http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A team of researchers, led by Marc Freeman, PhD, an early career scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have discovered a gene in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster that, when mutant, blocks the self-destruction of damaged axons, which could hold clues to treating motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mutation-route-tackling-als.html Genetics Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:03:16 EST news284655787 Researchers in Calgary have launched the first gene therapy clinical trial in the world for Fabry disease, a rare inherited enzyme deficiency that can shorten the lifespan of people who have it by as much as 40 years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-canada-gene-therapy-trial-fabry.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:16:39 EST news278248587 Stroke, traumatic injury, and metabolic disorder are major causes of brain damage and permanent disabilities, including motor dysfunction, psychological disorders, memory loss, and more. Current therapy and rehab programs aim to help patients heal, but they often have limited success. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hyperbaric-treatment-significantly-resuscitated-brains.html Neuroscience Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:53:01 EST news278175175 (Medical Xpress)—A new drug for type 2 diabetes, involving research at Aston University is being launched as a once-daily tablet for adults with the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-diabetes-tablet-weight-loss.html Overweight and Obesity Thu, 06 Dec 2012 05:48:02 EST news273995274 University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers, experts in revealing molecular structure by X-ray crystallography, have identified two new small "chaperone" molecules that may be useful in treating the inherited metabolic disorder known as Schindler/Kanzaki disease. This offers hope for developing the first ever drug treatment for this very rare disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-biochemists-path-molecular-chaperone-therapy.html Medical research Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:38:50 EST news268997920 (Medical Xpress) -- Mitochondrial inherited diseases (MIDs) can devastate families, but there is hope in the form of new techniques to prevent them passing from mother to child. Anjana Ahuja speaks to the researchers at the forefront of this research, and a family living with the reality of such a condition, to find out why change is so desperately needed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-shadows-freeing-families-mitochondrial-inherited.html Medical research Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:10:01 EST news258717258 (HealthDay) -- Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, and treating the disease often requires a personalized, multi-pronged approach, say new expert guidelines on treating high blood sugar levels, issued Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-diabetes-groups-issue-guidelines-blood.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:20:01 EST news254065273 Scientists have moved a step closer to correcting some unhealthy gene mutations with diet, according to a new research report appearing in the April 2012 issue of the journal Genetics. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, determined variations and responses to vitamin treatment in the human cystathionine beta synthase gene, which when defective, causes the disease homocystinuria, an inherited metabolic disorder sometimes treatable with vitamin B6. After the analysis, scientists correlated specific gene mutations with severity of the disease, ranging from perfectly healthy and functional to severe and untreatable. Although the current study focused on homocystinuria, testing the effects of naturally occurring gene variations using surrogate organism genetics can be applied to other inherited disorders, such as neural tube defect, cleft palate, and blindness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-diet-gene-mutations.html Genetics Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:17:14 EST news253185422 In medical research, finding a reliable and cost-effective animal model can greatly enhance success in identifying disease mechanisms and genetic pathways, potentially cutting years off drug testing regimes and development of new treatment strategies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-neurobiologists-animal-deadly-human-metabolic.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:50:03 EST news248362176 Having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the metabolic disorder is not well controlled with medication, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-diabetes-affects-loss-women.html Diabetes Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:57:06 EST news246794210 An article to be published Friday (Dec. 23) in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system. Dr. Angelique Corthals, a forensic anthropologist and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, suggests instead that MS is caused by faulty lipid metabolism, in many ways more similar to coronary atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) than to other autoimmune diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-contends-multiple-sclerosis-disease-immune.html Immunology Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:36:30 EST news243794165 Scientists from the Monell Center report that approximately one third of patients with unexplained body malodor production test positive for the metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria (TMAU). A definitive diagnosis offers relief to these individuals, as symptoms of TMAU can hinder social and workplace interactions and cause psychological distress. But once the disease is identified, these debilitating symptoms can be ameliorated using changes in diet and other approaches. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-undiagnosed-trimethylaminuria-cases-personal-malodor.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:37:04 EST news234009403