http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-molecular-trigger-alzheimer-disease.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 20 May 2013 15:00:01 EST news288269429 An iron imbalance caused by prion proteins collecting in the brain is a likely cause of cell death in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-prion-protein-iron-metabolism.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:46:49 EST news282397602 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the University of Michigan have found a new potential benefit of a molecule in green tea: preventing the misfolding of specific proteins in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-green-tea-formation-amyloid-plaques.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:29:57 EST news281712578 Scientists from the University of Southampton have identified the molecular system that contributes to the harmful inflammatory reaction in the brain during neurodegenerative diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-molecular-potential-treatments-neurodegenerative.html Neuroscience Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:42:01 EST news280658504 A new understanding of what takes place on the cellular level during the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, ALS and Huntington's diseases, offers promise towards possible new strategies for combating such diseases, say Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-srategies-neurodegenerative-diseases.html Medical research Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:44:36 EST news274013065 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers and patients look forward to the day when stem cells might be used to replace dying brain cells in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Scientists are currently able to make neurons and other brain cells from stem cells, but getting these neurons to properly function when transplanted to the host has proven to be more difficult. Now, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have found a way to stimulate stem cell-derived neurons to direct cognitive function after transplantation to an existing neural network. The study was published November 7 in the Journal of Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-neurons-stem-cells-brain-transplantation.html Neuroscience Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:14:18 EST news272214851 October 28, 2012— Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes and the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered how modifying a gene halts the toxic buildup of a protein found in nerve cells. These findings point to a potential new tactic for treating a variety of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease)—a fatal disease for which there is no cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scientists-block-toxic-protein-key.html Medical research Sun, 28 Oct 2012 13:00:01 EST news270630020 New research presented in October at the 6th Neurodegenerative Conditions Research and Development Conference in San Francisco demonstrates the role of the investigational compound IRX4204 in alleviating cognitive decline in animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The presentation entitled "Investigation of the RXR-specific agonist IRX4204 as a Disease Modifying Agent of Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology and Cognitive Impairment" was made by lead researcher Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PhD, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-drug-animal-alzheimer-parkinson-dementia.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:10:01 EST news270475571 A medical record review study of 97 patients with the fatal, degenerative brain disorder sporadic Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease (sCJD) suggests that a correct diagnosis of the disease was often delayed by a variety of misdiagnoses, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-misdiagnosis-sporadic-jakob-creutzfeldt-disease.html Neuroscience Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:00:07 EST news267704801 (Medical Xpress)—People with degenerative neurological conditions could benefit from research that shows why their brain cells stop communicating properly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-reveal-brain-cells-weakest-links.html Neuroscience Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:13:41 EST news267437610 The second of two studies on latrepirdine, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates new potential for the compound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, and other neurodegenerative conditions. An international team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine scientists found that latrepiridine, known commercially as Dimebon, reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-drug-toxic-substance-common-alzheimer.html Neuroscience Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:31:28 EST news264076253 In a paper published in the July 11 online issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified two key regulatory proteins critical to clearing away misfolded proteins that accumulate and cause the progressive, deadly neurodegeneration of Huntington's disease (HD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-proteins-clearer-huntington-disease.html Neuroscience Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:00:01 EST news261230666 University of Granada researchers have tested melatonin analogues in rats that inhibit the enzyme nitric oxide synthase, which is involved in the development of the diseases referred above. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-substances-alzheimer-parkinson-disease.html Medical research Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:33:16 EST news258802352 A rare disease which often first presents in newborn babies has been traced to a novel genetic defect, scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-scientists-gene-rare-disease-babies.html Genetics Tue, 29 May 2012 12:34:22 EST news257513647 New UK guidance for doctors and other prescribers on the use of strong painkillers for patients with chronic or incurable disease has been welcomed by researchers at the University of Leeds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-patients-benefit-advice-pain.html Medications Wed, 23 May 2012 10:37:42 EST news256988249 In science, refuting a hypothesis can be as significant as proving one, all the more so in research aimed at elucidating how diseases proceed with a view toward preventing, treating, or curing them. Such a discovery can save scientists from spending precious years of effort exploring a dead end. In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Munich-based researchers refute a widely accepted hypothesis about a causative step in neurodegenerative conditions. These results deal specifically with animal models of human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's disease) but also raise questions for research on other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-refute-widely-held-view-causal.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:40:42 EST news249759567 Lithium profoundly prevents the aggregation of toxic proteins and cell loss associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) in a mouse model of the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-lithium-profoundly-brain-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:14:26 EST news228107624