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EvergreenHealth stroke treatment helps patients overcome setbacks, meet goals

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

KIRKLAND, Wash., Jan. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Last fall, Mill Creek resident and avid marathoner Jeff Knakal experienced a sudden weakness on the right side of his body and had difficulty speaking. His wife recognized the symptoms as signs of a stroke, and called 911. When he arrived at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center emergency department, the hospital's award-winning team of stroke specialists got to work to diagnose the cause of the otherwise healthy man's symptoms. Knakal was acutely attuned to his own body. As a veteran runner who logs hundreds of miles per year, he was in exceptional physical health and was in the midst of training for the New York Marathon, then just one week away, when he was sidelined by the attack. "I went from training for a marathon to spending the night in the hospital and had no idea what put me there," said 52-year-old Knakal. EvergreenHealth's emergency stroke treatment team, which relies on the collaboration of doctors across a range of specialties from emergency care to neurology, cardiology and hospitalist medicine, quickly intervened to treat his symptoms and identify the cause as a TIA, or transient ischemic attack essentially a stroke that resolves, but is a … Continue reading →

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InVivo Therapeutics to Present at 5th Annual Biotech Showcase

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions, today announced that Chief Executive Officer Frank Reynolds will present recent updates to potential investors during Biotech Showcase 2013. The annual conference is scheduled for January 7-9th at the Parc 55 Wyndham in San Francisco. Reynolds is scheduled to participate in a panel titled Spinal Cord Injury: Investment Opportunities and Challenges in an Area With Unmet Medical Needs on Wednesday, January 9th at 8:00am PST. The panel will be followed by a corporate presentation given by Reynolds at 10:30am PST. A live webcast and webcast replay will be available at http://www.media-server.com/m/p/gy96bo3m. In addition, Reynolds, along with InVivos Director of Finance, Sean Moran, and Director of Investor Relations, Brian Luque, will be available throughout the event for one-on-one meetings with investors by appointment only. To schedule a meeting, registered attendees can submit a meeting request through the conference website (www.ebdgroup.com/bts). The Biotech Showcase is a forum devoted to enabling private and public life sciences and biotechnology companies the opportunity to present to an audience of investors and pharmaceutical executives. Now in its fifth year, this rapidly … Continue reading →

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New understanding of nerve damage caused by spinal cord injury could improve treatment design

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

Jan. 3, 2013 More than half of traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) in humans are cervical lesions, resulting in chronic loss of limb function. A better understanding of the link between the neurologic damage caused by SCI, spontaneous motor function recovery, and long-term motor deficits would lead to better therapeutic approaches, as discussed in an article in Journal of Neurotrauma. About 70% of human traumatic SCIs are incomplete, but the destruction of critical nerve fibers disrupts the signals normally sent between the brain and spinal cord beyond the site of the injury, resulting in locomotor impairment and paralysis. Elisa Lpez-Dolado, Ana Lucas-Osma, and Jorge Collazos-Castro, Hospital Nacional de Parapljicos Finca La Peraleda, Toledo, Spain, simulated a C6 partial SCI in adult rats and analyzed their recovery of motor function over four months. The authors report extensive kinetic, anatomical, and electrophysiological data that demonstrate how the animals compensate for the permanent loss of some motor function. In the article "Dynamic Motor Compensations with Permanent, Focal Loss of Forelimb Force after Cervical Spinal Cord Injury," they propose that a premotoneuronal system in the cervical spine may be involved in the production and chronic nature of limb impairment, which could have important implications … Continue reading →

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Parkinson’s May Be Added To Medical Marijuana List

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A public hearing is planned later this month to add Parkinsons disease to the list of illnesses that would qualify for medical marijuana use in Michigan. WWJ legal analyst Charlie Langton said it would be the first addition since medical marijuana was approved by voters in 2008. Remember, the legislature did not vote for this, the people voted for this. So, if we want to add a disease that would allow for medical marijuana, it would take a 3/4 vote of the legislature, said Langton. A panel met in December to consider adding Parkinsons diseaseand post-traumatic stress disorder, but only Parkinsons made the cut. Its a brain disorder that causes tremors and problems with coordination. This last session of legislature, they did tighten up some restrictions on how you can get your marijuana andwhat kind of doctors notes you need for marijuana, but there does seem to be at least some level of interest in the legislature now to expand and really define what people can use medical marijuana for, said Langton. Current laws pertaining to medical marijuana in Michigan allow for the drug to be used as treatment for certain diseases such as glaucoma, cancer, hepatitis … Continue reading →

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Pesticides and Parkinson's: Further proof of a link uncovered

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

Jan. 3, 2013 For several years, neurologists at UCLA have been building a case that a link exists between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. To date, paraquat, maneb and ziram -- common chemicals sprayed in California's Central Valley and elsewhere -- have been tied to increases in the disease, not only among farmworkers but in individuals who simply lived or worked near fields and likely inhaled drifting particles. Now, UCLA researchers have discovered a link between Parkinson's and another pesticide, benomyl, whose toxicological effects still linger some 10 years after the chemical was banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Even more significantly, the research suggests that the damaging series of events set in motion by benomyl may also occur in people with Parkinson's disease who were never exposed to the pesticide, according to Jeff Bronstein, senior author of the study and a professor of neurology at UCLA, and his colleagues. Benomyl exposure, they say, starts a cascade of cellular events that may lead to Parkinson's. The pesticide prevents an enzyme called ALDH (aldehyde dehydrogenase) from keeping a lid on DOPAL, a toxin that naturally occurs in the brain. When left unchecked by ALDH, DOPAL accumulates, damages neurons and increases an … Continue reading →

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USF and VA researchers find long-term consequences for those suffering traumatic brain injury

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

Public release date: 4-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Judy Lowry jhlowry@usf.edu 813-974-3181 University of South Florida (USF Innovation) TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 4, 2013) Researchers from the University of South Florida and colleagues at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital studying the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) using rat models, have found that, overtime, TBI results in progressive brain deterioration characterized by elevated inflammation and suppressed cell regeneration. However, therapeutic intervention, even in the chronic stage of TBI, may still help prevent cell death. Their study is published in the current issue of the journal PLOS ONE. "In the U.S., an estimated 1.7 million people suffer from traumatic brain injury," said Dr. Cesar V. Borlongan, professor and vice chair of the department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida (USF). "In addition, TBI is responsible for 52,000 early deaths, accounts for 30 percent of all injury-related deaths, and costs approximately $52 billion yearly to treat." While TBI is generally considered an acute injury, secondary cell death caused by neuroinflammation and an impaired repair mechanism accompany the injury over time, said the authors. Long-term neurological deficits from TBI related to inflammation may cause … Continue reading →

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Long-term consequences for those suffering traumatic brain injury

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

Jan. 4, 2013 Researchers from the University of South Florida and colleagues at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital studying the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI) using rat models, have found that, overtime, TBI results in progressive brain deterioration characterized by elevated inflammation and suppressed cell regeneration. However, therapeutic intervention, even in the chronic stage of TBI, may still help prevent cell death. Their study is published in the current issue of the journal PLOS ONE. "In the U.S., an estimated 1.7 million people suffer from traumatic brain injury," said Dr. Cesar V. Borlongan, professor and vice chair of the department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida (USF). "In addition, TBI is responsible for 52,000 early deaths, accounts for 30 percent of all injury-related deaths, and costs approximately $52 billion yearly to treat." While TBI is generally considered an acute injury, secondary cell death caused by neuroinflammation and an impaired repair mechanism accompany the injury over time, said the authors. Long-term neurological deficits from TBI related to inflammation may cause more severe secondary injuries and predispose long-term survivors to age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and post-traumatic dementia. Since the … Continue reading →

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Mum to appeal against son's treatment

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

The Kiwi mother of a seven-year-old British boy with cancer says she's doing the right thing launching another appeal to try to prevent him from having life-saving cancer treatment. New Zealand woman Sally Roberts, 37, told a British television program her fear of not becoming a grandmother was a factor in her decision to take further court action, just days before her son, Neon, is due to begin radiotherapy. Last month, High Court judge David Bodey rejected Ms Roberts' arguments that radiotherapy could cause Neon devastating harm, ruling the boy should undergo treatment on a cancerous brain tumour. Justice Bodey said Ms Roberts' judgment had "gone awry". However, Ms Roberts said she wouldn't even consider an appeal if she didn't think it was the best thing for Neon. "It should be my decision. I am the one that is going to be caring for him," she told ITV's Daybreak show. The treatment would damage Neon's DNA, affect his growth and leave him infertile, Ms Roberts said. "(Having) no grandchildren is a big factor." She said she wanted the opportunity to have alternative treatment options considered. Ms Roberts' estranged husband, Ben Roberts, has consented to radiotherapy treatment and currently has custody … Continue reading →

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Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Appoints New Chair of Board of Directors

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that Mary Szela has been appointed to its Board of Directors as its Chair. Ms. Szela brings her 25-year career as an accomplished pharmaceutical executive to this leadership role. "Mary Szela brings a wealth of talent and expertise to our team and is an outstanding choice to lead our Board of Directors, said Mark Leuchtenberger, Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X. Her broad commercial leadership experience will be particularly valuable as we continue to advance development of an urgently needed new antibiotic treatment option to patients and begin to consider options for launching the product. We look forward to working closely with Ms. Szela as we enter this exciting phase as a company and move ahead with our plans to initiate the Phase 3 program for delafloxacin for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. With more than two decades in senior roles at Abbott Laboratories, Ms. Szela most recently served as Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Marketing and Services of the Pharmaceutical Products Group. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of U.S. Pharmaceuticals, an $8 billion business. For over seven years, she directed the development, launch and … Continue reading →

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Scottish News: NHS offers MS drug for first time

Posted: Published on January 4th, 2013

Jan 4 2013 Multiple sclerosis patients in the Highlands are the first in Scotland to be offered a new drug treatment, a health board has said. Fingolimod, an oral treatment for a particular form of MS, was approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in September. It is designed to help patients with highly active relapsing remitting MS. Louise Smith, 47, from Thurso, was the first patient to start using Fingolimod, NHS Highland said. She was diagnosed with the condition more than four years ago. "To date, I have been treated with drug infusions as well as having to self-inject to prevent relapses," she said. "MS can take over so much of your life but I have set up my own business which means I can work flexibly. I do try and lead as normal a life as possible and this will definitely help. "Now I'm on the tablet I don't have to carry needles, I don't have to worry about where my medication can be stored and I don't have to think about going into hospital. It's only been a few weeks but so far so good." NHS Highland said a small number of patients are receiving the treatment which … Continue reading →

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