Nerve News and Research

RSS

Botox decreases pain and intensity of spasticity following a stroke

Final results from a multi-center study shows that repeated treatments of botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA or Botox?) over one year is well tolerated and results in a significant decrease in spasticity, pain frequency and average pain intensity in upper limbs following stroke, according to research from a neurologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

4 May 2007

Scientists discover molecular mechanism that keeps HSV-1 activation restricted to a single gene for months or even years

By adulthood, most people have suffered at least one bout of painful cold sores brought on by the Herpes simplex virus 1, also known as HSV-1.

4 May 2007

Statin drugs also may help reduce risk of heart failure

Statin drugs, known primarily for their ability to lower cholesterol, also may reduce the overactive sympathetic nervous system response that contributes to the worsening of heart failure and increases the risk of sudden cardiac death, two University of Missouri-Columbia researchers have found. Heart failure is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States.

2 May 2007

Higher calcium and vitamin D intake linked to brain lesions in seniors

Elderly men and women who consumed higher levels of calcium and vitamin D are significantly more likely to have greater volumes of brain lesions, regions of damage that can increase risk of cognitive impairment, dementia, depression and stroke.

2 May 2007

Ultra fast and ultra active: the strange life of the extraocular muscles

The eye, often called the window to the soul, may become a window to the mysteries of muscular dystrophy, a debilitating muscle disease that often leads to death in early adulthood.

2 May 2007

Migraine sufferers may have form of brain damage

Scientists in the U.S. are suggesting that people with migraines may also be suffering from some form of brain damage.

2 May 2007

Virtual reality device helps multiple sclerosis patients walk

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology scientists have created a virtual reality device that combines auditory and visual feedback to improve walking speed and stride length in patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease.

1 May 2007

New understanding of sleep

Sleep remains one of the big mysteries in biology. All animals sleep, and people who are deprived of sleep suffer physically, emotionally and intellectually. But nobody knows how sleep restores the brain.

1 May 2007

Smelling for first time results from knowing abnormalities in congenital loss of smell

New discoveries about the biochemical basis of the majority of cases of the congenital inability to smell any odor, no matter how strong, have enabled their discoverer, Dr. Robert I. Henkin, director of The Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington, DC, to treat such patients, enabling them to smell something for the first time in their lives.

1 May 2007

Discovery of backup stem cells that can repair damage to olfactory nerves

Hopkins researchers have identified a backup supply of stem cells that can repair the most severe damage to the nerves responsible for our sense of smell.

30 Apr 2007

Submission of NDA for Istradefylline(KW-6002), an investigational anti-Parkinson's disease drug

Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. has announced that Kyowa Pharmaceutical, Inc., its wholly owned U.S subsidiary, submitted on April 25, 2007 a new drug application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Istradefylline(KW-6002), its investigational drug for Parkinson's disease.

30 Apr 2007

Respiratory control in insects: integration from the gene to the organism

Because of new imaging technology, researchers are getting a better understanding of a physiological paradox: how insects, which have a respiratory system built to provide quick access to a lot of oxygen, can survive for days without it.

30 Apr 2007

Anti-dandruff compound may be a potential treatment for seizures

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the same ingredient used in dandruff shampoos to fight the burning, itching and flaking on your head also can calm overexcited nerve cells inside your head, making it a potential treatment for seizures.

30 Apr 2007

Headaches may act like tiny transient strokes

Migraines may be doing more than causing people skull-splitting pain. Scientists have found evidence that the headaches may also be acting like tiny transient strokes, leaving parts of the brain starved for oxygen and altering the brain in significant ways.

30 Apr 2007

Keeping the mind busy and occupied restores memories lost to dementia

Scientists in the U.S. believe that mental stimulation along with drug therapy may help people with diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia regain some of their lost memories.

30 Apr 2007

Scientists identify key mechanism for successfully transplanting tissue into the adult central nervous system

Scientists at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have identified a key mechanism for successfully transplanting tissue into the adult central nervous system.

27 Apr 2007

Sangamo BioSciences starts phase 2 trial of therapy diabetic neuropathy

Sangamo BioSciences has announced that the company has initiated a repeat-dosing, multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial of SB-509 in subjects with moderate to severe diabetic peripheral sensory motor neuropathy (DN).

27 Apr 2007

New prosthetic limbs allow for eight degrees of freedom

An international team led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., has developed a prototype of the first fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally and provide sensory feedback, and allows for eight degrees of Freedom -- a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs.

27 Apr 2007

Disease associated prion protein oligomers inhibit the 26S proteasome

The rogue prion proteins responsible for diseases like BSE and vCJD can destroy brain cells by blocking the protein recycling process that helps keep cells healthy.

27 Apr 2007

Drugs that adjust dopamine levels in the brain greatly affect how people react to success and failure

In a first-of-its-kind study on humans, researchers measured how dopamine-related drugs affect the striatum, a part of the brain that is stimulated by rewards.

27 Apr 2007