Brain News and Research

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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.

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

Bioengineers from the University of California, San Diego developed an explanation for why some types of neurons die sooner than others in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. These insights, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on November 21, come from detailed models of brain energy metabolism developed in the Department of Bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

8 Dec 2010

AHNPs may serve as effective treatment for epilepsy and other disorders with altered neuronal circuitry

Epilepsy research is reaching beyond improving the means for quelling symptoms to the exploration of potential modalities for correcting or reversing alterations in neural function that underlay some forms of the disorder.

8 Dec 2010

IEEE members are transforming the future of medicine and healthcare

Members of IEEE, the world's largest technical professional association, are advancing the application of engineering sciences and technology with medicine and biology to make healthcare personal again.

8 Dec 2010

Omega-3 fatty acids have antidepressant properties: Study

A new analysis of the effects of omega-3 essential fatty acids offers the hope of enhanced treatment options for tens of millions of people with depression. Two critical omega-3 essential fatty acids available from certain food or nutritional supplements but not manufactured by the body—Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) — play a role in optimal brain functioning and have antidepressant benefits that have not been fully recognized.

8 Dec 2010

Novel drug therapy treats brain diseases

Pankaj Karande, a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering, is among a new generation of scientists and engineers developing exciting and novel new techniques to treat some of the most complex brain illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, and brain cancer.

8 Dec 2010

UC researchers launch clinical trial to study post-stroke brain injury

The largest clinical trial of therapeutic brain cooling after stroke has launched, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. This study looks at whether hypothermia can safely be used in elderly stroke patients.

8 Dec 2010

Beike exits stem cell joint venture with SiriCell

Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd. ("Beike") and SiriCell Technologies, Inc. announced that they are ending their partnership in "Beike Holdings Limited", a joint venture formed by the two companies in 2008. Going forward, Beike will exit the joint venture, and all current and future Beike Holdings-initiated business activities will operate exclusively under the SiriCell brand. Beike Holdings was established to expand the availability of Beike's stem cell products outside of China through collaborative hospital partnerships and new international subsidiaries.

8 Dec 2010

Case Western Reserve School of Medicine researchers receive NIH grant for four research endeavors

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine faculty members are reaping the rewards of funding from the National Institutes of Health, in the form of grants and contracts. The funding totals more than $6.4 million for four different research endeavors.

8 Dec 2010

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells - cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain - from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

Microsurgical technique effective in removing acoustic tumors

Surgery to remove tumors under the brain known as acoustic neuromas produces favorable outcomes in the "vast majority" of patients, according to one of the largest studies of its kind.

8 Dec 2010

Proactive therapies may prove to avert stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation

One evening last March, Larry Ambrose left his bed in the middle of the night to check the time. Much to the 71-year-old's surprise, he was only able to see three out of the four glowing numbers on the digital clock in his kitchen. Ambrose returned to bed, but within days was hospitalized for what was later diagnosed as a stroke. After extensive testing, his physicians told him they could not determine the cause.

8 Dec 2010

StemCells receives Swissmedic authorization to initiate HuCNS-SC Phase I/II clinical trial in spinal cord injury

StemCells, Inc. announced today that is has received authorization from Swissmedic, the Swiss regulatory agency for therapeutic products, to initiate a Phase I/II clinical trial in Switzerland of the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC® product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) in chronic spinal cord injury. The trial is designed to assess both safety and preliminary efficacy in patients with varying degrees of paralysis who are three to 12 months post-injury, and will progressively enroll patients based upon the severity of injury.

7 Dec 2010

OXIS introduces ErgoFlex for relief of joint pain

OXIS International, Inc. announces the market launch of ErgoFlex™, a unique new dietary supplement for the relief of joint pain. It is the first in a series of commercial products planned by OXIS. ErgoFlex is the only joint health complex containing the powerful antioxidant Ergothioneine (ERGO), and is specifically formulated to help the body fight the pain of joint inflammation and maintain optimal joint health.

7 Dec 2010

Long-term prognosis still excellent for children with seizures

Mayo Clinic researchers studied more than 200 children with epilepsy and found that even if the cause of focal-onset seizures cannot be identified and they do not fit into a known epilepsy syndrome, long-term prognosis is still excellent. This study was presented at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting in San Antonio on Dec. 4.

7 Dec 2010

Expansion of newborn screening throws some families on a journey of great uncertainty

Mandatory genetic screening of newborns for rare diseases is creating unexpected upheaval for families whose infants test positive for risk factors but show no immediate signs of the diseases, a new UCLA study warns.

7 Dec 2010

Medication and blood transfusion reduce risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators discuss results of research into managing iron overload associated with stroke prevention in young sickle cell patients and the search for genetic predictors of stroke risk.

7 Dec 2010

Low dose of aspirin reduces occurrence of several common cancers: Study

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has contributed to a study showing that a low dose of aspirin reduces the occurrence of several common cancers. The study is published in today's Lancet.

7 Dec 2010

Restless legs syndrome during pregnancy may reappear later on

Women with transient restless legs syndrome (RLS) during pregnancy appear to be at a higher risk of developing a chronic form of RLS later in life or have the same symptoms during future pregnancies, according to new research published in the December 7, 2010, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. RLS is a sleep-related motor disorder that causes an unpleasant feeling in the legs. The condition generally worsens during rest at night and improves with movement. Symptoms tend to progress with age.

7 Dec 2010

CSC's Leading Edge Forum: Disruptive technologies to reshape delivery of healthcare

CSC's Leading Edge Forum today released a report that identifies a new wave of disruptive technologies that will reshape the delivery of healthcare. These new technologies will help control costs while improving health by ushering in an era of wellness, self-monitoring, increased and earlier detection of disease, and more effective treatments.

7 Dec 2010

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals announces US patent for cognition enhancement

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex: RNN), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing potential best in class oncology and CNS therapeutics, today announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent 7,842,683 entitled, "Neurotherapeutic Compositions and Methods."

7 Dec 2010

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Bioengineers explain why some neurons die sooner than others in brains of AD patients

AHNPs may serve as effective treatment for epilepsy and other disorders with altered neuronal circuitry

IEEE members are transforming the future of medicine and healthcare

Omega-3 fatty acids have antidepressant properties: Study

Novel drug therapy treats brain diseases

UC researchers launch clinical trial to study post-stroke brain injury

Beike exits stem cell joint venture with SiriCell

Case Western Reserve School of Medicine researchers receive NIH grant for four research endeavors

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Microsurgical technique effective in removing acoustic tumors

Proactive therapies may prove to avert stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation

StemCells receives Swissmedic authorization to initiate HuCNS-SC Phase I/II clinical trial in spinal cord injury

OXIS introduces ErgoFlex for relief of joint pain

Long-term prognosis still excellent for children with seizures

Expansion of newborn screening throws some families on a journey of great uncertainty

Medication and blood transfusion reduce risk of recurrent strokes in young patients with sickle cell anemia

Low dose of aspirin reduces occurrence of several common cancers: Study

Restless legs syndrome during pregnancy may reappear later on

CSC's Leading Edge Forum: Disruptive technologies to reshape delivery of healthcare

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals announces US patent for cognition enhancement

Industry Focus eBook - Neurology/Neuroscience - 2nd edition eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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