Treating the speech disorder in Parkinson's Disease Online

The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) has been shown to be highly effective in treating the speech disorder in Parkinson's Disease (PD). However, patient access to this treatment remains limited in Australia, due to availability of speech pathologists, patient mobility and distance issues. We have investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of an Internet-based telerehabilitation application (eREHAB) for the delivery of the LSVT to persons with PD and disordered speech. Ten participants with PD and dysarthria were treated online with the LSVT for a total of 16 sessions. There were significant improvements in sound pressure levels for vowel prolongation, reading and conversational monologue (P < 0.01), pitch range (P < 0.05) and in perceptual features of pitch and loudness variability, loudness level (P < 0.01) and breathiness (P < 0.05). A participant satisfaction questionnaire indicated that 70% of participants expressed overall satisfaction with the online treatment. Telerehabilitation was feasible and effective in delivering the LSVT to people with PD.

Acute exposure to cyclosporine does not increase plasma homocysteine in rats

There is interest in the postulate that cyclosporine a (CsA) contributes to the elevated homocysteine levels seen in organ transplant recipients, as hyperhomocysteinemia is now considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and may partially explain the increased prevalence of CVD in this population. The main purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of CsA administration on plasma homocysteine. Eighteen female Sprague Dawley rats (4 months old) were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a control group. For 18 days the treatment group received of CsA (25 mg/kg/d) while the control group received the same volume of the vehicle. Blood samples obtained following sacrifice to measure CsA, total homocysteine, and plasma creatinine. There were no significant differences in plasma homocysteine (mean values SD: treatment = 4.79 +/- 0.63 mu mol/L, control = 4.46 +/- 0.75 mu mol/L; P = .37). Homocysteine was not significantly correlated with final CsA concentrations (r = .17; P = .69). There was a significant difference in plasma creatinine values between the two groups (treatment = 60.44 +/- 7.68 mu mol/L, control = 46.33 +/- 1.66 mu mol/L; P < .001). Furthermore, plasma homocysteine and creatinine were positively correlated with the treatment group (r = .73; P < .05) but not the controls (r = -.10; P = .81). In conclusion, CsA does not influence plasma homocysteine concentrations in rats.