http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the University of Colorado School of Medicine have found that a single mechanism may underlie the damaging effect of cholesterol on the brain and on blood vessels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cholesterol-alzheimer-heart-disease.html Medical research Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:35:59 EST news285269752 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers in Scotland and Germany have discovered a molecular mechanism that shows promise for developing a cure for Huntington's Disease (HD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-reveals-huntington.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:47:12 EST news281180712 Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-image-concussion-related-abnormal-brain-proteins.html Neuroscience Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:02:32 EST news278089189 Changes in the ability to smell and taste can be caused by a simple cold or upper respiratory tract infection, but they may also be among the first signs of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Now, new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has revealed an association between an impaired sense of smell and myasthenia gravis (MG), a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease characterized by fluctuating fatigue and muscle weakness. The findings are published in the latest edition of PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-association-rare-neuromuscular-disorder-loss.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:00:08 EST news269705411 An international team of scientists led by researchers at Mount Sinai School Medicine have discovered that a drug that had previously yielded conflicting results in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease effectively stopped the progression of memory deterioration and brain pathology in mouse models of early stage Alzheimer's disease. The findings, published July 31, 2012 in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrate renewed potential for this compound and could lead to clinical trials in patients with early stages of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-alzheimer-drug-potential.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 31 Jul 2012 04:00:01 EST news262888215 Researchers studying multiple sclerosis(MS) have long been looking for the specific molecules in the body that cause lesions in myelin, the fatty, insulating cells that sheathe the nerves. Nearly a decade ago, a group at Mayo Clinic found a new enzyme, called Kallikrein 6, that is present in abundance in MS lesions and blood samples and is associated with inflammation and demyelination in other neurodegenerative diseases. In a study published this month in Brain Pathology, the same group found that an antibody that neutralizes Kallikrein 6 is capable of staving off MS in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-halting-enzyme-multiple-sclerosis-mice.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:40:01 EST news255016499 As the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is revised for the first time since 1994, controversy about psychiatric diagnosis is reaching a fever pitch. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-psychiatric.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:15:37 EST news248537731 One of the most distinctive signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease is a change in the behavior of a protein that neuroscientists call tau. In normal brains, tau is present in individual units essential to neuron health. In the cells of Alzheimer's brains, by contrast, tau proteins aggregate into twisted structures known as "neurofibrillary tangles." These tangles are considered a hallmark of the disease, but their precise role in Alzheimer's pathology has long been a point of contention among researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-untangling-mysteries-alzheimer.html Neuroscience Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:02:16 EST news247410108 Researchers have found that a protein variation linked by some genetic studies to Alzheimer's disease is consistently present in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. In further biochemical and cell culture investigations, they have shown that this protein, known as ubiquilin-1, performs a critical Alzheimer's-related function: it "chaperones" the formation of amyloid precursor protein, a molecule whose malformation has been directly tied to Alzheimer's pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-alzheimer-brains-key-protein.html Medical research Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:23:43 EST news234094982 Years after a single traumatic brain injury (TBI), survivors still show changes in their brains. In a new study, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that Alzheimer's disease-like neurodegeneration may be initiated or accelerated following a single traumatic brain injury, even in young adults. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-traumatic-brain-injury-prompt-long-term.html Neuroscience Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:21:23 EST news230228475