LSUHSC's England leads development of new testing guidelines for common nerve disorder
John D. England, MD, Professor and Chairman of Neurology at LSU Health Sciences Centre New Orleans School of Medicine, is the principal investigator of two studies recommending new testing guidelines for neuropathy - a common degenerative nerve disorder that to this time had few evidence-based standards for evaluation and management. The studies, published in two separate papers in the December 3, 2008 online issue of Neurology(R), resulted in recommendations about who should be tested, when, and how. The researchers found that a combination of certain screening laboratory blood tests and other specialised testing, including autonomic, genetic, as well as skin biopsies, yielded definitive information for certain forms of the disorder, while nerve biopsies may not be as useful in certain cases...