Monthly Archives: March 2012

Turmeric compound shows promise for Parkinson's treatment

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

Washington, March 21 (ANI): Curcumin, a compound found in the spice turmeric, has been found to be effective at preventing clumping of a protein involved in Parkinson's disease. A team of researchers led by Basir Ahmad, a Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher, demonstrated earlier this year that slow-wriggling alpha-synuclein proteins are the cause of clumping, or aggregation, which is the first step of diseases such as Parkinson's. Now, a new study led by Ahmad has found that curcumin can help prevent clumping. "Our research shows that curcumin can rescue proteins from aggregation, the first steps of many debilitating diseases," said Lisa Lapidus, MSU associate professor of physics and astronomy who co-authored study with Ahmad. "More specifically, curcumin binds strongly to alpha-synuclein and prevents aggregation at body temperatures," she stated. Lapidus' lab uses lasers to study protein folding. Proteins are chains of amino acids that do most of the work in cells. Scientists understand protein structure, but they don't know how they are built - a process known as folding. Lapidus' team is shedding light on the process by correlating the speed at which protein folds with its tendency to clump or bind with other proteins. When curcumin attaches to alpha-synuclein … Continue reading →

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$100-million Children’s Treatment Centre to be built in lower city

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

Hamiltons new $100-million Childrens Treatment Centre will be built next to the General Hospital on Wellington Street North, in an area of the city hospital administrators say is one of Hamiltons most vulnerable neighbourhoods. McMaster Childrens Hospital officials made the surprise announcement Tuesday that the five-storey, state-of-the-art building would not be erected at the Chedoke site of Hamilton Health Sciences on the west Mountain, as originally planned. Dr. Peter Fitzgerald, president of the childrens hospital, said after further consideration, administrators realized they didnt necessarily have to construct the facility where the services are being offered now. They decided to consider a wider range of possibilities. We started being introspective, he said. We stepped back ... and wondered, What is the best location for all of Hamilton and the region? Fitzgerald noted the lower city site is surrounded by neighbourhoods identified in The Spectators Code Red series as having high rates of poverty that went hand in hand with poor health. Last summer, Laurel Broten, who was Ontarios minister of children and youth services at the time, announced Hamilton Health Sciences would receive full funding for the building that would replace four rundown Chedoke sites that house programs for young people. … Continue reading →

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UNE Graduate Students in Health Professions Learn From Brain Injury Experts

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

The University of New England has partnered with the Michael T. Goulet Traumatic Brain Injury and Epilepsy Foundation for the 10th annual Interprofessional Educational Collaborative (IPEC) Spring Symposium that will bring together graduate students in all of UNEs health professions to explore neuroscience discoveries and clinical practice. The daylong event will begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday, April 5, 2012 and will be held on the Portland and Biddeford campuses. The event is not open to the public. Biddeford and Portland, Maine (PRWEB) March 21, 2012 The symposium has been organized around a case study on Michael Goulet who endured a traumatic brain injury as a result of a snowmobile injury on February 15, 2003. He underwent brain surgery, and survived. Recovery included weeks in a coma, months of intensive rehabilitation, and years of further medical care. Subsequent to his recovery Michael developed a seizure disorder, and at the age of 13 he suffered from his first Grand Mal seizure two years post recovery. He had daily episodes of seizure activity from then on, despite continued care and medical treatment. In October 2010, Michael passed away from complications from his last Grand Mal seizure. Michael Goulets father, Brad Goulet, mother, … Continue reading →

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BHR Pharma's SyNAPSe trial reaches important enrollment milestone on Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Day

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

Public release date: 21-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Amy Leahing aleahing@p4strategy.com 305-458-0599 BHR Pharma, LLC Herndon, VA March 21, 2012 As communities in the United States gather in support of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Day, BHR Pharma, LLC's SyNAPSe clinical trial reaches an important enrollment milestone. "Every year, millions of us come together in March to raise awareness for the need for better prevention, rehabilitation and treatments for TBI. Unfortunately, even with more than 75 clinical trials in the past 20 years, no drug treatment has been proven effective for the treatment of TBI," said Thomas W. MacAllister, JD, PhD, President & CEO of BHR Pharma who is joining the brain injury community on Capitol Hill today. "We are excited that on this awareness day we met our 400th patient milestone, bringing us one step closer to potentially having the first ever approved drug treatment for severe TBI. This is truly a critical month for the brain injury community and our clinical trial, not just in the United States, but worldwide." The trial has enrolled the 400 patients needed for the interim analysis. The primary endpoint for the SyNAPSe trial is the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) … Continue reading →

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BHR Pharma's SyNAPSe® Trial Reaches Important Enrollment Milestone on Brain Injury Awareness Day

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

HERNDON, Va., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As communities in the United States gather in support of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Awareness Day, BHR Pharma, LLC's SyNAPSe clinical trial reaches an important enrollment milestone. "Every year, millions of us come together in March to raise awareness for the need for better prevention, rehabilitation and treatments for TBI. Unfortunately, even with more than 75 clinical trials in the past 20 years, no drug treatment has been proven effective for the treatment of TBI," said Thomas W. MacAllister, JD, PhD, President& CEO of BHR Pharma who is joining the brain injury community on Capitol Hill today. "We are excited that on this awareness day we met our 400th patient milestone, bringing us one step closer to potentially having the first ever approveddrug treatment for severe TBI. This is truly a critical month for the brain injury community and our clinical trial, not just in the United States, but worldwide." The trial has enrolled the 400 patients needed for the interim analysis. The primary endpoint for the SyNAPSe trial is the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at six months post-injury. If the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board responsible for reviewing the study observes overwhelming … Continue reading →

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Researchers: Stem cell cures are on the way

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Stem cells are the focus of debate in Sacramento where an effort is underway to use more than $1 billion in voter-approved bonds to continue experiments that may one day cure disease. Major medical breakthroughs take time, but as public money for stem cell research is spent down, the pressure to cure something is going up. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is about to enter a crucial stage in stem cell research, going to clinical trials. The most promising experiments could cure diabetes, HIV, sickle cell anemia, and blindness in the elderly. "You don't really get to find out whether the potential of the treatment is really going to be effective until you start to treat the patients," Alan Trounson explained. CIRM's board is discussing how much to allocate for that trial phase. Through the 2004 voter-approved bonds under Proposition 71, it has already given out or spent half of the $3 billion, but despite the medical promise, there's little to show for it beyond basic research and several high-tech labs. Still, the agency says the breakthroughs will come over the next few years, way ahead of the rest of the world. "This would … Continue reading →

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California institute fights to continue stem cell research

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

Written by Nannette Miranda, ABC7 SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, CIRM, is about to enter a crucial stage in stem cell research: going to clinical trials. The most promising experiments could cure: diabetes, HIV, sickle cell and blindness in the elderly. "You don't really get to find out whether the potential of the treatment is really going to be effective until you start with patients, the human subjects," CIRM's Alan Trounson said. CIRM's board is discussing how much to allocate for that trial phase. Through voter-approved bonds under Proposition 71, it has already given out or spent half of the $3 billion, but despite the medical promise, there's little to show for it beyond basic research and several high-tech labs. But the agency said the breakthroughs will come over the next few years, way ahead of the rest of the world. "This would all be happening in California, all driven by this Proposition 71 money," Trounson said. The bond money is expected to last only several more years. One option is to ask voters to approve more bonds, something taxpayer groups oppose. Continued here: California institute fights to continue stem cell research … Continue reading →

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Dr. Richard Rainey Discusses Coverage Decisions in Relation to Genetic Testing – Video

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

20-03-2012 10:33 Dr. Richard Rainey, Executive Medical Director at Regence Blue Shield in Idaho, talks about some of the factors that go into coverage decisions as they relate to genetic testing, as well as some of the challenges that personalized medicine will present for payers. Read more: Dr. Richard Rainey Discusses Coverage Decisions in Relation to Genetic Testing - Video … Continue reading →

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Research Spots Potential New Target in Fight Against Baldness

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Men worried about encroaching baldness, take heart: A genetic analysis of tissue taken from both bald and hairier spots on men's scalps has identified a protein involved in male pattern hair loss. The researchers note that drugs that inhibit the protein are already in development, and it's possible those drugs could one day be used to help men preserve their head of hair. In the study, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania did an analysis of more than 25,000 genes and honed in on one that produces an enzyme that produces a protein known as PGD2. That protein is present in much higher levels in bald spots. When scientists placed PGD2 on hair follicles in a petri dish, they found the protein inhibited hair growth. Researchers then tested the protein on mice genetically engineered to lack a receptor for PGD2, and found that hair growth was unaffected. But when PGD2 was applied to mice that have a different receptor (GPR44), the mice grew less hair. PGD2 is a type of prostaglandin, or a hormone-like substance known to be involved in many body functions, including regulating the contraction and … Continue reading →

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Genetic mutation found in familial chronic diarrhea syndrome

Posted: Published on March 22nd, 2012

Public release date: 21-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Chris Gunter or Holly Ralston cgunter@hudsonalpha.org 256-327-0400 HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- When the intestines are not able to properly process our diet, a variety of disorders can develop, with chronic diarrhea as a common symptom. Chronic diarrhea can also be inherited, most commonly through conditions with genetic components such as irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers in Norway, India, and at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have identified one heritable DNA mutation that leads to chronic diarrhea and bowel inflammation. Shawn Levy, Ph.D., faculty investigator at HudsonAlpha said, "Based on the effects seen from this one mutation, we are hopeful that the work will aid in understanding of much more common diseases like Crohn's and irritable bowel syndrome, which also have inflammation and diarrhea as symptoms." The Norwegian family studied for the paper published today in The New England Journal of Medicine has 32 living members with a number of related inflammatory bowel conditions. Such a large family allowed scientists in Norway to use traditional genetic linkage methods to narrow down the potential DNA mutation to one portion of chromosome 12, and then to a specific gene called … Continue reading →

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