A new study found that people with alcohol use disorder were significantly impaired on cognitive and motor tests up to three hours after downing an alcoholic drink designed to mimic their typical habits. The study analyzed three types of young adult drinkers, most in their 20s, who were part of the Chicago Social Drinking Project. The findings are significant since only about 10% of people with alcohol use disorder go into treatment and binge drinking is on the rise.
Focused ultrasound treatment has been found to improve dyskinesia and motor impairment in patients with Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The treatment, which was FDA-approved for patients with essential tremor in 2016, is incisionless and targets a specific area of the brain to safely ablate diseased tissue. The study found that almost twice as many patients achieved improved motor function or reduced dyskinesia in the focused ultrasound group than those who underwent a sham procedure, with 75% of patients maintaining their results for up to one year after treatment.