Nerve News and Research

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Green light for first drug to treat fibromyalgia

Authorities in the United States have given approval for the first drug to treat the condition fibromyalgia.

25 Jun 2007

Genes play unexpected role in their own activation

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered how a single molecular "on switch" triggers gene activity that might cause effects ranging from learning and memory capabilities to glucose production in the liver.

23 Jun 2007

New hope for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have provided new details about how proteins used to destroy bacteria and viruses may help treat Alzheimer?s disease.

23 Jun 2007

Link between levels of urate in the blood and risk of Parkinson's disease

In a new, large-scale, prospective study exploring the link between levels of urate in the blood and risk of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that high levels of urate are strongly associated with a reduced risk of the disease.

23 Jun 2007

Scientists identify gene responsible for one type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder

Scientists have identified the gene responsible for one type of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder, a common inherited neurological disease, thanks to the chance appearance of a strain of impaired 'pale tremor' mice in a University of Michigan research laboratory.

23 Jun 2007

U.S. FDA approves Lyrica (pregabalin), the first drug to treat fibromyalgia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Lyrica (pregabalin), the first drug to treat fibromyalgia, a disorder characterized by pain, fatigue and sleep problems.

23 Jun 2007

DNA repair by Brca2 prevents medulloblastoma

St. Jude investigators have gained some of the first major insights into how certain genes known to prevent cancer also guide the nervous system's normal development before birth and during infancy by repairing DNA damage.

23 Jun 2007

Discomfort and disability caused by shingles can be avoided

The painful, burning twinge and irritate skin that can be an early warning sign of shingles is often overlooked or misdiagnosed at the time when antiviral medications can be effected at shortening the outbreak.

23 Jun 2007

Autism-related proteins control nerve excitability

Two proteins that are implicated in autism have been found to control the strength and balance of nerve-cell connections, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

23 Jun 2007

Obesity and wrist shape correlate with a higher prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome

Weight loss in obese patients, however, does not bring relief of the syndrome. Experts suggest a genetic link between the two conditions, or a genetic profile that pre-disposes a patient to both conditions.

20 Jun 2007

Why the cold hurts - research has implications for pain relief

Freeing knotted shoelaces with fingers that are frozen stiff is extremely difficult and can even be painful.

20 Jun 2007

Turn-ons and turn-offs for neurons

Our brain consists of billions of nerve cells enabling to learn, remember and reason.

20 Jun 2007

New target for therapies for retinopathy

A protein long thought to be one of the body's supporting players has quietly been taking a lead role in healthy eyesight, a discovery that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing, University of Florida and Harvard Medical School researchers have found.

19 Jun 2007

Researchers breach blood-brain barrier to deliver therapy

A major obstacle in the treatment of infections and other diseases of the brain is the blood-brain barrier, which prevents systemically delivered therapeutic drugs from reaching the brain.

19 Jun 2007

Alzheimer's-associated enzyme beta-secretase can disrupt neural activity in the brain

An enzyme involved in the formation of the amyloid-beta protein associated with Alzheimer's disease can also alter the mechanism by which signals are transmitted between brain cells, the disruption of which can cause seizures.

19 Jun 2007

50 million Europeans suffer from neurological diseases

About 50 million people in the EU suffer from neurological diseases such as epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, strokes and dementia.

18 Jun 2007

Researchers clarify alphaB-crystallin's role in multiple sclerosis

A protein found primarily in the lens of the eye could be the critical "tipping point" in the spiral of inflammation and damage that occurs in multiple sclerosis, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine report.

18 Jun 2007

Scientists link cell's protein recycling systems

Many age-related neurological diseases are associated with defective proteins accumulating in nerve cells, suggesting that the cell's normal disposal mechanisms are not operating correctly.

17 Jun 2007

Synaptic dysfunction in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease is a hereditary disorder that primarily affects the brain, leading to death within just over a decade.

17 Jun 2007

Researchers use 'genomic pathway' to predict Parkinson's

A new Mayo Clinic study provides strong evidence that the joint effects of common DNA variations in several genes that encode proteins within a well-defined biological pathway largely explain why some persons get Parkinson's disease while others don't, and even predict with great accuracy at what age people might develop their first symptoms.

17 Jun 2007