More than two-thirds of people who suffer from major depression can become symptom-free if they are willing to work with their doctors and try various treatments to determine which work best for them, which may involve taking different antidepressants or adding cognitive therapy to the mix.
In the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind to date, researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed clinical improvements out to one year when stroke survivors who had lost function in one arm were given a unique, two-week rehabilitation regimen.
An extensive NIH-supported study has found that low-intensity laser treatment, thought to be possibly beneficial in slowing or preventing the loss of vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is ineffective in preventing complications of AMD or loss of vision. This is the major conclusion of the Complications of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Prevention Trial (CAPT), a research study of more than 1,000 people that will be published in the November 2006 issue of the journal Ophthalmology. The study was supported by grants from the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A meta-analysis published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicts oral contraceptives as putting premenopausal women at significantly increased risk for breast cancer, especially women who use them prior to having a child.
New data presented today from a meta-analysis* of nearly 1,300 Parkinson?s disease (PD) patients, indicate that pramipexole (Mirapexin?/Sifrol?) has a beneficial effect on depressive and motivational symptoms in PD.1 This confirms findings from previously published clinical trials,2,3,4 and is in addition to its established efficacy in controlling motor symptoms. These findings are of particular interest as mood symptoms in PD can affect up to 50 percent of the patient population.1,5 The data were presented at the 10th International Congress of Parkinson?s Disease and Movement Disorders (MDS) in Kyoto, Japan.
A research center newly created by the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) aims to put light-sensitive switches in the body’s cells that can be flipped on and off as easily as a remote control operates a TV. Optical switches like these could trigger a chemical reaction, initiate a muscle contraction, activate a drug or stimulate a nerve cell – all at the flash of a light.
The high-stakes task of designing new drugs relies on high-tech tools, especially computerized, three-dimensional simulations of proteins. Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), contributing their massive computational capabilities to a collaboration with colleagues at the University of Washington (UW) and IBM, have helped to achieve the largest-ever protein-structure prediction – and completed the complex simulation in less than three hours.
A study in the US has found there is no greater risk of osteoarthritis in rock climbers compared to non climbers, contrary to previous theory.
The number of women being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in Canada is growing faster than the incidence among men, say researchers who suspect an environmental link. Multiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS, also known as disseminated sclerosis) is a chronic, inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS).
Despite the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of grains as much as a third of women of childbearing age are not getting the recommended amounts, says a study from Canada.