http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Scientists have identified a set of tests that could help identify whether and how Huntington's disease (HD) is progressing in groups of people who are not yet showing symptoms. The latest findings from the TRACK-HD study, published Online First in The Lancet Neurology, could be used to assess whether potential new treatments are slowing the disease up to 10 years before the development of noticeable symptoms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-early-predictors-disease-huntington.html Neuroscience Wed, 08 May 2013 18:30:01 EST news287248987 A small device implanted in the brain has accurately predicted epilepsy seizures in humans in a world-first study led by Professor Mark Cook, Chair of Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Director of Neurology at St Vincent's Hospital. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-world-first-epilepsy-seizures-humans.html Neuroscience Thu, 02 May 2013 09:26:03 EST news286705556 A paper published this month in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet Neurology suggests that a broad spectrum of developmental and psychiatric disorders, ranging from autism and intellectual disability to schizophrenia, should be conceptualized as different manifestations of a common underlying denominator, 'developmental brain dysfunction,' rather than completely independent conditions with distinct causes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-genetic-evidence-continuum-neurodevelopmental-psychiatric.html Genetics Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:21:02 EST news284368851 The initial clinical trial of a novel approach to treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – blocking production of a mutant protein that causes an inherited form of the progressive neurodegererative disease – may be a first step towards a new era in the treatment of such disorders. Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Washington University School of Medicine report that infusion of an antisense oligonucleotide against SOD1, the first gene to be associated with familial ALS, had no serious adverse effects and the drug was successfully distributed thoughout the central nervous system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-phase-als-trial-antisense-treatment.html Neuroscience Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:44:58 EST news284219085 (Medical Xpress)—The effects of antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy have long been a concern of clinicians and women of childbearing age whose seizures can only be controlled by medications. In 1999, a study called the Neurodevelopmental Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs (NEAD) began following the children of women who were taking a single antiepileptic agent during pregnancy. The drugs included carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin or valproate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fetal-exposure-antiepileptic-drug-valproate.html Neuroscience Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:18:02 EST news282982655 (Medical Xpress)—Results from a clinical trial into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), led by King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry show that lithium carbonate is ineffective at treating the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-lithium-benefit-mnd-patients.html Neuroscience Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:10:01 EST news282901907 Three myths about sleepwalking – sleepwalkers have no memory of their actions, sleepwalkers' behaviour is without motivation, and sleepwalking has no daytime impact – are dispelled in a recent study led by Antonio Zadra of the University of Montreal and its affiliated Sacré-Coeur Hospital. Working from numerous studies over the last 15 years at the hospital's Centre for Advanced Studies in Sleep Medicine at the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal and a thorough analysis of the literature, Zadra and his colleagues have raised the veil on sleepwalking and clarified the diagnostic criteria for researchers and clinicians. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-sleepwalkers-theyve.html Neuroscience Thu, 14 Mar 2013 04:45:56 EST news282455141 Last month, the National Institutes of Health announced a new collaborative initiative that aims to accelerate the search for biomarkers—changes in the body that can be used to predict, diagnose or monitor a disease—in Parkinson's disease, in part by improving collaboration among researchers and helping patients get involved in clinical studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-effort-parkinson-biomarkers.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:41:45 EST news281709697 Research published today in the Lancet Neurology shows that taking the antiepileptic drug valproate during pregnancy affects the IQ of children up to the age of six. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reveals-long-term-effects-child-iq.html Medications Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:30:02 EST news278098291 (Medical Xpress)—More than a hundred years after Alois Alzheimer identified Alzheimer's disease in a patient an analysis of that original patient's brain has revealed the genetic origin of their condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-alzheimer-case-full-diagnosis-years.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 09 Jan 2013 06:28:38 EST news276935306 Children with traumatic brain injuries are more likely to survive and avoid long-term disabilities when treated aggressively as part of a designated neurocritical care program that brings together neurologists, neurosurgeons, trauma and other critical-care specialists, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pediatric-brain-injuries-disabilities.html Neuroscience Thu, 13 Dec 2012 06:41:25 EST news274603273 Uncontrolled high blood pressure damages the brain's structure and function as early as young middle-age, and even the brains of middle-aged people who clinically would not be considered to have hypertension have evidence of silent structural brain damage, a study led by researchers at UC Davis has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-high-blood-pressure-brain-early.html Neuroscience Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:20:01 EST news270932782 An inexpensive, five-minute eye scan can accurately assess the amount of brain damage in people with the debilitating autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis (MS), and offer clues about how quickly the disease is progressing, according to results of two Johns Hopkins studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-quick-cheap-retina-scan-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:14:10 EST news269662441 A team of Canadian scientists and clinicians, led by Dr. Michael Hill of the Calgary Stroke Program at Foothills Medical Centre and University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), have demonstrated that a neuroprotectant drug, developed by Dr. Michael Tymianski at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, located at the Toronto Western Hospital, protects the human brain against the damaging effects of stroke. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-world-successful-clinical-trial-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:10:01 EST news268994722 Ginkgo biloba extract does not significantly reduce the likelihood of diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in older people, according to the results of the largest ever Alzheimer's prevention study in Europe, published in Lancet Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-ginkgo-biloba-alzheimer-dementia.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 05 Sep 2012 18:30:04 EST news266063528 (Medical Xpress)—New research published online first in The Lancet Neurology highlights the long-term, often hidden, after-effects of meningitis in children. The study, led by Professor Russell Viner at the UCL Institute of Child Health, shows that 1 in 3 children who have experienced meningococcal group B disease (MenB), the most common type of bacterial meningitis in the UK, will be left with after-effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-children-survive-meningitis-after-effects.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:10:01 EST news265015099 Around 1 in 50 people in the general population and 1 in 6 of those aged over 40 years experience neuropathy (damage to the nerves of the peripheral nervous system), which can cause numbness, tingling, pain, or weakness. The most common cause of neuropathy is diabetes, and up to half of diabetes patients can be affected. Currently, among the only treatments for neuropathy are glucose control (which often only delays it) and pain management. Yet less than half of patients are treated for pain, despite the availability of many effective therapies . Growing evidence suggests that various metabolic risk factors, including prediabetes, could be linked with neuropathy and thus be targets for new disease-modifying drugs. The issues are discussed in a Review in the June issue of The Lancet Neurology, by Dr Brian C Callaghan and colleagues, all of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-metabolic-factors-linked-diabetes-related-pain.html Neuroscience Thu, 17 May 2012 18:30:03 EST news256493392 Using a specialised ambulance or mobile stroke unit (MSU) to assess and treat patients who have had a suspected stroke at the site of the emergency roughly halves the time from the initial call for help to treatment decision, and could increase the number of patients eligible for life-saving treatment, according to results of a study published Online First in The Lancet Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-mobile-roughly-halves-diagnosis-treatment.html Cardiology Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:30:01 EST news253286713 Researchers from the University of Florida and 14 additional medical centers reported results today in the online version of The Lancet Neurology journal indicating that deep brain stimulation — also known as DBS — is effective at improving motor symptoms and quality of life in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-parkinson-treatment-positive-results-clinical.html Neuroscience Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:30:01 EST news245499913 Treating "brain tsunamis” or "killer waves” could stop many victims of major head injury from suffering additional brain damage, a study published in Lancet Neurology has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-brain-tsunamis-clue-victims-major.html Neuroscience Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:30:03 EST news242467383 A novel drug (pridopidine) that stabilises dopamine signalling in areas of the brain that control movement and coordination, appears well tolerated and warrants further study in patients with Huntington's disease (HD), a condition characterised by an imbalance in the signalling chemical dopamine. The findings of the phase 3 MermaiHD trial are published Online First in The Lancet Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-drug-well-tolerated-merits-patients-huntington.html Neuroscience Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:30:01 EST news239897443 Intensive control of blood sugar levels beyond standard targets provides no additional protection against cognitive decline in older people with diabetes than standard treatment, according to a national study coordinated by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-blood-sugar-standard-doesnt-cognitive.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:30:01 EST news236351950 Stroke victims may have a longer window of opportunity to receive treatment to save their brain cells, demonstrates a literature review published by University of Alberta medical researchers in Lancet Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-window-opportunity-patients-longer.html Neuroscience Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:29:10 EST news236352534 New research published Online First in The Lancet Neurology, has found that epilepsy patients who receive additional treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have about a seven times lower risk of dying from a sudden unexpected death—the most common cause of death in epilepsy patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-adjunctive-antiepileptic-drug-treatment-dying.html Neuroscience Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:40:01 EST news235570519 An international team of researchers led by neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Florida has found a genetic variation they say protects against Parkinson's disease. The gene variants cut the risk of developing the disease by nearly 20 percent in many populations. The study, published in the online Aug. 31 issue of Lancet Neurology, also reports the discovery of different variants of the same gene, LRRK2 -- the most important Parkinson's risk gene found to date -- that double Parkinson's risk in Caucasians and Asians. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-genetic-variation-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:36:57 EST news233987779 Patients suffering REM sleep behaviour disorders dream nightmares in which they are attacked and pursued, with the particularity that they express them by screaming, crying, punching and kicking while sleeping. Lancet Neurology has published the third consecutive work in five years about the relationship between this disorder and Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-rem-behavior-disorder-factor-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:40:01 EST news231163274 Over half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions, according to a study led by Deborah Barnes, PhD, a mental health researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-alzheimer-cases.html Neuroscience Tue, 19 Jul 2011 02:49:20 EST news230262537