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Epilepsy common but variable in mitochondrial disease patients

Around a quarter of patients with mitochondrial diseases have seizures, but these do not appear to increase their risk of dying, report researchers.

27 Nov 2015

High-fat diet appears to prompt immune cells to start consuming connections between neurons

When a high-fat diet causes us to become obese, it also appears to prompt normally bustling immune cells in our brain to become sedentary and start consuming the connections between our neurons, scientists say.

24 Nov 2015

Vasovagal syncope may mask psychogenic symptoms

Psychogenic pseudosyncope may be going undetected in some patients because it coincides with vasovagal syncope, researchers report in Neurology.

20 Nov 2015

Use of azithromycin early reduces risk of recurrent, severe LRTI among young children

Among young children with histories of recurrent severe lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI), the use of azithromycin early during an apparent RTI compared with placebo significantly reduced the risk of experiencing progression to severe LRTI, according to a study in the November 17 issue of JAMA.

18 Nov 2015

UT Southwestern's Helen H. Hobbs named recipient of Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences

UT Southwestern Medical Center geneticist Dr. Helen H. Hobbs is the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

10 Nov 2015

Routine clinical features may aid BVFTD diagnostic accuracy

Researchers have identified clinical features that can help determine which patients assessed for behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia are most likely to actually have the condition.

30 Oct 2015

Study sheds light on mechanism of neuronal activity

Neurons communicate by passing electrical messages, known as action potentials, between each other. Each neuron has a highly specialized structural region, the axon initial segment (AIS), whose primary role is in the generation and sending of these messages.

30 Oct 2015

Mount Sinai researchers provide a glimpse of precision medicine in action

A new publication from scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers a glimpse of precision medicine in action, with a massive data analysis project that identified clinically and genetically distinct subtypes of patients with type 2 diabetes. This work not only points to the possibility for more tailored diagnosis and treatment of type 2 diabetes in the future, but also reveals a novel approach that can be applied to virtually any disease.

29 Oct 2015

Jumping genes: a marker for early cancer diagnosis? An interview with Dr Kazazian

In the genome of every human being, there are about 80-100 active LINE-1s that are capable of mobilizing by a copy and paste mechanism to a new location in the genome.

6 Oct 2015

AMO Pharma raises $25 million in private equity financing

AMO Pharma Limited, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focusing on debilitating diseases with limited or no treatment options, announced today that the company has raised $25 million in private equity financing from Woodford Investment Management.

30 Sep 2015

Risks of developing type 2 diabetes for South Asians begin immediately at birth

New research suggests that the risks of developing type 2 diabetes for South Asians - a group long known to suffer from substantially higher rates of both diabetes and heart disease—begins immediately at birth.

30 Sep 2015

Researchers develop methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation patterns in individual cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have developed a methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation over time in individual cells.

26 Sep 2015

Boehringer Ingelheim, BioMed X apply crowdsourcing approach to establish research team for identifying COPD treatment

Boehringer Ingelheim and BioMed X announced today that they have successfully applied a crowdsourcing approach to establish a research team of outstanding scientists from around the world with bright ideas, who will endeavor to identify new approaches for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

21 Sep 2015

New optimising ChIP sequencing library preparation guide

Chromatrap®, a business unit of Porvair Sciences, has produced an informative new guide entitled ‘Top 10 Tips for ChIP-seq Library Preparation'.

From Chromatrap® - Porvair Sciences Ltd 18 Sep 2015

Researchers identify protein that regulates neuron growth

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS), has identified a protein that regulates the growth of neurons by transporting key metabolic enzymes to the tips of neural cells.

18 Sep 2015

Researchers use new software tool to identify genetic overlaps between palmitoleic acid and Crohn's disease

Some research has suggested that omega-3 fatty acids, abundant in fish oils, can relieve inflammation in Crohn's disease. But a new study using software developed by Duke scientists hints that we should be paying closer attention to what the other omegas -- namely, omega-6 and omega-7 -- are doing to improve or worsen the disease.

16 Sep 2015

Genes that may mitigate smoking damage and cancer identified

Smoking has been shown to have drastic consequences for lifespan and disease progression, and it has been suggested that cigarette exposure may impact the risk of death and disease via its acceleration of the aging process. Not all smokers experience early mortality, however, and a small proportion manage to survive to extreme ages.

10 Sep 2015

Smoking may not always shorten life, cause cancer

10 Sep 2015

Fish oil diet modifies gut bacteria to boost health

Diets rich in fish oil versus diets rich in lard produce very different bacteria in the guts of mice, reports a study from Sahlgrenska Academy published in Cell Metabolism. The researchers transferred these microbes into other mice to see how they affected health. The results suggest that gut bacteria share some of the responsibility for the beneficial effects of fish oil and the harmful effects of lard.

29 Aug 2015

Isolated tauopathy ‘surprisingly common’ in AD dementia

A study shows that about a quarter of people with clinically diagnosed mild or moderate Alzheimer’s disease have only minimal β-amyloid deposition on autopsy.

27 Aug 2015