Headache Help: Making Sense of Migraines and a Multitude of Therapies

Neurologist Morris Levin, MD, director of the UCSF Headache Center, reviews the diagnostic criteria for migraines and other headaches, followed by a breakdown of preventive and acute treatments.

Get Up to Speed on Stroke: Understanding Causes and Preventing Recurrence

The director of UCSF’s stroke clinic, neurologist Karl Meisel, MD, presents the latest evidence-based strategies for evaluating and treating ischemic stroke and TIA, including new thoughts on medical management and post-event monitoring.

Look Beyond Symptoms: When to Test for Pituitary Tumors

Tumors of the body’s “master gland” cause various symptoms – headaches, depression, sexual dysfunction, vision loss – that doctors often attribute to other conditions. UCSF endocrinology and neurosurgery specialists discuss keys to identifying ...

Epilepsy Illuminated: How to Define, Diagnose and Distinguish Seizures

Neurologist Manu Hegde, MD, PhD, guides primary care doctors through the steps to follow for a seizure-like event, from getting an accurate history and differentiating epilepsy from other possibilities to selecting tests and categorizing ...

A Wake-Up Call on Restless Leg Syndrome: Common, Life-Affecting and Treatable

Neurologist and sleep medicine specialist Liza Ashbrook, MD, presents a quick, thorough lesson on RLS

Stroke and COVID-19: Connections, Concerns and Care

Answering questions from both patients and doctors, our neurovascular disease experts discuss the higher risk of clotting disorders associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 illness and how to manage these cases.

Overview of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing

Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, provides an overview of metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS), a clinical test he and his UCSF colleagues have developed that allows millions of DNA sequences to be decoded from a single clinical sample.

Clinical UCSF mNGS Assay for Diagnosis of Neurological Infections

Despite extensive conventional testing, acute neurological illness in hospitalized patients is difficult to diagnose. Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, discusses an mNGS test that identifies pathogens causing neurological infections from cerebrospinal ...

Clinical Case Reports and New mNGS-Based Technologies

Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, discusses cases where mNGS testing saved the life of a patient with undiagnosed neuroleptospirosis, and spared another patient from a potentially unnecessary liver transplant.

Medical Management of Seizures and Epilepsy

An in-depth look at the many medication options for patients with epilepsy, addressing safety issues such as driving, the success of surgery when meds don’t work, and other options, from thalamus stimulation and RNS to ketogenic diets for kids and adults.