Neurology News and Research

Latest Neurology News and Research

Breathing disorders during sleep are common among asthmatics

When asthmatics are awake, they can turn to their inhalers to open their airways. But when they sleep, many of them continue to struggle with breathing - and an understanding of their sleep-related problems may help doctors better diagnose and treat their patients' asthma, according to new University of Michigan Health System research.

26 May 2005

Protein TRPA1 essential for hearing also vital for pain perception

The same protein that "translates" sound into nerve signals to the brain and enables individuals to hear is also required for pain perception, researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found.

25 May 2005

Medical Research Council funds research to look at cannabis based medicines in multiple sclerosis treatment

A trial to determine whether cannabis-based medicines can reduce disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

24 May 2005

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people with little risk that these patients will seek ever-increasing doses, UCSF medical scientists have found. Younger patients, however, are likely to want to rapidly increase their medication dose, the researchers found, posing serious potential health consequences.

23 May 2005

British surgeons remove part of a woman's brain to cure her epilepsy

Helen Hollis, 41, from Teversal, near Mansfield, Nottingham, a former nurse and the mother of two, had her first seizure aged 19, but had to wait years before her condition was diagnosed.

23 May 2005

High-dose Tamoxifen may prolong survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Neurologist Benjamin Brooks, who directs the MDA ALS Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, presented results of a trial of tamoxifen, a drug approved for the treatment of breast cancer, at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April. The trial was supported in part by MDA.

23 May 2005

Vitamin E as part of diet may prevent Parkinson's

A new study by Canadian researchers at Royal Victoria Hospital in Quebec has shown that a moderate daily intake of vitamin E through foods appears to prevent the onset of Parkinson's disease.

22 May 2005

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people

Narcotic medications can safely and effectively ease severe, chronic pain in older people with little risk that these patients will seek ever-increasing doses, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) medical scientists have found. Younger patients, however, are likely to want to rapidly increase their medication dose, the researchers found, posing serious potential health consequences.

20 May 2005

Diet rich in vitamin E may protect against Parkinson's disease

In a meta-analysis to try to establish whether vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotene can lower the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD), scientists have found that diets rich in vitamin E could protect against the development of PD.

18 May 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

Mathematical way to identify babies at risk for epilepsy

Confusion and speech problems are frequent signs of seizures, but babies offer few such clues as to what ails them.

17 May 2005

The brain damage wrought by a minor stroke can alter the way artists paint

The study reports on two professional painters, both of whom had a stroke, located in the left occipital lobe of the brain and limbic thalamus, respectively.

17 May 2005

Changes in certain brain receptors can affect seizures and anxiety during the menstrual cycle

A new UCLA study shows that changes in certain brain receptors can affect seizures and anxiety during the menstrual cycle--findings that could lead to novel therapies for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD, formerly known as PMS) and other central nervous system symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle.

16 May 2005

Insulin - possible vaccine against type 1 diabetes

It has taken scientists at the University of Miami's Diabetes Research Institute eight long years of painstaking research, but they believe they have finally pinned down Insulin, the hormone most closely linked to diabetes, to be the cause of the inherited form of the blood sugar disease.

11 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

Latinos develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease earlier

U.S. Latinos develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease earlier, on average, than white non-Latino people, according to a study in the May issue of Archives of Neurology.

9 May 2005

Glucose byproduct prevents brain damage after diabetic coma

A natural, non-toxic byproduct of glucose may prevent brain cell death and cognitive impairment in diabetics following an episode of severely low blood sugar, according to researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).

4 May 2005

Cell phone base stations change brain currents and cause unwellness

The radiation of a cell phone base station at a distance of 80 metres causes significant changes of the electrical currents in the brains of testees (measured by electroencefalogram, EEG). All the testees said they felt unwell during the radiation, some of them seriously.

2 May 2005

African Americans disproportionately faced with stroke says the American Stroke Association

There are many faces of stroke. This year, 700,000 Americans of all ages, genders and ethnicities will have a new or recurrent stroke.

2 May 2005

Antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system

By studying animals, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that the antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system, problems that can develop even though antiretroviral therapy controls the virus elsewhere in the body.

1 May 2005