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Researchers identify new gene that provides new insight on Perrault syndrome

Researchers from Manchester Biomedical Research Centre at Saint Mary's Hospital and the University of Manchester have identified a new gene, which increases our understanding of the rare inherited disorder Perrault syndrome.

From The University of Manchester 30 Mar 2013

New testing technologies can help fight TB, but new treatments needed

"[F]or many low-income populations, [tuberculosis (TB)] is nothing less than a modern-day public health emergency," and "[t]o make things worse, many of these patients [a]re living with HIV," U.N. Under-Secretary General and UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy writes in a Huffington Post "Impact" blog opinion piece.

22 Mar 2013

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients and Médecins Sans Frontières medical staff call for urgent action

If measures to tackle multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are not significantly stepped up, including addressing barriers that prevent both research into better drug combinations and treatment scale up, MDR-TB rates will continue to increase worldwide and a historic opportunity to improve abysmal cure rates will have been squandered, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières warned today.

20 Mar 2013

Umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants may be an effective alternative to treat Hurler's syndrome

Transplants of blood-forming stem cells from umbilical cord blood may be an effective alternative to transplants of matched donor bone marrow stem cells to treat children with a rare, debilitating disease known as Hurler's syndrome (HS), according to results of a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

17 Mar 2013

Fast-progressing hearing impairment linked to fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Rapid hearing loss in both ears may be a symptom of the rare but always-fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and should be considered a reason for clinicians to test for the disorder.

15 Mar 2013

Report: Patients with mental health problems need culturally sensitive treatment

Members of the Deaf community who suffer from mental health problems need culturally sensitive treatment to avoid misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment, according to a report in the March Journal of Psychiatric Practice.

13 Mar 2013

Cochlear implants improve speech perception in early bilateral SNHL

Cochlear implant surgery in children with an early diagnosis of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss results in significant progressive improvements in speech perception and intelligibility, suggest study findings.

7 Mar 2013

Researchers discover that tympanic border cells can enable hearing

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a group of progenitor cells in the inner ear that can become the sensory hair cells and adjacent supporting cells that enable hearing.

27 Feb 2013

Experts identify new gene responsible for spinal meningioma

Genetic medicine experts from Manchester Biomedical Research Centre at Saint Mary's Hospital and The University of Manchester have identified a new gene responsible for causing an inherited form of tumour, known as spinal meningioma.

From The University of Manchester 19 Feb 2013

Interleukin-10 levels predict otitis media culprit

Research shows that high serum levels of interleukin-10 indicate that the likely cause of acute otitis media is infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae, as opposed to Haemophilus influenzae or Moraxella catarrhalis.

18 Feb 2013

Mutated Nesprin4 protein prevents hearing

Because half of all instances of hearing loss are linked to genetic mutations, advanced gene research is an invaluable tool for uncovering causes of deafness - and one of the biggest hopes for the development of new therapies. Now Prof. Karen Avraham of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University has discovered a significant mutation in a LINC family protein - part of the cells of the inner ear - that could lead to new treatments for hearing disorders.

29 Jan 2013

CHLA, House Research Institute receive FDA approval to begin pediatric ABI clinical trial

L.A.-based House Research Institute and Children's Hospital Los Angeles announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children.

22 Jan 2013

Hearing loss is associated with accelerated cognitive decline and impairment in older adults

Hearing loss appears to be associated with accelerated cognitive decline and cognitive impairment in a study of older adults, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

22 Jan 2013

New hope for people with sound-induced deafness

Preliminary results from a study in mice suggest it may be possible to regenerate cochlear hair cells that have been damaged due to excessive noise exposure.

15 Jan 2013

TAU scientists win top prize in American Society of Human Genetics art competition

The fine arts and the exact sciences may appear an unlikely pair, but creativity is a crucial element in both. Prof. Karen Avraham and PhD candidate Shaked Shivatzki of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine embraced this truth when creating Hearing and Deafness: Structure and Sequence, their winning submission to the recent American Society of Human Genetics art competition.

6 Dec 2012

Stem cells give insight into path of cytomegalovirus infection

Primitive human stem cells are resistant to human cytomegalovirus, say researchers who believe this finding could provide further insight into disease pathology.

3 Dec 2012

Researchers uncover molecular structure of master regulator central to melanoma

With the X-ray vision of DESY's light source DORIS, a research team from Hamburg and Iceland has uncovered the molecular structure of a master regulator central to the most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma.

1 Dec 2012

Primitive human stem cells resistant to human cytomegalovirus

A new study published online in PLOS ONE reveals that primitive human stem cells are resistant to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), one of the leading prenatal causes of congenital intellectual disability, deafness and deformities worldwide.

30 Nov 2012

Freestyle rapping increases brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex

Researchers in the voice, speech, and language branch of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of rappers when they are "freestyling" - spontaneously improvising lyrics in real time.

16 Nov 2012

LanPercept to focus on advanced techniques for studying language and perception

LanPercept, a new Marie Curie Initial Training Network funded through the 7th EU Framework Programme, will develop cutting edge techniques to understand vision-language mapping across the life-span in typically and atypically developing populations. New tools and training software will be tested to help disabled and elderly people negotiate the translation between vision and language.

15 Nov 2012