Syndrome News and Research

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Scientists have developed the first mouse model Werner’s syndrome

Scientists have developed the first mouse model of a rare disease in which people age rapidly and start developing cancers and other diseases associated with the elderly when they are only about 30 years old.

20 Aug 2004

Research could lead to ways to prevent arrhythmias

The worm C. elegans seems an unlikely candidate for studies related to cardiac arrhythmias. After all, the microscopic organism doesn't even have a heart.

20 Aug 2004

Stable home can lower the risk for problems arising from prenatal exposure to alcohol

A stable home and an early diagnosis can lower the risk for problems arising from prenatal exposure to alcohol, a new study says.

20 Aug 2004

Gene variant that is a major contributor to cleft lip

An international team of researchers has identified a gene variant that is a major contributor to oral clefts and triples the risk of recurrence in affected families, it was reported today in The New England Journal of Medicine.

18 Aug 2004

Large-scale computer simulations help understand SARS

A Mayo Clinic researcher is the first to develop a series of three-dimensional (3D) models of an enzyme responsible for the replication of the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome) virus.

17 Aug 2004

Disruption of chromosome loops can lead to Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome

Babraham Institute scientists have identified chromosome ‘loops’ which have implications for healthy growth of babies in the womb.

17 Aug 2004

Agreement on terminology for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

"There is so much confusion around what to call the broader effects of prenatal alcohol exposure when a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome cannot be made"

17 Aug 2004

Scientists have uncovered the identity of the last of eight genes known to contribute to Bardet-Biedl syndrome

The identification of the BBS3 gene ends the search for primary BBS-causing genes in families studied for years by a team of scientists from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. However, the scientists are still hunting for other, less obvious genetic influences in these families.

16 Aug 2004

Suctioning babies to prevent a potentially fatal respiratory disease is probably ineffective

The widely practised procedure of suctioning babies to prevent a potentially fatal respiratory disease is probably ineffective, conclude authors of a study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET. Suctioning is used to remove mucus from baby’s airway or breathing passages.

15 Aug 2004

Drug company fights to keep toxin in vaccines

The UK announced Saturday they will remove the mercury preservative Thimerosal from their vaccines. The news comes days after an LA Times article reported that Aventis-Pasteur, a pharmaceutical giant, is pushing to keep the toxin in U.S. vaccines.

13 Aug 2004

Research provides new hope for people with fetal alcohol syndrome

New research by Professor Ann Streissguth of the University of Washington shows that people diagnosed with either fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or fetal alcohol effect (FAE) are more likely to escape social and relationship problems if they are diagnosed early in life and raised in a stable and nurturing environment.

12 Aug 2004

Vaccine trial shows promising results for streptococcal infection protection

A study published in the current issue of JAMA reports that a streptococcal vaccine trial has shown promising results for protection against streptococcal infections.

11 Aug 2004

Newborns may be harmed when pregnant women take Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and other anti-depressants during the third trimester of pregnancy

Health Canada is advising Canadians that newborns may be adversely affected when pregnant women take Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and other newer anti-depressants during the third trimester of pregnancy.

9 Aug 2004

New direction for research into Sly Syndrome

Findings by a Saint Louis University research team led by the scientist who discovered Sly Syndrome 32 years ago point to a new direction for research into the rare genetic disorder that can cause bone deformities, vision and hearing loss, mental retardation and death in children.

9 Aug 2004

Alzheimer’s sufferers are more likely to have jobs that are less mentally challenging than people without Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer's is a progressive form of presenile dementia that is similar to senile dementia except that it usually starts in the 40s or 50s; first symptoms are impaired memory which is followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness

9 Aug 2004

Novel treatment of patients with high cholesterol focus of national meeting

Implications of recent lipid-lowering clinical trials and the specific changes to the NCEP guidelines will be the focus of discussion by Neil J. Stone, M.D., professor of clinical medicine of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

6 Aug 2004

Protein loss plays role in acute T-cell leukemia

The loss of a key protein (Smad3) in a pathway that helps prevent tumors from forming is specific to one form of childhood leukemia, but not to other pediatric and adult forms of leukemia, according to a new study published in the August 5, 2004, New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Aug 2004

Entirely new approach to the treatment of aging

Dispelling the belief that the only way to treat such conditions is by fixing or replacing damaged genes, they instead focused on the field of epigenetics—the study of changes in gene silencing that occur without changes in the genes themselves.

3 Aug 2004

Requip significantly reduces periodic leg movements in patients with restless legs syndrome

New data published in the August issue of SLEEP shows that patients with primary Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and with periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS), have fewer awakenings resulting from involuntary kicks when treated with GlaxoSmithKline's Requip (ropinirole HCl).

2 Aug 2004

Key to detecting Asperger’s syndrome, a milder yet little-understood form of autism, lies in analyzing infants’ movements

Home videos of infants' movements can be used to help detect a form of autism in a child’s first year of life, years earlier than the disorder typically is identified, University of Florida researchers have discovered.

29 Jul 2004