NeuroRehabilitation - Volume 27, issue 2

Authors: Lapeyre, Eric | Kuks, Jan B.M. | Meijler, Willem J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Though in the last few decades only a few new drugs have come available for the treatment of spasticity, new insights may revise the role and individual value of several pharmacological treatments. Diazepam, baclofen and tizanidine are the most prescribed drugs for the treatment of spasticity. Intrathecal baclofen and local infiltration of botulin toxin are added values in selective patients. Gabapentin is a novelty, and the working mechanism of cannabis has been elucidated. Dantrolene sodium appears to owe its selectivity from the recently discovered ryanodine receptor, with a peripheral effect in muscles. In this review the pathophysiology and epidemiology of …spasticity, pharmacology, clinical efficacy and unwanted effects of the different drugs for spasticity are updated. Show more

Keywords: Spasticity, review, pharmacology, treatments

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2010-0596

Citation: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 193-200, 2010

Authors: Thomas, Raji | Barnes, Michael

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This article reviews the literature on life expectancy in the disabled population. The literature is surveyed with regard to the main elements that reduce life expectancy for people with disabilities. These are immobility, cognitive and intellectual impairment, swallowing problems and tube feeding, epilepsy and incontinence. The article discusses various improvements in survival in the last few years and discusses the possibility of further improvements in the future. The difficulties are discussed with regard to early prediction of life expectancy both in childhood and after an acute neurological event in adulthood. The literature is then reviewed with regard to the cohort …studies on quantification of life expectancy in disabled people. The literature is discussed and pragmatic clinical conclusions are drawn. Show more

Keywords: Life expectancy, people with disabilities, prediction

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2010-0597

Citation: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 201-209, 2010

Article Type: Correction

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-2010-0598

Citation: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 211-211, 2010