Brain News and Research

RSS

The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

HSS involving resiniferatoxin receives U.S. patent to alleviate intractable pain

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued a patent to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services involving resiniferatoxin, or RTX, an experimental compound that represents a potential new class of drugs to alleviate the intractable pain that can occur in people with advanced cancer, severe arthritis, and other extremely chronic conditions.

28 Jan 2013

UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine to develop blood test that can diagnose MCI

The Biomarker Discovery Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine has been awarded a three-year, $799,800 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to develop a blood test that can diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI) caused by early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jan 2013

Positive top-line results from Biogen Idec’s peginterferon beta-1a Phase 3 trial on RRMS

Today Biogen Idec released the primary efficacy analysis and safety data from its Phase 3 pivotal clinical trial, ADVANCE.

28 Jan 2013

FDA accepts Genzyme’s LEMTRADA sBLA for review

Genzyme, a Sanofi Company, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the company's supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) file seeking approval of LEMTRADA (alemtuzumab) for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS).

28 Jan 2013

Research into anesthesia neurotoxicity in the developing brain

Several studies have found evidence that children who undergo repeated surgical operations with general anesthesia before the age of 4 may be at an increased risk for learning disabilities.

28 Jan 2013

IRHOM2-targeted drugs can effectively treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

28 Jan 2013

FDA approves Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 to prevent pneumococcal disease in older children, adolescents

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for the expansion of the company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine [Diphtheria CRM197 Protein]), for use in older children and adolescents aged 6 years through 17 years for active immunization for the prevention of invasive disease caused by the 13 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes contained in the vaccine.

28 Jan 2013

Leading-edge Masimo medical devices to be displayed at Arab Health

Masimo returns to Arab Health Jan. 28-31, the world's longest running healthcare exhibition and congress held each year in Dubai, UAE, to showcase advanced, noninvasive patient monitoring technologies – including breakthrough SET Measure-Through Motion pulse oximetry and rainbow Pulse CO-Oximetry – that are becoming the standard-of-care across the Middle East.

28 Jan 2013

Lasting impact of fetal valproate exposure

Fetal exposure to the antiepileptic drug valproate has a dose-dependent negative impact on children’s IQ at age 6 years, shows a study in The Lancet Neurology.

25 Jan 2013

Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center performs DBS surgery on Alzheimer's patient

During a five-hour surgery last October at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Kathy Sanford became the first Alzheimer's patient in the United States to have a pacemaker implanted in her brain.

25 Jan 2013

Prenatal inflammation associated with increased risk of autism in children

Maternal inflammation during early pregnancy may be related to an increased risk of autism in children, according to new findings supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found this in children of mothers with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a well-established marker of systemic inflammation.

25 Jan 2013

Genome sequencing data gives important clues on cancer

Genome sequencing data once regarded as junk is now being used to gain important clues to help understand disease.

25 Jan 2013

Mount Sinai sets up new center for treating tic and obsessive-compulsive disorders

Mount Sinai has officially opened a new center to treat and research tic and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) in individuals of all ages. The opening coincides with a significant revision in the psychiatry field's manual of mental disorders, which will now recognize OCD with its own category, rather than classifying it as an anxiety disorder.

25 Jan 2013

Medical cannabis can improve appetite, ease chronic pain, say researchers

Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more.

25 Jan 2013

Effective therapy needed for chronic fatigue syndrome patients

Ampligen, the first drug ever seeking approval to treat chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), recently hit another roadblock with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

25 Jan 2013

Roundup: Lessons from Mass. health reform; Berwick moves closer to gov. bid; Jindal reverses Medicaid hospice cut

When Massachusetts adopted its landmark health care law in 2006, the goals were ambitious and the potential solutions complex. ... What are they getting in return?

25 Jan 2013

Snoring may indicate future health risks

Here's a wake-up call for snorers: Snoring may put you at a greater risk than those who are overweight, smoke or have high cholesterol to have thickening or abnormalities in the carotid artery, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

25 Jan 2013

Keeping active can slow down memory loss in Alzheimer's patients

Keeping active can slow down the progression of memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease, a study has shown.

25 Jan 2013

Research shows brain cells regulate blood vessel development

Zhen Huang freely admits he was not interested in blood vessels four years ago when he was studying brain development in a fetal mouse. Instead, he wanted to see how changing a particular gene in brain cells called glia would affect the growth of neurons.

25 Jan 2013