Nerve News and Research

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Poor information on diet, but exercise seems good for adult type 2 diabetes

There are no high quality data to assess how well dietary treatments for type 2 diabetes work in people who have just been told they have the disease, but there is evidence that taking on exercise seems to be one way of improving blood sugar levels, according to the findings of a Cochrane Systematic Review.

18 Jul 2007

New technique restores the smile to faces of those with facial paralysis

Surgeons in the United States have used a new procedure to partially restore the muscle movement in the faces of patients with severe long-term facial paralysis.

17 Jul 2007

Taste loss after tonsillectomy unusual

In a small study of patients undergoing tonsillectomy, or removal of the tonsils, none reported an ongoing dysfunction in their sense of taste following the procedure, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology?Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 Jul 2007

Analysis of diabetes drugs

Most oral medications prescribed for type 2 diabetes are similarly effective for reducing blood glucose, but the drug metformin is less likely to cause weight gain and may be more likely than other treatments to decrease so-called bad cholesterol, according to a report funded by HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

17 Jul 2007

FDA approves Demipulse and Demipulse Duo Generators for use in vagus nerve stimulation

Cyberonics, Inc. has announced that the Demipulse and Demipulse Duo Generators for use in Vagus Nerve Stimulation ("VNS") Therapy were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for commercial release.

17 Jul 2007

FDA approves gene test to detect spread of breast cancer into lymph nodes

Veridex, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, has announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the first intra-operative and gene-based test to detect the spread of breast cancer into the lymph nodes.

17 Jul 2007

Novel type of communication between nerve cells in the brain discovered

The findings may have relevance for the prevention and treatment of epilepsy, and possibly in the exploration of other aspects of brain functions, from creative thought processes to mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

17 Jul 2007

Real-time 3-D ultrasound in nerve blockade speeds patient recovery

Mayo Clinic physicians have adapted real-time 3-D ultrasound imaging devices -- including one designed to look at an infant's heart -- so that they can watch as they use a needle filled with anesthetic to numb individual nerves located inches under the skin.

16 Jul 2007

Children with Tourette's better at mental grammar skills

Children with Tourette's syndrome may have to put up with some unwanted movement and verbal tics, but neuroscientists at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that they are much quicker at processing certain mental grammar skills than are children without the disorder.

16 Jul 2007

New target for muscular dystrophy drug therapy

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report how the gene for utrophin, which codes for a protein very similar to dystrophin, the defective protein in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), puts the brakes on its own expression in muscle cells, thereby suggesting a new target for treatment.

13 Jul 2007

Scientists discover human genes hover between "on"and "off" in any given cell

Biologists have long thought that a simple on/off switch controls most genes in human cells.

13 Jul 2007

Neural stem cells for Parkinson's disease

A University of South Florida neuroscientist reports that the cutting-edge research study of human stem cells in primates with Parkinson's disease is compelling on several fronts , particularly how the transplanted cells did their job of easing disease symptoms.

11 Jul 2007

IgG, an immune system antibody significantly higher in spinal fluid of blacks with MS

An antibody frequently used as a diagnostic marker for multiple sclerosis (MS) is present at greater levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of blacks with MS than Caucasians with the disease.

4 Jul 2007

Hearing loss and von Hippel-Lindau disease

Patients with the genetic disorder von Hippel-Lindau disease may suddenly experience hearing loss because of a tumor-associated hemorrhage in the inner ear, according to a study in the July 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jul 2007

Fibrinogen protein may inhibit spinal cord regeneration

Fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein found in circulating blood, has been found to inhibit the growth of central nervous system neuronal cells, a process that is necessary for the regeneration of the spinal cord after traumatic injury.

4 Jul 2007

$2.5 million for study on how insecticides affect human health

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has awarded Cornell insecticide toxicologist David Soderlund two grants, providing more than $2.5 million over five years, to study how insecticides affect human health.

4 Jul 2007

Surgery more effective than other treatments for common back problem

When it comes to low back pain, physicians generally advise exhausting nonsurgical options before resorting to surgery.

29 Jun 2007

Inhaled insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes

Inhaled insulin, taken before meals, can improve blood glucose control for people with type 2 diabetes who have not had good results with short-acting injected insulin that is taken in addition to the baseline insulin administered throughout the day and night, according to a new review of the body of published research.

29 Jun 2007

CARS microscopy reveals clues to myelin damage

Researchers have discovered that calcium ions could play a crucial role in multiple sclerosis by activating enzymes that degrade the fatty sheath that insulates nerve fibers.

28 Jun 2007

Scientists discover a new line of communication between nervous system cells

In a host of neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and several neuropathies, the protective covering surrounding the nerves - an insulating material called myelin - is damaged.

27 Jun 2007