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Xenon Pharmaceuticals commences phase 2 clinical trial of XEN402 therapy for PHN

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that it has initiated a phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its novel topical XEN402 therapy for the treatment of PHN.

17 Aug 2010

Discovery can lead to new class of drugs for chronic pain treatment

Researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a brand new class of drugs to treat chronic pain caused by inflammatory conditions such as arthritis and back pain without numbing the whole body.

17 Aug 2010

Parkinson’s disease linked to genetic alteration of immune system: Study

Parkinson’s disease (PD), a severely crippling disease of the nerves and brain has been linked to genes that affect the immune system according to new research. In these patients the immune system may go awry attacking healthy tissues or failing to fight infections that leave people susceptible to the condition scientists say.

16 Aug 2010

Abnormalities in certain genes may cause autism: Research

Together with colleagues from an international research group, autism researcher Christopher Gillberg of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has found in a new study that autism can be partially explained by abnormalities in certain genes. The group's results could, in the long run, pave the way for more appropriate treatments for autism.

16 Aug 2010

Researchers pace embryonic heart with laser

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University and Vanderbilt University found that pulsed light can pace contractions in an avian embryonic heart, with no apparent damage to the tissue. The work, "Optical pacing of the embryonic heart," will be published in the advanced online issue of Nature Photonics on Aug. 15, 2010.According to the scientists, this non-invasive device may prove an effective tool in understanding how environmental factors that alter an embryo's heart rate lead to congenital defects. It may also lead to investigations of cardiac electrophysiology at the cellular, tissue and organ levels, and possibly the development of a new generation of pacemakers.

16 Aug 2010

MeCP2 protein regulates properties of psychostimulant drugs: Research

When a certain protein is mutated or missing, symptoms of the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome arise, causing a gradual loss of brain function during early development.This fact led Duke University Medical Center researchers to test a theory that the protein might also contribute to nerve-cell connection (synapse) changes in a fully formed adult mouse brain when exposed to psychostimulant use.

16 Aug 2010

Study examines impact of microvascular decompression surgery for type 2 diabetes

A team of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) physicians led by neurosurgical pioneer Peter Jannetta, MD, has made an important new discovery linking the central nervous system to the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Reporting today in the journal Surgical Neurology International, Dr. Jannetta and his colleagues present evidence from a prospective clinical trial that vascular compression of a section of the brain called the medulla oblongata is a factor in some patients with type 2 diabetes and that microvascular decompression surgery (MVD) may be an effective treatment for the condition.

13 Aug 2010

Research finds genetic roots of alcoholism in humans

A novel mutation found in a mouse gene might provide new insights into the genetic roots of alcoholism in humans, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center and the University of California, San Francisco. The study is published August 12th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

13 Aug 2010

Researchers suggest Hsp70 can reverse Diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Researchers have been able to use a common chaperone protein, Hsp70, to reverse the loss of function in the nerves of mice with diabetes.Writing in ASN NEURO, Michael J. Urban and colleagues at the University of Kansas suggest that Hsp70 could be used in the future to cure the loss of feeling in the limbs that afflicts many diabetics.

12 Aug 2010

UT Dallas receives grant from NIH to investigate nerve stimulation for tinnitus

The NIH has granted a University of Texas at Dallas researcher and a university-affiliated biomedical firm $1.7 million to investigate whether nerve stimulation offers a long-term cure for tinnitus.

12 Aug 2010

Tips to prevent back pain for frequent laptop users

The symptoms are familiar to any student who has ever spent a long night pounding out a paper on a laptop computer: an aching neck, throbbing head and tingling fingers.Because of the way the computers are designed, using a laptop almost inevitably leads to poor posture, said Kevin Carneiro, DO, a doctor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Incorrect posture and computer overuse can cause debilitating physical problems, such as sore muscles or repetitive stress injuries. Typing can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome, an injury to the nerve that passes through the wrist.

12 Aug 2010

Researchers receive $1M grant to train Native American communities improve their health

UC Davis School of Medicine researchers will train Native American communities in Northern California to develop and implement culturally appropriate interventions to improve their health by decreasing obesity and type-2 diabetes, through a $1 million research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Aug 2010

Researchers identify perforant path brain passage associated with Alzheimer's disease

With the help of volunteers aged 18 to 89, UC Irvine researchers have identified for the first time in humans a long-hidden part of the brain called the perforant path. Scientists have struggled for decades to locate the tiny passage, which is believed to deteriorate gradually as part of normal aging and far more quickly due to Alzheimer's disease.

11 Aug 2010

Trigemina reports positive results from TI-001 Phase IIa clinical trial for Chronic Daily Headache

Trigemina, Inc., a Mountain View, CA based pharmaceutical company, reports positive results from its Phase IIa proof-of-concept clinical trial for TI-001 in Chronic Daily Headache. The trial is a collaborative effort between Trigemina and Dr. Egilius Spierings of MedVadis Research Corporation located outside of Boston, and compares intranasal TI-001 with placebo in patients suffering from CDH.

11 Aug 2010

NeuroMetrix second-quarter total revenues decrease to $3.9 million

NeuroMetrix, Inc., a health care company transforming patient care through neurotechnology, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

10 Aug 2010

FDA approves human embryonic stem cells clinical trial for spinal cord injury treatment

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc.: Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration gave their highly-anticipated approval for the first clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which are the type of cells that can develop into all tissues of the body. Geron Corporation of Menlo Park, California, received the green light from the US FDA to use cells derived from hESCs to treat people with acute spinal cord injuries. Ten people will receive injections into the injury site of hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, which stimulate the growth of new and severed nerves and recoat damaged nerves with myelin. The hope is that the injections will help people recover function lost through injury, as seen in rodent studies in 2005.

10 Aug 2010

Older Americans suffer from full-blown depression: Report

Maureen Duffy's memories of her grandmother are cloudy. Not because of time, but by a condition that cast a shadow over the woman Duffy had visited as a child.

10 Aug 2010

Pluristem's PLacental eXpanded cell therapy effective against neuropathic and inflammatory nerve pain

Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. today announced the results of two separate pre-clinical studies in animal models which demonstrated that its PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cell therapy may be an effective treatment for both neuropathic and inflammatory nerve pain. These animal studies were conducted in collaboration with the Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT) and the Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine, both at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin of Berlin, Germany.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists work towards creating a vaccine for Parkinson's disease

Nina Brown, 68, and millions of others with a debilitating neurological condition called Parkinson's disease are counting on researchers for a cure. At The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), protein chemists are working to develop a therapeutic vaccine.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists induce nerve tissue regeneration in patients with spinal cord injury

Researchers for the first time have induced robust regeneration of nerve tissue connections in injured adult spinal cord sites that control voluntary movement. These findings provide hope that it may be possible to design therapies for paralysis and other impairments of motor function arising from spinal cord injury.

9 Aug 2010