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Bioengineering delivers innovative solutions to diagnose and repair TBI

Bioengineering -- the application of engineering principles to understand and treat medical conditions -- is delivering innovative solutions for diagnosing and repairing damage to the brain caused by a traumatic injury.

23 Nov 2011

New device safe, more effective for patients with chronic neurological conditions

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) was developed to help return lost function to patients with upper and lower extremity injuries and spinal cord injuries, among other applications. However, the devices, which work by stimulating neuronal activity in nerve-damaged patients, have a potential shortcoming in that the electrical currents needed for the treatment to work can also send errant signals to surrounding nerves, resulting in painful side effects.

22 Nov 2011

Study shows degeneration of corpus callosum in stroke patients with impaired hand movement

The structure of the corpus callosum, a thick band of nerve fibres that connects the two halves of the brain with each other and in this way enables the rapid exchange of information between the left and right hemispheres, plays an important role in the regaining of motor skills following a stroke. A study currently published in the journal Human Brain Mapping has shown that in stroke patients with particularly severely impaired hand movement, this communication channel between the two brain hemispheres in particular was badly damaged.

22 Nov 2011

Gene-therapy trial to restore hearing in deaf mice

Researchers have found long-sought genes in the sensory hair cells of the inner ear that, when mutated, prevent sound waves from being converted to electric signals - a fundamental first step in hearing. The team, co-led by Jeffrey Holt, PhD, in the department of otolaryngology at Children-s Hospital Boston, and Andrew Griffith, MD, PhD, of the NIH-s National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), then restored these electrical signals in the sensory cells of deaf mice by introducing normal genes.

22 Nov 2011

Targeting synthetic RNA to specific gene could help reduce severity of SMA

A team of University of Missouri researchers have found that targeting a synthetic molecule to a specific gene could help the severity of the disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world.

22 Nov 2011

Cisplatin anti-cancer drug binds pervasively to RNA

An anti-cancer drug used extensively in chemotherapy binds pervasively to RNA -- up to 20-fold more than it does to DNA, a surprise finding that suggests new targeting approaches might be useful, according to University of Oregon researchers.

21 Nov 2011

MedUni Vienna researchers discover important regulators in development of stem cells

A team of researchers at the MedUni Vienna's Institute of Medical Genetics has discovered that two genes (TSC/Tuberin and PRAS40) are extremely important regulators in the development of stem cells: if these genes are switched off, the stem cells do not develop but instead die a programmed cell death.

21 Nov 2011

Scientists unravel how brain combines different sensory cues to make sense of our world

The human brain is bombarded with a cacophony of information from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Now a team of scientists at the University of Rochester, Washington University in St. Louis, and Baylor College of Medicine has unraveled how the brain manages to process those complex, rapidly changing, and often conflicting sensory signals to make sense of our world.

21 Nov 2011

Promising results from dexpramipexole phase 2 trial on ALS

Treatment with dexpramipexole - a novel drug believed to prevent dysfunction of mitochondria, the subcellular structures that provide most of a cell's energy - appears to slow symptom progression in the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Promising results of a phase 2 trial of dexpramipexole are receiving advance online publication in Nature Medicine.

20 Nov 2011

Scientists show that the sense of smell can be improved

In a new study scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have shown that the sense of smell can be improved. The new findings, published online November 20, 2011, in Nature Neuroscience, suggest possible ways to reverse the loss of smell due to aging or disease.

20 Nov 2011

New, incision-free surgery to manage chronic acid reflux

Adam Vasser would wake up at night choking on partially digested food and liquid. Stomach acid burned the delicate tissue of his throat. "I'd sleep really badly," he said. During the day, he sometimes suffered from heartburn.

19 Nov 2011

UofL Pediatric Emergency Department fellow wins Willis Wingert Award

University of Louisville Pediatric Emergency Department fellow Alyssa Turner, M.D., has been awarded the Willis Wingert Award for her platform presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting.

19 Nov 2011

New protein in the fruit fly eye may shed light on neurodegenerative diseases

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and collaborators have discovered a powerful new protein in the eye of the fruit fly that may shed light on blinding diseases and other sensory problems in humans.

18 Nov 2011

Research shows how the bite of a small Texas snake causes extreme pain

Examining venom from a variety of poisonous snakes, a group of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has discovered why the bite of one small black, yellow and red serpent called the Texas coral snake can be so painful.

17 Nov 2011

EC approves Pfizer's Vyndaqel to treat Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy

Pfizer announced today that the European Commission has approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis) for the treatment of Transthyretin Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP) in adult patients with stage 1 symptomatic polyneuropathy.

17 Nov 2011

New possibilities for relief from digestive diseases

As a researcher in neurogastroenterology for 40 years, professor Khalil Bitar has spent his professional life studying the causes of perplexing and what frequently become embarrassing problems for humans—issues such as constipation, diarrhea and colon disease.

17 Nov 2011

New AAOS guideline on 'The Treatment of Supracondylar Humerus Fractures'

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Board of Directors has recently approved and released an evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) on "The Treatment of Supracondylar Humerus Fractures."

17 Nov 2011

Sex during adolescence can have negative effects on body and mood well into adulthood

A new study suggests that sex during adolescence can have lasting negative effects on the body and mood well into adulthood, most likely because the activity occurs when the nervous system is still developing.

16 Nov 2011

New research demonstrates brain's remarkable capacity to repair itself

New research released today demonstrates the brain's remarkable capacity to repair itself. The animal studies, which propose ways to prevent or limit damage after blood and oxygen deprivation and blood clots, were presented at Neuroscience 2011, the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

16 Nov 2011

TU Darmstadt chemists develop new method to diagnose Alzheimer's

Chemists at the Technische Universität Darmstadt have developed a new method for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease. The method involves making protein deposits on mucous nasal membranes that are detectable years before the disease erupts visible.

16 Nov 2011