PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 3-Apr-2014 Contact: B.D. Colen bd_colen@harvard.edu 617-413-1224 Harvard University Harvard stem cell scientists have discovered that a recently approved medication for epilepsy may possibly be a meaningful treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)Lou Gehrig's disease, a uniformly fatal neurodegenerative disorder. The researchers are now collaborating with Massachusetts General Hospital to design an initial clinical trial testing the safety of the treatment in ALS patients. The investigators all caution that a great deal needs to be done to assure the safety and efficacy of the treatment in ALS patients, before physicians should start offering it. The work, laid out in two related papers in the April 3 online editions of Cell Stem Cell and Cell Reports, is the long-term fruition of studies by Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Principal Faculty member Kevin Eggan, PhD, who, in a 2008 Science paper, first raised the possibility of using ALS patient-derived stem cells to better understand the disease and identify therapeutic targets for new drugs. Now Eggan and HSCI colleague Clifford Woolf, MD, PhD, have found that the many independent mutations that cause ALS may be linked by their ability to trigger abnormally high activity in motor neurons. Using neurons derived from … Continue reading →

Autism Breakthrough: My Recovery -- Believe in Your Child Again http://www.autismbreakthrough.com/ Raun K. Kaufman is the author of "Autism Breakthrough: The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over the Wor... By: autismtreatment … Continue reading →

When Stephen Shore was a child, doctors recommended he be institutionalized. Nonverbal until age 4, he was diagnosed with strong autistic tendencies and too sick for outpatient treatment. When I was diagnosed as on the autism spectrum, my parents were strongly urged to send me to an institution, said Shore, now an assistant professor of special education at Adelphi University. Fortunately, my parents didnt. Today, the recommendation would focus on early-intervention programs and strategies. Shore, who has Asperger syndrome, will be the featured speaker at the Autism Summit at 10 a.m. Saturday at Easter Seals Capper Foundation, 3500 S.W. 10th Ave. There is no cost to attend the summit, which is sponsored by the Capper Foundation and the Topeka Autism Support Group, but reservations are encouraged and can be made by calling (785) 272-4060. Shore, the author of four books and a DVD on autism, will talk about some of the obstacles he has overcome and social situations he has navigated, as well as provide advice to parents of children with autism. I will be emphasizing how we can promote success for individuals on the autism spectrum, with a focus on the differences between when I was growing up on … Continue reading →

Heres another reason to get your shingles vaccination: Patients' risk of stroke is significantly increased following the first signs of the telltale rash. However, antiviral drugs appear to offer some protection, according to a study published online in April 2014 in Clinical Infectious Diseases. As you probably already know the painful rash that is typical of shingles is caused by the same virus, herpes zoster, that gave you your childhood bout of chicken pox. The virus stays with you for a lifetime and is sometimes reactivated as shingles. The risk of shingles-associated stroke is higher in the first six months after symptoms appear and is particularly increased if the rash is near your eyes. A release from the infectious diseases society of America notes that shingles affects an estimated 1 million adults in the U.S. and nearly 90,000 in the U.K. each year. Sinad Langan, MD, PhD and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine identified patients with first-ever incidents of shingles and stroke, and also examined antiviral treatment records for shingles, drawing from a database of information from patients across 600 general practices in the UK. The researchers compared the risk of stroke in the time … Continue reading →