Muscle News and Research

RSS

Study indicates garlic could help prevent cardiomyopathy

Garlic has significant potential for preventing cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that is a leading cause of death in people with diabetes, scientists have concluded in a new study. Their report, which also explains why people with diabetes are at high risk for diabetic cardiomyopathy, appears in ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

30 Sep 2010

COE on Brain Aging at NYU Langone establishes Lewy Body Disease Center

The Center of Excellence (COE) on Brain Aging at NYU Langone Medical Center has established a specialty center for the diagnosis and treatment of Lewy Body Disease, a multi-system disease involving disturbances of cognition, behavior, sleep and autonomic function. Lewy Body Disease, or LBD, affects an estimated 1.3 million individuals in the United States and is widely misdiagnosed because LBD symptoms closely resemble those of other more commonly known diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

30 Sep 2010

ACT updates myoblast program for heart failure treatment

Advanced Cell Technology, a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, provided an update today on the status of its myoblast program. The program has successfully and safely completed Phase I human clinical trials in more than forty patients in over four independent studies.

30 Sep 2010

Firefly stem cells may help doctors to heal damaged hearts: Research

Stem cells that glow like fireflies could someday help doctors heal damaged hearts without cutting into patients' chests.In his University of Central Florida lab, Steven Ebert engineered stem cells with the same enzyme that makes fireflies glow. The "firefly" stem cells glow brighter and brighter as they develop into healthy heart muscle, allowing doctors to track whether and where the stem cells are working.

29 Sep 2010

Optogenetics helps to restore optimal movement in people with physical disabilities

Researchers at Stanford University were able to use light to induce normal patterns of muscle contraction, in a study involving bioengineered mice whose nerve-cell surfaces are coated with special light-sensitive proteins.

28 Sep 2010

Scientists identify gene associated with common migraines

An international study led by scientists at Universit- de Montr-al and University of Oxford, has identified a gene associated with common migraines. Their findings show that a mutation in the KCNK18 gene inhibits the function of a protein called TRESK. TRESK normally plays a key role in nerve cell communication. Published today in Nature Medicine, this study may have implications for people who suffer from recurrent headaches, which include more than six million Canadians.

28 Sep 2010

Breast cancer survivors with functional limitations more likely to die of poorer health: Study

Basic physical limitations following breast cancer treatment can have far-reaching consequences that substantially affect how long a patient lives.

27 Sep 2010

Enobia announces positive results from ENB-0040 Phase II juvenile clinical trial for hypophosphatasia

Enobia Pharma today announced positive results for its Phase II juvenile clinical trial of ENB-0040 (asfotase alfa), an experimental bone-targeted enzyme replacement therapy intended for the treatment of hypophosphatasia (HPP). Hypophosphatasia is a rare, inherited, and sometimes fatal metabolic bone disease that affects individuals of all ages.

24 Sep 2010

Six Chicago high school students win CAP's 2010 'Path to a Future in Medicine' award

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) awarded six Chicago high school students the College's 2010 "Path to a Future in Medicine" award.

24 Sep 2010

Scientists uncover alternative source for damage associated with MS

Scientists have uncovered an alternative source for some of the damage associated with multiple sclerosis, an incurable neuroinflammatory disorder. The research, published online by Cell Press on September 23rd in the journal Immunity, reveals a direct interaction between immune cells and neurons that plays a significant role in neuronal injury and may respond to therapeutic intervention.

24 Sep 2010

Scientists discover molecular playbook to block cardiac hypertrophy

Like a well-crafted football play designed to block the opposing team's offensive drive to the end zone, the body constantly executes complex 'plays' or sequences of events to initiate, or block, different actions or functions.

24 Sep 2010

FDA designates AMT-080 gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT) Holding N.V. a leader in the field of human gene therapy, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated AMT-080, a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) as an orphan drug.

24 Sep 2010

Immune-mediated disturbances of neurons contribute to MS: Research

Researchers in Germany have gained new insight into how the immune system causes damage associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable neuroinflammatory disorder.

24 Sep 2010

Study finds adverse cardiac events rare during year after negative cardiac CTA scan

Adverse cardiac events are rare one year after patients are admitted to the emergency room with low-to-moderate risk chest pain and are discharged due to a negative cardiac computed tomography angiogram (CTA), according to a study in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. Cardiac CTA is a noninvasive heart-imaging test that determines whether fatty deposits or calcium deposits have built up in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle.

23 Sep 2010

New study signals hope for treatment of rare neurodegenerative disease

A new study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists signals hope for treatment of a neurodegenerative disease and a new model for understanding the mechanism at work in other more common neurodegenerative disorders.

23 Sep 2010

Paper calls for revision of STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy

The European Society of Cardiology welcomes a paper published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology highlighting concerns over the use of oxygen therapy during MI in patients with normal oxygen levels. The publication adds to calls for revision of the STEMI guidelines around oxygen therapy and for a prospective, large scale randomised trials, issues that were both first raised in a Cochrane Review published in June.

22 Sep 2010

Communication breakdown exists between people with chronic pain, health care providers: Survey

Conversations with health care providers can be challenging at times for all patients, but a new survey commissioned by HealthyWomen and conducted by Synovate Healthcare in July of 2010 reveals a concerning communications breakdown between people with chronic pain and their health care providers. More than one-third of chronic pain sufferers (36%) have simply learned to live with their often debilitating pain and may be reluctant to speak with a health care provider about their condition, according to a survey of women and men with chronic pain released today.

22 Sep 2010

Protein zyxin necessary for maintenance and repair of cell's cytoskeleton

Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered that a protein, zyxin, is necessary for the maintenance and repair of the cell's cytoskeleton, or internal framework, which serves as the muscle and bone of the cell. The research has implications for cancer, as well as other diseases, since alterations in the cytoskeleton are often associated with disease. The research was published in the Sep. 14, 2010, issue of the journal Developmental Cell.

22 Sep 2010

FDA guides Apricus Bio on RayVa's approvability for Raynaud's syndrome secondary to scleroderma

Apricus Biosciences, backed by a revenue-generating CRO business and seeking to leverage its multi-route NexACT® drug delivery technology and internal pipeline through out-licensing partnerships, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided guidance on the clinical requirements for assessing the approvability of RayVa for the treatment of Raynaud's syndrome secondary to scleroderma.

22 Sep 2010