Nervous System News and Research

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Researchers show blood-brain barrier damage could affect multiple sclerosis severity

Immunology researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson studying a multiple sclerosis (MS)-like disease in mice have shown that the amount of "damage" to the central nervous system's protective blood-brain barrier, in essence, opening it, almost always correlates to the severity of the disease.

7 Apr 2007

Stem cell therapy shows promise for degenerative diseases of the eye

For the millions of Americans whose vision is slowly ebbing due to degenerative diseases of the eye, the lowly neural progenitor cell may be riding to the rescue.

3 Apr 2007

Clearer picture of neuronal coding

The validity of a leading theory that has held a glimmer of hope for unraveling the intricacies of the brain has just been called into question.

2 Apr 2007

Hot flashes in women linked to high blood pressure

Women who get hot flashes have higher blood pressure than those who don't, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medical College.

2 Apr 2007

Brain's immune system plays protective role in early Alzheimer's disease

The immune system's response against amyloid-beta, the protein that forms plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, appears to protect the brain from damage in early stages of the devastating neurological disorder.

30 Mar 2007

Researchers use poliovirus to destroy neuroblastoma tumors in mice

The cause of one notorious childhood disease, poliovirus, could be used to treat the ongoing threat of another childhood disease, neuroblastoma.

15 Mar 2007

Sedative-hypnotic drugs to get stronger warning labels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested that all manufacturers of sedative-hypnotic drug products, a class of drugs used to induce and/or maintain sleep, strengthen their product labeling to include stronger language concerning potential risks.

14 Mar 2007

Chemical cues turn embryonic stem cells into cerebellar neurons

Embryonic stem cells have shown a great deal of promise for alleviating heart disease and regenerating organs. But for some of the conditions for which people hold out the most hope - Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, for example - there's been little evidence to date that stem cells can work.

14 Mar 2007

Methylmercury contaminating fish - pregnant women warned

According to an international team of scientists pregnant women should be wary of eating some types of fish because of mercury contamination.

11 Mar 2007

Two experimental drugs aimed at controlling viral loads among HIV-positive people who have developed drug resistance show promise

Two experimental antiretroviral drugs, called TMC278 and elvitegravir, show promise in controlling the viral loads of HIV-positive people who have developed resistance to available drugs, researchers said Wednesday at the 14th Annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports.

4 Mar 2007

Warning about the indiscriminate use of diet drugs

The United Nations (UN) has issued a warning about the rise in a number of countries of the use of diet drugs to lose weight.

1 Mar 2007

Depression linked with a specific autoantibody and central nervous system dysfunction in lupus

Systemic lupus erythomatosus (SLE), often simply called lupus, is a complex autoimmune disease marked by joint pain, skin rashes, extreme fatigue, and depression, among other symptoms.

27 Feb 2007

Reduced brain growth in alcoholics with family drinking history

The brains of alcohol-dependent individuals are affected not only by their own heavy drinking, but also by genetic or environmental factors associated with their parents- drinking, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

21 Feb 2007

Scientists find new genes linked to Lou Gehrig's disease

In the first genome-wide search for the genetic roots of the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Johns Hopkins scientists have newly identified 34 unique variations in the human genetic code among 276 unrelated subjects with ALS.

21 Feb 2007

Hormone prolactin key to repairing nerve cell damage

The mystery of why multiple sclerosis (MS) tends to go into remission while women are pregnant may be the secret to overcoming the devastating neurodegenerative disease, according to University of Calgary researchers who have shown that a pregnancy-related hormone is responsible for rebuilding the protective coating around nerve cells.

20 Feb 2007

Newborns with respiratory distress should be evaluated for primary ciliary dyskinesia

Reviewing published reports, Ferkol and Margaret Leigh, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), found that neonatal respiratory distress was a common clinical symptom of PCD, a chronic airway disease that affects about 1 in 15,000 children.

20 Feb 2007

The puzzle of mystery dizziness solved

A new study has found that chronic dizziness, may have a variety of causes including anxiety disorders and brain injury.

20 Feb 2007

Genetic mutations make people susceptible to schizophrenia

Gene mutations governing a key brain enzyme make people susceptible to schizophrenia and may be targeted in future treatments for the psychiatric illness, according to MIT and Japanese researchers.

20 Feb 2007

Chronic dizziness may have several psychiatric and neurologic causes

Chronic dizziness may have several common causes, including anxiety disorders, migraine, traumatic brain injury and disorders in the part of the nervous system governing involuntary activities, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery.

20 Feb 2007

Avastin slows growth of gliomas

Avastin, a relatively new type of drug that shrinks cancerous tumors by cutting off their blood supply, can slow the growth of the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, a pilot study conducted at Duke University Medical Center has found.

20 Feb 2007