Neurology

Event Profile: Naidex is the UK's largest homecare, disability and rehabilitation event, and this year's show was the biggest ever, an opportunity for users, carers and healthcare professionals to view a wide range of products and services. Highlights: Using Web-Based Resources to Support CPD for Health Professionals, A National Framework for Support Worker Education and Development (Jointly developed by the COT and the CSP), The Implications of the Green Paper on Adult Social Care. Visitor's Profile: Physios, OT's, speech and language therapists, community loan store managers, specifiers, dealers, people with varying disabilities, their carers, families and friends are the target audience. Exhibitor's Profile: Profile for exhibit include bathing and showers, moving & handling, lifts and hoists, seating & stairlifts to pressure relief, paediatric equipment, communication products and services. Organizer: Emap Business Europe Wentworth House, Wentworth Street, Peterborough, PE1 1DS, Emap plc, 40 Bernard Street, London, United Kingdom. Tel: +(44)-(208)-2775844 Fax: +(44)-(208)-2775887

Course Objectives Recognize the pathogens carried by ticks and other vectors in the US. Recognize and analyze the overlapping symptoms in chronic illnesses like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and vector borne diseases. Diagnose, evaluate and treat Borrelia Burgdorferi & co-infections in patients. Identify clinical features of CNS diseases and select appropiate tests for diagnosis including laboratory and brain imaging scans. Additional Information Conference brings together a group of seven distinquished speakers. Some of the faculty's presentation titles are: "The Three Phases of Lyme Borrelia burgdorferi, Treatment and Evaluation". "Biomarkers of Lyme Disease and Controlled Treatment Trials", " Post Infections chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, Research Update", "An Overview of Tick Borne Disease in Children and the Autism Connection", and "What I have learned in the past 20 years".

Main Topics: Pediatrics, child health, biological anthropology, growth and development, body composition, clinical nutrition, community medicine, cytogenetics and biochemical genetics, dermatology and venereal diseases, disability and mental health, endocrinology and diabetes, environmental health impacts, histopathology, laboratory medicine, molecular and immunogenetics, oro-dental diseases, pharmacology and toxicology, prenatal genetics, reproductive health, gynecology and obstetrics, and free papers in medical sciences. Registration fees: US$ 150 which include: opening ceremony, admission to scientific sessions, admission to technical exhibitions, conference kit, certificate of attendance, coffee and lunch breaks. Accommodation: Accommodation can be arranged on request. Payment: Bank trasfere: National Bank of Egypt, Cairo, Account No. 9/450/81761/1. Email: Nrc_med@yahoo.com Contact person: Prof. Dr. Ashraf Shaalan Head of Medical Research Division National Research Centre Cairo, Egypt.

As new clinical approaches emerge and technology improves, therapists and educators are increasingly challenged to enhance knowledge of best practices in the treatment and education for clients, patients, and students with AAC and assistive technology needs. How do therapists, educators, and medical professionals assure they are current with new clinical approaches as research and new technology emerges? Join us for the 2008 AAC conference and interact with colleages and nathionally recognized experts in the area of AAC and assistive technology.

In this 2nd International Congress on Gait and Mental Function, we will provide delegates with a complete update of this rapidly advancing field. The program will contain a mixture of clinically oriented presentations and the latest scientific highlights, thus providing a mixed menu that should appeal to a broad audience. Specific new elements in this conference include the neuropharmacology behind gait and mental dysfunction; innovative rehabilitation approaches to reduce falls caused by mental dysfunction; and the importance of gait and mental dysfunction in the ageing population. Each plenary session will feature state-of-the-art contributions by internationally recognised experts in their fields

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES - DAY 1 - THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF PERFORMING A NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION – Obtain a more precise history of weakness or numbness. Perform a more complete screening neurological examination. When to use supplementary portions of the exam in selected clinical situations. Common pitfalls and errors in performing the neurological examination. INTERPRETING THE NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION: A CASE-BASED APPROACH – Common abnormalities on the neurological examination. Determine whether a lesion is in the central or peripheral nervous system. Categorize weakness and numbness by their patterns of distribution and recognize these patterns as aids to localization. Selected cases which will serve as examples of how to recognize and localize classic problems noted on the neurological examination. CRANIAL NEUROPATHIES: VERTIGO, BELL'S PALSY AND TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA – Clinical features of cranial neuropathies. Techniques available to confirm a diagnosis of cranial neuropathy. Therapeutic modalities available to treat vertigo, Bell’s palsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. VISUAL LOSS AND DOUBLE VISION: NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY FOR THE PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN – Differential diagnosis for patients presenting with acute and chronic monocular loss of vision. Differential diagnosis for patients presenting with horizontal and vertical diplopia. Components of the bedside neurologic exam which will distinguish between the various etiologies of visual loss and diplopia. Therapeutic and prognostic aspects of the specific causes of visual loss and diplopia. DAY 2 - NEURODIAGNOSTICS TESTS: HOW CAN THEY HELP YOU MAKE THE DIAGNOSIS? – Indications for neurodiagnostic studies and answer the questions: Should every seizure patient have an EEG? Should every numb hand have an EMG? False positives and incidental findings obtained from neurodiagnostic testing. Limitations of EMG, EEG and lumbar puncture. Obtaining useful information from neurodiagnostic tests. Advising patients as to what is involved in the performance of these selective neurodiagnostic tests. NEURORADIOLOGY: INTERPRETING THE INTERPRETATIONS OF CAT SCAN AND MRI – Clinical relevance of the findings reviewed in CAT scan and MRI reports. The rationale for ordering neuroradiologic testing. Common neuroradiologic abnormalities. AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO GAIT ABNORMALITIES – Common gait abnormalities, both persistent and episodic. Evaluate patients with gait dysfunction using a directed neurological exam and appropriate lab and imaging studies. Categorize persistent gait abnormalities into dysfunction of sensation, power, balance, coordination/posture, and tone. Hysterical gait abnormalities. THE CLINICIAN’S APPROACH TO PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY – The multiple presentations of the neuropathy of diabetes. Differential diagnosis of patients who present with peripheral neuropathy. Diagnostic work-up of patients with peripheral neuropathy. Therapeutic options available for peripheral neuropathy. DAY 3 - ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND OTHER DEMENTIAS – Evaluate patients with dementia and answer the question: What testing should be done in a patient with suspected Alzheimer’s disease? Answer the question: What are the red flags suggesting that special testing for other causes of dementia is appropriate? When to initiate a Cholinesterase inhibitor or NMDA antagonist in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. What interventions for depression and agitation can be most helpful in their patients with Alzheimer’s disease. ESSENTIAL TREMOR AND PARKINSON’S DISEASE – Mild Parkinson’s disease and other disorders that produce parkinsonism. What medications to begin in their patients with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. The intractable patient with Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor and advanced strategies for treatment of these movement disorders including deep brain stimulation. Other types of tremor in addition to those seen in Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IN THE 21ST CENTURY – Clinical features of patients with multiple sclerosis. Diagnostic testing strategy to confirm a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Etiologic questions in multiple sclerosis. Newest therapeutic advances in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. MIGRAINE AND OTHER HEADACHES: A DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH LEADING TO RATIONAL THERAPY – Clinical spectrum of symptoms in patients with migraine headache. Types of headache which can mimic migraine. Newest therapeutic advances in the treatment of migraine headache. DAY 4 - BRAIN ATTACK! ACUTE TREATMENT OF STROKE AND TIA – Imaging studies of the brain and cerebral vessels in the setting of acute cerebrovascular disease. How management of blood pressure, fever, blood sugar and airway can improve the prognosis of stroke patients. Time is brain and what immediate interventions, including thrombolytics, are necessary in stroke patients. Manage and triage patients with intracerebral hemorrhage. HOW TO MINIMIZE YOUR PATIENT’S RISK OF STROKE – Most recent developments in the use of statins and antihypertensive medications in patients with a risk for stroke. Risk factors for stroke. Selecting an antiplatelet or anticoagulant medication after a stroke or TIA. Indications and potential benefits of vascular procedures such as carotid endarterectomy and stenting. THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN, PARTS 1 AND 2 – Current thinking about the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain. Clinical features of a patient with neuropathic pain. Pharmacologic options available to treat patients with neuropathic pain. Clinical features which distinguish lumbosacral radiculopathy from other causes of low back pain. Clinical spectrum of lumbosacral radiculopathy. DAY 5 - DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY – Differentiate seizures from syncope, pseudoseizures and other masqueraders. Approach to initiating treatment with anticonvulsants. Use of anticonvulsants in pregnancy and in the elderly. When to stop anticonvulsants. In status epilepticus, time is brain - an approach to treatment to stop status epilepticus in 1 ½ hours or less. SYNCOPE: A REVIEW OF FITS, FAINTS, AND FUNNY SPELLS – Neurologic and non-neurologic causes of syncope. Clinical features of dysautonomia, POTS and neurocardiogenic syncope. Role of diagnostic testing in patients presenting with syncope. Therapeutic options available for patients with dysautonomia and neurocardiogenic syncope. TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM: COMMON SLEEP DISORDERS – Obtaining a sleep history. The utility of these studies and answer the question: Should your sleepy patient get a polysomnogram or multiple sleep latency study? Common sleep disorders such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy and restless legs syndrome. MYASTHENIA GRAVIS AND MYOPATHY – Clinical features of myasthenia gravis and other disorders of the neuromuscular junction. Clinical features and differential diagnosis for patients with myopathy. Diagnostic testing available for patients presenting with symptoms of either myasthenia gravis or myopathy. Therapeutic options available for patients with myasthenia gravis and myopathy.