Rolipram - a potential new treatment for Alzheimer disease
...stages of the disease when behavioral changes were initially noted and were actually greater in older mice, suggesting that this class of drug might not be limited to treatment in the initial phases of disease. Further studies will determine how long improvements in cognitive function persist after a single co...Herpes virus offers new hope in curing cancer
...tudies," Dr. Cripe said. Dr. Cripe and colleagues initially considered gene therapies to treat neuroblastoma tumors, but gene therapy is limiting in that the gene must be delivered to every single tumor cell individually. In comparison, oncolytic viruses can replicate and spread and theoretically can efficien...Computer simulation shows how fibrils form
... In the simulation movie, 12 to 96 peptides were initially scattered randomly across the computer screen. When set into motion, the researchers first saw groups of two to five proteins coming together and falling apart and eventually forming amorphous clumps that twist around each other, like a rope. These t...Rush University Medical Center testing magnetic stimulation for depression
...se of ECT. Patients who qualify for the trial will initially receive 30 sessions over a period of six weeks. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that depression affects more than 18 million adults every year. Even with recent advances in antidepressant medications, a significant percentage of patie...Capsules may be effective in treating bipolar disorder
... phase 3 trials of ERC-CBZ monotherapy in patients initially requiring hospitalization. The trial involved 443 patients ages 18 to 76 years with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnosis of bipolar disorder (current episode manic or mixed) who were randomized to...Researchers find ultrasound helps drug dissolve stroke-causing blood clots
...t professor of neurology at the UT Medical School, initially used the ultrasound device to track the efficacy of tPA, the only approved drug for treating blood clots in stroke victims. However, emergency room nurses began telling him that patients who had been monitored in this way were recovering faster than...Intervention boosts activity in kids, especially minorities
...percent. More than 13 percent of the students who initially reported moderate physical activity such as bicycling increased their activities to more vigorous activities such as swimming and running. The exercise activities were assigned metabolic equivalent scores, which ranged from 0 to 8. Caucasian childre...Drug-eluting stents adopted quickly, with early disparities
...commended that drug-eluting stents were to be used initially for fairly straightforward cases of blocked arteries, as was tested in the devices' clinical trials. However, just as is the case with prescribing medications off-label, physicians are free to place stents in any patient. Of all the drug-eluting sten...New insights into muscle adaptation to exercise
...animal models, the researchers found that exercise initially stimulates the production of VEGF, which then leads to an increase in the number of capillaries within a specific muscle fiber type, ultimately leading to an anaerobic to aerobic change in the muscle fibers supplied by those vessels. The VEGF gene pr...Weight gain found to be harder on the heart than maintaining higher weight
...es. The study followed nearly 2,500 men and women initially aged 18 to 30 over 15 years. Approximately 82 percent of the study's participants gained 15 pounds or more over the 15 years they were followed. Nearly 1 in 5 in this "gain" group developed metabolic syndrome a group of metabolic risk factors that...Some chest pain patients may benefit from more evaluation
...l emergency rooms with chest pain but who weren't initially diagnosed with heart problems went on to have hea...alysis found that 2.8 percent of patients who were initially diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain had definitive evidence of a heart attack, unstable angina, ca...New finding could make addiction treatment more effective
...earch in animals and humans has shown that alcohol initially acts as a sedative in casual drinkers, making it easier to sleep. But in the second half of the night, sleep is often disrupted. In chronic alcohol users, the brain develops a tolerance to the sedative effects of alcohol and there is an increase in l...Location of body fat important in predicting heart attack risk
...ugh exercise and diet." The study was conducted in initially healthy 70- to 79-year-old men and women from Pittsburgh, Pa., and Memphis, Tenn., who were enrolled in the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study. Individuals were eligible for the study if they reported no life-threatening illness su...OHSU study: Testosterone deprivation makes men forget
...milar deficits - the ability to encode information initially but forget it quickly - is seen in individuals with well-known cognitive disorders. "A colleague looked at (the study results) and said, 'Wow, that looks exactly like what happens with a lesion in the hippocampus,'" Janowsky said. "When others ...Gender and sex hormones affect the brain's pain response and more, according to new studies
...iscovered that high levels of estradiol in females initially increased, then subsequently suppressed, the production of new brain cells in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is involved in learning and memory and that produces new neurons throughout life. This same pattern does not...Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announces macugen data on treating macular degeneration
... subtypes of neovascular AMD. 1,186 patients were initially randomized to receive one of three doses of intravitreous Macugen or sham (control) injection every six weeks for 54 weeks. Thereafter patients were re-randomized to continue or discontinue treatment for a further year. The second year of the study...DOE labs, universities and second sight partner to speed development of 'artificial retina'
... lifetime of a blind person. Although images will initially be captured by a camera housed in an eyeglass frame, researchers hope eventually to develop a completely implanted system for this purpose. DOE's effort is focused on developing high-grade microelectrodes and testing their long term biological effec...Exercise prevents Parkinson's symptoms in lab model mimicking human form of the disease
...stment in one's health," Smeyne said. The study initially investigated whether a so-called enriched environment (EE) could protect mice treated with MPTP. The EE included exercise wheels, companionship of other mice and a tunnel with a configuration that researchers changed weekly to provide mental stimulat...Reconstituted blood is better for infants' heart surgery than fresh blood
... Reconstituted blood also costs slightly more initially than fresh blood. but the overall savings from reconstituted blood use during recovery could be thousands of dollars. During the study, babies who received the reconstituted blood for heart surgery left the cardiac ICU roughly 25 percent quicker than...Northwestern receives $2.1 million grant for Parkinson's disease research
...tter from surviving dopaminergic neurons. Although initially effective in many patients with Parkinson's disease, the benefits of levodopa therapy are relatively short-lived and are accompanied by unwanted motor side effects. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus has provided relief of some motor...