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Neurons can produce Alzheimer's-linked apolipoprotein E

A question long debated among Alzheimer's disease researchers has been definitively answered by scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco.

10 May 2006

Compound found in marijuana may defend against diabetic retinopathy

A compound found in marijuana won't make you high but it may help keep your eyes healthy if you're a diabetic, researchers say.

1 Mar 2006

Major Alzheimer's discovery

A team from the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Laval and the research centre at CHUQ (Centre hospitalier universitaire de Quibec) has discovered a natural defence mechanism that the body deploys to combat nerve cell degeneration observed in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

17 Feb 2006

Researchers uncover new toxic mechanism in ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease

Exactly how ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease - damages motor neurons is one of medical science's lingering mysteries. At least six mishaps within cells appear to contribute to the death of the nerves that enable muscle movement, but nothing stands out as the key problem.

6 Jan 2006

Brain's endocannabinoids protects neurons from inflammation

Some clinical studies have indicated that marijuana or its active cannabinoid ingredient alleviates symptoms of the inflammatory disease multiple sclerosis (MS).

5 Jan 2006

Aging may intensify and prolong feeling run down when common infections like the flu occur

A new study, done with mice and published in the Federation of the American Societies of Experimental Biology Journal, suggests that miscommunication between the immune system and brain may be to blame for extended sickness symptoms and other cognitive disorders in elderly people and animals with an infection.

11 Oct 2005

Nasal vaccination with a proteosome-based adjuvant and glatiramer acetate clears beta-amyloid in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common form of senile dementia, with no effective treatment available. In a study appearing online on August 11 in advance of print publication of the September 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Howard Weiner and colleagues from Harvard describe a novel immunologic approach for the treatment of AD.

11 Aug 2005

New research suggests that accumulation of amyloid-beta peptides in cerebral blood vessels causes vascular damage in Alzheimer's disease

New research suggests that accumulation of amyloid-â peptides in cerebral blood vessels, as opposed to the brain itself, may be a more important pathological mediator of Alzheimer's disease. Two independent yet related articles describe such findings in the August issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

21 Jul 2005

Researchers successfully treat laboratory model of a lysosomal storage disease called GM1

Physicians might one day be able to treat a disease that destroys brain cells in children using genetically modified cells to transport a "drug" to the site of the dying neural cells (cells that transmit impulses).

27 Jun 2005

Researchers prevent post-traumatic brain damage using experimental drug

In animal studies, researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center have shown how traumatic brain injury leads to loss of brain function - and found that an experimental drug can stop the damage and promote recovery.

18 May 2005

Common antibiotic called minocycline may slow or prevent diabetic retinopathy

The team found that minocycline, often used to treat acne, limits by about 50 percent the retinal damage caused by microglia. Microglia are cells that act as the "cleanup crew" for the Central Nervous System (CNS).

11 May 2005

Potential therapeutic target for treating Huntington's disease

Researchers studying yeast cells have identified a metabolic enzyme as a potential therapeutic target for treating Huntington's disease, a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disorder for which there is currently no effective treatment. The group, whose results appear in the May issue of Nature Genetics, includes researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

6 Apr 2005

Research shows preventive effects of cannabinoids on Alzheimer's disease

New research shows that a synthetic analogue of the active component of marijuana may reduce the inflammation and prevent the mental decline associated with Alzheimer's disease.

22 Feb 2005

Brain inflammation is a sign of autism

A new study by scientists at Johns Hopkins shows that brain inflammation is a sign of autism. The findings are reported in the online edition of Annals of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Neurological Association.

15 Nov 2004

Researchers have shown that an experimental vaccine can reduce the amount of neurodegeneration in a mouse model for Parkinson's disease

The finding suggests that a similar therapy might eventually be able to slow the devastating course of Parkinson's disease in humans.

29 Jul 2004

Significant vaccine advance for Parkinson’s disease therapy

Scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and Columbia University Medical Center in New York have discovered a new vaccine approach that successfully prevents the death of brain cells in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

15 Jun 2004

Jefferson scientists learn how HIV causes dementia

Ever since the AIDS epidemic began more than two decades ago, scientists have been trying to understand why as many as one-quarter of those infected with HIV develop dementia.

19 Apr 2004

Cigarette Smoking May Lower Rates of Neurodegenerative Diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's

While the health risks of tobacco are well known, several studies have shown that people with a history of cigarette smoking have lower rates of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. However, the explanations for nicotine's neuroprotective effects continue to be debated.

22 Mar 2004