Nerve News and Research

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Single injection could treat pain days, weeks, maybe even months

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have developed a slow-release anesthetic drug-delivery system that could potentially revolutionize treatment of pain during and after surgery, and may also have a large impact on chronic pain management

15 Apr 2009

Wrist acupuncture prevents postoperative nausea and vomiting

Up to 80 percent of patients who have surgery complain of nausea and vomiting afterwards, but stimulating an acupoint in their wrists can help reduce these symptoms, finds a new evidence review.

14 Apr 2009

Maternal positions and mobility during first stage of labor

Women who walk, sit, kneel or otherwise avoid lying in bed during early labor can shorten the first stage of labor by about an hour, according to a new Cochrane evidence review.

14 Apr 2009

Signals from stroking have direct route to brain

Nerve signals that tell the brain that we are being slowly stroked on the skin have their own specialised nerve fibres in the skin.

14 Apr 2009

Nerve shock implant device may help bladder control in urinary incontinence

For people with urinary incontinence who have run out of options, an electrical device might help, according to a new Cochrane Library review.

14 Apr 2009

Imaging reveals abnormalities in pathways connecting brain areas in those with writer's cramp

Abnormalities in the fibers connecting different brain areas may contribute to muscle disorders such as writer's cramp, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Neurology.

13 Apr 2009

Baby's first dreams

After about seven months growing in the womb, a human fetus spends most of its time asleep.

13 Apr 2009

RNA interference can be used to silence genes selectively - potential for Huntington's disease therapy

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have designed tiny RNA molecules that shut off the gene that causes Huntington's disease without damaging that gene's healthy counterpart, which maintains the health and vitality of neurons.

12 Apr 2009

New research should ease constipation

If you hate prune juice and chalky fiber supplements, just sit down and relax.

9 Apr 2009

New common pathway in neurodegenerative disease is a possible door to a point of no return

A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS going - until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them - may largely come down to poor conversational skills.

9 Apr 2009

Prescription heartburn medications do not ease asthma symptoms

The predominance of heartburn among asthma sufferers led many specialists to suspect that acid reflux could be a trigger for the coughing, wheezing and breathlessness of asthma.

9 Apr 2009

Immune cells in skin fight off infection better than the rest

Scientists at the University of Melbourne have discovered the local action of immune cells in the skin, which could improve treatment of viral skin infections.

8 Apr 2009

Discovery of mechanism of cell type-specific signaling in tumor development

Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered the mechanisms behind two key checkpoints in cell growth and development - factors that may ultimately allow investigators to benchmark progression of tumor cells or stop them from further development.

8 Apr 2009

Growth factor TGF-beta helps maintain health of retinal blood vessels

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that the growth factor known as TGF-beta is essential to the health of blood vessels in the retina and that blocking it can cause retinal dysfunction.

8 Apr 2009

Simple bedside test improves diagnosis of chronic back pain, could guide treatment

A simple and inexpensive method of assessing pain, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, is better than currently used techniques for distinguishing neuropathic pain - pain caused by damage to the nervous system - from other types of chronic back pain.

6 Apr 2009

Researchers regenerate axons necessary for voluntary movement

For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

6 Apr 2009

New standardized tool for the assessment of chronic pain helps distinguish pain subtypes

Joachim Scholz from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA and his colleagues studied the symptoms and signs of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (nerve pain such as sciatica) and non-neuropathic (non-nerve) low back pain to identify the best clinical questions and physical tests for diagnosing pain types.

6 Apr 2009

Obesity and overweight linked to greater risk of restless legs syndrome

A new study shows both obesity and a large belly appear to increase the risk of developing restless legs syndrome (RLS), a common sleep disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move your legs.

6 Apr 2009

Avastin safe and effective at delaying tumor progression

The use of Avastin alone to treat a subgroup of recurrent Grade 3 brain tumors showed it was safe and effective at delaying tumor progression, according to a retrospective study of 22 patients conducted by a researcher at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

6 Apr 2009