Elderly patients who receive anesthesia are no more likely to develop long-term dementia or Alzheimer’s disease than other seniors, according to new Mayo Clinic research. The study analyzed thousands of patients using the Rochester Epidemiology [...]
Tag Archives | anesthesia
Using nitrous oxide for anesthesia may decrease complications and death
Giving nitrous oxide as part of general anesthesia for noncardiac surgery doesn’t increase the rate of complications and death—and might even decrease the risk of such events, according to a pair of studies in the [...]
Solving the mystery of human consciousness
Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full restoration of awareness and orientation to one’s surroundings. Scientists now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerges first. [...]
Deaths from anesthesia during childbirth plummet
AURORA, Colo. (Jan. 5, 2011) — The number of women who die from complications of anesthesia during childbirth has plummeted 59 percent over the last two decades thanks to improved monitoring and better medical techniques, according to a recent st…
Coma and general anesthesia demonstrate important similarities
NEW YORK (Dec. 30, 2010) — The brain under general anesthesia isn’t “asleep” as surgery patients are often told — it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of …
Anesthetics and Alzheimer’s disease
Amsterdam, The Netherlands and San Antonio, TX, USA, November 12, 2010 — There is growing global concern regarding the potential neurotoxicity of anesthetics. Biophysical and animal model studies have identified molecular changes simulating Alzhei…
Penn study sheds light on how the brain shifts between sleep/awake states under anesthesia
(PHILADELPHIA) — Despite the fact that an estimated 25 million patients per year in the U.S. undergo surgeries using general anesthesia, scientists have only been able to hypothesize exactly how anesthetics interact with the central nervous system…
Brain angioplasty in awake patients may reduce complications
Performing intracranial angioplasty on an awake patient allows patients to report unusual symptoms, which lets physicians immediately alter their work to minimize the risk of major complications, according to a preliminary study. In the study, the procedure ? called intracranial (within the skull) angioplasty ? was safely performed on 10 patients who were given local anesthesia with mild sedation, rather than the general anesthesia that is traditionally administered. Local anesthesia is injected near the access area to block pain impulses; general anesthesia induces a complete loss of consciousness.