances appear to be a trigger for migraine headaches, according to a new study.

"We found that low sleep efficiency, which is the amount of time you're awake in bed when you're trying to sleep, was associated with migraines not on the day immediately following, but on the day after that," said study co-author Dr. Suzanne Bertisch, a sleep specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.