http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A new study by Multiple Sclerosis researchers at three leading Canadian centres addresses why bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has positive results in patients with particularly aggressive forms of MS. The transplantation treatment, which is performed as part of a clinical trial and carries potentially serious risks, virtually stops all new relapsing activity as observed upon clinical examination and brain MRI scans. The study reveals how the immune system changes as a result of the transplantation. Specifically, a sub-set of T cells in the immune system known as Th17 cells, have a substantially diminished function following the treatment. The finding to be published in the upcoming issue of Annals of Neurology and currently in the early online version, provides important insight into how and why BMT treatment works as well as how relapses may develop in MS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-major-advance-risky-effective-multiple.html Neuroscience Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:35:56 EST news283516547 People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who were treated with combination therapy did not see significant clinical benefit over those treated with single drug therapy, but combination therapy did reduce the development of new lesions, according to an international research team led by The Mount Sinai Medical Center. The findings, part of the largest-ever MS trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, are published in the March 11 issue of Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-combination-therapy-similar-clinical-benefit.html Neuroscience Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:00:01 EST news282228386 An international study led by King's College London has identified a new genetic variant associated with stroke. By exploring the genetic variants linked with blood clotting – a process that can lead to a stroke – scientists have discovered a gene which is associated with large vessel and cardioembolic stroke but has no connection to small vessel stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-gene-discovery-tailored-treatments.html Neuroscience Fri, 01 Feb 2013 05:08:09 EST news278917678 Researchers at Shriner's Hospital Pediatric Research Center at the Temple University School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania have evidence linking the human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) – the most common cause of cervical cancer – to a common form of childhood epilepsy. They have shown for the first time that HPV16 may be present in the human brain, and found that when they added a viral protein to the brains of fetal mice, the mice all demonstrated the same developmental problems in the cerebral cortex associated with this type of epilepsy, called focal cortical dysplasia type IIB (FCDIIB). The findings suggest that the virus could play a role in the development of epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-scientists-cancer-causing-virus-brain-potential.html Neuroscience Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:31:23 EST news278249475 (Medical Xpress)—The causes of learning problems associated with an inherited brain tumor disorder are much more complex than scientists had anticipated, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-lags-tumor-disorder.html Neuroscience Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:49:25 EST news275330958 Hospital MRIs may be better at predicting long-term outcomes for people with mild traumatic brain injuries than CT scans, the standard technique for evaluating such injuries in the emergency room, according to a clinical trial led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-mris-reveal-brain-injuries-ct.html Neuroscience Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:19:37 EST news275066346 Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a key difference in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and those who are cognitively normal but still have brain plaques that characterize this type of dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-clue-alzheimer-dementia-brain-samples.html Neuroscience Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:43:48 EST news270128622 Low blood levels of vitamin D are associated with an increased number of brain lesions and signs of a more active disease state in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study finds, suggesting a potential link between intake of the vitamin and the risk of longer-term disability from the autoimmune disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-vitamin-d-linked-severe-multiple.html Neuroscience Tue, 02 Oct 2012 04:23:04 EST news268370555 (HealthDay)—After 15 years of follow-up, patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who display disease activity despite treatment with interferon (IFN)β-1a tend to have unfavorable long-term outcomes, according to research published online Sept. 13 in the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ms-early-disease-poor-outcome.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 27 Sep 2012 17:50:22 EST news267987012 In a genome-wide association (GWA) study, researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine (BUSM) and Public Health (BUSPH) have identified several genes which influence degeneration of the hippocampus, the part of the brain most associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). The study, which currently appears online as a Rapid Communication in the Annals of Neurology, demonstrates the efficacy of endophenotypes for broadening the understanding of the genetic basis of and pathways leading to AD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-genes-hippocampal-atrophy.html Neuroscience Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:58:25 EST news260099892 (HealthDay) -- Exposure to specific solvents is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the June issue of the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-specific-solvents-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:50:01 EST news260040179 (Medical Xpress) -- An international study led by the University of Sydney and published in the Annals of Neurology has the potential to improve the design of clinical trials for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a disorder which affects the peripheral nervous system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-tool-clinical-trials-children-charcot-marie-tooth.html Neuroscience Mon, 07 May 2012 07:50:01 EST news255594149 (HealthDay) -- Childhood socioeconomic status affects hippocampal volume in older adults, after adjusting for adult socioeconomic status, gender, education, and other factors, according to a study published in the May issue of the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-childhood-socioeconomic-status-affects-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:30:01 EST news254747343 (HealthDay) -- Electrocorticography (ECoG) signals from patients with chronic motor dysfunction represent motor information that may be useful for controlling prosthetic arms, according to a study published in the March issue of the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-electrocorticographic-arm-movement.html Neuroscience Fri, 30 Mar 2012 05:30:01 EST news252300630 Investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital, working with the DNA Sequencing Core Facility at the University of Utah, have developed an approach to newborn screening (NBS) for the life-threatening genetic disorder, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and potentially other muscular dystrophies. As a model for NBS, the approach published online in January in the Annals of Neurology provides evidence that this approach could be implemented if approved by regulatory bodies at a state level or alternatively through the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-newborn-screening-dmd-international.html Neuroscience Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:04:13 EST news251395428 Infants with Batten disease, a rare but fatal neurological disorder, appear healthy at birth. But within a few short years, the illness takes a heavy toll, leaving children blind, speechless and paralyzed. Most die by age 5. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-combination-treatment-mice-fatal-neurological.html Neuroscience Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:47:48 EST news251048849 People with symptoms suggesting rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, or RBD, have twice the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson's disease within four years of diagnosis with the sleep problem, compared with people without the disorder, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The researchers published their findings recently in the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-rem-disorder-mild-cognitive-impairment.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:49:20 EST news250937345 Neuroimaging for stroke patients may be unnecessarily costly and redundant, contributing to rising costs nationwide for stroke care, according to University of Michigan research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-physicians-costly-redundant-neuroimaging-patients.html Neuroscience Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:20:41 EST news250186825 Researchers have identified a gene that causes adult-onset primary cervical dystonia, an often-painful condition in which patients' necks twist involuntarily. The discovery by a team from the Jacksonville, Fla., campus of Mayo Clinic and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center sheds light on a movement disorder that physicians previously could seldom explain. Their research appears in the Annals of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-id-gene-primary-cervical-dystonia.html Genetics Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:32:10 EST news250169485 The association of the inhaled anesthetic isoflurane with Alzheimer's-disease-like changes in mammalian brains may by caused by the drug's effects on mitochondria, the structures in which most cellular energy is produced. In a study that will appear in Annals of Neurology and has received early online release, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report that administration of isoflurane impaired the performance of mice on a standard test of learning and memory – a result not seen when another anesthetic, desflurane, was administered. They also found evidence that the two drugs have significantly different effects on mitochondrial function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-reveals-anesthetic-isoflurane-alzheimer-like-mammalian.html Neuroscience Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:30:02 EST news249822803 Older women whose diets include a substantial amount of trans fats are more likely than their counterparts to suffer an ischemic stroke, a new study shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-aspirin-counteract-potential-trans-fat-related.html Neuroscience Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:40:24 EST news249799215 (Medical Xpress) -- A rare genetic variant that appears to be directly and causally linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) has been identified by Oxford University researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-rare-gene-variant-implicates-vitamin.html Neuroscience Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:20:02 EST news242637020 A University of Kentucky faculty member is a contributing author on a new study demonstrating a connection between a common solvent chemical and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Franca Cambi of the UK Kentucky Neuroscience Institute collaborated with researchers from across the U.S. on a paper recently published in the Annals of Neurology. The novel study looked at a cohort of human twins wherein one twin had been occupationally exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chemicals believed to be linked to development of Parkinson's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-common-chemical-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:33:57 EST news241799621 Using a patient's own bone marrow stem cells to treat acute stroke is feasible and safe, according to the results of a ground-breaking Phase I trial at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-bone-marrow-stem-cell-therapy.html Neuroscience Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:34:56 EST news234015900 Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered a naturally occurring disease in monkeys that is very much like multiple sclerosis in humans -- a discovery that could have a major impact on efforts to understand the cause of multiple sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-ms-like-disease-monkeys.html Neuroscience Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:39:48 EST news228494354