http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Johns Hopkins researchers believe they may have discovered an explanation for the sleepless nights associated with restless legs syndrome (RLS), a symptom that persists even when the disruptive, overwhelming nocturnal urge to move the legs is treated successfully with medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-restless-legs-syndrome-insomnia-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 07 May 2013 12:40:01 EST news287148641 With a new insight into a model of Parkinson's disease, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a novel target for mitigating some of the disease's toll on the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-reveals-parkinson-disease-therapies.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:12:19 EST news277794730 A study by Massachusetts General Hospital researchers adds further support to the possibility that increasing levels of the antioxidant urate may protect against Parkinson's disease. In their report published in PNAS Early Edition, the investigators report that mice with a genetic mutation increasing urate levels were protected against the kind of neurodegeneration that underlies Parkinson's disease, while the damage was worse in animals with abnormally low urate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-genetic-urate-neurodegeneration-mouse-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:00:01 EST news274959162 The hallmark of Parkinson's Disease is the uncertain gait and movement caused by the destructions of neurons producing the neurotransmitter dopamine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-explanation-cognitive-problems-parkinson-patients.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:00:05 EST news273315593 The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research announced today the submission of a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Fluorodopa F 18 positron emission tomography (PET) scan used to diagnose parkinsonian syndromes. Earlier this year, the Feinstein Institute received FDA approval under an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug (IND) program, permitting the Feinstein Institute to receive reimbursement for the use of the diagnostic tool in clinical research studies. This was the first time the FDA approved payment for Fluorodopa F 18 PET studies in parkinsonian syndromes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-feinstein-submission-drug-application-parkinsonian.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 14 Nov 2012 12:57:34 EST news272120187 Although placebos have played a critical role in medicine and clinical research for more than 70 years, it has been a mystery why these inactive treatments help to alleviate symptoms in some patients – and not others. Now researchers have for the first time identified genetic differences between placebo responders and non-responders, providing an important new clue to what has come to be known as "the placebo effect." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-genetic-marker-placebo-response-ibs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:00:06 EST news270225268 Curbs on children's daily screen time and delaying the age at which they start "the world's favorite pastime" are urgently needed to stave off the risk of serious health and developmental problems, argues a leading psychologist and child health expert in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-curb-kids-screen-stave-major.html Health Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:06:56 EST news268999609 (Medical Xpress)—A new study by scientists in the US has found that the opiate morphine and the stimulant cocaine act on the reward centers in the brain in different ways, contradicting previous theories that these types of drugs acted in the same way. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-morphine-cocaine-affect-reward-sensation.html Medical research Fri, 05 Oct 2012 05:30:11 EST news268633788 Raising levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the frontal cortex of the brain significantly decreased impulsivity in healthy adults, in a study conducted by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-dopamine-brain-frontal-cortex-decreases.html Neuroscience Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:38:41 EST news262438701 A group of Spanish researchers has discovered a new function of the neurotransmitter dopamine in controlling sleep regulation. Dopamine acts in the pineal gland, which is central to dictating the 'circadian rhythm' in humans—the series of biological processes that enables brain activity to adapt to the time of the day (that is, light and dark cycles). The researchers, from the CIBERNED (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas), dependant on the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Carlos III Health Institute, and from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona, publish their findings 19 June in the open-access journal PLoS Biology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-role-dopamine.html Medical research Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:00:01 EST news259342979 When flies are made to lose a gene with links to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), they suffer the same sleep disturbances and restlessness that human patients do. The findings reported online on May 31 in Current Biology strongly suggest a genetic basis for RLS, a condition in which patients complain of an irresistible urge to move that gets worse as they try to rest. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-fruit-flies-restless-legs-syndrome.html Genetics Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00:05 EST news257682072 Use of the antioxidant urate to protect against the neurodegeneration caused by Parkinson's disease appears to rely on more than urate's ability to protect against oxidative damage. In the May issue of the open-access journal PLoS One, researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (MGH-MIND) describe experiments suggesting the involvement of a novel mechanism in urate's protection of cultured brain cells against Parkinson's-like damage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-urate-parkinson-disease-hints-mechanism.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 23 May 2012 11:51:36 EST news256992690 Using gene transfer techniques pioneered by University of Florida faculty, Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-children-rare-incurable-brain-disease.html Pediatrics Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:05 EST news256390359 Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a mechanism involving the neurotransmitter dopamine that switches fruit fly behavior from being active during the day (diurnal) to nocturnal. This change parallels a human disorder in which increased agitation occurs in the evening hours near sunset and may also be due to higher than normal dopamine levels in the brain. Sundown syndrome occurs in older people with dementia or cognitive impairment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-sundown-syndrome-like-symptoms-fruit-flies.html Genetics Mon, 14 May 2012 09:39:09 EST news256207143 The neurotransmitter dopamine is best known for its roles in the brain – in signaling pathways that control movement, motivation, reward, learning and memory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-kidney-dopamine-blood-pressure-life.html Medical research Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:21:39 EST news230307685 Few treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD) restore function for extended periods. In a new study published today in the inaugural issue issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, an international group of researchers report that platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) restored function in rodents and shows promise as a clinical candidate drug for treatment of PD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-animal-parkinson-disease-drug.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:55:32 EST news226839317 (PhysOrg.com) -- A study of the salamander brain has led researchers at Karolinska Institutet to discover a hitherto unknown function of the neurotransmitter dopamine. In an article published in the prestigious scientific journal Cell Stem Cell they show how in acting as a kind of switch for stem cells, dopamine controls the formation of new neurons in the adult brain. Their findings may one day contribute to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-dopamine-formation-brain-cells.html Medical research Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:57:27 EST news221461029