Down’s Syndrome News and Research

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Longer looks: Treating Down syndrome?; mentally ill, meds & trials

Politicians want to lower spending, or at least they say they do. But in all the to-and-fro over raising the debt ceiling, little sensible has been said about lowering spending in the long term. Nothing illuminates this more clearly than health care.

5 Aug 2011

Memantine drug could boost cognitive function in people with Down syndrome

A University of Colorado School of Medicine scientist is completing a major clinical trial on a drug that could boost cognitive function in those with Down syndrome, significantly improving their quality of life and representing a potential milestone in research on this genetic condition.

3 Aug 2011

Carcinogenesis is just another form of speciation, proposes new theory

Cancer patients may view their tumors as parasites taking over their bodies, but this is more than a metaphor for Peter Duesberg, a molecular and cell biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

27 Jul 2011

Illumina, Sequenom sign three-year supply agreement

Sequenom, Inc., a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today announced it has signed a three-year supply agreement with Illumina, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of life sciences tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function.

From Illumina, Inc. 11 Jul 2011

New strategy may combat age-associated infertility and birth defects

A strategy that has been shown to reduce age-related health problems in several animal studies may also combat a major cause of age-associated infertility and birth defects.

8 Jul 2011

Cumulus cells can provide information about genetic and chromosomal status of eggs

At present, when a woman undergoes preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in a fertility clinic, doctors are trying to select an egg or an embryo that is healthy and doesn't have a chromosome abnormality such as an extra copy of chromosome 21, which causes Down's syndrome. In order to establish this, they either have to biopsy a part of the egg called the polar body or remove a cell from the embryo for screening. Both procedures are expensive, invasive and can damage the egg or embryo.

6 Jul 2011

New insight into oocyte chromosome abnormalities

Ovarian stimulation undertaken by women of advanced maternal age receiving fertility treatment may be disrupting the normal pattern of meiosis - a critical process of chromosome duplication followed by two specialised cell divisions in the production of oocytes and sperm - and leading to abnormalities of chromosome copy numbers that result in IVF failure, pregnancy loss or, more rarely, the birth of affected children with conditions such as Down's syndrome, which is caused by the inheritance of three copies of chromosome 21.

4 Jul 2011

Gene overexpression linked with Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome

Chronic stress has long been linked with neurodegeneration. Scientists at USC now think they may know why.

29 Jun 2011

Start of clinical validation study of Down’s syndrome diagnostic test

In conjunction with several Central European prenatal centers, scientists at GATC Biotech AG and LifeCodexx AG have begun the clinical validation study of a non-invasive, prenatal diagnostic test based on next generation sequencing.

28 Jun 2011

Study links cysteine with obesity-related diseases

People with high levels of the amino acid cysteine carry 6-10 kilograms more fat than other people. Norwegian researchers studying this phenomenon are generating knowledge which could help to prevent and treat life-threatening obesity.

15 Jun 2011

Investigation finds 'disarray' in institutions for housing developmentally disabled

O. D. Heck is one of nine large institutions in New York that house the developmentally disabled, those with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and other conditions.

6 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 6, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "Short on cash and time, officials in California and at least a dozen other states have turned to philanthropies to help pay for the extra work required under the federal health law".

6 Jun 2011

Researchers devise new genetic technique for IVF embryos

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have devised a new technique, which helps couples that are affected by or are carriers of genetic diseases have in vitro fertilized babies free of both the disease in question and other chromosomal abnormalities. The results were reported in the April issue of Fertility and Sterility.

24 May 2011

New genetic testing technology for IVG embryos

23 May 2011

Rally Foundation distributes $700,000 nationwide to support childhood cancer research

Rally Foundation, a national non-profit organization committed to research to fight childhood cancer, has announced its annual funding allocation for 2011 and has selected 15 hospitals across the country to receive more than $700,000.

19 May 2011

Study to examine population rates of ED use for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities

In the first North American study to examine population rates of Emergency Department (ED) use for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found 55 per cent of adults with IDD and mental illness visited the ED at least once in a 2 year period and 15.6 per cent visited at least 5 times.

16 May 2011

Viewpoints: Snappy headlines, prose on Romney and Medicare dominate Today's opinions and editorials

The first question he got from the audience after his speech Thursday was the right one: What's to prevent states from a "race to the bottom," where they cut their costs by slashing spending on health care? Romney had no good answer beyond a vague assertion that Americans are a "generous people" who would not deny health coverage to their fellow citizens.

16 May 2011

Marianjoy Medical Library launches new website on developmental problems, chronic conditions

InformationConnections.org, the informative website for parents of children with developmental disabilities and chronic diseases, was recently launched by the Marianjoy Medical Library. The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region, provided a grant to create and manage the website.

5 May 2011

Beta amyloid may inhibit specific cell motors and contribute to memory loss

A protein associated with Alzheimer's disease clogs several motors of the cell transport machinery critical for normal cell division, leading to defective neurons that may contribute to the memory-robbing disease, University of South Florida researchers report.

3 May 2011

GSN receives NIH grant for non-invasive prenatal test trial in genetic abnormalities

Gene Security Network announced today that they have received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a clinical trial applying Parental Support technology for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.

28 Apr 2011