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Personalized medicine will alter treatment of genetic disorders

One of the nation's pre-eminent genetic researchers, Eric Hoffman, PhD, of Children's Research Institute at Children's National Medical Center, predicts that in relatively short order, medicine's next innovation--individualized molecular therapies--will have the unprecedented ability to treat muscular dystrophies, and other disorders.

28 Dec 2007

Mutations in a protein called dynein may cause inherited neuropathy

Mutations in a protein called dynein, required for the proper functioning of sensory nerve cells, can cause defects in mice that may provide crucial clues leading to better treatments for a human nerve disorder known as peripheral neuropathy, which affects about three percent of all those over age 60.

28 Dec 2007

Researchers prevent muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis - a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder - can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found.

20 Dec 2007

Tweaking a gene may fix Fragile X syndrome

According to new research clues to Fragile X syndrome may be connected to one single human gene.

20 Dec 2007

Chronic fatigue syndrome - new research may help diagnosis

One of the most difficult things for people suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is that many believe the condition to be a psychological, not physical affliction.

20 Dec 2007

Discovery of molecular signal that helps muscle regenerate and protects it from atrophy

It does not take much to injure a muscle. Sometimes one sudden, inconsiderate movement does the job.

20 Dec 2007

Woman mauled by dog loses one arm but surgeons save the other

A woman's life and her arm have been saved by surgeons following a vicious mauling by a rottweiler.

19 Dec 2007

Addition of antibiotics to MS therapy could slow down progression of the disease

Researchers from Louisiana State University in the U.S. are suggesting that the addition of antibiotics to standard drug therapy for multiple sclerosis, may slow down the progress of the disease.

19 Dec 2007

Surprising findings related to myotonic muscular dystrophy and heart protein

New research from the University of Virginia Health System shows that, in cases of Type 1 myotonic muscular dystrophy (DM1), a well known heart protein does several surprising things.

18 Dec 2007

New findings on myotonic muscular dystrophy

New research from the University of Virginia Health System shows that, in cases of Type 1 myotonic muscular dystrophy (DM1), a well known heart protein does several surprising things. DM1 is the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults and affects approximately 40,000 adults and children in the U.S.

18 Dec 2007

Pain treatment in the field: Good for soldiers' comfort and better for rebuilding troop strength

Noncombat-related acute and recurrent chronic pain are the leading causes of soldier attrition in modern war, with the return-to-duty rate as low as 2 percent when these soldiers are treated outside the theaters of operation.

18 Dec 2007

Overexcited neurons not good for cell health

Neurotransmitters have consequences. They initiate events that are critical to a healthy life, giving us the ability to move, to talk, to breathe, to think. But that's if the neurotransmitters are getting it right and sending proper signals downstream to muscle cells, neurons or other cells.

18 Dec 2007

New mechanical insights into wound healing and scar tissue formation

New research published today in the Journal of Cell Biology illuminates the mechanical factors that play a critical role in the differentiation and function of fibroblasts, connective tissue cells that play a role in wound healing and scar tissue formation.

18 Dec 2007

Combining medications often best strategy to battle rheumatoid arthritis

For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, combining one well-known, lower cost synthetic drug with one of six biologic medications often works best to reduce joint swelling or tenderness, according to a new report funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

18 Dec 2007

Genetic cause of Kawasaki disease

Researchers from Japan's RIKEN SNP Research Center, collaborating with a team at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have discovered a new genetic variation that affects a child's risk of getting Kawasaki disease (KD), an illness characterized by acute inflammation of the arteries throughout the body.

17 Dec 2007

How molecular muscles help cells divide

Time-lapse videos and computer simulations provide the first concrete molecular explanation of how a cell flexes tiny muscle-like structures to pinch itself into two daughter cells at the end of each cell division, according to a report in Science Express.

17 Dec 2007

Sunitinib may be associated with cardiac toxicity

Another FDA-approved targeted cancer drug, sunitinib (SutentTM, Pfizer), may be associated with cardiac toxicity, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston), and Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia).

17 Dec 2007

Scientists overcome obstacles to stem cell heart repair

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) at Imperial College London have overcome two significant obstacles on the road to harnessing stem cells to build patches for damaged hearts.

14 Dec 2007

Message to the elderly: It's not too late to improve your health through diet and exercise

A new study by a NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center physician-scientist has an important message for the elderly: It's not too late to improve your health through diet and exercise, even if you've had an unhealthy lifestyle in the past!

14 Dec 2007

Reprogrammed human adult stem cells rescue diseased muscle in mice

Scientists report that adult stem cells isolated from humans with muscular dystrophy can be genetically corrected and used to induce functional improvement when transplanted into a mouse model of the disease.

13 Dec 2007