My Tio Juan and my Tia Christina came home today. Sarita is very excited to see them. I think they had a good trip. Because they can't stop smiling! They brought us all back something too. I got a pretty pearl necklace.
All my tios sent them to Hawaii. I think they were gone for a month. My Nono said that they needed some time away. Because they've been taking care of Sarita since she was a baby. They spend most of their time at the hospital. My Nana, Nono, and Dad took turns watching Sarita. I know she had a good time!
It snowed here on Tuesday. We live in the desert. But this year, we have had a lot of snow. It's been fun to play in! But my Tio Juan said it was a big change for him! I think they just got used to being on the beach. :)
I'm glad they're back. We all missed them! My Nana, Nono, and I have been praying for a baby too! We're not supposed to say anything. But My Tio and Tia are trying to have another baby. It could help Sarita. I hope God sends them another angel. :) C
Thursday, February 25, 2010
O VIRTUAL QUE VIRAOU REAL -PARTE 1
PARTE I
É COM MUITO CARINHO QUE REGISTRO AQUI, UM POUQUINHO DA NOSSA VISITA NA CASA DA ANA, VÉSPERA DO SEU ANIVERSÁRIO..
FOI UM DIA SUPER MARAVILHOSO..VALEU A PENA.E COMO DIZ O POETA:- "TUDO VALE A PENA SE A ALMA NÃO É PEQUENA".
RUMO A CIDADE DE CURITIBA...
ESSE CAMINHO SERÁ UMA LONGA VIAGEM..
A EMOÇÃO E O PRAZER SE MISTURAM...
A EMOÇÃO E O PRAZER SE MISTURAM...
CHEGAMOS..HORA DE LOCALIZAR O ENDEREÇO..
NADA QUE ALGUMAS INFORMAÇÕES ... PARA LOCALIZAR A NOSSA GRANDE AMIGA VIRTUAL...ENTRA AQUI..PASSA ALI E CHEGA AO DESTINO...
MEU FILHO, CHAMA A ANA PELO INTERFONE..PARA ENTREGAR UM PRESENTE...DIZENDO QUE É UMA ENTREGA..VINDA ESPECIALMENTE DE JARAGUÁ DO SUL(SC), (Infelizmente não registramos esse momento..)
(imagem ilustrativa do presente)
(imagem ilustrativa do presente)
COMO NÃO ESTOU CONSEGUINDO COLOCAR TODAS AS FOTOS, VOU FAZER A POSTAGEM EM DUAS PARTES....
CENAS DOS PRÓXIMOS CAPÍTULOS...SÓ AMANHÃ....
Poetas-Um Voo Livre
Sinal de Liberdade-uma expressão de sentimento
Blog Coletivo-Uma Interação de Amigos-
PARA QUEM VAI O SEU OSCAR????
NÃO DEIXE DE PEGAR SEUS PRESENTES...
OBRIGADA ANA, PELO CARINHO DEIXADO ONTEM...
Pelos caminhos da vida. disse...Que seu dia seja realmente um otimo dia...
Que suas horas sejam cheias de felicidades...
Que seu entardecer seja o mais maravilhoso...
Que o seu anoitecer seja carinhosamente depositado por Deus!
(Vilma Galvão).
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
DEU A MACACA NO PC!!!
SIM NÃO CONSIGO POSTAR AS FOTOS DO NOSSO ENCONTRO NA CASA DA ANA.
ESTOU CHATEADA.
PASSEI A MANHÃ TODA FAZENDO ISSO E NÃO DEU CERTO .
QUANDO TENTO PUBLICAR DESTORCE TUDO.. ONTEM TAMBÉM..
TEM MACACA SOLTA NO AR. rsrsrsrsrsr
VOU TENTAR NOVAMENTE E POSTAR MAIS TARDE.
Poetas-Um Voo Livre
Sinal de Liberdade-uma expressão de sentimento
Blog Coletivo-Uma Interação de Amigos-
PARA QUEM VAI O SEU OSCAR????
NÃO DEIXE DE PEGAR SEUS PRESENTES...
ENQUANTO ISSO..LEVEM O MEU CORAÇÃO...
SELO DO CORAÇÃO
..NELE TEM UM CARINHO MUITO ESPECIAL:VOCÊ!!!
More on Deep Brain Stimulation for OCD
Over the past few years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as a promising treatment for severe psychiatric disorders that haven't responded to conventional approaches. A new paper from the University of Florida reports on a trial of DBS in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and unlike most DBS studies, it was placebo-controlled: Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Six patients were implanted with electrodes in the "ventral capsule/ventral striatum" (VC/VS). This area has previously been used as a DBS target for OCD. The original reason for choosing to implant electrodes in this region was that it's long been known that destroying the anterior limb of the internal capsule (capsulotomy) alleviates OCD symptoms in many cases, especially if the ventral (lower) part is removed.
Did it work? Yes, but not for everyone. Out of the 6 patients who entered the trial, all of whom were extremely ill despite having tried multiple medications and psychotherapy, 4 (66%) eventually responded well. The other 2 unfortunately got little or no benefit over the 12 month trial period.
The study had a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase: the patients weren't told when the DBS electrodes were going to be switched on. As the graphs show, in the 3 patients who were randomly selected to have them switched on early, 2 responded pretty much immediately, while in the 3 patients whose electrodes were left off, none responded until they were turned on 30 days later, although the response at this point was fairly gradual.
One person (S1), who responded very well initially, suddenly relapsed about a year later. Upon investigation, it turned out that the battery powering their electrodes had worn out, although no-one knew this until the OCD symptoms returned, so this can't have been a placebo effect. They recovered after getting a new battery.
Overall there are few surprises here. These results confirm what we already knew about DBS: it works in many people, but not all, with response rates of around 60%; When it works, it works very well; but sometimes the effects take weeks or months to become fully apparent. This could be either because DBS starts some gradual process of change in the brain which takes time to work; or it could be that it often takes a long time to find the right stimulation parameters (voltage, frequency, etc.) which provide a good response, since this has to be done by trial-and-error. Most likely, it's a bit of both.
What I found most interesting was that the VC/VS stimulation didn't just treat people's obsessions and compulsions. It also had a mood-improving effect, and crucially, it sounds as though mood was the first thing to improve, with OCD symptoms following days or weeks later:
and mood was the first thing that got worse when the DBS was accidentally turned off for whatever reason:
And in fact, four people experienced temporary hypomania, i.e. abnormally elevated mood, which is usually seen in bipolar disorder, although none of the patients in this study had a history of bipolar. People also commonly reported increased alertness, motivation, and difficulty falling asleep.
This all fits with the fact that VC/VS stimulation has been used as a DBS target for clinical depression, as well as for OCD. Indeed, this suggests that DBS probably works in essentially the same way in both conditions. The drugs that are used to treat OCD are all antidepressants - specifically serotonin-based ones - so this makes sense too.
With luck, research on DBS in animals and humans will finally allow us to understand the neural basis of mood states like depression, and mania - something which, despite decades of research on drugs like antidepressants and mood stabilizers, is still deeply mysterious...
Goodman, W., Foote, K., Greenberg, B., Ricciuti, N., Bauer, R., Ward, H., Shapira, N., Wu, S., Hill, C., & Rasmussen, S. (2010). Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Pilot Study Using a Blinded, Staggered-Onset Design Biological Psychiatry, 67 (6), 535-542 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.11.028
Six patients were implanted with electrodes in the "ventral capsule/ventral striatum" (VC/VS). This area has previously been used as a DBS target for OCD. The original reason for choosing to implant electrodes in this region was that it's long been known that destroying the anterior limb of the internal capsule (capsulotomy) alleviates OCD symptoms in many cases, especially if the ventral (lower) part is removed.
Did it work? Yes, but not for everyone. Out of the 6 patients who entered the trial, all of whom were extremely ill despite having tried multiple medications and psychotherapy, 4 (66%) eventually responded well. The other 2 unfortunately got little or no benefit over the 12 month trial period.
The study had a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase: the patients weren't told when the DBS electrodes were going to be switched on. As the graphs show, in the 3 patients who were randomly selected to have them switched on early, 2 responded pretty much immediately, while in the 3 patients whose electrodes were left off, none responded until they were turned on 30 days later, although the response at this point was fairly gradual.One person (S1), who responded very well initially, suddenly relapsed about a year later. Upon investigation, it turned out that the battery powering their electrodes had worn out, although no-one knew this until the OCD symptoms returned, so this can't have been a placebo effect. They recovered after getting a new battery.
Overall there are few surprises here. These results confirm what we already knew about DBS: it works in many people, but not all, with response rates of around 60%; When it works, it works very well; but sometimes the effects take weeks or months to become fully apparent. This could be either because DBS starts some gradual process of change in the brain which takes time to work; or it could be that it often takes a long time to find the right stimulation parameters (voltage, frequency, etc.) which provide a good response, since this has to be done by trial-and-error. Most likely, it's a bit of both.
What I found most interesting was that the VC/VS stimulation didn't just treat people's obsessions and compulsions. It also had a mood-improving effect, and crucially, it sounds as though mood was the first thing to improve, with OCD symptoms following days or weeks later:
Finding the optimal settings for an individual subject proved challenging...unlike other experiences with DBS, there is not a clear positive symptom (e.g., tremor improvement) to gauge settings. In this study... the goal was to select parameters that produced some benefit in mood or anxiety symptoms acutely, with minimal side effects.
Worsening in mood or increased anxiety were typically the first symptoms reported following battery depletion or inadvertent inactivation by metal detectors. Other signs of depression, such as diminished energy or interest, also emerged within days of device interruption... Exacerbation of OCD symptoms generally lagged the emergence of affective or anxiety symptoms.
This all fits with the fact that VC/VS stimulation has been used as a DBS target for clinical depression, as well as for OCD. Indeed, this suggests that DBS probably works in essentially the same way in both conditions. The drugs that are used to treat OCD are all antidepressants - specifically serotonin-based ones - so this makes sense too.
With luck, research on DBS in animals and humans will finally allow us to understand the neural basis of mood states like depression, and mania - something which, despite decades of research on drugs like antidepressants and mood stabilizers, is still deeply mysterious...
Goodman, W., Foote, K., Greenberg, B., Ricciuti, N., Bauer, R., Ward, H., Shapira, N., Wu, S., Hill, C., & Rasmussen, S. (2010). Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Pilot Study Using a Blinded, Staggered-Onset Design Biological Psychiatry, 67 (6), 535-542 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.11.028
More on Deep Brain Stimulation for OCD
Over the past few years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as a promising treatment for severe psychiatric disorders that haven't responded to conventional approaches. A new paper from the University of Florida reports on a trial of DBS in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and unlike most DBS studies, it was placebo-controlled: Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Six patients were implanted with electrodes in the "ventral capsule/ventral striatum" (VC/VS). This area has previously been used as a DBS target for OCD. The original reason for choosing to implant electrodes in this region was that it's long been known that destroying the anterior limb of the internal capsule (capsulotomy) alleviates OCD symptoms in many cases, especially if the ventral (lower) part is removed.
Did it work? Yes, but not for everyone. Out of the 6 patients who entered the trial, all of whom were extremely ill despite having tried multiple medications and psychotherapy, 4 (66%) eventually responded well. The other 2 unfortunately got little or no benefit over the 12 month trial period.
The study had a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase: the patients weren't told when the DBS electrodes were going to be switched on. As the graphs show, in the 3 patients who were randomly selected to have them switched on early, 2 responded pretty much immediately, while in the 3 patients whose electrodes were left off, none responded until they were turned on 30 days later, although the response at this point was fairly gradual.
One person (S1), who responded very well initially, suddenly relapsed about a year later. Upon investigation, it turned out that the battery powering their electrodes had worn out, although no-one knew this until the OCD symptoms returned, so this can't have been a placebo effect. They recovered after getting a new battery.
Overall there are few surprises here. These results confirm what we already knew about DBS: it works in many people, but not all, with response rates of around 60%; When it works, it works very well; but sometimes the effects take weeks or months to become fully apparent. This could be either because DBS starts some gradual process of change in the brain which takes time to work; or it could be that it often takes a long time to find the right stimulation parameters (voltage, frequency, etc.) which provide a good response, since this has to be done by trial-and-error. Most likely, it's a bit of both.
What I found most interesting was that the VC/VS stimulation didn't just treat people's obsessions and compulsions. It also had a mood-improving effect, and crucially, it sounds as though mood was the first thing to improve, with OCD symptoms following days or weeks later:
and mood was the first thing that got worse when the DBS was accidentally turned off for whatever reason:
And in fact, four people experienced temporary hypomania, i.e. abnormally elevated mood, which is usually seen in bipolar disorder, although none of the patients in this study had a history of bipolar. People also commonly reported increased alertness, motivation, and difficulty falling asleep.
This all fits with the fact that VC/VS stimulation has been used as a DBS target for clinical depression, as well as for OCD. Indeed, this suggests that DBS probably works in essentially the same way in both conditions. The drugs that are used to treat OCD are all antidepressants - specifically serotonin-based ones - so this makes sense too.
With luck, research on DBS in animals and humans will finally allow us to understand the neural basis of mood states like depression, and mania - something which, despite decades of research on drugs like antidepressants and mood stabilizers, is still deeply mysterious...
Goodman, W., Foote, K., Greenberg, B., Ricciuti, N., Bauer, R., Ward, H., Shapira, N., Wu, S., Hill, C., & Rasmussen, S. (2010). Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Pilot Study Using a Blinded, Staggered-Onset Design Biological Psychiatry, 67 (6), 535-542 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.11.028
Six patients were implanted with electrodes in the "ventral capsule/ventral striatum" (VC/VS). This area has previously been used as a DBS target for OCD. The original reason for choosing to implant electrodes in this region was that it's long been known that destroying the anterior limb of the internal capsule (capsulotomy) alleviates OCD symptoms in many cases, especially if the ventral (lower) part is removed.
Did it work? Yes, but not for everyone. Out of the 6 patients who entered the trial, all of whom were extremely ill despite having tried multiple medications and psychotherapy, 4 (66%) eventually responded well. The other 2 unfortunately got little or no benefit over the 12 month trial period.
The study had a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase: the patients weren't told when the DBS electrodes were going to be switched on. As the graphs show, in the 3 patients who were randomly selected to have them switched on early, 2 responded pretty much immediately, while in the 3 patients whose electrodes were left off, none responded until they were turned on 30 days later, although the response at this point was fairly gradual.One person (S1), who responded very well initially, suddenly relapsed about a year later. Upon investigation, it turned out that the battery powering their electrodes had worn out, although no-one knew this until the OCD symptoms returned, so this can't have been a placebo effect. They recovered after getting a new battery.
Overall there are few surprises here. These results confirm what we already knew about DBS: it works in many people, but not all, with response rates of around 60%; When it works, it works very well; but sometimes the effects take weeks or months to become fully apparent. This could be either because DBS starts some gradual process of change in the brain which takes time to work; or it could be that it often takes a long time to find the right stimulation parameters (voltage, frequency, etc.) which provide a good response, since this has to be done by trial-and-error. Most likely, it's a bit of both.
What I found most interesting was that the VC/VS stimulation didn't just treat people's obsessions and compulsions. It also had a mood-improving effect, and crucially, it sounds as though mood was the first thing to improve, with OCD symptoms following days or weeks later:
Finding the optimal settings for an individual subject proved challenging...unlike other experiences with DBS, there is not a clear positive symptom (e.g., tremor improvement) to gauge settings. In this study... the goal was to select parameters that produced some benefit in mood or anxiety symptoms acutely, with minimal side effects.
Worsening in mood or increased anxiety were typically the first symptoms reported following battery depletion or inadvertent inactivation by metal detectors. Other signs of depression, such as diminished energy or interest, also emerged within days of device interruption... Exacerbation of OCD symptoms generally lagged the emergence of affective or anxiety symptoms.
This all fits with the fact that VC/VS stimulation has been used as a DBS target for clinical depression, as well as for OCD. Indeed, this suggests that DBS probably works in essentially the same way in both conditions. The drugs that are used to treat OCD are all antidepressants - specifically serotonin-based ones - so this makes sense too.
With luck, research on DBS in animals and humans will finally allow us to understand the neural basis of mood states like depression, and mania - something which, despite decades of research on drugs like antidepressants and mood stabilizers, is still deeply mysterious...
Goodman, W., Foote, K., Greenberg, B., Ricciuti, N., Bauer, R., Ward, H., Shapira, N., Wu, S., Hill, C., & Rasmussen, S. (2010). Deep Brain Stimulation for Intractable Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Pilot Study Using a Blinded, Staggered-Onset Design Biological Psychiatry, 67 (6), 535-542 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.11.028
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Scannerphobia
Science informs us of about a tricky problem facing Chinese neuroscientists: Fear of MRI Scans Trips Up Brain Researchers.
Apparently, many parents are concerned about the possible impact of strong magnetic fields on children, and are unwilling to allow their children to get MRI scanned for research purposes; the article reports on two Chinese neuroscientists who were unable to find healthy children to volunteer for their MRI studies.
MRI safety is an interesting topic. Used incorrectly, an MRI scanner could, in theory, harm you in quite a few ways, from heating you up due to radiofrequency energy transfer, to stopping your heart by inducing an electric current in it (although I don't think that's ever actually happened, it is a theoretical concern). Fortunately, by sensible selection of the scan parameters, these risks can be avoided.
The only real danger is that posed by metal objects (specifically ferromagnetic ones), which in the presence of a strong magnetic field become deadly projectiles. This is why it's a bad idea to carry that pair of scissors into the scanner room. Remember: the magnet is always on...
Apparently, many parents are concerned about the possible impact of strong magnetic fields on children, and are unwilling to allow their children to get MRI scanned for research purposes; the article reports on two Chinese neuroscientists who were unable to find healthy children to volunteer for their MRI studies.“I would not dare to allow my children to be tested by MRI,” says radiologist Han Hongbin of Peking University Third Hospital. “Nobody can ensure that there is no potential danger,” such as during nonroutine MRI scans that use extremely powerful magnetic fields, he says.This is not a problem I've heard of amongst Western researchers, but on the other hand, it's not all that bizarre. In Britain, and as far as I know elsewhere too, standard practice is never to include women who are (or might be) pregnant in fMRI studies. This is not because strong magnetic fields have any known risks for unborn babies, or indeed anyone else. It's purely a better-safe-than-sorry precaution. But it sounds as though the concerns of Chinese parents are of that kind as well.
MRI safety is an interesting topic. Used incorrectly, an MRI scanner could, in theory, harm you in quite a few ways, from heating you up due to radiofrequency energy transfer, to stopping your heart by inducing an electric current in it (although I don't think that's ever actually happened, it is a theoretical concern). Fortunately, by sensible selection of the scan parameters, these risks can be avoided.
The only real danger is that posed by metal objects (specifically ferromagnetic ones), which in the presence of a strong magnetic field become deadly projectiles. This is why it's a bad idea to carry that pair of scissors into the scanner room. Remember: the magnet is always on...
Scannerphobia
Science informs us of about a tricky problem facing Chinese neuroscientists: Fear of MRI Scans Trips Up Brain Researchers.
Apparently, many parents are concerned about the possible impact of strong magnetic fields on children, and are unwilling to allow their children to get MRI scanned for research purposes; the article reports on two Chinese neuroscientists who were unable to find healthy children to volunteer for their MRI studies.
MRI safety is an interesting topic. Used incorrectly, an MRI scanner could, in theory, harm you in quite a few ways, from heating you up due to radiofrequency energy transfer, to stopping your heart by inducing an electric current in it (although I don't think that's ever actually happened, it is a theoretical concern). Fortunately, by sensible selection of the scan parameters, these risks can be avoided.
The only real danger is that posed by metal objects (specifically ferromagnetic ones), which in the presence of a strong magnetic field become deadly projectiles. This is why it's a bad idea to carry that pair of scissors into the scanner room. Remember: the magnet is always on...
Apparently, many parents are concerned about the possible impact of strong magnetic fields on children, and are unwilling to allow their children to get MRI scanned for research purposes; the article reports on two Chinese neuroscientists who were unable to find healthy children to volunteer for their MRI studies.“I would not dare to allow my children to be tested by MRI,” says radiologist Han Hongbin of Peking University Third Hospital. “Nobody can ensure that there is no potential danger,” such as during nonroutine MRI scans that use extremely powerful magnetic fields, he says.This is not a problem I've heard of amongst Western researchers, but on the other hand, it's not all that bizarre. In Britain, and as far as I know elsewhere too, standard practice is never to include women who are (or might be) pregnant in fMRI studies. This is not because strong magnetic fields have any known risks for unborn babies, or indeed anyone else. It's purely a better-safe-than-sorry precaution. But it sounds as though the concerns of Chinese parents are of that kind as well.
MRI safety is an interesting topic. Used incorrectly, an MRI scanner could, in theory, harm you in quite a few ways, from heating you up due to radiofrequency energy transfer, to stopping your heart by inducing an electric current in it (although I don't think that's ever actually happened, it is a theoretical concern). Fortunately, by sensible selection of the scan parameters, these risks can be avoided.
The only real danger is that posed by metal objects (specifically ferromagnetic ones), which in the presence of a strong magnetic field become deadly projectiles. This is why it's a bad idea to carry that pair of scissors into the scanner room. Remember: the magnet is always on...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)