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David Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to David Strauss.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Decline in function and life expectancy of older persons with cerebral palsy.

The authors studied the pattern of functional abilities and decline of skills in adults with cerebral palsy. The data source was the California Developmental Disabilities data base, which included 904 subjects of age 60. For those individuals who are mobile when they become adults, there is a marked decline in ambulation, especially in late adulthood, and few of the 60 year-olds who walked well preserved this skill over the following 15 years. Older subjects frequently also lost the ability to dress themselves. Many other skills, however, seemed to be well preserved, including speech, self-feeding and the ability to order meals in public. Whereas the great majority of young adults lived in their families' home or in small private group homes, 18% of the 60 year-olds lived independently or semi-independently, and 41% resided in facilities providing a higher level of medical care. Survival rates of the ambulatory older adults were only moderately worse than the general population. Survival was, however, much poorer among those who had lost mobility.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

A ketogenic diet increases brain insulin-like growth factor receptor and glucose transporter gene expression.

A ketogenic diet suppresses seizure activity in children and in juvenile rats. To investigate whether alteration in brain IGF activity could be involved in the beneficial effects of the ketogenic diet, we examined the effects of this diet on IGF system gene expression in the rat brain. Juvenile rats were fed one of three different diets for 7 d: ad libitum standard rat chow (AL-Std), calorie-restricted standard chow (CR-Std), or a calorie-restricted ketogenic diet (CR-Ket). The calorie-restricted diets contained 90% of the rats' calculated energy requirements. The AL-Std diet group increased in weight, whereas the two CR groups merely maintained their weight during the 7-d diet. Glucose levels were significantly reduced in both CR groups compared with the AL-Std group, but only the CR-Ket group developed ketonemia. IGF1 mRNA levels were reduced by 30-50% in most brain regions in both CR groups. IGF1 receptor (IGF1R) mRNA levels were decreased in the CR-Std group but were increased in the CR-Ket diet group. Brain IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-2 and -5 mRNA levels were not altered by diet, but IGFBP-3 mRNA levels were markedly increased by the ketogenic diet while not altered by calorie restriction alone. Brain glucose transporter expression was also investigated in this study. Glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 mRNA levels were quite low and not appreciably altered by the different diets. Parenchymal GLUT1 mRNA levels were increased by the CR-Ket diet, but endothelial GLUT1 mRNA levels were not affected. Neuronal GLUT3 expression was decreased with the CR-Std diet and increased with the CR-Ket diet, in parallel with the IGF1R pattern. These observations reveal divergent effects of dietary caloric content and macronutrient composition on brain IGF system and GLUT expression. In addition, the data may be consistent with a role for enhanced IGF1R and GLUT expression in ketogenic diet-induced seizure suppression.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2003

Excess mortality in remote symptomatic epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: Published estimates of excess mortality associated with epilepsy vary greatly. How much, if any, of the excess is attributable to the seizures themselves as opposed to an underlying condition causing the epilepsy is not clear from the literature. This article offers evidence that epilepsy per se is associated with excess mortality. The excess varies according to severity and frequency of seizures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors studied mortality rates of developmentally disabled persons in California with and without epilepsy. In order to focus on the effect on mortality risk of epilepsy per se, they included only persons with good motor function (able to walk and climb stairs) and at worst moderate mental retardation (MR). The data were 506,204 person-years and 1523 deaths among 80,682 California subjects of age 5 to 65 years during the 1988-1999 study period. Mortality rates for persons with epilepsy were compared to rates for persons with no history of epilepsy. RESULTS: Mortality rates were higher for persons with epilepsy than for those without. Excess death rates (EDRs) varied according to type and frequency of seizures. Combined EDRs were 6 (deaths per 1000 person-years) for persons with recent (< 12 months) history of status epilepticus, 5 for recent history of generalized tonic-clonic (GTC) seizures, 3 for recent history of seizures but no recent GTC seizures, and less than 1 for a history of seizures but no recent events. CONCLUSIONS: The data presented here are evidence that epilepsy per se is associated with increased mortality. The EDRs reported here may be better measures of excess mortality due to epilepsy than previously published estimates.

Adolescent↗