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How a pet pooch can help treat Parkinson”s

May 13, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 13 (ANI): A significant treatment for Parkinson”s disease has been revealed by doctors – a pet pooch.

Health of a 28-year-old woman with the brain disease improved thanks to her pooch.

The woman, who started taking large doses of four different drugs a day to control symptoms three years after being diagnosed, had a morphine pump for 14 hours a day and her health was deteriorating fast.

But after being given a highland terrier by a friend, docs reported improvements in symptoms and a drop in the drugs she needed, reports The Sun.

What’s more, she no longer needed her daily morphine.

Doctors at Imperial College London, who report her case in the Journal Of Neurology, said: “Remarkably sustained benefits occurred, with improvement in her walking and symptoms including appetite, sleep and bowel function, as well as socialisation.”

Docs are not able to zero in on the reason as to how the dog had such a dramatic effect, but they say that having to walk, feed and look after the pet encouraged her to exercise regularly. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: appetite, Bowel Function, Brain Disease, control, doctors, dramatic effect, drugs, Highland Terrier, Imperial College London, improvements, morphine, Morphine Pump, old woman, parkinson disease, Parkinson S Disease, Pet Health, pooch, reason, sleep, Sun

Network problem harms brain in Alzheimer’s disease!

March 29, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Mon, Mar 29 12:02 PM

In what could pave the way for new strategies for early diagnosis and effective treatment of Alzheimer’s, scientists have found that the disease makes parts of the brain shrink “as messages fail to get through”.

The findings, published in the ‘Neurology’ journal, suggest a build-up of deposits of the protein amyloid-beta in a region of the brain known as temporal inferior cortex which is connected to the hippocampus involved in memory.

Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by two factors –a build-up of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, and a loss of neurons.

Lead scientist Dr Cassandra Szoeke of CSIRO said the puzzle for them was that the parts of the brain that had shrunk (atrophied) due to neuron loss were not the same as those showing increased deposits of amyloid-beta.

Using MRI scans to study Alzheimer’s disease affected brain tissue, the scientists found that shrinking (atrophy) of the hippocampus was associated with plaque deposits in the temporal inferior cortex.

The results indicate that the increased accumulation of amyloid in temporal inferior cortex disrupts connections with the hippocampus, causing the neurons to die, say the scientists.

“By helping to better understand the mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease, the study may guide the development of new strategies for early diagnosis,” Dr Szoeke said.
Agencies

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: accumulation, Alzheimer Disease, Alzheimer S Disease, atrophy, Brain Disease, brain tissue, cortex, csiro, diagnosis, Dr Cassandra, hippocampus, mechanisms, mri scans, Neurology Journal, Neuron, parts of the brain, Plaque Deposits, plaques, Protein Amyloid, scientist

Why family history ups Alzheimer”s risk – especially from the maternal side

March 16, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, March 16 (ANI): Previous studies have shown that the incidence of Alzheimer”s is higher among those whose parents were diagnosed with the memory-robbing disease. Now, scientists have found the likely basis for this heightened familial risk—especially from the maternal side.

With the help of a new version of a brain scanning technique, an international collaboration led by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers discovered a far greater number of protein clumps linked to the disease among healthy adult children of parents with Alzheimer”s compared to counterparts with no family history of dementia.

The average increase in these clumps, called amyloid-beta plaques, was particularly striking among study volunteers whose mothers had been diagnosed with the disease. The plaques appeared throughout most regions of the brain.

The study examined 42 healthy individuals, including 14 whose mothers had Alzheimer”s, 14 whose fathers had Alzheimer”s, and 14 counterparts with no family history of the disease.

On average, the first group of volunteers showed a 15 percent higher burden of amyloid-beta deposits than those with a paternal family history, and a 20 percent higher burden of the protein clumps than those with no familial risk factors.

The new findings may help explain why a family history is such a big risk factor for the brain disease—individuals with an affected parent have a four- to ten-fold greater risk than those with no family history.

The study has been published in the March 15, 2010, online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Adult children, Brain Disease, Center Researchers, clumps, Early Edition, familial risk, family history, international collaboration, Maternal Side, National Academy of Sciences, nyu langone, Paternal Family, proceedings of the national academy, proceedings of the national academy of sciences, regions of the brain, risk factor, risk factors, scanning technique, study volunteers, ups

Missing protein in rare genetic brain disorder restored

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 7 (ANI): By using protease inhibitors, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF) have restored to normal levels a key protein that is involved in early brain development, and causes the rare brain disorder lissencephaly.

Reduced levels of the protein called LIS1 have been shown to cause lissencephaly, which is characterized by brain malformations, seizures, severe mental retardation and very early death in human infants.

The findings in mice offer a proof-of-principle that the genetic equivalent to human lissencephaly, also known as “smooth brain” disease, can be treated during pregnancy and effectively reversed to produce more normal offspring.

The researchers are hoping that this approach could also be used to treat other defects in utero, or even those manifesting after birth, when caused by a partial deficiency in one gene, according to Dr. Anthony Wynshaw-Boris.

“Researchers have not considered it possible to treat such a pervasive, early developmental brain disorder as lissencephaly. Not only were we able to show a clear cellular effect from using these protease inhibitors, but also were able to treat the disorder in utero,” Nature quoted Wynshaw-Boris as saying.

The work is the culmination of 15 years of collaborative research into the cause and mechanisms of lissencephaly, which is caused by a deletion or loss of one copy of the LIS1 gene, and affects an estimated one in 50,000-100,000 infants.

In 1998, the researchers reported of producing a mouse with the same mutation that displayed defective brain development.

The current research used these mice, and found that the protein calpain degrades the LIS1 protein to less than half its normal levels near the surface of the cells.

The team then used a specific small-molecule protease inhibitor of calpain in these mice.

At a cellular level, the protease inhibitors enabled LIS1 protein to be expressed at near-normal levels.

The team then gave daily injections of a calpain inhibitor to pregnant mice whose foetuses had the mouse-model of this defect.

They observed that the resulting offspring had more normal brains and showed no sign of mental retardation.

“This study is really a proof-of-principle not only for treating complex developmental brain disorders, but also for any disorder with reduced protein levels where proteases normally play some role in breaking down that protein. This will be much more difficult to apply to humans, because of the safety issues involved, but it could lead to new therapies that might be effective for a wide range of developmental disorders,” said the researchers.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature Medicine. (ANI)

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Statins can protect against Alzheimer’s

June 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, June 23 (ANI): A new study has shown that popular cholesterol lowering drugs can protect nerve cells against damage, which is known to occur in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

How nerve cells die in Alzheimer’s disease is complex but we know that nerve cells eventually die because they are strongly overstimulated, a process called excitotoxicity.

The research led by Dr Amalia Dolga, of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands showed that treatment with a statin called Lovastatin could prevent the death of nerve cells under these conditions.

The researchers found that statins not only prevented cells from dying but also prevented the loss of memory capacity that normally occurs after such cell death.

In a previous study Dolga had showed that these statins stimulate the protective capacity of tumour necrosis factor, which is a key player in the brain’s immune response.

Dolga has demonstrated in animal experiments that this tumor necrosis factor has a strong beneficial effect on nerve cells and can protect nerve cells against death.

A widely prescribed drug like statins can activate this protective pathway revealing strong beneficial effect.

The study appears in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. (ANI)

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Dying baby girl revives after life support machine is switched off

June 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Jun 20 (ANI): A baby girl, who had been given just a one per cent chance of survival, surprised doctors when she made a miraculous recovery after her life support machine was switched off.

Grace Vincent had been struck down with a rare form of the brain disease at just six weeks old, and spent four days on the brink of death before her mother and father took the agonising decision to turn off her life support machine.

Her father Pete Vincent, a Royal Marine Commando, and mother Emily told how they had kissed their baby goodbye for the last time as they prepared to face the inevitable.

Both had been warned by doctors to expect to hear their little girl’s “last gasping breaths”, but as her grieving mother cradled her in her arms and waited for their tiny daughter to fade away, Grace incredibly began to take tentative breaths on her own.

She continued her miraculous recovery, and was on June 19 discharged from the hospital in Newcastle.

“Everyone has been calling her Amazing Grace,” the Daily Express quoted Emily Ashurst as saying.

The blue-eyed little girl has been “cooing” at her loved ones – and has even started crying, which Emily yesterday described as “the nicest sound in the world”.

“The decision to turn off her life support machine was based on what the doctors were telling us. The scan results were very bad so we thought it would be best for her,” an overjoyed Pete said.

“We were told she would take a few last breaths. But she kept stopping breathing and starting again for the next six hours.

“Six months in Afghanistan was easy compared to that,” he added. (ANI)

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Rapid weight loss in old age could raise dementia risk

May 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 19 (ANI): Older people who are thinner or are losing pounds quickly are at an increased risk of developing dementia, especially if they started out overweight or obese, according to a new study.

The research is published in the May 19, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

To reach the conclusion, researchers followed for eight years 1,836 Japanese Americans in Washington state with an average age of 72. During that time, 129 people developed dementia.

The research found that people with lower body mass index (BMI) scores at the beginning of the study were 79 percent more likely to develop dementia than those with higher BMI scores.

In addition, those who lost weight over the study period at a faster rate were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia than those who lost weight more slowly over time. This result was more pronounced in those who were overweight or obese to start; those with a BMI of 23 or higher had an 82-percent reduced risk of developing the disease compared to those who were normal or underweight.

The results were the same after testing for other health risk factors such as smoking, exercise and gender.

“Our finding suggests that losing weight quickly in older age may be an early sign of dementia,” said study author Tiffany Hughes, PhD, MPH, who is with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine but conducted the research while she was a doctoral student at the University of South Florida.

“This doesn’t mean that being obese or overweight is healthy for the mind or body, but losing weight may be a sign of emerging brain disease,” the research added. (ANI)

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Gene variation that may increase Alzheimer’s risk identified

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): For the first time, scientists have found that the variation in a gene, responsible for the production of a protein called neuroglobin, is linked with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

For the study, researchers at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine analysed the genetic neighbourhood of neuroglobin.

The team found that individuals with genetic variations linked with less neuroglobin production had an increased risk for AD.

“An intriguing part of this study was the high levels of neuroglobin that we found in the Alzheimer’s brain, which was exactly the opposite from what we expected,” said Dr. Dimitrios Avramopoulos, an associate professor in Hopkins’ Institute of Genetic Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry.

The researchers measured levels of gene product in 56 different samples of human brain tissue-30 from confirmed cases of Alzheimer’s and 26 without brain disease.

They found that neuroglobin levels decreased with advancing age, which was consistent with risk of Alzheimer’s increasing with advancing age.

They also observed that levels of neuroglobin were lower in women than in men, suggesting that women had a slightly higher risk of Alzheimer’s.

And, surprisingly, neuroglobin levels were higher in the brain tissue from Alzheimer’s patients than that of the control group.

Earlier studies highlighted a protective function for neuroglobin and showed that mouse brains respond to stress, which in this case is a lack of oxygen, by producing more neuroglobin.

Avramopoulos explained: “The older we get, the less neuroglobin this particular gene produces in our brains – unless something stimulates the gene to produce more. That something could be a stressor such as a lack of oxygen resulting from stoke or emphysema, for instance. And it looks like it also could be Alzheimer’s disease. Further work on this gene will likely provide intervention targets for a multitude of very common conditions including Alzheimer’s.”

The study has been published in Neurobiology of Aging. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: associate professor, Brain Disease, control group, Dimitrios, emphysema, Gene Product, Gene Variation, genetic medicine, Genetic variations, human brain tissue, johns hopkins university, johns hopkins university school, johns hopkins university school of medicine, lack of oxygen, mckusick, mouse brains, nathans, neighbourhood, school of medicine, study researchers, time scientists

Blackcurrants may help fight Alzheimer’s

May 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 04 (ANI): Compounds in blackcurrants may help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to British scientists.
The Scottish Crop Research Institute is working on a project trying to identify if the fruits can help tackle the crippling brain disease.

This new project will examine cost-effective methods of extracting the compounds and how they can be developed into new functional food ingredients.

The research team is to use its expertise in blackcurrant research to identify the active components and help optimise their extraction.

The consortium will also help formulate the best-performing blackcurrant components into products suitable for human use.

The precise mechanism of how Alzheimer’s develops is not yet fully understood.

However, major scientific evidence suggests that brains suffering from the disease are characterised by intense oxidative stress.

Recent data suggests that diets containing various natural polyphenol compounds, with their associated high antioxidant capacity, can reduce the risk of the development of Alzheimer’s and other degenerative neurological conditions.

Fruit juices including blackcurrant have recently been shown to have strong neuroprotective activity in model systems.

“The natural components in blackcurrants have potent effects in the human cell and we believe that this activity, potentially antioxidant or by other mechanisms, reduces the damage to the nerve cells that initiates the progression to Alzheimer’s disease,” the Daily Express Dr Derek Stewart of the SCRI as saying. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: active components, antioxidant capacity, blackcurrants, Brain Disease, British scientists, compounds, daily express, dr derek, fight alzheimer, fruit juices, functional food ingredients, model systems, natural components, nerve cells, Neurological Conditions, potent effects, precise mechanism, scottish crop research, scottish crop research institute, scri

MTV Brings The Trials and Tribulations of Steve-O to Life in ‘Steve-O: Demise and…

April 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

MTV Brings The Trials and Tribulations of Steve-O to Life in ‘Steve-O: Demise
and Rise’ Airing on Sunday, May 3rd at 10:00pm ET/PT

“Steve-O: Demise and Rise” Is The Latest In A Series of Self-Doc Programming
Set To Air On The Network

NEW YORK, April 16 /PRNewswire/ — MTV continues to experiment and break the
mold in documentary filmmaking with the release of “Steve-O: Demise and Rise,”
a self-documented look inside the mind of a man struggling with drug and
alcohol addiction. This explosive special gives a raw, intimate first-hand
account of Steve-O’s downward spiral to when he ultimately hits rock bottom
and is saved by the intervention of friends and his own will to do whatever it
takes to get – and stay – sober. “Steve-O: Demise and Rise” airs on Sunday,
May 3rd at 10pm ET/PT.

“Addiction is a brain disease that kills. Steve suffered from the profound
consequences of long-standing polydrug addiction. The disease brought him to
the edge of sanity and one night nearly took his life,” said Dr. Drew Pinsky.
“His recovery has been an inspiring but gut-wrenching process. Steve remains
an inspiration to all. Those that have come to know him through this process
love him.”

“This documentary captures the most frightening moments of my friend at the
apex of his addiction. I know because I was there,” said Johnny Knoxville.
“More importantly though it offers hope, and documents the tremendous amount
of courage and hard work on Steve-O’s behalf to turn that hope into a healthy
person.”

Steve-O, a self-professed ham in front of the video camera, never leaves home
without it. Since his early teens, Steve-O has captured moments of his life on
tape, including everything from his days as an amateur stuntman and
flea-market clown to his rise to fame as popular member of “Jackass” and
“Wildboyz.” Consequently, the darkest hours of Steve-O’s life are also
captured. Viewers will see moments of extreme substance abuse, including the
marathon nitrous oxide sessions, terrorizing his next door neighbor, his
ill-fated attempt at being a gangsta-rapper and several infamous public
displays of self-destructive behavior. All of Steve-O’s antics lead to his
friends stepping in, turning off the camera and forcibly admitting him to the
medical center where he was forced to begin the process of learning to live
sober.

Since his intervention, it hasn’t been without hurdles that Steve-O has tried
to stay clean, sober and focused on making amends to those closest to him hurt
by his addiction — his family and friends. Steve-O’s journey has taken him
through highs and lows, and this documentary follows them all, right up until
his first performance this year on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.” Now faced
with the daily challenge of living a clean life while still being the Steve-O
that everyone loves, he wants it to be known that he is not the poster child
for drug addiction or recovery but wants to show how truly difficult it is to
stay sober every day.

“Steve-O: Demise and Rise” is executive produced by Jeff Tremaine, Johnny
Knoxville, Stephen Glover and Derek Freda for Dickhouse Entertainment. Tim
Healy and Dave Sirulnick are Executive Producers for MTV.

About MTV
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music,
creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged
the norm, and detonated boundaries — giving each new generation a creative
outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and
screen. On-air, MTV has been the number one rated 24 hour ad-supported cable
network P12-24 for 17 straight years. Online, MTV.com scored double-digit
growth in 2007 and MTV launched 15 dynamic online communities and eight new
virtual worlds. On the go, MTV Mobile is the #1 music brand in the wireless
space – delivering 90% more streams than in 2006. And MTV’s successful sibling
networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized
content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos
like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA,
VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across
all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… www.mtvpress.com.

SOURCE MTV

Melissa Barreto, MTV, +1-212-846-7226, melissa.barreto@mtvstaff.com

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