Two new large-scale genomic studies have honed in on the main genetic pathway associated with multiple sclerosis, while also uncovering new genetic variations in the disease and suggesting a possible link between multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.
One of six Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) in the country has been established at the University of California, San Diego by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be directed by Eric Courchesne, Ph.D., professor of neurosciences at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a leading expert on brain abnormalities associated with autism, a brain disorder affecting an estimated two million people in the U.S. The symptoms are impaired social, emotional, language and cognitive development.
Patients treated with Betaferon? (interferon beta-1b) shortly after their first clinical MS event or ?attack? showed a 40 percent lower risk of developing confirmed disability when compared to patients in whom treatment was delayed. The results ? which were fast-tracked and published in The Lancet today ? provide the first controlled evidence that delaying Betaferon? treatment has an effect on later accumulation of disability. No other MS therapy has demonstrated this effect in this early patient population.
In the developing world the contribution of the ?ABC? message (abstinence, be faithful, use a condom) remains unknown. Programmes that exclusively encourage abstinence from sex do not seem to affect the risk of HIV infection in high income countries, finds a review of the evidence in this week?s BMJ.
Using a novel approach, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a prototype vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) that works better in animal models than the only TB vaccine now available. In this era of multi-drug resistant TB and growing numbers of people with active TB due to coinfection with HIV, the advance could herald a needed breakthrough against one of the world?s leading killers.
A preliminary study of 85 patients with bipolar disorder shows that a drug used to treat patients with sleep disorders might also control the depressive symptoms associated with bipolar disorder. At least 44 percent of the participants in the study reported improved symptoms, a noteworthy improvement for a disorder in which new treatments are needed, according to the study’s author, Mark Frye, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Mood Disorders Clinic and Research Program.
Secondary prevention programs for coronary heart disease that contain less than 10 hours contact with health professionals and those provided by family doctors are just as effective in saving lives as more expensive, longer and more specialized hospital-based alternatives, according to cardiovascular researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
Fruits and vegetables — tasty and a vital part of daily nutrition. But researchers worldwide continue to seek better ways to use the healthful properties of these foods. Many of these scientists will meet in Houston Oct. 9-13 to share the latest findings.
In the past ten years, researchers in genome stability have observed that many kinds of cancer are associated with areas where human chromosomes break. They have hypothesized ? but never proven ? that slow or altered replication led to the chromosomes breaking.
Long-term use of histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2A), one class of drugs that blocks stomach acid, may be associated with cognitive impairment in older African-American adults. According to an Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the risk for showing signs of cognitive impairment is 2.5 times greater for patients using these medications long-term.