Current ratings for: Rare genetic mutation confirmed as a cause of Tourette Syndrome Public / Patient: 5 (1 vote) Health Professionals: 0 (0 votes) Brain researchers say they have confirmed for the first time that a rare genetic mutation can cause some cases of Tourette syndrome, with the fault disrupting production of histamine in the brain. The New Haven, CT, researchers at the Yale School of Medicine say the histamine effect "is a cause of the tics and other abnormalities of Tourette syndrome." Tics are repetitive movements and vocal sounds, and they are unwanted and involuntary - they cannot be controlled. Publishing their research on mice in the journal Neuron, the authors raise the question of investigating treatment of Tourette syndrome by drugs that target histamine receptors in the brain. Drugs with such a mode of action are already being explored by pharmaceutical companies for the treatment of separate brain disorders, schizophrenia and ADHD. Information from the national gene database about histamine describes the chemical's role - it is a messenger molecule released by nerves, among other functions. More here: Rare genetic mutation confirmed as a cause of Tourette Syndrome … Continue reading →

Washington, Jan. 11 : Researchers have developed a prototype of artificial bone marrow that may be used to reproduce hematopoietic stem cells. The porous structure developed by the scientists of KIT, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, and Tubingen University, possesses essential properties of natural bone marrow and can be used for the reproduction of stem cells at the laboratory. This might facilitate the treatment of leukemia in a few years. Blood cells, such as erythrocytes or immune cells, are continuously replaced by new ones supplied by hematopoietic stem cells located in a specialized niche of the bone marrow. Hematopoietic stem cells can be used for the treatment of blood diseases, such as leukemia. The affected cells of the patient are replaced by healthy hematopoietic stem cells of an eligible donor. However, not every leukemia patient can be treated in this way, as the number of appropriate transplants is not sufficient. This problem might be solved by the reproduction of hematopoietic stem cells. The stem cell niche is a complex microscopic environment having specific properties. The relevant areas in the bone are highly porous and similar to a sponge. This three-dimensional environment does not only accommodate bone cells … Continue reading →

DURHAM When Geri Dawson was in graduate school for clinical psychology, her first patient had a perplexing disorder that kept him from learning how to relate to others the way most children do. It was 1979, and autism was so rare that her team flew in specialists from across the country. Dawson was so intrigued by the utter lack of knowledge about autism and heartbroken by the impact it had on her patients family that she embarked on a career devoted to studying and treating the disorder. We had absolutely no idea how a child could come into this world and not be able to form social relationships with other people, she says. We also had very little to offer this family. Dawson, 62, became one of the countrys foremost autism researchers during a three-decade span in which the disorder grew more frequently diagnosed and better understood. As recently as 1994, only an estimated one in 1,500 U.S. children had been diagnosed with what is now called autism spectrum disorder. Now, one in 88 children has it, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early in Dawsons career, she pioneered detection and intervention methods for young … Continue reading →

Jan. 11, 2014 In a study of the range of treatments being employed for young children with autism and other developmental delays, UC Davis MIND Institute researchers have found that families often use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments and that the most frequent users of both conventional and complementary approaches are those with higher levels of parental education and income. There is no Food and Drug Administration-approved medical treatment for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition whose hallmarks are deficits in social relatedness, repetitive thoughts and behaviors and, often, intellectual disability. In the search for treatments to help their children, families may turn to unconventional approaches such as mind-body medicine (e.g. meditation or prayer), homeopathic remedies, probiotics, alternative diets or more invasive therapies such as vitamin B-12 injections, intravenous immunoglobulin or chelation therapy -- some of which carry significant risks. The research is published online today in the Journal of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics. It was led by Robin Hansen, director of the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the MIND Institute and chief of the Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics in the UC Davis School of Medicine. "In our Northern California study … Continue reading →

Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) January 11, 2014 In a study of the range of treatments being employed for young children with autism and other developmental delays, UC Davis MIND Institute researchers have found that families often use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments and that the most frequent users of both conventional and complementary approaches are those with higher levels of parental education and income. There is no Food and Drug Administration-approved medical treatment for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition whose hallmarks are deficits in social relatedness, repetitive thoughts and behaviors and, often, intellectual disability. In the search for treatments to help their children, families may turn to unconventional approaches such as mind-body medicine (e.g. meditation or prayer), homeopathic remedies, probiotics, alternative diets or more invasive therapies such as vitamin B-12 injections, intravenous immunoglobulin or chelation therapy some of which carry significant risks. The research is published online today in the Journal of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics. It was led by Robin Hansen, director of the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the MIND Institute and chief of the Division of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics in the UC Davis School of Medicine. In our Northern … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON -- "Time is brain" when it comes to a person who is suffering a stroke. In fact, time is a stroke victim's greatest enemy. The faster they get treatment, the better the outcome. So says one stroke neurologist with the University of Virginia Health System, which is working with local rescue squads to outfit ambulances with iPads and tablets, so that doctors can diagnose such patients en route to the hospital. Stroke is the leading cause of long-term adult disability in the U.S., says Dr. Andrew Southerland, a stroke neurologist with the University of Virginia Health System, which is raising $10,000 to get new mobile iTREAT telemedicine kits online. Dr. Southerland tells WTOP that the longest delay in treating stroke patients doesn't happen once they get to the hospital, but before they get there. That's where the iTREAT kits would come in. Rescue workers can diagnose a stroke patient right in the back of the ambulance, using the hand-held technology to connect via video with doctors. "That's otherwise idle travel time that we could begin the diagnostic and treatment process," Southerland says. That's important, considering that only five percent of stroke patients ever receive the clot-busting drug otherwise known … Continue reading →