A huge leap forward in understanding Huntington’s disease may give patients hope for a cure.
Laboratory tests on skin cells and post-mortem brain tissue of Huntington’s disease patients determined that an overactive protein triggers a chain re…
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A team of U.S. and European researchers have found that a new vaccine strategy tested in mice provides stronger, more long-lasting protection from tuberculosis (TB) infection than the vaccine currently used in humans, known as BCG. Their fin…
BOSTON — January 23, 2011 — Strokes are a leading cause of mortality and adult disability. Those that involve intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) are especially deadly, and there are no effective treatments to control such bleeding….
Travel just one millimeter inside the brain and you’ll be stepping into the dark.
Standard light microscopes don’t allow researchers to look into the interior of the living brain, where memories are formed and diseases such as dementia and can…
Yale University researchers have found a gene that seems to be a key contributor to the onset of depression and is a promising target for a new class of antidepressants, they report Oct. 17 in the journal Nature Medicine.
“This could be a primary …
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — October 10, 2010 — Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) have found that an enzyme associated with the storage of fat in the liver is required for the infectious activity of the hepatitis C vir…
Biologists have found that a key protein that regulates the biological clocks of mammals also regulates glucose production in the liver and that altering the levels of this protein can improve the health of diabetic mice.
Their discovery, detailed…
New studies show that treatments targeting specific viral genes protected monkeys infected with deadly Ebola or Marburg viruses. Furthermore, the animals were protected even when therapeutics were administered one hour after exposure — suggesting t…
By pumping a potent growth factor directly into the human brain, an international team of scientists and surgeons has demonstrated significant remediation of the debilitating symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers have extended their earlier discovery of an unsuspected link between Type 1 diabetes and nervous system autoimmunity, such as that found in multiple sclerosis. This research has identified new therapeutic targets for diabetes prevention, and a strategy for diagnostic tests for early detection of diabetes risk. The research is described in the February issue of the scientific journal Nature Medicine, available online on January 21, 2003.
Using a common diabetes drug, researchers in Los Angeles have successfully treated pituitary tumors that cause a potentially life-threatening condition known as Cushing’s syndrome. The most common type of Cushing’s syndrome is caused by prolonged high-level exposure of a hormone called ACTH (adrenocorticotropin), which is secreted in excess by tumors of the pituitary gland, situated at the base of the brain and, which controls growth, metabolism and reproduction. Although the disorder is rare, it affects more women than men by a ratio of 5:1. Symptoms include weight gain with rounding of the face; increased fat in the neck; thinning skin; excess hair growth on the face neck, chest abdomen and thighs; muscle weakness and bone loss (osteoporosis); high blood sugar; diabetes; and high blood pressure.