Encephalopathy News and Research

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Pomegranate juice may help babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen

Expectant mothers at risk of premature birth may want to consider drinking pomegranate juice to help their babies resist brain injuries from low oxygen and reduced blood flow, a new mouse study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests.

28 Jun 2005

U.S. agriculture officials anxiously await mad cow results

After a series of conflicting test results in the U.S., last week a sample of brain matter from a cow suspected of having been infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was delivered to a British government-run veterinary laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey.

20 Jun 2005

Mad cow disease found in animal in the U.S.

In disturbing news this week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said a U.S. animal has tested positive for mad cow disease.

12 Jun 2005

Research opens up new directions for studying prion diseases in humans

The mysterious, highly infectious prions, which cause the severe destruction of the brain that characterizes "mad cow disease" and several human brain degenerative disorders, can be rendered harmless in the laboratory by a slight alternation of the three-dimensional conformation or shape of the prion protein's structure.

9 Jun 2005

Genesis Bioventures signs agreement for control of Mad Cow diagnostic company

Further to a Letter of Intent previously reported, Genesis Bioventures today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Efoora Inc. and Prion Developmental Laboratories, Inc. to buy all of Efoora's majority interest shares owned or pledged in PDL thereby gaining controlling interest of PDL. A Form 8-K has been filed with the SEC in this regard. Prior to the Agreement, GBI had one-third equity interest in PDL.

1 Jun 2005

Premature use of stem cell therapy could put patients at risk

The premature use of stem cell therapy could put many patients at risk of viral or prion diseases unless appropriate safety systems are in place, warn experts in this week’s BMJ.

19 May 2005

First confirmed case of Mad Cow disease in Holland

The first known case of the human form of "mad cow disease" - known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), has been diagnosed in the Netherlands.

22 Apr 2005

Researchers and drug giant team up to find cure for CJD

The Medical Research Council's Prion Unit, based at University College London, a leading British research group, is joining forces with drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop a cure for the disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD).

12 Apr 2005

Fibril shape is the basis of prion strains and cross-species prion infection

New research on prions, the infectious proteins behind "mad cow" disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease in humans, suggests that the ability of prions in one species to infect other species depends on the shape of the toxic threadlike fibers produced by the prion. Two studies on the topic appear in the 8 April issue of the journal Cell.

7 Apr 2005

Diagnosis of prions in patients should utilize novel strategy, conformation-dependent immunoassay

A technique for detecting prions in tissue, developed in recent years by UCSF scientists, is significantly more sensitive than the diagnostic procedures currently used to detect the lethal particles in samples of brain tissue from patients, according to a study performed by a UCSF team.

22 Feb 2005

Prions, previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain can also infect other organs

Prions, infectious proteins associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease, were previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain, but Yale and University of Zurich researchers report in Science that other organs can also become infected.

7 Feb 2005

Severity of liver disease not a reliable indicator of quality of life

A new study on the determination of how livers are allocated for transplants examined the relationship between liver disease severity and quality of life, and found that the commonly used model for liver allocation is not a reliable indicator of general quality of life.

24 Jan 2005

Sildenafil restores cognitive function in rats after liver failure

A study involving rats reveals the mechanism responsible for learning impairment due to liver failure and shows that sildenafil restores cognitive function.

19 Jan 2005

M.E. emerges from the wilderness

In 1955 medical literature first defined and described M.E., an illness that had probably been with us for hundreds of years. But with a wide range of symptoms, no diagnostic test and much misunderstanding about its cause, people with M.E. often had to struggle to manage the illness with little support from specialist services.

14 Dec 2004