Paralysis News and Research

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Paralysis is the loss of muscle function in part of your body. It happens when something goes wrong with the way messages pass between your brain and muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial. It can occur on one or both sides of your body. It can also occur in just one area, or it can be widespread. Paralysis of the lower half of your body, including both legs, is called paraplegia. Paralysis of the arms and legs is quadriplegia.

Researchers identify common genetic mutation for ALS, frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct but sometimes overlapping symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene.

22 Sep 2011

Clinical trial to evaluate TAU's stem cell technology for ALS

The ability to produce neuroprotectors, proteins that protect the human brain against neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and ALS, is the holy grail of brain research. A technology developed at Tel Aviv University does just that, and it's now out of the lab and in hospitals to begin clinical trials with patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

21 Sep 2011

Polio in China

Polio has spread to China for the first time since 1999 after being imported from Pakistan, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed. It said a strain of polio (WPV1) found in China was genetically linked with the type now circulating in Pakistan. At least seven cases have now been confirmed in China's western Xinjiang province, which borders Pakistan.

21 Sep 2011

Researchers’ discovery may revolutionize treatment of Lou Gehrig’s disease

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have found a key link between prions and the neurodegenerative disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery is significant as it opens the door to novel approaches to the treatment of ALS.

20 Sep 2011

Patients allege doctors fail to properly explain risks of complications

In more than 70 per cent of legal disputes over informed consent, patients allege the doctor failed to properly explain the risks of complications, a University of Melbourne study published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia has found.

19 Sep 2011

VA extends retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is extending retroactive traumatic injury benefits to Servicemembers who suffered qualifying injuries during the period Oct. 7, 2001 to Nov. 30, 2005, regardless of the geographic location where the injuries occurred.

17 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Fighting antibiotic resistance; a health care arms race video; the HVP debate

We won't stop the rising tide of infections until we develop a new business model to fight them. We are not quite on the brink of some dystopian Victorian future. But every year, the prognosis for infectious-disease patients gets a bit grimmer. … And more-powerful drugs tend to cost more than the old drugs. … Even in the rich world, death from infection still looms; MRSA alone kills thousands every year. And firms are not developing antibiotics as fast as they used to.

16 Sep 2011

Study indicates need for antivenoms and better health-care services in Africa

One and a half million people per year are poisoned by snake venom in Sub-Saharan Africa. An IRD researcher recently analysed around 100 surveys and medical reports published over the past 40 years. No large-scale study of the situation had hitherto been conducted and public health authorities had underestimated the size of the problem.

12 Sep 2011

Guatemalan Syphilis study in 1940’s violated ethical standards: US presidential commission report

The U.S. presidential commission has found that U.S. government researchers violated ethical standards by deliberately infecting Guatemalan prison inmates and mental patients with syphilis for an experiment in the 1940s. This research did not treat Guatemalan participants as human beings and failed to inform them they were taking part in research study, calling into question the bioethics behind the study design.

31 Aug 2011

RE Children's Project donates $111,000 to UCLA researchers for Rasmussen Encephalitis study

The Rasmussen Encephalitis (RE) Children's Project, a foundation that supports scientific research to find a cure for this devastating neurological disease, has donated $111,000 to researchers in the departments of neurosurgery and pathology/lab medicine (neuropathology) at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

26 Aug 2011

Cellular pathology of Lou Gehrig’s disease discovered

Researchers claim to have found a common cause behind the mysterious and deadly affliction of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery could pave the way to new treatments for the devastating disorder whose victims include top physicist Professor Stephen Hawking.

22 Aug 2011

Narcolepsy more prevalent in China during April

New research shows that the occurrence of narcolepsy in China is highly correlated to a seasonal pattern, with onset most frequent in April.

22 Aug 2011

Seven research teams across the U.S. to develop new drugs for nervous system disorders

The National Institutes of Health has made awards to investigators across the United States for an ambitious set of projects seeking to develop new drugs for disorders of the nervous system.

19 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Perry's Texas 'miracle' or 'sad fact'?; Reich on Medicare for all; Orszag on health IT boom

Twenty-six percent of Texans have no health insurance — the highest percentage of medically uninsured residents of any state. It leads the nation in the percentage of children who lack medical insurance. Texas has an inordinate number of employers who provide no insurance to their workers, partly because insurance rates are high, thanks to an absence of regulations.

18 Aug 2011

Vampire bat causes rabies

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the first death linked to a vampire bat. The victim’s mother reported that her son was bitten by a vampire bat on his heel while he was sleeping. At the time, the bite was not reported or treated in Mexico, where the bite occurred.

15 Aug 2011

SIGMAR1 gene mutation associated with development of juvenile ALS

Researchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

12 Aug 2011

InVivo Therapeutics reports net loss of $1,370,000 for second quarter 2011

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., a company focused on the development of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 and provided a business update.

11 Aug 2011

InVivo announces Platinum sponsorship to W2W spinal cord injury symposium

InVivo Therapeutics today announced the Company's Platinum level sponsorship of the 6th annual Working 2 Walk Science and Advocacy Symposium, which will take place October 16-18, 2011 in Rockville, Maryland.

9 Aug 2011

Allergan receives positive opinion from Irish Medicines Board for BOTOX

Allergan is pleased to announce that BOTOX has received a positive opinion from the Irish Medicines Board for the management of urinary incontinence in adults with neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO) resulting from neurogenic bladder due to stable sub-cervical spinal cord injury, or multiple sclerosis.

8 Aug 2011

NSF awards WSU researcher CAREER grant to develop neural implants

Neural implants have the potential to treat disorders and diseases that typically require long-term treatment, such as blindness, deafness, epilepsy, spinal cord injury, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. However, implantable devices have been problematic in clinical applications because of bodily reactions that limit device functioning time.

4 Aug 2011