Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Factors inhibiting the brain's natural self-healing process identified

Factors that inhibit the brain's natural self-healing process and that may offer new insights into how to prevent brain damage in premature babies have been identified by a team of researchers supported in part by the March of Dimes.

7 Aug 2005

Australian researchers have found a toxin that plays an important role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease

The research, which is led by two University of New South Wales academics, is significant because drugs that are in the advanced developmental phase for other conditions might be able to be used on Alzheimer's patients, to halt the disease progressing.

4 Aug 2005

Anti-inflammatory function of Alzheimer's disease drugs revealed

The mechanism in anti-Alzheimer's disease drugs that inhibits the production of a destructive, inflammation-causing protein in the brain has been revealed by researchers at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem.

28 Jul 2005

What a blinking waste of time!!

According to researchers from University College London, parts of the brain are temporarily "switched off" when we blink.

27 Jul 2005

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging can identify effectiveness of chemotherapy early in high-risk breast cancer patients

The effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with advanced breast cancer can be evaluated earlier by using 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) imaging over other conventional imaging procedures, according to an article in the July issue of the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

26 Jul 2005

Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome difficult to diagnose

Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome can be difficult to diagnose and should have guidelines for diagnostic testing, according to a study in the July 26 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology. A second study found chemotherapy aggravated symptoms in one woman's case.

25 Jul 2005

New clues for the understanding of dementia

Researchers at the Medical Research Council MRC Prion Unit and the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at the Institute of Neurology, University College London - in collaboration with groups from Copenhagen, Aarhus, Lund and Cambridge - have identified a gene that, when mutated, causes an early onset dementia.

24 Jul 2005

British holiday maker dies of rabies after dog bite in Goa

Health officials in the UK have confirmed that a woman who was bitten by a dog on her holiday in Goa, India, has died from rabies.

23 Jul 2005

Hearing protein TRPA1 also involved with pain perception

The same protein that “translates” sound into nerve signals to the brain and enables individuals to hear is also required for pain perception, researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found.

21 Jul 2005

Single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with primary erythromelalgia

Yale School of Medicine researchers report the first demonstration that a single mutation in a human sodium channel gene can trigger pain in people with an inherited pain syndrome known as primary erythromelalgia, according to a study published this month in the journal Brain.

13 Jul 2005

Study proves Lorenzo's Oil prevents rare disease in boys

U.S. researchers have confirmed that a treatment called Lorenzo's Oil can prevent the onset of a rare but devastating neurological disease in young boys, X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy or X-ALD.

12 Jul 2005

Statins not effective in reducing dementia risk

According to a recently published study, the use of statins and other lipid-lowering agents by older adults is not associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia.

12 Jul 2005

Most perinatal strokes lead to neurologic disorders

Four of five newborn infants who experience a stroke around the time of birth will develop neurologic disorders such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or language delay, according to a study published online July 11, 2005, in the Annals of Neurology.

12 Jul 2005

New insights into brain cell metabolism from PET and MRI scans

By discovering a crucial piece of submicroscopic information about how the brain converts fuel into energy for neurons, Cornell University biophysicists have gleaned new insights into brain cell metabolism that will allow neurologists to better interpret data from such diagnostic tests as positron emission tomography (PET) scans and a specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.

12 Jul 2005

Gambling and sex addiction caused by Parkinson's drug

According to a doctor at a clinic in the U.S., a certain category of drug, which is often prescribed for Parkinson's disease, can cause some patients to become compulsive gamblers or addicted to sex.

11 Jul 2005

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) offers clues to SIDS, sleep apnea

Imagine raising a child who stops breathing when falling asleep - and has to be reminded to visit the bathroom after drinking a Big Gulp. That's the dilemma faced by parents of children born with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS).

11 Jul 2005

Researchers find molecule ephrin-B3 inhibits regrowth of spinal nerve cells

A molecule that helps the body's motor nerve cells grow along proper paths during embryonic development also plays a major role in inhibiting spinal-cord neurons from regenerating after injury, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

11 Jul 2005

Dopamine agonist therapy for Parkinson's disease may lead to problem gambling

Eleven patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) developed pathological gambling behavior following dopamine agonist therapy, a drug therapy to control movement problems caused by Parkinson's disease, according to a study posted online which will appear in the September print issue of Archives of Neurology.

11 Jul 2005

Statins not associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia

The use of statins and other lipid-lowering agents by older adults was not associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, according to a study in the July issue of Archives of Neurology.

11 Jul 2005

Most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not depressed

Contrary to what you might think, most people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are not depressed. They are also not more likely to get depressed as the end of life approaches, and they are not more likely to be depressed if they want to die or hasten their own death.

11 Jul 2005