Helen Jaques

Drinking three or four alcoholic drinks a day can double the risk of developing essential tremor – or ‘the shakes’ – in old age, suggest new findings from a Spanish research group.  In a report published earlier this year, the same researchers found that individuals with essential tremor were four times more likely to develop [...]

Brainiacs Jeremy Paxman and Jane Asher have both pledged to donate their brains for research into Parkinson’s disease – after they’re dead of course. The Parkinson’s Disease Society has launched a campaign to increase awareness about brain donation as part of national Parkinson’s Awareness Week. According to research commissioned by the Parkinson’s Disease Society, only [...]

A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine has found that men with a stressful job are twice as likely to have a stroke than are men with less demanding jobs.  Interestingly, there was no correlation between job stress and incidence of stroke among women. A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain [...]

A recent study published in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology has shown that neural signs of Parkinson’s disease can be identified by taking a simple skin sample. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects about 1 in every 500 people in the UK. There is no biochemical test to definitively diagnose [...]

Yesterday I went down (no, make that up – up a very steep hill, on my bike) to Jackson’s Lane in Highgate for some neurology theatre – not of the surgical kind but a performance of the play Reminiscence. Inspired by a case study published by the neurologist Oliver Sacks, the play tells the story [...]