Brain tumors appear to arise from cancer stem cells (CSCs) that live within microscopic protective “niches” formed by blood vessels in the brain; and disrupting these niches is a promising strategy for eliminating the tumors and preventing them from re-growing, according to results of a study by investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. CSCs are cells that continually multiply, acting as the source of tumors.
Using cocaine during pregnancy can cause disabling cognitive impairments in kids. These impairments include attention deficits, learning disabilities and emotional problems. The study was conducted by researchers at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.
Surveyors of anti-aging elixirs tout human growth hormone as a remedy for all things sagging-from skin to libidos — and claim it can even prevent or reverse aging. But researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine say there’s no evidence to suggest that this purported fountain of youth has any more effect than a trickle of tap water when it comes to fending off Father Time.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging, University College London, have shown that people with damage to the hippocampus, the area of the brain that plays a crucial role in learning and memory, not only have trouble remembering the past but also in imagining new and future experiences.
Patients who undergo combined heart bypass surgery and carotid endarterectomy, the most commonly used stroke prevention surgery, significantly increase their chances of death or stroke, according to a study published in the January 16, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
A new study has found a drop in the number of patients undergoing the most commonly used stroke prevention surgery, carotid endarterectomy, for inappropriate reasons. Researchers are crediting the drop to highly publicized randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that clarified the appropriate use of the surgery. The researchers’ findings are published in the January 16, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
University of Minnesota stem cell researchers, together with collaborators at Stanford University, have successfully used adult stem cells to replace the immune system and bone marrow of mice, offering the promise of new therapies for people in the future.
For the most part, dementia and delirium have been viewed as separate and distinct conditions. But a special section of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, appearing in January 2007, looks at their interface, asking: Can delirium itself lead to the development of a cognitive disorder? Do delirium and dementia represent opposite ends of the same spectrum of disease, rather than two separate conditions?
An international effort led by scientists at the University of Toronto, Columbia University and Boston University has isolated another gene responsible for Alzheimer’s disease.
Variations in a gene known as SORL1 may be a factor in the development of late onset Alzheimer’s disease, an international team of researchers has discovered. The genetic clue, which could lead to a better understanding of one cause of Alzheimer’s, is reported in Nature Genetics online, Jan. 14, 2007, and was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health.