Latest Aura Stories

Famous composer Frederic Chopin, who experienced regular hallucinations during his lifetime, most likely experienced those visions because he suffered from a form of epilepsy, a pair of Spanish researchers claim in a new study.In their investigation, Manuel Vazquez Caruncho and Francisco Branas Fernandez of the Xeral-Calde Hospital Complex in Lugo studied Chopin's letters, as well as descriptions of what he experienced written by those closest to him, including his partner, George Sand, and...

Recent work, in particular the CAMERA study, has used MRI to study the brains of migraine sufferers and has shown that a higher proportion of these patients exhibit lesions of the brain microvessels than the rest of the population.Lesions of the brain microvesselsLesions of the brain microvessels, visible on cerebral MRI images, can be of various kinds: white-matter hyperintensities and, more rarely, silent infarcts leading to loss of white-matter tissue.They result from a deterioration of...

American Heart Association rapid access journal reportWomen with a history of migraine headache with aura (transient neurological symptoms, mostly visual impairments) are at increased risk of stroke. However, according to new research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association stroke events in women with migraine with aura are more likely to have mild or no disability compared to those without migraine.In a new analysis of the Women's Health Study involving 27,852...

WOBURN, Mass., Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- AuraPortal (http://www.auraportal.com), a global provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software, today announced a unique approach to evaluating BPMS software through an offer to build a real-life, executable business process case example that is specific to the company evaluating BPM software. While most BPM companies only seek to demo their software, Aura offers the opportunity to provide a sample of a focused but complex business...

National Headache Foundation Launches 'War Veterans Health Resource Initiative' to Help Ease Transition Back to Civilian Life CHICAGO, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Studies have shown that soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan have been found to have nearly double the rates of migraine compared to the general population, as well as higher incidences of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. Now, veterans returning from active duty with these...

Mention the "A-Train" and most people probably think of the jazz legend Billy Strayhorn or perhaps New York City subway trains "” not climate change. However, it turns out that a convoy of "A-Train" satellites has emerged as one of the most powerful tools scientists have for understanding our planet's changing climate.The formation of satellites "” which currently includes Aqua, CloudSat, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and...

Researchers from the University of Montreal (UdeM) and the University of Oxford have found a gene associated with common migraines, and their discovery could make the pain associated with these severe headaches a thing of the past."Their findings show that a mutation in the KCNK18 gene inhibits the function of a protein called TRESK," which normally plays a vital role in nerve cell communication, UdeM said in a Sunday press release. "Previously, genes for migraine have been...

Research: Migraine with aura and risk of cardiovascular and all cause mortality in men and women: Prospective cohort studyIndividuals who suffer from migraines with aura (temporary visual or sensory disturbances before or during a migraine headache) are at a higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, according to research published today on bmj.com.This is the first large population-based study showing a link between migraine and overall mortality as well as specific mortality.The...

On July 6 this summer, Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality issued the region's first "unhealthy" air alert since 2008.The culprit? "Bad" ozone and other air pollution that had combined to produce an abnormally high reading of 119 parts per billion in Suffolk and 70-80 parts per billion in other parts of southeastern Virginia. That compares to the natural concentration of ozone of about 10 parts per billion that was the norm more than a century ago.Ozone spikes...

Migraine sufferers who experienced abuse and neglect as children have a greater risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease including stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) among others, say scientists presenting data at the American Headache Society's 52nd Annual Scientific Meeting in Los Angeles this week.In a multi-center, cross-sectional study of more than 1,300 headache clinic patients diagnosed with migraine, investigators found a linear relationship between the risk of stroke, transient...