Doctors hope clinical trials using a new stem cell therapy will help patients with critical limb ischemia lead better lives. The Phase 3 trial, called REVIVE, is taking place around the country, including locally through the Michigan CardioVascular Institute. Critical limb ischemia is a form of peripheral arterial disease that occurs when arteries supplying blood to the legs become blocked. This can cause pain or numbness in the feet, open sores or ulcers and eventually gangrene of the legs or feet. The condition affects about 1 to 1.5 million Americans overall. A good number of them can be helped with procedures to bypass the arteries, but about 25 to 30 percent of patients cannot have that kind of treatment, according to Dr. Safwan Kassas, director of the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Program at Michigan CardioVascular Institute. Out of this 25-30 percent, today, there is no treatment, he said. The FDA has not approved any treatment for them. Theyre really in a very dismal spot. Statistics show within first year of developing critical limb ischemia, 25 percent of people will die, 25 percent will have amputation and 50 percent will be alive without amputation, Kassas said. He said in … Continue reading →

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 23, 2013) - VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. ( OTCQB : VSTA ), a biotechnology company applying stem cell technology for drug rescue, predictive toxicology and drug metabolism screening, today announced the successful completion of its final Phase 1 safety study of AV-101, a novel orally available prodrug candidate being developed for treatment of multiple conditions involving chronic neuropathic pain.The study results indicate that AV-101 is safe and well tolerated, with favorable bioavailability and pharmacokinetics. "This important confirmation of AV-101's safety is the final step in our Phase 1 program for AV-101," said Shawn K. Singh, JD, VistaGen's Chief Executive Officer. "With $8.8 million of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and outstanding strategic development and regulatory support from Cato Research Ltd., we have successfully completed the required studies enabling Phase 2 clinical development of AV-101 for multiple large market neurological diseases and conditions.In addition, recent data from the NIH suggest that the same neural pathway modified by AV-101 may be useful for treating depression.Launching a broad strategic collaboration to advance development and commercialization of AV-101 is among our key goals in 2013." About the Final AV-101 Phase 1 Safety Study VistaGen's final AV-101 … Continue reading →

Jan. 22, 2013 Deleting or reducing expression of a gene that carries the code for tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, can prevent seizures in a severe type of epilepsy linked to sudden death, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., in a report in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. A growing understanding of the link between epilepsy and some forms of inherited Alzheimer's disease led to the finding that could point the way toward new drugs for seizure disorders said Dr. Jeffrey Noebels, professor of neurology at BCM, and director of the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory. In her research, Jerrah Holth, a graduate student in molecular and human genetics at BCM who was working with mice with the severe form of epilepsy in Noebel's laboratory, deleted the gene for tau. She found that reducing or eliminating tau also prevented the seizures in a severe form of epilepsy that has been associated with sudden death and reduced deaths in the animals. In an earlier experiment, Noebels, in collaboration with Dr. Lennart Mucke at the Gladstone Research Laboratory at the University of California San Francisco, found that mice … Continue reading →

CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) has selected the grant recipients of their 2013 Innovator Awards and Taking Flight Awards. Innovator Awards are one-year grants up to $50,000 in support of the exploration of a highly novel concept or untested theory that addresses an important problem relevant to epilepsy. Taking Flight Awards are one-year grants up to $100,000 in support of young investigators. CURE's research program addresses the goals of "no seizures, no side effects," with specific focus on the following areas: prevention of epilepsy, including post-traumatic epilepsy; advancement of the search for a cure; elimination of treatment side effects; and elimination of deficits caused by frequent seizures. After a rigorous grant review process, CURE is proud to announce the following grant recipients from around the country and the world. A total of $600,000 has been allocated in this first funding cycle for CURE in 2013. Recipients of the Innovator Award include: J. Marie Hardwick, PhD - Johns Hopkins University; Christophe Heinrich, PhD - Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience, INSERM; Bruce Hermann, PhD - University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Thomas McCown, PhD - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Recipients of the Taking Flight … Continue reading →

ABA and Other Treatments At The Same Time Like Autism Live on Facebook at facebook.com Is it advisable to do ABA treatment for Autism while doing other treatments? There is a myth that if you are doing ABA you will be advised to do nothing else. Autism Mom Shannon Penrod shares the reality, which is that most parents do ABA while also doing other treatments. It is advisable to spend time and money on treatments that are evidenced based but you can successfully do many other treatment options while also doing ABA. Autism Live is a production of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), headquartered in Tarzana, California, and with offices throughout the United States and around the globe. For more information on therapy for autism and other related disorders, visit the CARD website at centerforautism.com By: AutismLive … Continue reading →

Jan. 23, 2013 While autism clearly runs in some families, few inherited genetic causes have been found. A major reason is that these causes are so varied that it's hard to find enough people with a given mutation to establish a clear pattern. Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have pinpointed several inherited mutations -- among the first to be identified -- through an unusual approach: using whole-exome sequencing to study large Middle Eastern families with autism. The study, published in the January 23 issue of the journal Neuron, also found evidence for some of the same mutations in U.S. families. It shows that a number of genes implicated in severe genetic syndromes can have milder mutations that primarily cause autism, and could broaden the number of genetic tests available to families. Researchers Tim Yu, MD, PhD, Maria Chahrour, PhD, and senior investigator Christopher Walsh, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's Hospital, began with three large Middle Eastern families that had two or more children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), looking for recessive mutations -- those requiring a "double hit" for the child to have an ASD. "Families from the U.S. are not ideal for finding inherited genetic mutations, since family sizes … Continue reading →

Jan. 23, 2013 The most consistent finding of autism research lies in the revelation that the disorders are incredibly complex. Two new studies in the January 23 issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron that add to the growing appreciation of this complexity focus on identifying inherited genetic mutations linked with autism spectrum disorders. The mutations -- which are distinct from the spontaneous mutations that have been the focus of previous studies -- may provide valuable insights into the causes of autism. "It's long been known that autism is a heritable condition and that some cases appear to run in families. Our studies are among the first to begin to address this heritable component," says Dr. Christopher Walsh of Boston Children's Hospital, who is the senior author of one of the papers. Both groups sequenced the portion of the genome that codes for proteins, also known as the exome, in individuals with autism, their relatives, and controls. In one study, investigators focused on rare mutations that completely abolish the function of particular genes -- and therefore the expression of a protein. "We utilized new genome-sequencing technologies to discover a component of autism that can be traced to recessive inheritance -- … Continue reading →

Step By Steps clinical staff will present three different poster presentations throughout the three-day conference in Portland, Oregon, January 25 through 27, which is designed for practitioners, scientists and parents of children wanting to learn more about products and treatment options available for autism. Worthington, Ohio (PRWEB) January 23, 2013 During the show, Step By Steps clinical staff will moderate poster presentations on three different topics, including: Providing Behavioral Strategies for Success in the School, Home and Community. Authors of the poster include: Michele LaMarche, BCBA; Mo Acharya-Lammert; and John Solomon of Step By Step, to be presented Friday, January 25 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Though the nonprofit organization has for the last decade served primarily central Ohio, Step By Step renews its efforts this year to establish itself throughout the Unites States and internationally as one of the nations most highly respected education and treatment centers dedicated to serving individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. Step By Steps clinical staff is committed now, more than ever, to conducting world-class research and focusing our efforts on highlighting the results of our research, which we feel is of strong interest to others throughout the global autism community, … Continue reading →