Neuromuscular Disease News and Research

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ACGME approves Cedars-Sinai's neurology residency training program

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has approved a neurology residency training program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Recruitment of the first group of three residents is under way through the 2012 "match," a process in which an independent organization pairs applicants with programs to meet the preferences of each.

30 Nov 2011

Health supplement hope for child muscle disease

A health supplement used by bodybuilders could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting hundreds of Australian children, new research shows.

14 Nov 2011

Cancer cells maintain rapid proliferation due to PK-M2 enzyme

Cancer cells maintain their life-style of extremely rapid growth and proliferation thanks to an enzyme called PK-M2 (pyruvate kinase M2) that alters the cells' ability to metabolize glucose - a phenomenon known as the Warburg effect.

3 Nov 2011

People with Parkinson's can benefit from computer-based physical therapy games

Playing computer-based physical therapy games can help people with Parkinson's disease improve their gait and balance, according to a new pilot study led by the UCSF School of Nursing and Red Hill Studios, a California serious games developer.

20 Oct 2011

FARA announces 2011 Ataxian Athlete Initiative grant recipients

The Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA), in partnership with The FA Project, Catrike, Anna Maria Oyster Bar, and The Melting Pot are pleased to announce Bill Ramsey, Tom Trovinger, Mary Vida, and Patrick Cogan as the 2011 Ataxian Athlete Initiative (AAI) grant recipients.

10 Oct 2011

FDA approves NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System to treat ALS

An electronic system that stimulates the nerve of the diaphragm muscles has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

30 Sep 2011

Researchers identify common genetic mutation for ALS, frontotemporal dementia

Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct but sometimes overlapping symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene.

22 Sep 2011

Researchers’ discovery may revolutionize treatment of Lou Gehrig’s disease

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have found a key link between prions and the neurodegenerative disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery is significant as it opens the door to novel approaches to the treatment of ALS.

20 Sep 2011

Encouraging results from Alexion's eculizumab Phase 2 study on generalized myasthenia gravis

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Company's study of eculizumab in a small group of 14 patients with severe and refractory generalized myasthenia gravis, an ultra-rare and debilitating form of generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), showed a strong disease improvement signal.

15 Sep 2011

Walgreens, MDA team up to offer free seasonal flu shots

Nobody likes to get stuck with a needle. But influenza - the flu - is particularly hazardous for those with neuromuscular disease, which is why the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Walgreens have teamed up once again to offer free seasonal flu shots now underway for people who have muscular dystrophy and related diseases.

14 Sep 2011

WSU researcher receives $418,000 NINDS grant to study spinal muscular atrophy

Graham Parker, Ph.D., assistant professor of research in the Department of Pediatrics at Wayne State University's School of Medicine, was awarded $418,000 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health to study how a particular gene might be involved in the progression of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - the number one genetic killer of children younger than 2 years old.

12 Sep 2011

NIH/NINDS awards AMRI to develop pre-clinical drug candidate for spinal muscular atrophy

AMRI today announced it received a federal contract award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to provide chemistry and other drug discovery technologies in support of NINDS' Medicinal Chemistry for Neurotherapeutics Program (MCNP), part of the NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network.

19 Aug 2011

New application for understanding peripheral nervous system

With a new application developed by a U-M neurologist, better understanding of the anatomy of the peripheral nervous system can be found right on your iPhone.

13 Jul 2011

Yissum, BioLineRx sign license deal to develop and commercialize BL-7040 for IBD

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical drug development company, and Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., the Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced today that they have signed a worldwide, exclusive license agreement for BioLineRx to develop and commercialize BL-7040, an orally available Phase II ready molecule for treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases.

27 Jun 2011

U.S. FDA approves generic Levaquin for treatment of bacterial infections

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic versions of Levaquin, an antibiotic approved to treat certain infections in people ages 18 and older.

21 Jun 2011

Repligen receives approval from FDA to commence RG3039 Phase 1 trial in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Repligen Corporation announced today that it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial of RG3039, a potential treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

19 May 2011

Neuralstem to present HSSC Phase I trial data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at AAN meeting

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the Phase I safety trial of its human spinal cord stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the subject of three presentations at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, April 9-16th, in Honolulu, HI.

7 Apr 2011

Enzo Life Sciences introduces ELISA system to detect SMN protein

Enzo Biochem, Inc. and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation today announced that Enzo's wholly owned subsidiary, Enzo Life Sciences Inc., has launched a unique immunoassay system which can be used for the identification and detection of Survival Motor Neuron protein.

16 Mar 2011

Hospital for Special Care announces opening of comprehensive heart failure in-patient unit in Connecticut

Hospital for Special Care (HSC), one of the nation's largest long-term acute-care hospitals, announces the opening of the first comprehensive heart failure in-patient unit in Connecticut, under the direction of board-certified intensivists and cardiologists.

15 Feb 2011

MDA grants $13.5 million to support new research treatments for neuromuscular diseases

The Muscular Dystrophy Association today awarded 44 grants totaling $13.5 million to support new research to advance understanding of disease processes and to uncover new strategies for treating muscular dystrophies, ALS and other related neuromuscular diseases affecting more than a million Americans.

9 Feb 2011