http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) is a rare genetic disorder that causes central and peripheral nervous system dysfunction. GAN is known to be caused by mutations in the gigaxonin gene and is characterized by tangling and aggregation of neural projections, but the mechanistic link between the genetic mutation and the effects on neurons is unclear. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-untangle-molecular-pathology-giant-axonal.html Neuroscience Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:00:08 EST news285240172 According to a 2012 World Health Organization report, over 35 million people worldwide currently have dementia, a number that is expected to double by 2030 (66 million) and triple by 2050 (115 million). Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, has no cure and there are currently only a handful of approved treatments that slow, but do not prevent, the progression of symptoms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-worming-treatments-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:02:51 EST news281876562 Curcumin, a compound found in the spice turmeric, is proving effective at preventing clumping of a protein involved in Parkinson's disease, says a Michigan State University researcher. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-curcumin-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:41:54 EST news251462476 In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered several gene variants contributing to early stent thrombosis (ST), a devastating and often deadly complication after coronary stent implantation in people with coronary artery disease. The team found that three of these variants were associated with impaired sensitivity to the common blood thinner clopidogrel, and a fourth that affects a blood platelet receptor involved in platelet aggregation and clot formation. Analyzing these gene variants will help researchers identify patients at risk for early stent thrombosis and take measures to prevent it. The data also provide a clinical and genomic score that indicates the best predictive accuracy for stent thrombosis risk. The findings are published in the Oct. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-gene-variants-stent-thrombosis-people.html Genetics Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:04:24 EST news238781047 A new study describes how hyperactivation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) promotes neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease (HD). The article appears online on July 18, 2011, in The Journal of Cell Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-ampk-amplifies-huntington-disease.html Medical research Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:28:15 EST news230210876 A small protein called SUMO might prevent the protein aggregations that typify Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a new study in the July 11, 2011, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-sumo-defeats-protein-aggregates-typify.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:50:22 EST news229607392 Slowing down the aggregation or "clumping" of vitamin A in the eye may help prevent vision loss caused by macular degeneration, research from Columbia University Medical Center has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-age-related-macular-degeneration.html Ophthalmology Wed, 18 May 2011 11:00:23 EST news224935203