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Processed nerve allograft effective in treating PNI

In the first-ever multicenter clinical trial on processed nerve allograft, researchers from The Buncke Clinic in San Francisco found that treatment of severed peripheral nerve with processed nerve allograft showed meaningful recovery in 87 percent of patients, comparing favorably to traditional nerve repair.

13 Jan 2012

Lack of iron early in life can affect brain's physical structure

Iron is a popular topic in health news. Doctors prescribe it for medical reasons, and it's available over the counter as a dietary supplement. And while it's known that too little iron can result in cognitive problems, it's also known that too much promotes neurodegenerative diseases. Now, researchers at UCLA have found that in addition to causing cognitive problems, a lack of iron early in life can affect the brain's physical structure as well.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists discover how sense of touch is wired in skin and nervous system

Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how the sense of touch is wired in the skin and nervous system. The new findings, published Dec. 22 in Cell, open new doors for understanding how the brain collects and processes information from hairy skin.

12 Jan 2012

Omega-3 can protect nerves from injury and help them to regenerate

Research from Queen Mary, University of London suggests that omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, have the potential to protect nerves from injury and help them to regenerate.

12 Jan 2012

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation names 18 new Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its fall Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jan 2012

Baro-Therapies introduces portable barometric therapy device for pain, inflammation

Baro-Therapies, Inc. has announced the national launch of The Rejuvenator, a portable barometric therapy device that provides drug-free relief from inflammatory pain and neurological conditions using elevated barometric pressure.

11 Jan 2012

NYU medical students use online 3D interactive virtual human body

First-year students at NYU School of Medicine were introduced to a pioneering online 3D interactive virtual human body called the BioDigital Human. This unique educational experience supplements the traditional use of human cadavers in anatomy instruction by allowing students to both view and interact with realistically simulated 3D organs and other anatomical structures.

9 Jan 2012

Study provides hope for stimulating remyelination in MS patients

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University, and the University of Cambridge have found that the age-related impairment of the body's ability to replace protective myelin sheaths, which normally surround nerve fibers and allow them to send signals properly, may be reversible, offering new hope that therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring efficient regeneration can be effective in the central nervous system throughout life.

7 Jan 2012

Age-associated decline of remyelination process may be reversible

New research highlights the possibility of reversing ageing in the central nervous system for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The study is published today, 06 January, in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

7 Jan 2012

Scientists map neurons that process different kinds of visual information

There's a 3-D world in our brains. It's a landscape that mimics the outside world, where the objects we see exist as collections of neural circuits and electrical impulses.

7 Jan 2012

New information about how early ESCs develop and form primate species

Newly published research by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University provides significant new information about how early embryonic stem cells develop and take part in formation of the primate species.

6 Jan 2012

Study shows how Epstein-Barr virus triggers MS

A new study from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London shows how a particular virus tricks the immune system into triggering inflammation and nerve cell damage in the brain, which is known to cause MS.

6 Jan 2012

Isis announces results from ISIS-TTRRx Phase 1 study on TTR amyloidosis

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today results from a Phase 1 study with ISIS-TTRRx. The results demonstrated that treatment with ISIS-TTRRx produced dose-dependent statistically significant reductions of greater than 80 percent in transthyretin (TTR) protein.

6 Jan 2012

Researchers identify potential target for schistosomiasis vaccine

In the complicated life cycle of ancient flatworms that cause schistosomiasis, Case Western Reserve University researchers have identified a gene activator crucial to development of the parasites within humans - a potential target for a vaccine.

6 Jan 2012

Amyloid precursor protein fragment may be a biomarker for autism

Immune system abnormalities that mimic those seen with autism spectrum disorders have been linked to the amyloid precursor protein (APP), reports a research team from the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Silver Child Development Center.

4 Jan 2012

Combination of biomarkers indicates high risk of Alzheimer's in the future

Physician Oskar Hansson and his research group are studying biomarkers - substances present in spinal fluid and linked to Alzheimer's disease. The group has studied close to 140 people with mild memory impairment, showing that a certain combination of markers (low levels of the substance beta-amyloid and high levels of the substance tau) indicate a high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in the future.

3 Jan 2012

Positive link between physical activity and academic performance of children

A systematic review of previous studies suggests that there may be a positive relationship between physical activity and the academic performance of children, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Jan 2012

Three successful full face transplants: Brigham and Women’s report

A team of Brigham and Women’s surgeons performed three full face transplants at the hospital this year and have published a detailed account of the procedures in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors outline the three cases with before and after photos and explanations of how the patients - Dallas Wiens, Mitch Hunter, and Charla Nash - fared in the aftermath of surgery. While all three had infections and two had episodes of rejection, all were successfully treated.

29 Dec 2011

Obesity associated with hypothalamic injury

The number of people who suffer from one or more of the adverse complications of obesity, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease is rapidly increasing. Thus far, drugs designed to treat obesity have shown limited efficacy and have been associated with serious side effects.

28 Dec 2011

Faulty lipid metabolism may cause MS, says forensic anthropologist

An article to be published in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system.

23 Dec 2011