Potassium News and Research

RSS

Gene for sporadic paralysis of childhood discovered

Researchers have identified de novo mutations in the ATP1A3 gene that they believe are responsible for a sporadic childhood paralysis known as alternating hemiplegia of childhood.

30 Jul 2012

Study extends scientific understanding of how pheromones activate the vomeronasal organ

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is one of evolution's most direct enforcers. From its niche within the nose in most land-based vertebrates, it detects pheromones and triggers corresponding basic-instinct behaviors, from compulsive mating to male-on-male death matches. A new study from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, published online in Nature Neuroscience on July 29, 2012, extends the scientific understanding of how pheromones activate the VNO, and has implications for sensory transduction experiments in other fields.

30 Jul 2012

Researchers discover gene mutations in patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a very rare disorder that causes paralysis that freezes one side of the body and then the other in devastating bouts that arise at unpredictable intervals. Seizures, learning disabilities and difficulty walking are common among patients with this diagnosis.

30 Jul 2012

Diabetes cutoffs don’t quite cut it for South Asians

Individuals of South Asian origin may require closer monitoring for Type 2 diabetes, suggest researchers.

27 Jul 2012

FDA approves Horizon Pharma's RAYOS to treat key IL-6 mediated diseases

Horizon Pharma, Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved RAYOS (prednisone) delayed-release tablets (1 mg, 2 mg and 5 mg) to treat a broad range of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

26 Jul 2012

AAQ chemical temporarily restores vision in blind mice

A team of University of California, Berkeley, scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington in Seattle has discovered a chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice, and is working on an improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again.

26 Jul 2012

Eating raisins may provide the same workout boost as sports chews

New research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests that eating raisins may provide the same workout boost as sports chews.

24 Jul 2012

Once-daily Gralise significantly reduces pain intensity in PHN patients

Depomed, Inc. today announced that a report of Phase 3 data published online this month, ahead of the print edition, in the Clinical Journal of Pain showed that once-daily Gralise (gabapentin) tablets (1,800 mg) formulation significantly reduces intensity of pain in patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN).

23 Jul 2012

Scientists create synthetic pores that mimic activity of cellular ion channels

Inspired by nature, an international research team has created synthetic pores that mimic the activity of cellular ion channels, which play a vital role in human health by severely restricting the types of materials allowed to enter cells.

18 Jul 2012

Heart-protective protein finally found

It is a cellular component so scarce, some scientists even doubted its existence, and many others gave up searching for its molecular structure. Now a team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins has defined the protein structural composition of mitoKATP, a potassium channel in the mitochondria of the heart and other organs that is known to protect against tissue damage due to a heart attack or stroke.

18 Jul 2012

Researchers identify potassium channel as an autoantibody target in MS

For the first time, scientists in Germany's multiple sclerosis competence network have been able to identify an antibody that bonds with the potassium channel KIR4.1.

14 Jul 2012

Caution advised with succinylcholine in critically ill

The risk for hyperkalemia after succinylcholine use for urgent tracheal intubation increases the longer patients remain in the intensive care unit, research shows.

13 Jul 2012

Potassium channel KIR4.1 clue to multiple sclerosis

The potassium channel KIR4.1 is a potential immune target in certain patients with multiple sclerosis, report researchers in TheNew England Journal of Medicine.

12 Jul 2012

Protein AMPK protects sensory cells in the inner ear from permanent damage

If you're concerned about losing your hearing because of noise exposure (earbud deafness syndrome), a new discovery published online in the FASEB Journal offers some hope. That's because scientists from Germany and Canada show that the protein, AMPK, which protects cells during a lack of energy, also activates a channel protein in the cell membrane that allows potassium to leave the cell.

7 Jul 2012

First clinical trial to test cardiac drug regimen for DMD

The first landmark randomized clinical trial for a cardiac drug regimen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is testing whether earlier treatment can stop or slow down heart damage that usually kills people with the disease.

27 Jun 2012

Greater awareness of MH and consequences of ryanodine receptor gene mutations

From the MHAUS President's Blog by MHAUS President, Henry Rosenberg, MD. A few months ago, I received a call from the MH Hotline who connected me to an anesthesiologist and OR team who were desperately trying to manage a Malignant Hyperthermia crisis.

26 Jun 2012

Depomed acquires all rights to Zipsor from Xanodyne

Depomed, Inc. today announced that it has acquired all rights to Zipsor (diclofenac potassium) Liquid Filled Capsules from Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Zipsor is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) indicated for relief of mild to moderate acute pain in adults.

22 Jun 2012

Acorda commences AMPYRA clinical study for post-stoke deficits

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in a proof-of-concept study exploring the use of AMPYRA(dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg in treating patients who have post-stroke deficits.

13 Jun 2012

Risk score may aid emergency heart failure decisions

A novel risk score may help physicians decide whether to admit or discharge patients who present to the emergency department with an acute episode of heart failure, say its developers.

12 Jun 2012

Results from Janssen's ZYTIGA plus prednisone Phase 3 study on mCRPC

Results observed from pre-specified interim analyses of the randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study, COU-AA-302, demonstrated that patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with abiraterone acetate (ZYTIGA) plus prednisone showed a statistically significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS) and all secondary endpoints compared to patients treated with placebo plus prednisone.

4 Jun 2012