Nerve News and Research

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Neuroscientists discover a critical early step of memory formation

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in the July issue of Neuron how nerve cells in the brain ensure that Arc, a protein critical for memory formation, is made instantly after nerve stimulation. Paradoxically, its manufacture involves two other proteins - including one linked to mental retardation - that typically prevent proteins from being made.

14 Sep 2008

FDA approves Gamunex for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has approved an immune globulin product called Gamunex for the treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms.

14 Sep 2008

Smart Disc issued patent for artificial spinal disc technology

Smart Disc, Inc., a Michigan-based medical technology company focused on the development of new and innovative spine products, announced today that it has been awarded Patent US 7,407,513 B2 for Smart Disc’s unique artificial spinal disc technology.

11 Sep 2008

New marker for raised intracranial pressure

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of the thickness of the optic nerve sheath are a good marker for raised intracranial pressure (ICP).

10 Sep 2008

Boston Globe examines imprisonment of two HIV/AIDS physicians, brothers In Iran

State Department officials and former students at Harvard University's School of Public Health believe Iranian physicians -- brothers Kamiar and Arash Alaei -- have been arrested and accused of using their work on HIV/AIDS worldwide to destabilize Iran's government, the Boston Globe reports.

10 Sep 2008

Receptor activation protects retina from diabetes destruction

A drug known for it pain-relieving power and believed to stimulate memory appears to prevent this retinal damage that leads to vision loss, researchers say.

9 Sep 2008

New treatment for diabetics identified

Some of the most serious health complications associated with diabetes could be prevented or delayed by taking a widely available cholesterol-lowering drug which has already been on the market for three decades, new research has shown.

8 Sep 2008

Once a week treatment for type 2 diabetes in the pipeline

Canadian researchers have found that a weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes has proved safe and effective for patients.

8 Sep 2008

Vimpat (lacosamide) approved in Europe

UCB announced today that the European Commission (EC) has approved Vimpat (lacosamide) as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in patients with epilepsy aged 16 years and older. Vimpat is the first new antiepileptic drug (AED) for partial-onset seizures in three years and offers a new treatment option for European patients living with uncontrolled partial-onset epilepsy.

3 Sep 2008

Exercise reduces damage after therapeutic irradiation to the brain

Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg show for the first time that exercise helps restore stem cell growth and improves behavior in young mice that suffered damage to the brain induced by a clinically relevant dose of radiation. The researchers believe that these results are also applicable to children that have suffered damage due to radiotherapy of brain tumors.

3 Sep 2008

Why bypass surgery helps in diabetes

To manage obesity, various different surgical procedures can be performed on the stomach, including so-called bypass surgery in which, as well as reducing the size of the stomach, a bypass is created to send food directly into the distal gut (which, before the operation, is far from the stomach).

3 Sep 2008

New evidence shows how gastric bypass reverses diabetes symptoms

A report in the September Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, offers new evidence to explain why those who undergo gastric bypass surgery often show greater control of their diabetes symptoms within days. It also helps to explain why lap-band surgery doesn't offer the same instant gratification.

3 Sep 2008

Hopkins researchers piece together gene "network" linked to schizophrenia

Reporting this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered for the first time molecular circuitry associated with schizophrenia that links three previously known, yet unrelated proteins.

2 Sep 2008

New stem cell tools to aid drug development

Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programmes.

2 Sep 2008

Antidepressants need new nerve cells to be effective

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered in mice that the brain must create new nerve cells for either exercise or antidepressants to reduce depression-like behavior.

28 Aug 2008

Depression drug Cymbalta eases chronic back pain

A drug used to treat depression has been found to also be effective in reducing chronic low back pain.

28 Aug 2008

Diazepam effects nerve cells in the brain reward system

Addictions to medicines and drugs are thought to develop over a relatively long period of time. The process involves both structural and functional changes in brain nerve cells that are still poorly understood.

27 Aug 2008

UT Southwestern discovery may lead to new drug-abuse treatments

Increased connections among brain cells caused by excessive drug use may represent the body's defense mechanism to combat addiction and related behaviors, scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Aug 2008

Potential new targets for antidepressants

The news about antidepressant medications over the past several years has been mixed. The bad news from large multicenter studies such as STAR*D is that current antidepressant medications are effective, but not as effective as one might hope. Thus, there is a significant need for new treatment mechanisms for depression. On that front, there has been mixed news as well.

27 Aug 2008

New technique offers hope for stroke sufferers

If a stroke patient doesn't get treatment within approximately the first three hours of symptoms, there's not much doctors can do to limit damage to the brain.

25 Aug 2008