New drug with unusual promise enters ALS pipeline
... of motor neurons -- the nerve cells that activate muscles -- in the spinal cord. Patients become progressively weaker until muscle use is entirely lost. In the Hopkins studies, however, pigment epithelium-derived factor, orPEDF, safeguards nerves in the animal spinal cords that serve as models,"o...Gene therapy holds promise for treating inherited Lou Gehrig's Disease
... progressiveneurological disorder that renders the muscles of the body useless while leavingthe mind unaffected. This finding suggests that a similar gene therapy approach might somedayprove effective in treating humans with ALS, according to NorthwesternUniversity developmental neurobiologist Martha...Duke scientists reverse a rare form of muscular dystrophy in mice using gene therapy
...r a therapeutic gene product throughout all of the muscles ofthe body to reverse muscle wasting, a result tha... the body,including the heart, causing the various muscles to degenerate. Several forms of Pompe disease affect more than 5,000 people in theUnited St...Biology, engineering jointly train students in neuro-mechanics
... needs to understand how the skeleton, nerves, and muscles controlled by the nervous system function in order to produce these functions through the neuroprostheses, says Crago. "The way nature does it may be the optimum way to solve problems," he adds. Other faculty participating in the project are Randal...Even in the Amazon jungles, treatment for heat exhaustion is the same as it is right here at home
...levelof antioxidants, which help protect cells and muscles from damage. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which ca...reduced amount ofblood circulating to your working muscles and the rest of your body, includingyour brain. Even a one percent loss of volume can begin to cause...SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19 -- Animal muscles crippled due to a form of musculardystrophy can be... San Francisco, offer the first evidence thatwhole muscles can be functionally rescued in any type of muscular dystrophyusing an extremely safe gene vector. "W......ing sensory signals from body parts like the skin, muscles andinternal organs to the central nervous system. As a result, parts of the bodymay function inappropriately or not at all. Diseases such as diabetes orrheumatoid arthritis can cause peripheral neuropathy, as can infections, leadpoisoning or exposu...Fossil mayflies can be used to 'weigh' ancient atmospheres
...imes a second to rise in the air. They rest their muscles and "parachute" downward, then fly upward again and again in hopes of finding a reproductive partner. Most mayfly species live only a few days as adults, but the occasional insect that isn't eaten by predators or otherwise recycled sometimes lands ...Scientists figure out how cells' tiniest motors work
...-more-studied cellular motor, myosin which enables muscles to move. Bothprotein motors convert the chemical energy into work with an impressive 50 percent efficiency,roughly five times better than car engines. "This kinesin motor movement is quite amazing," said UCSF's Ronald Vale. "Myosin produces motionu...Creatine may improve performance during short bursts of activity
...nsity exercise, when the muscles need a quick burst of energy. ... the muscles, Leenders said. In other words, the muscles may not have had enough time to re-synthesize their ...Researcher finds alternatives to antibiotics for growing chickens
...he flu," Cook says. "They don't want to eat, their muscles begin to break down and they lose weight." The...t eating. The cytokines also trigger a response in muscles that promotes wasting. Cook has tested two compounds that allow birds to grow just as fast as bi...Heat can help maintain muscle mass in immobilized limbs, study shows
...r during bed rest as well as for astronauts, whose muscles often atrophy in the weightlessness of space, said...that had been treated with heat therapy before the muscles were made inactive compared with muscles that were not treated but also were made inactive, accordin...Brain neurochemicals, not gender, tell a female to act like a female
...l muscles, much like the nerves that control vocal muscles of the human larynx. The fictive vocalizations are displayed on a computer and heard through a speaker; despite their electronic format, the recordings sound virtually identical to the natural sounds of free-swimming males and females.) Next the ...Researchers learn how degradation of proteins changes muscles during exercise
...occurs normally in exercise trainingor anytime the muscles are constantly contracted." Because the laboratory rabbits are normally sedentary, when a selected fast-twitch muscle wasstimulated to contract continuously, it was relatively easy for scientists to monitor the biochemicalassociated with its change t...Sports massage of little physical benefit
...performances. Lactate is the substance released by muscles on prolonged exertion: itsaccumulation 'tires' the muscles and its dispersal into the bloodstreamfacilitates the recovery. Massage is thought to speed up blood......ne how feedback from their eyes affects the flight muscles and ultimately allows spectacular maneuverability....re." Similarly, Dickinson has dissected the flight muscles of the fly and the nerves that control them to find out how flies are able to wheel around in midair...Northwestern researchers clone gene responsible for inner ear motor
...d myosin, the latter being the protein that causes muscles to contract. Roughly 25 million people in the United States are severely hard of hearing, and many of these deficits are related to the loss of outer hair cell function. In addition to the health implications of the prestin discovery, these tiny ...Weight training helps to maintain good health, study finds
...y Staron and his colleagues that is focused on how muscles respond to weight training. Last year, they publis...previously thought. What's more, Staron found that muscles appear to respond to even limited weight training - he noted significant changes in the thigh muscle...UF researchers find painless electrical stimulus helps restore hand movement for stroke patients
...ght electrical current to painlessly stimulate the muscles of his arm. He was one of several who regained som...ren't able to activate the control, to turn on the muscles to extend those fingers." So Cauraugh and colleagues from UF's College of Health Professions -- inc......ntegrates function of the heart, lungs and working muscles into a single index. Ira Tager, MD, MPH, a professor of public health biology and epidemiology at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health, was Hollenberg's co-author on the study, which appears in the July issue of the Journal of the American Colleg...