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Scientists examine different animal species to solve some of the riddles of human diseases

What do pigs, jellyfish and zebrafish have in common? It might be hard to discern the connection, but the different species are all pieces in a puzzle. A puzzle which is itself part of a larger picture of solving the riddles of diseases in humans.

18 Oct 2013

Study: Sleep allows brain to flush out damaging molecules linked with neurodegeneration

A good night's rest may literally clear the mind. Using mice, researchers showed for the first time that the space between brain cells may increase during sleep, allowing the brain to flush out toxins that build up during waking hours.

18 Oct 2013

Neurons strengthen their synapses to remain active after loss of input

The brain is an extremely adaptable organ - but it is also quite conservative. That's in short, what scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried and their colleagues from the Friedrich Miescher Institute in Basel and the Ruhr-Universit-t Bochum were now able to show.

17 Oct 2013

Proteins in CSF predict cognitive impairment before onset of disease

Johns Hopkins researchers say that by measuring levels of certain proteins in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), they can predict when people will develop the cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease years before the first symptoms of memory loss appear.

17 Oct 2013

Research in mouse whiskers reveals signal pathway from touch neuron to brain

Human fingertips have several types of sensory neurons that are responsible for relaying touch signals to the central nervous system. Scientists have long believed these neurons followed a linear path to the brain with a "labeled-lines" structure.

17 Oct 2013

Locomotion of C. elegans worm to make big difference in biomedical research

One might wonder why researchers would even care about the nuances of the one-millimeter long nematode worm, let alone take the time to study them. But the answer is simple: they can provide powerful insights into human health and disease.

16 Oct 2013

Brain damage treatment could be as close as the wardrobe

For those with brain damage or neurological disorders - such as MS or Parkinson's - treatment could be as close as the wardrobe.

16 Oct 2013

Less-healthy patients more prone to recovery room complications

Complications in the recovery room decreased by 58 percent between 1990 and 2010, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting. In a previous study completed in the late 1980s, recovery room complications occurred in 23.7 percent of the patients.

16 Oct 2013

New discovery may lead to effective treatments for chronic itching

Anyone who has suffered through sleepless nights due to uncontrollable itching knows that not all itching is the same. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis explains why.

16 Oct 2013

Breast cancer patients receiving nerve block with general anesthesia have less cancer recurrence

Breast cancer patients who received the combination of a nerve block with general anesthesia for their breast cancer surgery had less cancer recurrence and were three times less likely to die than those who received only general anesthesia, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

16 Oct 2013

microRNAs may serve as therapeutic targets and predictors of metastasis

A class of molecules called microRNAs may offer cancer patients two ways to combat their disease.

15 Oct 2013

Study illuminates definitive brain alterations in troops with Gulf War Illness

New research illuminates definitive brain alterations in troops with Gulf War Illness thought to result from the exposure to neurotoxic chemicals, including sarin gas, during the first Persian Gulf War.

15 Oct 2013

Emergency departments across Michigan are more prepared to handle natural disaster

Emergency Departments across Michigan are better prepared to handle a disaster today than they were seven years ago, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

15 Oct 2013

Peripheral nerve stimulation reduces headache intensity by more than 70%

For the more than 45 million Americans who suffer from chronic headaches, relief may be on the way in the form of an electric pulse, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

14 Oct 2013

Non-hormonal chronic pain treatment reduces moderate-to-severe hot flashes

Menopausal women suffer from half as many hot flashes after receiving a non-hormonal chronic pain treatment, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2013 annual meeting.

14 Oct 2013

Scientists decode key molecular gateway for toxin that causes botulism

U.S. and German scientists have decoded a key molecular gateway for the toxin that causes botulism, pointing the way to treatments that can keep the food-borne poison out of the bloodstream.

12 Oct 2013

ADAGES III study receives NIH grant to elucidate genetics of glaucoma in African descents

A study led by Robert N. Weinreb, chairman and Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, has received a $6.4 million, 5-year grant from the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to elucidate the genetics of glaucoma in persons of African descent.

12 Oct 2013

Research finding may offer targets for treating feelings of unsteadiness

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have pinpointed a site in a highly developed area of the human brain that plays an important role in the subconscious recognition of which way is straight up and which way is down.

11 Oct 2013

Crucial role of orthopedic surgeons in diagnosing mTBI among trauma care patients

In the United States, approximately 1.4 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. Of those injuries, three out of four are minor TBI (mTBI)-a head injury that causes a temporary change in mental status including confusion, an altered level of consciousness, or perceptual or behavioral impairments.

11 Oct 2013

Researchers identify gene that orchestrates important branching of nerve fibers

Our ability to detect heat, touch, tickling and other sensations depends on our sensory nerves. Now, for the first time, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified a gene that orchestrates the crucially important branching of nerve fibers that occurs during development. The findings were published online today in the journal Cell.

11 Oct 2013