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Krauss et al. (p. 1894) searched newspapers and magazines for stories about epilepsy. Almost one-third of the 210 articles included errors of fact such as overoptimism about new treatments, overstating the likelihood of death during a seizure, and dangerous misinformation about first aid. Media articles often perpetuated myths about epilepsy.
The accompanying editorial by Morrell and Pedley (p. 1882) notes that media bias adds to the already-heavy societal burdens of patients with epilepsy—burdens that result in enormous direct and indirect costs of epilepsy. They point to sources of reliable information available through the telephone, the Web, and printed materials.
Long-duration response (LDR) to L-dopa in PD
Neurologists’ use of L-dopa is generally based on an understanding of the short duration response. In a controlled study, Zappia et al. (p. 1910) compared a larger single dose versus smaller more frequent doses to determine whether a large dose produces a better LDR. It does.
The accompanying editorial by Nutt (p. 1884) explains the LDR and emphasizes how this and other work by Zappia et al. challenges the current practice of small frequent doses of L-dopa to treat PD.
Dementia in PD
Dementia is frequent in PD and has often been attributed to the coexistence of PD and AD. Hurtig et al. (p. 1916) used 
-synuclein antibodies to detect Lewy bodies (LB) in the cortex of PD patients with or without dementia. They found that cortical LB were highly sensitive and specific markers for dementia in PD. Plaques and tangles pathology of AD was not.
Hirayama disease: Juvenile distal muscular atrophy of the upper limbs
The terms monomelic amyotrophy and focal motor neuron disease have also been applied to this disorder. Here Hirayama and Tokumaru (p. 1922) report radiologic investigation of the neck in 73 patients and 20 disease control subjects. Hirayama disease patients had abnormalities of the dural sac and flattening of the cervical cord during neck flexion early in the course of the disease, supporting the hypothesis that it is an ischemic myelopathy.
Controlled trial of robotic- aided stroke rehabilitation
Volpe et al. (p. 1938) performed a randomized controlled trial of robot-delivered sensorimotor training in patients hemiparetic/hemiplegic from stroke. Both motor outcome and function improved significantly (the control group had contact with the robot but did not receive the training program).
Estrogens, APOE 
4, and cognitive decline
The relationship between estrogen use and the occurrence of AD and cognitive decline has been studied epidemiologically, and more recently by clinical trials. Yaffe et al. (p. 1949) studied elderly women for cognitive decline and found that estrogen use was associated with cognitive decline in APOE 4-negative but not 4-positive women. This observation is clearly of importance in considering the results of the clinical trials of estrogen in AD and in normal elderly women.
CSF proteins in AD versus frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Sjögren et al. (p. 1960) studied CSF tau and light neurofilament protein in patients with FTD, early-onset AD, late-onset AD, and control subjects. Tau was elevated to a greater extent in early- and late-onset AD and light neurofilament protein to a greater extent in FTD. The data have important implications concerning pathogenesis but do not at present suggest use for diagnosis.
Hallucinations and delusions in AD
Paulsen et al. (p. 1965) followed 329 probable AD patients with annual clinical and neuropsychologic testing to determine the incidence of and risk factors for developing hallucinations and delusions. After 4 years, 51% of AD patients had hallucinations and delusions. Patients with parkinsonian features and rapid general or semantic memory decline were more likely to be affected.
Stroke care in Mexican- Americans
This study from Texas by Morgenstern et al. (p. 2000) examined hospitalization rates, as well as economic factors and diagnostic study performance rates, in Mexican-American versus non-Hispanic white patients with stroke. Mexican-Americans had higher hospitalization rates, but were less likely to have insurance and less likely to be imaged.
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