Thursday, December 20, 2012

What is restless legs syndrome?

Image Credit: healthy-magazine.co.uk

Fidgeting, twitching, and swaying arms and legs are normal manifestations of boredom or anxiety– when one is a child. In adults, these could be early signs of a more troubling disorder.


Willis-Ekbom disease, more commonly known as restless legs syndrome or RLS, is a rare neurological disorder characterized by having an urgent and irresistible need to move one's body. Unlike movements done unconsciously, patients suffering from RLS feel a more pressing urge to move their limbs in order to prevent an inexplicably uncomfortable sensation. These sensations range from feelings of pain, aching, prickling, or itching in the muscles, bringing meaning to the saying "an itch you can't scratch." Some patients even describe their sensations as the feeling that something is crawling up or under the skin. It would be safe to say that even people without RLS would feel the need to shake this sensation off. After moving their limbs, RLS patients claim the unusual sensations they feel cease momentarily. Some report, however, that resting usually makes the symptoms worse.


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RLS could be hereditary and can develop before birth. Research into the causes of RLS have focused on dopamine imbalance and insufficient iron content in the body, but no definite causes have been determined.


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To help patients understand the disorder, the Mayo Clinic provides information on RLS, as well as simple steps and lifestyle changes to manage the symptoms. Though similar, RLS should not be confused with ataxia. This Dr. Aria Sabit blog post explains ataxia is characterized by lack of muscle control during voluntary movements. With RLS, however, patients have full control and deliberately move their limbs in seemingly unintentional ways.


RLS may be present with symptoms similar to other neurological disorders. Follow this Dr. Aria Sabit Twitter page for more information.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Concussions: One-time injury with long-term consequences



Dr. Aria Sabit received his degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and finished his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey. He specializes in minimally invasive spine procedures.

When the topic of concussions comes up, one thinks immediately of football. It’s understood that the NFL has acquired one of the highest numbers of head injuries in professional sports history. Consequently, neurosurgeons have found that more and more NFL players fall victim to memory loss, sudden personality swings, and inexplicable inability to concentrate. All three symptoms can be attributed to the effects of receiving repeated blows to the head.

Aria Sabit Image Credit: newyorker.com


Repeated concussions– mild trauma to the brain– can also result in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This interferes and inhibits comprehension and the ability to perform near-instinctive processes like learning, planning, and organizing. Progressive degenerative diseases like CTE can lead to a number of other complications and disorders if head trauma continues. Patients in professional football, hockey, wrestling, and other contact sports fields have been known to develop dementia, aggression, confusion, and depression over time.

Aria Sabit Image Credit: angeranddepressionhelp.com


Even retired NFL players are not out of danger. A study discussed on TIME asserts that having a career in professional football leaves a person more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment – which can lead to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease– than men of the same age and health conditions who did engage in the sport.

Aria Sabit Image Credit: theglobeandmail.com


Unfortunately for pro athletes, medical technology is not currently able to detect the propensity for developing cognitive degeneration as a result of head trauma. This should serve as a warning to retirees, coaches, and professionals supporting football to find better ways to protect players from brain damage.

Read more on this Myspace page.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Dr. Aria Sabit: The symptoms of slipped disc

Dr. Aria Sabit is a neurosurgeon trained in minimally invasive spine procedures. He completed his medical degree at Virginia Commonwealth University and finished his residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey.

Dr. Aria Sabit. Image credit: wasmed.bielsko.pl

Spinal disc herniation, or "slipped disc" in layman’s terms, is a medical condition where the central portion of an intervertebral disc bulges out. This is exacerbated by tears in the outer ring of the vertebra and often results in severe pain. Slipped discs are commonly caused by trauma, strenuous lifting, or idiopathic causes, but its symptoms can be managed through analgesics and therapeutic treatments. Although minor herniations can heal within weeks, severe herniations may not heal on their own and may even require surgery.

Dr. Aria Sabit is affiliated with Michigan Brain and Spine Physicians Group PLLC.

Dr. Aria Sabit. Image credit: massageme4health.com

Spinal disc herniation is often dismissed as back muscle ache, but immediate diagnosis is imperative to speedy recovery. To detect the symptoms of slipped disc, people suffering from extreme or chronic back pain should look out for the following symptoms:

• Persisting pains in the thighs, knees, or feet for which there seems to be no cause
• Chronic neck or low back pain that seems to radiate outward
• Inexplicable loss of bladder or bowel control
• Sudden decrease in sexual performance or erectile dysfunction

Dr. Aria Sabit. Image credit: tonybrookortho.com

It should be noted that it is unlikely a person is suffering from slipped disc if their back pain manifests in spasms. Herniated discs usually cause continuous pain in specific parts of the body and usually only occur in one half of the body. It should also be noted that it is possible for slipped discs to occur without causing any pain at all.

To read more about Dr. Aria Sabit, visit this MySpace page.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Heads up: Dr. Aria Sabit and the neurological implications of celiac disease



Neurologists, like Dr. Aria Sabit, are aware of how serious celiac disease could be. The disease, also called sprue, is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine, thus preventing it from absorbing nutritious parts in food essential to human health.

Aria Sabit Image Credit: genengnews.com


Celiac disease is also known as gluten intolerance due to a reaction in patients to gluten, which is found mainly in wheat, barley, rye, and even oats. Medical experts are yet to pinpoint the exact cause of celiac disease. What is known, however, is that the immune system in patients with the disease reacts to gluten by damaging the villi in a person’s intestines, the area responsible for absorbing nutrients as food passes through.

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Neurologists, like Dr. Aria Sabit, are aware that, aside from malnutrition, celiac disease has several neurological implications. Among these are cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, epilepsy, dementia, and depression. Recent studies have come to include migraine, encephalopathy, chorea, brain stem dysfunction, myelopathy, and mononeuritis multiplex as neurological effects of celiac disease.

Aria Sabit Image Credit: nhs.uk


A recent study assembled a group of celiac disease patients and evaluated the levels of brain abnormality present. Based on factors as balance disturbance, headaches, and sensory levels, the study found that celiac patients had a significantly lower cerebellar volume than the control group used for the study, as well as significantly less gray matter density in several regions of the brain.

Read more about Dr. Aria Sabit and the Michigan Brain and Spine Physicians Group PLLC on BrainandSpineBlog.Wordpress.com.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The unawareness of illness: Dr. Aria Sabit on anosognosia



Neurosurgeons, like Dr. Aria Sabit of the Michigan Brain and Spine Group PLLC, are aware of the possible occurrence of anosognosia in patients suffering from brain injury, stroke, and other mental illnesses.

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Aria Sabit  Image Credit: ehow.com

Anosognosia is the lack of awareness of a neurologic impairment or illness usually affecting the left side of the body. It is different from the denial of an illness which is a strategy where a patient ignores or partially avoids that which causes too much stress. Anosognosia is a syndrome in which brain trauma causes changes in the brain cells, commonly in the right frontal or parietal lobe, leading to partial or complete unawareness of a decline in neurologic functions, such as memory, general thinking skills like math or language skills, emotions, and body movements.

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Aria Sabit  Image Credit: sciencedirect.com

Neurosurgeons such as Dr. Aria Sabit would differentiate the syndrome from stroke that typically leads to impaired sensory systems. The sense of smell, vision, hearing, touch, and taste of patients with anosognosia are usually fine. But the damage in the right parietal lobe of the brain appears to disconnect sensory information from the processes that are responsible for spatial and bodily representations, causing the inability of the sufferer to comprehend sensory information. For instance, a person may be looking at a girl seating on a chair, yet he cannot understand what he’s seeing because the brain cannot translate the information that enters the eye and the optic nerve.

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Aria Sabit  Image Credit: amazonaws.com


Dr. Aria Sabit has been in the news for successfully treating Chris Scott, a neurosurgery patient at McLaren/Lapeer Regional Hospital who had been battling repetitive motion injury for the past 10 years. To learn more, go to BrainandSpineBlog.Wordpress.Com.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Dr. Aria Sabit: What you need to know about keyhole craniotomy

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Aria Sabit Image Credit: studio404photography.com


Cranial surgery (craniotomy) is a medical procedure that involves a cut into the skull to allow access to the brain or its blood vessels. Neurosurgeons, like Dr. Aria Sabit of the Michigan Brain and Spine Physicians Group PLLC, would likely recommend the use of a minimally invasive surgical procedure called keyhole craniotomy for specific cases where a small incision can be done to allow an adequate exposure of the brain or blood vessels without compromising surgical outcomes.


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Aria Sabit Image Credit: sciencedirect.com


Keyhole craniotomy is a treatment option for aneurysms, head injuries, and infection. It is also used to treat brain tumors such as acoustic neuromas, skull base tumors, and meningiomas. Doctors note that keyhole surgery usually results in faster recovery, minimal scarring, and less pain than open craniotomy. Though this type of procedure has been shown to reduce risks, specialists in general cranial surgery, like Dr. Aria Sabit, would say that it’s still important to educate patients about the possible complications before they undergo the surgery to ensure that their expectations are realistic and that the goals of the medical operation are clear.


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Aria Sabit Image Credit: neurosciences.beaumont.edu


In cranial surgery, risks vary according to the location of the brain which the procedure will affect. For instance, if the surgery is done in the part of the brain that controls speech, then speech may be affected. Some general complications include pneumonia, seizures, and hemorrhage. Following a craniotomy, patients should receive quality post-operative care to address risks should they occur, to assist in their recovery, and to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.

For more information about Dr. Aria Sabit’s practice, go to DrAriaSabit.LiveJournal.com.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Dr. Aria Sabit: The importance of discussing the risks of spinal fusion

Dr. Aria Sabit Image Credit: cbc.ca


Dr. Aria Sabit, a specialist in minimally invasive spine surgery and an affiliate of the Michigan Brain and Spine Physicians Group PLLC, has weighed the pros and cons of the spinal fusion procedure to deal with back pain due to movement.


 The spinal fusion procedure is used to correct problems with the small bones of the spine or the vertebrae. It is one of the options available to sufferers of back pains due to motion, such as the movement that happens in a part of the spine that is arthritic. The procedure can be used to treat pain due to conditions and illnesses such as degenerative disk disease, spondylolisthesis, spinal stenosis, and scoliosis.


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Spinal fusion has been performed by surgeons like Dr. Aria Sabit for decades. While the procedure takes away some spinal mobility, its results do not limit the motion of the patients significantly after recovery. However, as with many treatment plans for pain management, the surgery may not work for all patients. A successful spinal fusion procedure may not reduce the amount of pain experienced by the patient due to the underlying condition.



It is important for patients to discuss with their surgeon the risks involved because spinal fusion is just one of the possible solutions for back pain. By understanding that there are risks involved with the procedure itself, like nerve damage and pseudarthrosis, as well as what the fusion process involves and the duration of the recovery, patients can make an informed decision about their choice of procedure.


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For additional information on spinal surgery from Dr. Aria Sabit, follow this Twitter page.