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Leaky blood vessels open up nerve cells to toxic assault In Lou Gehrig's disease

Leaky blood vessels that lose their ability to protect the spinal cord from toxins may play a role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to research published in the April issue of Nature Neuroscience.

7 Apr 2008

Minocycline antibiotic may prevent Japanese encephalitis

Two researchers from National Brain Research Center (NBRC) suggest that a common antibiotic called minocycline may prevent children from death due to Japanese encephalitis (JE), or commonly known as brain fever.

20 Feb 2008

Microscopic imaging technique reveals rapid formation of Alzheimer's-associated plaques

The amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients may form much more rapidly than previously expected.

7 Feb 2008

Targeting astrocytes slows progression of Lou Gehrig's disease

In what the researchers say could be promising news in the quest to find a therapy to slow the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have shown that targeting neuronal support cells called astrocytes sharply slows disease progression in mice.

4 Feb 2008

Fibrin may be new target for Alzheimer's drugs

Despite the rapid rise of Alzheimer's disease - the Alzheimer's Association predicts as many as 7.7 million cases by 2030 - there are no preventative treatments available, few in the pharmaceutical pipeline, and those drugs being developed all share the same two molecular targets.

15 Aug 2007

Chronic methamphetamine abuse linked to cardiovascular disease

The study is being published the week of June 25 in an advanced online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

26 Jun 2007

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against retinopathy

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids protect against the development and progression of retinopathy, a deterioration of the retina, in mice.

26 Jun 2007

Brain inflammation may actually be a friend for Alzheimer's patients

Inflammation in the brain may not be so bad after all when it comes to Alzheimer's disease.

3 Jun 2007

New direction for therapies to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers from The Ludwig Institute and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that when motor neurons damaged by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig?s disease, inappropriately send the wrong signal, immune cells react by killing the messenger.

24 Apr 2007

Stem cells decrease ischemic injury and restore brain function

This is the impressive result of a study carried out by a group of researchers coordinated by Dr. Maria Grazia De Simoni of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy in cooperation with the Istituto Neurologico Besta (Milan) and the University of Lausanne.

19 Apr 2007

Shutting down microglia

Developing brain tumors can coax assistance from nearby cells known as microglia, according to a new study from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers have identified one protein made by microglia that helps accelerate tumor growth and are looking for others.

15 Apr 2007

Developing brain tumors coax assistance from nearby cells

Developing brain tumors can coax assistance from nearby cells known as microglia, according to a new study from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

12 Apr 2007

Modified bone marrow cells help recovery in an animal model of multiple sclerosis

These findings will need to be repeated in further animal models before the implications for human disease are clear; however, they open up an avenue of further research.

10 Apr 2007

Brain's immune system plays protective role in early Alzheimer's disease

The immune system's response against amyloid-beta, the protein that forms plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, appears to protect the brain from damage in early stages of the devastating neurological disorder.

30 Mar 2007

Researchers discover how cyclophosphamide chemotherapy drug helps a cancer-killing virus

Researchers here have discovered how a specific chemotherapy drug helps a cancer-killing virus. The virus is being tested in animals for the treatment of incurable human brain tumors.

31 Aug 2006

Promising therapy for Lou Gehrig's disease delivers antisense drug directly to nervous system

Researchers have designed and tested a molecular therapy in animals that they hope will be a major development in the fight to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

27 Jul 2006

Active mind and body slows Alzheimer's progression

Researchers have uncovered the pathways behind the protection offered by environmental stimulation in Alzheimer's disease, further confirming that enhanced mental and physical activity slows neurological decline.

24 Jul 2006

Researchers find protein associated with brain cell death

Neuroscientists at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found evidence of which protein in the brain's immune cells triggers a cascade of reactions that produces unregulated free radical production that eventually leads to the neural cell death found in Alzheimer's disease.

19 Jul 2006

Neurons can produce Alzheimer's-linked apolipoprotein E

A question long debated among Alzheimer's disease researchers has been definitively answered by scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco.

10 May 2006

Compound found in marijuana may defend against diabetic retinopathy

A compound found in marijuana won't make you high but it may help keep your eyes healthy if you're a diabetic, researchers say.

1 Mar 2006