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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.

Humans' evolutionary advantage also makes them susceptible to cancer, dementia and heart disease

The same evolutionary genetic advantages that have helped increase human lifespans also make us uniquely susceptible to diseases of aging such as cancer, heart disease and dementia, reveals a study to be published in a special PNAS collection on "Evolution in Health and Medicine" on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

28 Jan 2010

Study shows cooling technique in heart operations does not impair neurological outcomes in children

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common birth defects in humans, affecting 8 per 1000 live births with one third of affected children requiring intervention in early infancy.

28 Jan 2010

Centering Healthcare Institute receives the Cares Award for its CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care program

Centering Healthcare Institute has been honored by the Premier healthcare alliance with the 18th Annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award for its CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care program, which provides an innovative prenatal group care model now present in more than 300 sites across America. Centering Healthcare Institute last night received the Cares Award and $70,000 for the work it has done to provide care to mothers and babies nationwide.

28 Jan 2010

Alzheimer's disease becomes center of discussion at the World Economic Forum

For the first time ever, Alzheimer's disease is a focus at the World Economic Forum. Today more than 35 million people worldwide have dementia and those numbers will double every 20 years to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050, according to the World Alzheimer's Report from Alzheimer's disease International (ADI), a London-based, nonprofit, international federation of 71 national Alzheimer organizations.

28 Jan 2010

Researchers to test newest implant in restoring vision damaged by disease

Researchers trying to restore vision damaged by disease have found promise in a tiny implant that sows seeds of new cells in the eye.

28 Jan 2010

Blocking CRF may prevent excessive alcohol consumption

A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has found that a specific stress hormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), is key to the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence in animal models.

28 Jan 2010

Posible new method to assess loss of consciousness

The brains of people under anesthesia respond to stimuli as they do in the deepest part of sleep - lending credence to a developing theory of consciousness and suggesting a new method to assess loss of consciousness in conditions such as coma.

28 Jan 2010

IsoRay ships first set of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds to Canada

IsoRay, Inc. announced today that it has successfully shipped the first set of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds to a Canadian customer for the purpose of furthering research and development of Cesium-131 in Canada. Cesium-131 is currently approved by Health Canada for the treatment of low-risk prostate cancers and has been cleared by the US FDA for treatment of a wide variety of malignant disease (e.g. prostate, head and neck, brain, breast, lung, eye, etc.).

28 Jan 2010

Down Syndrome, menopause, dementia and death

Women experiencing an early onset of menopause could develop dementia at a younger age. Research by Tonnie Coppus of Erasmus MC has indicated this. She studied women with Down Syndrome, who are known to have an early onset of menopause. The results of her research can be translated to apply to the general population. Her results will be published in the Journal of Alzheimer Disease today.

28 Jan 2010

Brain study finds intriguing connection between prosody and empathy

A new study in the journal PLoS ONE finds that people use the same brain regions to produce and understand intonation in speech.

28 Jan 2010

NIH awards GE Global Research $3.27M to develop highly mobile, less costly MRI systems

Working to expand access of state-of-the-art medical imaging to underdeveloped regions around the world, GE Global Research, the technology development arm for the General Electric Company, has been awarded a four-year, $3.27 million award from National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop new magnet technology that will make MRI systems less costly and easier to site.

28 Jan 2010

Safe natural extracts reduce hunger and help control appetite

Klaumwell Research Labs, LLC, U.S., a subsidiary of Italian multinational Medestea Internazionale, announced positive results from a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study published in the prestigious, peer-reviewed International Journal of Obesity which demonstrates the efficacy of key ingredients contained in a new appetite control spray. Fullfast™ is a clinically tested dietary supplement that helps reduce excessive feelings of hunger.

28 Jan 2010

Scientists uncover a key cellular mechanism that alters brain cell function in Huntington's disease

Scientists at the Brain Research Centre and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics have uncovered a key cellular mechanism that alters brain cell function in Huntington's disease, and identified a possible treatment for the disease.

28 Jan 2010

IRSF announces first 2010 ANGEL Grant for testing potential Rett Syndrome therapies

Today, the International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) announced that it will commit $446,000 in 2010 to fund a large translational research program to test potential therapeutics for Rett Syndrome in mouse models of the disease. The funds will be awarded through the IRSF's new Advanced Neurotherapeutic Grant of Excellence (ANGEL) mechanism which seeks to provide funds for translational research. IRSF is the world's largest private source of Rett syndrome research funding, supporting nearly $21 million in research programs to date. This is the first ANGEL Grant supported by IRSF in 2010.

28 Jan 2010

Health organizations urge Congress to protect Medicare beneficiaries' access to critical rehabilitative services

A coalition of organizations representing consumers, health professionals and providers recently sent a letter to Congressional Leadership, calling for the immediate reinstatement of the exceptions process for Medicare Part B outpatient therapy services. Without such efforts, thousands of Medicare beneficiaries will exceed arbitrary limitations on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services.

28 Jan 2010

Electrode devices emerge as potential stimulation treatments for depression

Approximately ten to thirty percent of patients with depression do not respond to drug treatments commonly used for the disorder, and this has spurred a search for alternatives. According to Kalorama Information's report "Electrical and Magnetic Neurostimulation," electrode devices that stimulate nerves have emerged as a solution and there is competition among notable device companies to provide the most effective stimulator.

28 Jan 2010

Children with cancer are treated with proton therapy at ProCure Proton Therapy Center

Children with cancer are now being accepted for treatment at the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma, where a wide range of tumors are treated with proton therapy, an alternative to X-ray radiation that spares healthy tissue and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects.

28 Jan 2010

Researchers develop PEG-POD tool for gene therapy

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have developed a new tool for gene therapy that significantly increases gene delivery to cells in the retina compared to other carriers and DNA alone, according to a study published in the January issue of The Journal of Gene Medicine.

28 Jan 2010

Epidemiological study shows Parkinson's disease is more common among whites and Hispanics

The largest epidemiological study of Parkinson's disease in the United States has found that the disease is more common in the Midwest and the Northeast and is twice as likely to strike whites and Hispanics as blacks and Asians.

28 Jan 2010

Women experiencing early menopause could develop dementia at a younger age

28 Jan 2010

Brain News and Research

Further Reading

Humans' evolutionary advantage also makes them susceptible to cancer, dementia and heart disease

Study shows cooling technique in heart operations does not impair neurological outcomes in children

Centering Healthcare Institute receives the Cares Award for its CenteringPregnancy Group Prenatal Care program

Alzheimer's disease becomes center of discussion at the World Economic Forum

Researchers to test newest implant in restoring vision damaged by disease

Blocking CRF may prevent excessive alcohol consumption

Posible new method to assess loss of consciousness

IsoRay ships first set of Cesium-131 brachytherapy seeds to Canada

Down Syndrome, menopause, dementia and death

Brain study finds intriguing connection between prosody and empathy

NIH awards GE Global Research $3.27M to develop highly mobile, less costly MRI systems

Safe natural extracts reduce hunger and help control appetite

Scientists uncover a key cellular mechanism that alters brain cell function in Huntington's disease

IRSF announces first 2010 ANGEL Grant for testing potential Rett Syndrome therapies

Health organizations urge Congress to protect Medicare beneficiaries' access to critical rehabilitative services

Electrode devices emerge as potential stimulation treatments for depression

Children with cancer are treated with proton therapy at ProCure Proton Therapy Center

Researchers develop PEG-POD tool for gene therapy

Epidemiological study shows Parkinson's disease is more common among whites and Hispanics

Women experiencing early menopause could develop dementia at a younger age

Industry Focus eBook - Cell & Gene Therapy (1st 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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