Neurodegenerative Disorder News and Research

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Glutathione peroxidase activity protects against symptoms of Huntington's disease

Leicester geneticists have discovered a potential defence against Huntington's disease - a fatal neurodegenerative disorder which currently has no cure.

26 Aug 2013

Study finds no evidence that retired NFL players suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy

The media have widely reported that retired NFL players are at risk for a neurodegenerative disorder called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which causes symptoms such as aggression, depression, suicidality and progressive dementia.

8 Aug 2013

Study identifies new therapeutic targets for Huntington's disease

A scientific study describes that GluN3A subunits of NMDA receptors that interact with glutamate —the main exciting neurotransmitter in the nervous system— are therapeutic targets against Huntington's disease.

16 Jul 2013

FDA grants fast track designation to Genervon Biopharmaceuticals for ALS drug GM604

In a huge victory for ALS sufferers, FDA granted Genervon Biopharmaceuticals a fast track designation for its first in class highly effective multi-target master regulator biotechnology drug GM604 for ALS. FDA said it met the necessary criteria.

27 Jun 2013

Vercise DBS System shows improvement in motor scores for patients with Parkinson's disease

Patients with Parkinson's disease using the Boston Scientific Corporation Vercise DBS (deep brain stimulation) System showed a significant improvement in motor scores according to interim data from the VANTAGE DBS study.

18 Jun 2013

Slowdowns in transport of important molecules may contribute to development of ALS

Slowdowns in the transport and delivery of nutrients, proteins and signaling molecules within nerve cells may contribute to the development of the neurodegenerative disorder ALS, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

13 Jun 2013

Scientists find that mice develop age-related progressive motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease

The presence of Lewy bodies in nerve cells, formed by intracellular deposits of the protein α-synuclein, is a characteristic pathologic feature of Parkinson's Disease (PD). In the quest for an animal model of PD that mimics motor and non-motor symptoms of human PD, scientists have developed strains of mice that overexpress α-synuclein.

10 Jun 2013

Study: GLT1 protein plays a critical role in cocaine craving

A new study conducted by a team of Indiana University neuroscientists demonstrates that GLT1, a protein that clears glutamate from the brain, plays a critical role in the craving for cocaine that develops after only several days of cocaine use.

3 Jun 2013

New animal model provides insight into early stages of Parkinson's disease

At the present, no cure exists for Parkinson's disease, although symptomatic intervention, including treatment with dopamine agonists, can alleviate patients' motor impairment. Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, after Alzheimer's disease; it is estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 patients are affected by Parkinson's disease in Germany alone.

28 May 2013

Junk DNA plays important role in brain development

Specific DNA once dismissed as junk plays an important role in brain development and might be involved in several devastating neurological diseases, UC San Francisco scientists have found.

16 Apr 2013

TSRI scientists shed light on major toxic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have shed light on one of the major toxic mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease. The discoveries could lead to a much better understanding of the Alzheimer's process and how to prevent it.

11 Apr 2013

Continuous dyskinesia monitoring technology for Parkinson’s to be developed by Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies

Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies (GLNT) announced today that they are launching commercialization and clinical studies to validate a system for objective, continuous monitoring of dyskinesias associated with Parkinson’s disease.

5 Mar 2013

TP PCR methodology may help streamline genetic testing for Huntington's

A new test may help to streamline genetic testing for Huntington Disease (HD) by generating accurate results, avoiding unnecessary additional testing, and improving turnaround time.

14 Feb 2013

Researchers identify and test first blood-based circulating miRNA biomarkers for Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological condition. At present, it is usually diagnosed only when motor features are present. Hence, there is a need to develop objective and measurable biomarkers to improve PD diagnostics during its earlier stage, prior to its motor onset. In this pilot study, researchers identified and tested the first blood-based circulating microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers for PD.

21 Jan 2013

Study demonstrates effects of obesity on 'Taupathies'

In France, more than 860,000 people suffer from Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, making them the largest cause of age-related loss of intellectual function. Cognitive impairments observed in Alzheimer's disease result from the accumulation of abnormal tau proteins in nerve cells undergoing degeneration . We know that obesity, a major risk factor in the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, increases the risk of dementia during the aging process.

9 Jan 2013

Link between Parkinson's and benomyl

For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram - common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere - have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles.

6 Jan 2013

AAV-based gene therapy cocktail may help extend lives of children with Canavan disease

Results of a clinical trial that began in 2001 show that a gene therapy cocktail conveyed into the brain by a molecular special delivery vehicle may help extend the lives of children with Canavan disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder.

20 Dec 2012

Lou Gehrig's disease may be treatable using neural stem cells

Promising new research provides evidence that ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, may be treatable using neural stem cells.

20 Dec 2012

Investigators describe process by which apoE4 protein promotes development of Alzheimer's

Despite researchers' best efforts, no drug exists that can slow, halt or reverse the onslaught of Alzheimer's disease. A progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer's has stolen the memories and livelihoods of millions-leaving patients and their families struggling to cope with the disease's devastating consequences. But today, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes propose a new research avenue that has the potential to change all that.

6 Dec 2012

First U.S. patient treated with deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer's at Johns Hopkins

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson's disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline.