The University of Vermont Medical Center HealthSource brain blog is your leading source for brain news, brain articles and nervous system articles from industry experts. Read through a collection of brain and nervous system information on a variety of topics such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and more. The HealthSource brain blog features an array of regular authors and contributors from the medical world including doctors, nutritionists, nurse practitioners and healthcare experts.
Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that affects nearly 8 million Americans and is a leading cause of blindness in adults. In the latest episode of HealthSource Radio, Dr. Christopher Brady talks about the disease. Brady is an ophthalmologist at the UVM Medical Center and assistant professor at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM. Listen to […]
Our bodies change as we age. In general, we see changes in our hearing, hair, or even height. We may also notice changes in our vision or our sleeping patterns. Memory changes occur, too. For a growing number of aging Americans, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia may take hold. William Pendlebury, MD, medical […]
Glaucoma affects nearly three million Americans and is a major cause of vision loss and blindness around the world. The disease is most common as we age. Beyond age sixty-five, it develops in 2-3 percent of whites and 4-6 percent of African-Americans. It also occurs in infancy and middle age, but this is less common. […]
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month. Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects five million Americans. It damages the brain while causing a steady loss of memory, speech impairment, and interference with daily activities. During November, the Alzheimer’s Association recognizes the more than 15 million people in America providing unpaid […]
Concussion is a real ‘buzzword’ these days. Sports-related concussion is caused by biomechanical forces that causes chemical changes in the brain (the head and brain being moved quickly back and forth. Examples include when two players collide or when a cheerleader falls from the top of a human pyramid). There may be no loss of consciousness. […]
It’s possible to have a concussion and not even realize it, however most people do fully recover with rest or by attending physical or occupational therapy. To tell us more about how to know if you have a concussion and the steps to take to recover are a UVM Medical Center physical therapist, Timothy Bissonette, […]
On August 20 I’m taking my six-year-old daughter to Nashville, Tennessee to see the Great American Eclipse. This is the first eclipse to sweep across both coasts of the United States in 99 years. A partial eclipse will be visible in Vermont, peaking at 2:40 p.m. on Monday August 21. To see the moon completely block […]
Ten percent of Vermonters aged 45 and over report they are experiencing confusion or memory loss that is happening more often or is getting worse. Despite the concern, nearly three-quarters of them report they have not talked to a health care professional about it. Some of the early warning signs include: Memory changes that disrupt daily […]
Much attention has been given in recent years to the risks of sleep apnea and its impact on health and loss of sleep quality, but there is a much more influential factor contributing to sleep loss, affecting nearly every home in the United States. You’re using it right now: Household light, especially that emitted by […]
When it comes to stroke, there are many risk factors that are beyond your control, including Being over age 55; Being a female (each year, women have more strokes than men, and stroke kills more women than men. Use of birth control pills, pregnancy, history of preeclampsia/eclampsia or gestational diabetes, oral contraceptive use, and smoking, […]
