By Danielle Ryan, Special to CNN updated 2:46 PM EDT, Thu October 30, 2014 Genetic research has been used to treat all kinds of disorders and diseases. STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Researchers have found dozens of new genes that may play a role in causing autism, according to two studies published Wednesday in the medical journal Nature. Scientists identified 60 genes with a greater than 90% chance of increasing a child's autism risk. Previous research has yielded only 11 genes that had been confirmed with this level of certainty. Though other studies have shown the importance of genetics in the development of autism, experts say these new studies zero in on the exact nature of the genetic mutations that cause the disorder. The researchers say these genes appear to be clustering around three sets of key biological functions. The first set focuses on the development of synapses in the brain, which are responsible for all kinds of communication between nerves. The second set is responsible for the creation of genetic instructions, and the third is responsible for DNA packaging within cells. Each of these functions could have an effect on the individual that would cause the traits commonly associated with … Continue reading →

By Danielle Ryan, Special to CNN October 30, 2014 -- Updated 1846 GMT (0246 HKT) Genetic research has been used to treat all kinds of disorders and diseases. STORY HIGHLIGHTS (CNN) -- Researchers have found dozens of new genes that may play a role in causing autism, according to two studies published Wednesday in the medical journal Nature. Scientists identified 60 genes with a greater than 90% chance of increasing a child's autism risk. Previous research has yielded only 11 genes that had been confirmed with this level of certainty. Though other studies have shown the importance of genetics in the development of autism, experts say these new studies zero in on the exact nature of the genetic mutations that cause the disorder. The researchers say these genes appear to be clustering around three sets of key biological functions. The first set focuses on the development of synapses in the brain, which are responsible for all kinds of communication between nerves. The second set is responsible for the creation of genetic instructions, and the third is responsible for DNA packaging within cells. Each of these functions could have an effect on the individual that would cause the traits commonly associated … Continue reading →

Published October 30, 2014 Time its one of the most crucial elements when caring for a stroke patient. During a stroke, two million brain cells die every minute, said Dr. Peter Rasmussen of the Cleveland Clinic. The brain begins to die the moment it begins to lose blood supply and its flow of oxygen, he said. Its vital to administer the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), something that has been difficult to do, until now. Medical professionals are now going to the patients, instead of making patients travel to them. "Think of the mobile stroke unit as being an emergency room on wheels. Onboard the mobile stroke unit we have a CAT scan, all the laboratory equipment we need to evaluate a patient early on with a stroke, wireless connectivity back to our hospital and, all the medications needed to treat the patient, Rasmussen said. The mobile stroke unit was named the number one innovation at the Medical Innovations Summit. One woman said it saved her grandmothers life. I noticed that her left side was just she wasnt really using her left hand or left arm. And she wasnt using her left leg, she was dragging it, said Courtney … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 30-Oct-2014 Contact: Jim Ritter jritter@lumc.edu 708-216-2445 Loyola University Health System @LoyolaHealth MAYWOOD, Ill. (Date) During the first 24 hours after a stroke, attention to detail --such as hospital bed positioning -- is critical to patient outcomes. Most strokes are caused by blood clots that block blood flow to the brain. Sitting upright can harm the patient because it decreases blood flow and oxygen to the brain just when the brain needs more blood. Thus, it's reasonable to keep patients lying flat or as nearly flat as possible, according to a report in the journal MedLink Neurology by Loyola University Medical Center neurologist Murray Flaster, MD, PhD and colleagues. But strokes also can increase intracranial pressure (brain swelling) that can damage the brain. Sitting upright helps improve blood drainage and reduce intracranial pressure -- but at a cost of reduced blood flow to the brain. "There are few data to guide decision making in this difficult situation," Flaster and colleagues write. Further complicating stroke care, some patients have orthopnea (difficulty breathing while lying flat). In such patients, the head of the bed should be kept at the lowest elevation the patient can tolerate. Finally, frequent changes in body … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 30-Oct-2014 Contact: Leila Gray leilag@uw.edu 206-685-0381 University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine A newly developed mouse model suggests that genetic factors are behind the mild-to-deadly range of reactions to the Ebola virus. People exposed to Ebola vary in how the virus affects them. Some completely resist the disease, others suffer moderate to severe illness and recover, while those who are most susceptible succumb to bleeding, organ failure and shock. In earlier studies of populations of people who have contracted Ebola, these differences are not related to any specific changes in the Ebola virus itself that made it more or less dangerous; instead, the body's attempts to fight infection seems to determine disease severity. In the Oct. 30 edition of Science, scientists describe strains of laboratory mice bred to test the role of an individual's genetic makeup in the course of Ebola disease. Systems biologists and virologists Angela Rasmussen and Michael Katze from the Katze Laboratory at the University of Washington Department of Microbiology led the study in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research on Ebola prevention and treatment has been hindered by … Continue reading →