Nadir E. Bharucha

A case‐control study of twin pairs discordant for Parkinson's disease A search for environmental risk factors

A previous study of twins with Parkinsons disease (PD) revealed low concordance, suggesting that genetic factors play a minor role in the etiology of PD. To identify possible environmental determinants of PD while maximally controlling for hereditary factors, 31 monozygotic twin pairs discordant for PD were interviewed by telephone. Information about possible risk factors was obtained from systematic and uniform interviews with cases and controls. The only statistically significant result was less cigarette smoking by PD patients (p < 0.05). Thirteen dizygotic discordant twin pairs were evaluated with the same techniques, but there were no statistically significant differences between affected and unaffected twins.

Prevalence of Epilepsy in the Parsi Community of Bombay

Summary: A door‐to‐door survey was carried out to screen a community of 14,010 people (Parsis living in colonies in Bombay, India) for possible neurologic diseases. High school graduates, social workers, and medical students administered a screening questionnaire that in a pilot survey had a sensitivity of 100% for identifying persons with epilepsy. Neurologists used defined diagnostic criteria to evaluate individuals positive on the screening survey. Sixty‐six persons (43 males, 23 females) suffered from epilepsy (4.7 cases/1,000). Of those, 50 (34 males, 16 females) had active epilepsy (3.6 cases/1,000). The age‐specific prevalence ratios remained fairly constant for each age group except for a small peak in the group aged 20–39 years for all epilepsy cases combined. Age‐adjusted prevalence ratios were higher for males. The most common seizure type was partial (36 cases). The most frequently associated conditions were cerebral palsy and mental retardation. The majority of individuals were receiving medication as of prevalence day (47 cases).

Conditions associated with Alzheimer's disease at death Case‐control study

To determine which conditions may be associated with reduced survival in patients with Alzheimers disease, we studied all death certificates in the United States for 1978 on which senile and presenile dementia (ICDA 290, N = 7,195) was mentioned. Each case was compared with two control deaths. Differences in the frequency of listing on the death certificates for the following conditions reached statistical significance: infections, trauma, nutritional deficiency, chronic ulcer of skin, foreign body in pharynx, cataract, glaucoma, blindness, deafness, Parkinsons disease, and epilepsy. There seem to be many preventable and treatable disorders in patients with senile and presenile dementia.

Geographic distribution of motor neuron disease and correlation with possible etiologic factors

Average annual age-adjusted motor neuron disease (MND) mortality rates were mapped for the first time at the county level in the continental United States. Although the great majority of the rates for not differ significantly from the US average, the highest mortality rates were generally found west of the Mississippi and the lowest rates east of the Mississippi. MND mortality was associated with rural farming and socioenconomic status but not with urbanization, physician-population ratios, lead or mercury exposure, or mortality rates of five kinds of cancer.

Patterns of mortality from types of dementia in the United States, 1971 and 1973–1978

In the first analysis of US mortality data for different types of dementia, we searched all death certificates for the years 1971 and 1973 through 1978 for the diagnosis of senile and presenile dementia and for senility. The age-adjusted mortality rates for both types of dementia were higher for deaths with these conditions than due to them. Other diseases were listed as the underlying cause of death in most patients who died with dementia. Mortality rates were generally higher in men for both types of dementia; higher for whites for senile and presenile dementia, but higher for nonwhites for senility. Between 1971 and 1978, there was an increase in the age-adjusted mortality rates for senile and presenile dementia and a decline for senility. Age-specific mortality rates for both types of dementia increased exponentially with age, with no evidence of bimodality.

Mortality Data for the US for Deaths Due to and Related to Twenty Neurologic Diseases

Mortality data for the entire US for 20 categories of neurologic disease for the years 1971 and 1973–1978 were reviewed. Data were analyzed separately for deaths due to each disease (i.e., with the di

Deaths Related to Epilepsy in the United States

The number of deaths due to and all deaths related to epilepsy in the US, by age, sex, and race for 1971 and 1973 through 1978 were calculated based on data collected by the US National Center for Hea

Geographic distribution of anencephaly in the United States

The distribution of anencephaly mortality rates was calculated by county for the continental United States. The average annual anencephaly mortality rate for all races and both sexes, based on 1968–1978 data for the population under 5 years of age, was 5.1 per 100,000 per year. The average annual anencephaly death risk for 1970–1975 was 25.4 per 100,000 live births per year. The distribution of anencephaly mortality was confirmed by comparing maps of mortality data and annual death risk for the period 1970–1975.

Nervous System Tumors: Case-Control Study of Associated Conditions at the Time of Death

All 1978 US death certificates for which the registered underlying cause of death was nervous system (NS) tumors were identified (n = 9,841). For each case, 2 control deaths were matched by age, race,

Rabies Diagnosis and Unusual Manifestations

This study is a retrospective clinical and neuropathological record review of 47 patients with rabies seen over a 30-year period at one specialist center for neurological and psychiatric disorders in Bangalore, India. In 42 patients, the diagnosis was confirmed by postmortem pathology (Negri bodies, immunohistochemical identification of rabies antigen, or both). Of the 47 patients, 33 had a history of a dog bite and 1 had a history of a fox bite. None had known bat exposure. Only half of the patients received postexposure vaccination, and half of these were with Semple sheep brain …