Degenerative Disease News and Research

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Risk of MS increases by many folds following infection with EBV: Study

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and a team of collaborators have observed for the first time that the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS) increases by many folds following infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).

5 Mar 2010

Advanced Cell Technology’s MA09-hRPE cells for treatment of SMD: FDA grants orphan drug designation

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a biotechnology company applying cellular technology in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation for the company’s MA09-hRPE cells for use in the treatment of Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD). As a result, the company is eligible to receive a number of benefits, including tax credits, access to grant funding for clinical trials, accelerated FDA approval and allowance for marketing exclusivity after drug approval for a period of as long as seven years.

3 Mar 2010

UCR purchases Nikon BioStation CT technology to assist in stem cell research

Stem cell research at the University of California, Riverside is about to gather speed thanks to the establishment of a new Stem Cell Core Facility (SCCF) - a shared facility providing infrastructure, equipment, and trained personnel for doing stem cell research that ordinarily would not be available in most laboratories.

3 Feb 2010

CSC, ALS TDI extend collaboration in advancing potential stem cell therapy for ALS

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) and ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) are pleased to announce an extension and expansion of their collaboration aimed at advancing a potential stem cell therapy for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). This effort will build on work that has already been completed as part of this on-going partnership to understand how stem cells, and their derivatives, may be applied to treatment of this fatal neurodegenerative disease.

3 Feb 2010

QLT commences enrollment in QLT091001 Phase Ib trial of LCA pediatric patients

QLT Inc. today announced that it has initiated enrollment in a Phase Ib trial of QLT091001 in pediatric patients with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), an inherited progressive retinal degenerative disease that leads to retinal dysfunction and visual impairment beginning at birth. QLT091001 is an orally administered synthetic retinoid replacement for 11-cis-retinal, which is a key biochemical component of the visual retinoid cycle.

15 Dec 2009

Mutant ATPase blocks autophagy partway and causes multi-tissue degenerative disease

It's important to finish what you start, say Jeong-Sun Ju and researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. In the December 14, 2009 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org), Ju et al. reveal how a mutant ATPase blocks autophagy partway through to cause a multi-tissue degenerative disease.

15 Dec 2009

Harvest Technologies' BMAC System exhibits potential as an effective treatment for CLI

Harvest Technologies Corp. announced today results from the company sponsored 60-patient clinical trial conducted at Sri Ramachandra Medical Center in Chennai, India using the company's BMAC System to treat patients with non-reconstructable Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI). Sri Ramachandra Medical Center is a Harvard Medical international-associated institution based in Chennai, India and one of the largest private healthcare facilities in South Asia.

2 Dec 2009

Advanced Cell Technology files an IND with the FDA for study using embryonic stem cells to treat SMD

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. announced today that it filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a Phase I/II multicenter study using embryonic stem cell derived retinal cells to treat patients with Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (SMD). Among the most common causes of untreatable blindness in the world are degenerative diseases of the retina.

19 Nov 2009

SANUWAVE Health reports financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2009

SANUWAVE Health, Inc.,, an emerging medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of non-invasive, biological response activating devices in the regenerative medicine area, reports its achievements and financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2009.

16 Nov 2009

$Connection between depression and loss of bone mass leads to osteoporosis and fractures$

Connection between depression and loss of bone mass leads to osteoporosis and fractures

Research carried out among thousands of people has shown a clear connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures.

9 Nov 2009

MSU receives $6.2 million Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's disease grant

A team of researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Cincinnati have been awarded a $6.2 million Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's disease grant.

15 Oct 2009

Researchers identify novel circulation within human eye that provides new insight into glaucoma

Researchers at the University of Toronto, St. Michael's Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have discovered a previously unidentified form of circulation within the human eye which may provide important new insights into glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness.

6 Oct 2009

New software to detect multiple sclerosis before brain damage occurs

Researchers of the Unit for Systems Biology of the University of Jaén, led by Francisco J. Esteban, are developing a software for clinical use to detect multiple sclerosis even before the typical brain damage of this neurodegenerative disease appear. In order to do so, this scientific multidisciplinary team is calculating the fractal dimension of the brain images registered on magnetic resonance imaging.

1 Oct 2009

Major advance in understanding Friedreich's ataxia

University of Sydney researchers have made a significant advance in understanding the debilitating hereditary disease Friedreich's ataxia, offering hope that new forms of treatment will be developed.

8 Sep 2009

Genetic source of muscular dystrophy blocked

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found a way to block the genetic flaw at the heart of a common form of muscular dystrophy. The results of the study, which were published today in the journal Science, could pave the way for new therapies that essentially reverse the symptoms of the disease.

17 Jul 2009

Nintendo Wii may help treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease that impairs motor skills. Dr. Herz theorized that the popular computer game console, which simulates various sports and activities, could improve coordination, reflexes and other movement-related skills, but he found additional benefits as well.

12 Jun 2009

Scientists pinpoint molecular cause of Alzheimer's disease

A discovery made by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Research Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital offers new hope for the early diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

22 May 2009

Scientists combine USB-based ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone

Computer engineers at Washington University in St. Louis are bringing the minimalist approach to medical care and computing by coupling USB-based ultrasound probe technology with a smartphone, enabling a compact, mobile computational platform and a medical imaging device that fits in the palm of a hand.

22 Apr 2009

Virus-free embryonic-like stem cells made from skin of Parkinson's disease patients

Researchers reporting in the March 6th issue of the journal Cell , a Cell Press publication, have developed a new way to produce human embryonic-like stem cells that are free of the viruses used to insert the key ingredients.

5 Mar 2009

Researchers disrupt biochemical system involved in cancer, degenerative disease

Screening a chemical library of 200,000 compounds, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified two new classes that can be used to study and possibly manipulate a cellular pathway involved in many types of cancer and degenerative diseases.

2 Feb 2009