Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Latest Multiple Sclerosis News and Research

Rituximab linked to viral brain infection

The 57-year-old lawyer in New York had handily completed the New York Times' Saturday crossword puzzle - the hardest of the week - for years. But one Saturday morning, suddenly he couldn't retrieve the words to fill in the squares.

18 May 2009

Discovery of pathway that reactivate myelin repair

UMDNJ researchers have identified a key pathway that could lead to new therapies to repair nerve cells' protective coating stripped away as a result of autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). An article reporting their findings will appear in the May 13 online edition of the Journal of Neuroscience.

12 May 2009

Oxidation of potassium channel in cells linked to loss of neuronal function in aging

Researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School are one step closer to determining how human cells can be protected against the affects of age-related neurodegeneration including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

12 May 2009

Discovery of gene associated with narcolepsy

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene associated with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes disabling daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, and disturbed sleep at night. The gene has a known role in the immune system, which strongly suggests that autoimmunity, in which the immune system turns against the body's own tissues, plays an important role in the disorder.

3 May 2009

Researchers identify a molecular target for quinoline compounds

The full details about the molecules and mechanisms that underlie the development of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, remain to be discovered.

30 Apr 2009

URMC expert informs lupus patients on nutrition myths, realities

With May being Lupus Awareness Month, next week University of Rochester Medical Center rheumatologist Jennifer Anolik, M.D., Ph.D., will offer a free public talk that sheds light on how sensible eating and fitness habits can help patients better manage the disease.

30 Apr 2009

Glutamate identified as predictor of disease progression in multiple sclerosis

UCSF researchers have identified a correlation between higher levels of glutamate, which occurs naturally in the brain as a byproduct of metabolism, and greater disease burden in multiple sclerosis patients.

29 Apr 2009

Stem cells from adipose tissue offer hope for treatment of multiple sclerosis

A preliminary study on the use of stem cells obtained from a patient's own adipose tissue in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown promising results.

23 Apr 2009

Natural plant cannabinoids reduce multi-drug resistant infections

Cannabis Science, Inc., Dr. Robert Melamede, PhD., Director and Chief Science Officer, reported to the Board on the current state of research into the use of natural plant cannabinoids to reduce the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA), and the prospects for development of topical whole-cannabis treatments.

23 Apr 2009

Novel microparticle-based immune response modifier shows broad effects against recurrent or metastatic cancer

MIS416, a novel microparticle-based immune response modifier, demonstrated the ability to significantly reduce the number and size of metastatic tumors in preclinical mouse models of lung and breast cancers, Innate Therapeutics (formerly Virionyx Corporation) announced.

22 Apr 2009

Discovery of 12 proteins associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis

A group of 12 proteins associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) have been discovered for the first time by a team of neurology and pathology researchers at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

22 Apr 2009

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with inflammation in healthy women

According to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 75 percent of Americans do not get enough Vitamin D.

9 Apr 2009

FDA warns 14 pharmaceutical companies about short internet ads lacking risk information

FDA has warned 14 major pharmaceutical firms about brief Internet advertisements that could have misled patients because they did not include information about health risks related to the drugs, according to letters posted to the agency's Web site Friday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

6 Apr 2009

New insights into how brain responds to viral infection

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered that astrocytes, supportive cells in the brain that are not derived from an immune cell lineage, respond to a molecule that mimics a viral infection using cellular machinery similar to that used by classical immune cells in the blood.

1 Apr 2009

Multiple sclerosis associated with lower cancer risk overall

A new study shows that people with multiple sclerosis may be at a lower risk for cancer overall, but at a higher risk of developing certain types of cancer, such as brain tumors and bladder cancer.

30 Mar 2009

Senate measure would allow generic versions of biotechnology drugs after five years

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Thursday introduced legislation (S 726) that would allow FDA to approve generic versions of biotechnology drugs after a five-year period of brand-name patent exclusivity, the New York Times reports.

30 Mar 2009

Medgenics’ phase I/II clinical trial shows EPODURE continuous anemia treatment lasting 5 months in kidney disease patients

Medgenics has announced that the latest, encouraging results of the Company's ongoing EPODURE Biopump Phase I/II Clinical Trial were presented at the 45th Conference of the Israeli Society of Nephrology and Hypertension, in Israel on March 27, 2009.

29 Mar 2009

Spinal taps carry higher risks for infants and elderly, study shows

An X-ray-guided spinal tap procedure fails more than half of the time in young infants and should be used sparingly, if at all, for those patients, according to a new study done by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

19 Mar 2009

Intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain's axons

They say a picture tells a thousand stories, but can it also tell how smart you are? Actually, say UCLA researchers, it can.

17 Mar 2009

Dendritic cells ensure immune tolerance

One of the most important tasks of the immune system is to identify what is foreign and what is self. If this distinction fails, then the body's own structures will be attacked, the result of which could be an autoimmune disease such as diabetes mellitus type 1 or multiple sclerosis. The only way to protect against these afflictions is to destroy all immune factors that turn against the body's own tissue - in other words: immune tolerance.

16 Mar 2009