http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—Two new studies from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest ways to improve surgical treatment for a debilitating condition caused by compressed nerves in the neck and shoulder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-surgery-nerve-compression-disorder.html Surgery Thu, 07 Feb 2013 07:10:01 EST news279441683 Researchers have shown that transplanting stem cells derived from normal mouse blood vessels into the hearts of mice that model the pathology associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) prevents the decrease in heart function associated with DMD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-stem-cell-approach-duchenne-muscular-dystrophy.html Medical research Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:08:10 EST news277391280 Up to 75 per cent of patients who take statins to treat elevated cholesterol levels may suffer from muscle pain. Scientists at the Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Copenhagen have now identified a possible mechanism underlying this unfortunate side effect. The results have just been published in the well-reputed Journal of American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-cholesterol-medicine-affects-energy-production.html Cardiology Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:26:59 EST news276431211 It is well known that people with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from marked muscle weakness. Even the simple tasks of independent living, such as getting out of a chair or climbing a flight of stairs, can become major obstacles. This can reduce the quality of life for those with DS and lead to a loss of independence. Now, a new study sheds light on some of the suspected causes of muscle weakness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-insights-role-muscle-weakness-syndrome.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:40:05 EST news274972312 Myopathy refers to a muscular disease in which muscle fibers do not function, resulting in muscular weakness and wasting. Vitamin D deficiency is a well-recognized cause of myopathy, and excessive drinking is often associated with low or subnormal levels of vitamin D. A review of studies of the relationship between alcohol-related myopathy and vitamin D deficiency indicates that vitamin D deficiency might partly explain the occurrence of the frequently observed myopathy in chronic alcoholism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-vitamin-d-deficiency-contribute-alcohol-related.html Addiction Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:00:16 EST news274696452 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists have identified an underlying genetic cause for a rare disorder of motor neurones, and believe this may help find causes of other related diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-scientists-genetic-rare-disorder-motor.html Genetics Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:30:07 EST news274100042 A recent finding by medical geneticists sheds new light on how Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy develops and how it might be treated. More commonly known as FSHD, the devastating disease affects both men and women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-mutations-genes-dna-packaging-result.html Genetics Sun, 11 Nov 2012 13:00:03 EST news271860742 A presentation at the American Society of Human Genetics 2012 meeting updated genetics experts about a one-year-old research initiative that brought together researchers, clinicians and policy experts to tackle the challenges of incorporating new genomic technologies into clinical care of newborns, infants and children with anatomical defects whose causes are unknown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-dna-sequencing-infants-children-anatomical.html Genetics Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:30:14 EST news271440644 Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have found that medications currently used to immobilize patients during surgery can increase the risk of postoperative respiratory complications. Their study being published online in the journal BMJ also found that the agent most commonly used to reverse the action of the immobilizing drug does not prevent and may possibly increase the risk that patients will need to receive postoperative respiratory support. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-drugs-immobilize-patients-surgery-respiratory.html Medications Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:30:02 EST news269624275 (AP)—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a weeks-old baked potato was the source of a botulism outbreak at a Utah prison where inmates consumed cell-brewed alcohol. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-feds-potato-utah-prison-brew-botulism.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:54:07 EST news269016840 (Medical Xpress)—The risk of a child to inherit mitochondrial diseases - i. e. malfunction in what is usually referred to as the power plants of the cell - is largely decided when the future mother herself is still an embryo. This according to a novel study by scientists at Karolinska Institutet and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, which is published in the journal Nature Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-inheritance-mitochondrial-disease-mother-embryo.html Genetics Mon, 08 Oct 2012 07:22:45 EST news268899753 New insights into certain muscle diseases, the filaminopathies, are reported by an international research team led by Dr. Rudolf Andre Kley of the RUB's University Hospital Bergmannsheil in the journal Brain. The scientists from the Neuromuscular Centre Ruhrgebiet (headed by Prof. Matthias Vorgerd) at the Neurological University Clinic (Director: Prof. Martin Tegenthoff) cooperated with colleagues from eleven institutes in seven countries. Among other things they found that protection mechanisms to combat abnormal protein deposits do not work properly in filaminopathy patients. This opens up new starting points for therapies that the team aims to test on cell cultures. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-impaired-protein-degradation-muscle-diseases.html Medical research Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:46:05 EST news267785157 Researchers have launched a clinical trial to evaluate the drug candidate DEX-M74 as a treatment for a rare degenerative muscle disease, hereditary inclusion body myopathy (HIBM). National Institutes of Health scientists from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) will conduct the clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-nih-trial-rare-degenerative-muscle.html Medical research Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:00:46 EST news267721207 Muscles have a pool of stem cells which provides a source for muscle growth and for regeneration of injured muscles. The stem cells must reside in special niches of the muscle for efficient growth and repair. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-timenew-insights-muscle-stem-cells.html Medical research Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:32:50 EST news267096761 An important breakthrough could help in the fight against myotonic dystrophy. The discovery, recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell, results from an international collaboration between researchers at the IRCM, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Southern California and Illumina. Their findings could lead to a better understanding of the causes of this disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-implications-pathogenesis-myotonic-dystrophy.html Medical research Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:45:41 EST news266665530 In multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord, causing movement problems, muscle weakness and loss of vision. Immune cells called dendritic cells, which were previously thought to contribute to the onset and development of multiple sclerosis, actually protect against the disease in a mouse model, according to a study published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Immunity. These new insights change our fundamental understanding of the origins of multiple sclerosis and could lead to the development of more effective treatments for the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-discovery-immune-cells-multiple-sclerosis.html Immunology Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:00:11 EST news264333240 (HealthDay) -- Multiple factors contribute to leg weakness in people with hip osteoarthritis (OA), with muscle atrophy being the strongest contributor, according to the results of a systematic review published online July 25 in Arthritis Care & Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-multifactorial-mechanisms-underlie-leg-weakness.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Thu, 09 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news263745301 Botulinum toxin may help prevent shaking or tremor in the arms and hands of people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research published in the July 3, 2012, print issue of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-botulinum-toxin-shot-arm-ms.html Neuroscience Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:00:01 EST news260457213 Leading muscular dystrophy researcher Dean Burkin, of the University of Nevada School of Medicine summarizes the impact of a new protein therapeutic, MG53, for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in an article published this week in Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-muscular-dystrophy-therapies.html Medical research Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:38:12 EST news259576622 A phase I clinical trial examining the safety of combining temsirolimus and capecitabine in advanced malignancies suggests the two agents can be given safely to patients. In addition, the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers conducting the study in cancer patients whose tumors have resisted multiple treatments say the combination demonstrates "promising evidence" of disease control and should be studied in a phase II trial. Their clinical findings and additional data from the study will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, June 1 through 5, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-phase-temsirolimus-capecitabine-safe-positive.html Cancer Wed, 16 May 2012 18:00:03 EST news256406984 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 Patients suffering from a devastating disease are being given fresh hope through an innovative trial being led by the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-major-trial-motor-neurone-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:21:29 EST news248016046 Wrist fractures, also called distal radius fractures (DRF), are among the most common osteoporosis-related fractures occurring on average 15 years earlier than hip fractures. As vitamin D deficiency has recently been linked with muscle weakness, increased fall risks, and bone fractures, investigators sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among post menopausal women with DRF. The study, "Hypovitaminosis D in Postmenopausal Women with a Distal Radius Fracture," was presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-percent-postmenopausal-women-distal-radius.html Health Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:35:18 EST news247854906 New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that 77 percent of trauma patients had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-vitamin-d-deficiency-high-trauma.html Health Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:20:01 EST news247834873 It's rubbed on the skin to reduce signs of aging and consumed by athletes to improve endurance but scientists now have the first evidence of one of vitamin E's normal body functions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-scientists-innate-function-vitamin.html Medical research Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:55:30 EST news243604509 People who have the most common type of adult muscular dystrophy also have a higher risk of getting cancer, according to a paper published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-muscular-dystrophy-patients-cancer.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:00:05 EST news243004453 For this year's World Osteoporosis Day (October 20), the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is releasing a 24-page report promoting a three-step strategy for healthy bones and strong muscles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-unbreakable-bones-world-osteoporosis-day.html Health Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:21:22 EST news237734475 The disease is heartbreaking. It turns babies into ragdolls and extinguishes lives just as they are getting started. But one USC Dornsife scientist is working to unravel the mystery behind the leading genetic cause of infant mortality, uncovering how Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) disconnects muscles from the mind. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-usc-scientist-genetic-infant-mortality.html Genetics Thu, 13 Oct 2011 06:37:10 EST news237706559 When a motor nerve is severely damaged, people rarely recover full muscle strength and function. Neuroscientists from Children's Hospital Boston, combining patient data with observations in a mouse model, now show why. It's not that motor nerve fibers don't regrow -- they can -- but they don't grow fast enough. By the time they get to the muscle fibers, they can no longer communicate with them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-reversing-motor-nerve-essence.html Medical research Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:05 EST news236861754 An electronic system that stimulates the nerve of the diaphragm muscles has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The system called NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) will help ALS patients breathe longer without the aid of a ventilator. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-diaphragm-pacing-fda-als-patients.html Neuroscience Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:45:35 EST news236533517