PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Feb-2014 Contact: Laura Coverson laura.coverson@cshs.org 310-423-5215 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center LOS ANGELES (Feb. 6, 2014) A Cedars-Sinai research team led by Paul W. Noble, MD, chair of the Department of Medicine and director of the Women's Guild Lung Institute, has been awarded $628,816 by California's stem cell agency to develop a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a deadly disease that destroys the lungs and damages other vital organs. The illness, which has no cure and few effective treatments, thickens and hardens lung tissue, leaving the organs badly scarred. Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis have great difficulty breathing and the chronic reduction in oxygen damages vital organs. The cause of the disease is not clearly understood and many people live only three to five years after diagnosis. "Lung fibrosis occurs when the lung is unable to repair itself properly after injury or infection," said Noble. "Some people are more susceptible to developing fibrosis, and we currently don't understand why the normal repair and renewal of lung cells stops occurring in these patients." The two-year study will build upon preliminary research completed at Cedars-Sinai by Noble and physician researcher Dianhua Jiang, MD, PhD. They uncovered important clues to the precise … Continue reading →

Approximately two thirds of epileptic seizures can be successfully treated and controlled by appropriate anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Download our leaflet entitled anti-epileptic drugs to read about the different AEDs that are available. Unfortunately, most AEDs cause unwanted side-effects, which can lower the quality of a persons life considerably. Side-effects can include weight gain, sleepiness, confusion, unsteadiness, lowered efficacy of the contraceptive pill and harm to an unborn baby. People with epilepsy can also experience other effects, either as a result of their condition or because of their medication. These include: Memory loss People who have had many seizures in their lifetime often find that their memory is affected. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is often difficult to treat with medication, and memory loss is usually most apparent in people who have this type of epilepsy. Click here to read about the work being done by Dr Chris Butler, at the University of Oxford; who was given a grant by Epilepsy Research UK in 2010 to investigate the cause of memory loss in epilepsy and whether it can be prevented. Depression At least one in every eight people with epilepsy also has depression. Depression contributes to poor quality of life for people … Continue reading →

The scientific community agrees that autism has its origins in early life -- fetal and/or postnatal. The team led by Yehezkel Ben-Ari, Inserm Emeritus Research Director at the Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology (INMED), has made a breakthrough in the understanding of the disorder. In an article published in Science, the researchers demonstrate that chloride levels are elevated in the neurons of mice used in an animal model of autism, and remain at abnormal levels from birth. These results corroborate the success obtained with the diuretic treatment tested on autistic children by the researchers and clinicians in 2012, and suggest that administration of diuretics to mice before birth corrects the deficits in the offspring. They also show that oxytocin, the birth hormone, brings about a decrease in chloride level during birth, which controls the expression of the autistic syndrome. This work is due to appear in the 7 February 2014 issue of Science. Neurons contain high levels of chloride throughout the entire embryonic phase. As a result, GABA, the main chemical messenger of the brain, excites the neurons during this phase instead of inhibiting them, in order to facilitate construction of the brain. Subsequently, a natural reduction in chloride levels allows … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 6-Feb-2014 Contact: Yehezkel Ben-Ari yehezkel.ben-ari@inserm.fr 33-620-668-000 INSERM (Institut national de la sant et de la recherche mdicale) This news release is available in French. The scientific community agrees that autism has its origins in early lifefoetal and/or postnatal. The team led by Yehezkel Ben-Ari, Inserm Emeritus Research Director at the Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology (INMED), has made a breakthrough in the understanding of the disorder. In an article published in Science, the researchers demonstrate that chloride levels are elevated in the neurons of mice used in an animal model of autism, and remain at abnormal levels from birth. These results corroborate the success obtained with the diuretic treatment tested on autistic children by the researchers and clinicians in 2012, and suggest that administration of diuretics to mice before birth corrects the deficits in the offspring. They also show that oxytocin, the birth hormone, brings about a decrease in chloride level during birth, which controls the expression of the autistic syndrome. This work is due to appear in the 7 February 2014 issue of Science. Neurons contain high levels of chloride throughout the entire embryonic phase. As a result, GABA, the main chemical messenger of the brain, excites … Continue reading →

Study backs blood drug use to treat autism Friday, February 07, 2014 A study of the origins of autism lends support to a controversial treatment using a blood pressure drug, it is claimed. By John von Radowitz This activated a neural switch that prevented nerve cells becoming over-excited believed to be one of the underlying causes of autism. Since there is no way to screen for autism in human foetuses, the same treatment could not be given to human pregnant mothers. However, a controversial trial previously suggested bumetanide can improve social behaviour in children from the age of three with mild forms of autism. After three months on the drug, the 27 children aged three to 11 had better autism symptom scores than children taking a dummy placebo. Children with severe autism did not appear to benefit, according to the results published last year in the journal Translational Psychiatry. Although the study has attracted criticism from a number of experts who doubted its significance, its authors say that the new research vindicates their approach. See more here: Study backs blood drug use to treat autism … Continue reading →

A drug given to pregnant mice prevented autism-like behavior in their offspring, encouraging researchers theyre on the right track in testing the medicine in children with the disorder. The study, published today in the journal Science, supports the rationale for using the medicine, called bumetanide, the lead researcher, Yehezkel Ben-Ari, said in a telephone interview. Bumetanide was marketed by Roche Holding AG (ROG) under the brand name Bumex as a treatment for water retention in people with congestive heart failure and now is a generic drug. When we started our trial, it was a hypothesis, we had no evidence whatsoever, Ben-Ari, a researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology in Marseille, France, said of the mid-stage trial in children. This research doesnt prove it, but it does validate our strategy. There are no drugs that cure autism or treat its core symptoms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so researchers and patient advocates are eager for any evidence of a promising treatment. Autism spectrum disorders are marked by problems in social interaction and communication and by restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. While the study looked at the effects of injecting pregnant rodents with bumetanide, … Continue reading →

Women suffer more disabling strokes than men and need to become more aware of their unique risks, such as pregnancy complications and the use of oral contraceptives, according to a new set of recommendations released on Thursday by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The stroke prevention guidelinesthe first to be released specifically for womenalso point to risk factors more common in women like migraines with aura, type 2 diabetes, and obesity; such differences could point to why strokes are the third leading cause of death in women but only the fifth leading cause of death in men. These new guidelines are a call to action that doctors really need to be focusing more on women when it comes to stroke prevention, said Dr. Shazam Hussain, head of the Stroke Section at the Cleveland Clinic., who was not involved with the guideline. About 3 percent of Americans have lived through strokes, but as a result many suffer from permanent health problems such as impaired speech, memory loss, or paralysis. Women who develop dangerous hypertension during pregnancy, known as preeclampsia, have twice the risk of having a stroke later in life compared to those who had healthy pregnancies. … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON -- A woman is more likely to die from a stroke than a man, yet prevention and treatment guidelines have always been targeted towards male patients, until now. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has just released the first set of stroke prevention guidelines specifically for women. "Stroke affects women in ways that are different from men," says Dr. Alex Dromerick, a professor of neurology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Hormones, birth control, pregnancy and other sex-related factors can influence a woman's risk of stroke. But with monitoring and treatment, that risk can be lowered. The recommendations -- published in the American Heart Association journal "Stroke" -- take aim at one of the main causes of cardiovascular problems: hypertension. Women who plan to take birth control pills should be tested for high blood pressure first, and that goes double if they smoke or get severe migraines. The guidelines also stress the importance of keeping blood pressure in check during pregnancy. Dromerick, who is also vice president for research at MedStar National Rehabilitation Network, says good prenatal care is essential. "One of the complications that can be associated with childbirth is called preeclampsia -- that is high blood … Continue reading →