Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Researchers discover new cause of congenital myopathy

University of Michigan researchers have discovered a new cause of congenital myopathy: a mutation in a previously uncharacterized gene, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

26 Jul 2012

Greatbatch second quarter 2012 sales increase 14% to $166.5 million

Greatbatch, Inc., today announced results for its second quarter ended June 29, 2012.

26 Jul 2012

Everyday words that describe feelings lost in dementia

Dementia can affect a person’s ability to recognise the meaning of common emotional words such as ‘thrilled’ and ‘annoyed’, according to new research.

25 Jul 2012

Single event of brain trauma can lead to Alzheimer’s

A study, performed in mice and utilizing post-mortem samples of brains from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, found that a single event of a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with Alzheimer’s. The paper, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, identifies the complex mechanisms that result in a rapid and robust post-injury elevation of the enzyme, BACE1, in the brain. These results may lead to the development of a drug treatment that targets this mechanism to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

25 Jul 2012

PRACTISE saves money in stroke care

The PRACTISE intervention to boost stroke thrombolysis rates is not just cost-effective, but cost-saving, show the results of a prespecified analysis.

25 Jul 2012

Alexion second quarter net product sales increase to $274.7 million

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.

25 Jul 2012

NBTI participates in ICT-107 phase II trial for glioblastoma multiforme

Researchers at Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute (NBTI) are seeking to understand if a vaccine made from a patient's own blood cells may slow the growth of a type of brain tumor.

25 Jul 2012

Vanderbilt researchers receives new $2.1M grant to develop microbrain bioreactor

Take a millionth of a human brain and squeeze it into a special chamber the size of a mustard seed. Link it to a second chamber filled with cerebral spinal fluid and thread both of them with artificial blood vessels in order to create a microenvironment that makes the neurons and other brain cells behave as if they were in a living brain. Then surround the chambers with a battery of sensors that monitor how the cells respond when exposed to minute quantities of dietary toxins, disease organisms or new drugs under development.

25 Jul 2012

Questcor second quarter net sales increase to $112.5 million

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2012.

24 Jul 2012

Mephedrone does have potential for abuse and addiction

The use of the synthetic stimulants collectively known as "bath salts" have gained popularity among recreational drug users over the last five years, largely because they were readily available and unrestricted via the Internet and at convenience stores, and were virtually unregulated.

24 Jul 2012

Watching YouTube videos may help treat benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

Watching videos on YouTube may be a new way to show the treatment for a common cause of vertigo, which often goes untreated by physicians, according to a study published in the July 24, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Jul 2012

Michigan High School Athletic Association, U-M collaborate to offer free concussion education

Required online rules meetings for Michigan high school coaches this fall will include a concussion education module from U-M's Michigan NeuroSport and Pediatric Trauma Program at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.

24 Jul 2012

Neural precursor cells suppress aggressive tumors

Neural precursor cells (NPC) in the young brain suppress certain brain tumors such as high-grade gliomas, especially glioblastoma (GBM), which are among the most common and most aggressive tumors.

23 Jul 2012

Positive results from BrainStorm's interim NurOwn stem cell therapy clinical trial for ALS

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics announced today that it has completed the planned interim safety review of its Phase I/II ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) clinical trial, indicating that autologous transplantation of the Company's cell therapy was well-tolerated, appears to be safe for use, and did not present any undue risks to the study participants.

23 Jul 2012

Bayer, Onyx and Astellas announce results from Tarceva plus Nexavar Phase 3 trial on HCC

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Astellas Pharma Inc. today announced that a Phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of the addition of Tarceva (erlotinib) tablets to Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets did not improve overall survival for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) vs. Nexavar alone.

23 Jul 2012

Researchers identify several gene mutations responsible for medulloblastoma

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital have identified several gene mutations responsible for the most common childhood brain tumor, called medulloblastoma, adding evidence to the theory that the diagnosis is a group of genetically distinct cancers with different prognoses. These and accompanying findings are likely to lead to less-toxic, better-targeted treatment approaches over the next two years, the researchers said.

23 Jul 2012

New antibody can be used as early diagnostic tool for Parkinson's

Conditions such as Parkinson's disease are a result of pathogenic changes to proteins. In the neurodegenerative condition of Parkinson's disease, which is currently incurable, the alpha-synuclein protein changes and becomes pathological. Until now, there have not been any antibodies that could help to demonstrate the change in alpha-synuclein associated with the disease. An international team of experts led by Gabor G. Kovacs from the Clinical Institute of Neurology at the MedUni Vienna has now discovered a new antibody that actually possesses this ability.

21 Jul 2012