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Suit: Ex-players say NFL hid brain injury links

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

Updated: June 7, 2012, 11:42 AM ET PHILADELPHIA -- A concussion-related lawsuit bringing together scores of cases has been filed in federal court, accusing the NFL of hiding information that linked football-related head trauma to permanent brain injuries. Lawyers for former players say more than 80 pending lawsuits are consolidated in the "master complaint" filed Thursday in Philadelphia. What is a concussion? What are the various professional sports leagues doing to prevent and treat them? ESPN.com Topics has the breakdown on all concussion-related issues. Topics Plaintiffs hope to hold the NFL responsible for the care of players suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions. Other former players remain asymptomatic, but worry about the future and want medical monitoring. The suit accuses the NFL of "mythologizing" and glorifying violence through the media, including its NFL Films division. "The NFL, like the sport of boxing, was aware of the health risks associated with repetitive blows producing sub-concussive and concussive results and the fact that some members of the NFL player population were at significant risk of developing long-term brain damage and cognitive decline as a result," the complaint charges. "Despite its knowledge and controlling role in governing player conduct on … Continue reading →

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Lawsuit Says NFL Hid Brain Injury Links

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 26 in New York City. By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) A concussion-related lawsuit bringing together scores of cases has been filed in federal court, accusing the NFL of hiding information that linked football-related head trauma to permanent brain injuries. Lawyers for former players say more than 80 pending lawsuits are consolidated in the "master complaint" filed Thursday in Philadelphia. Plaintiffs hope to hold the NFL responsible for the care of players suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions. Other former players remain asymptomatic, but worry about the future and want medical monitoring. [NFL Refs Association: No Strike Contemplated.] The suit accuses the NFL of "mythologizing" and glorifying violence through the media, including its NFL Films division. "The NFL, like the sport of boxing, was aware of the health risks associated with repetitive blows producing sub-concussive and concussive results and the fact that some members of the NFL player population were at significant risk of developing long-term brain damage and cognitive decline as a result," the complaint charges. "Despite its knowledge and controlling role in governing player … Continue reading →

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Amarantus BioSciences and Banyan Biomarkers Announce Positive Data from Traumatic Brain Injury Collaboration

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and ALACHUA, Fla., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. (AMBS), a biotechnology company developing new treatments for brain-related disorders including traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on its proprietary anti-apoptotic therapeutic protein known as MANF and Banyan Biomarkers, the leader in developingin vitrodiagnostic products to detect TBI, today announced the successful completion of a collaboration agreement initiated in November 2011 to evaluate MANF's potential as a disease-modifying agent for the treatment of TBI. "Based on the results produced through this collaboration, we are excited about the potential of the MANF Program in generating new products to treat concussions and other forms of TBI," said Gerald Commissiong, President & CEO of Amarantus. "While this data is early on in development, we will be looking for innovative approaches to accelerate our TBI development program, while using Banyan's proprietary panel of markers as a key metric in our companion drug diagnostic strategy." In in-vitro cell culture experiments, MANF was reproducibly shown to confer neuroprotective properties in various cell death-related pathways. The data raise the possibility that modulating MANF in patients immediately after suffering a TBI and in patients who have suffered multiple concussions over an extended period, could be a successful … Continue reading →

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Gilenya’s Patient Share Continues to Increase Among Both Newly Diagnosed and Recently Treated MS Patients

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BioTrends Research Group, one of the worlds leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds through analysis of U.S. longitudinal patient-level claims data that patient share of Novartiss Gilenya has increased in both newly diagnosed and recently treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The recently treated patient group represents patients treated in the third quarter of 2011 and reviews historical therapies used in their treatment. According to Treatment Algorithms in Multiple Sclerosis, more than three quarters of switches to Gilenya in recently treated patients in the third quarter of 2011 came from patients who had previously taken an interferon-beta or Tevas Copaxone. A much smaller percentage of drug switches to Gilenya came from patients who had previously taken Biogen Idec/Elans Tysabri. Until the launch of Gilenya, Tysabri offered one of the few options for patients whose disease had progressed past the point where it could be effectively managed with interferon-betas or Copaxone, said BioTrends Director Nicole Westphal, Ph.D. Gilenyas oral formulation is likely a key driver of its use in recently treated MS patients following treatment with an interferon-beta or Copaxone. Additionally, physicians may be increasingly turning to Gilenya for MS patients who require stronger disease … Continue reading →

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Health minister to discuss study of MS treatment

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

An observational study of people in Newfoundland and Labrador who had a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis found there was no measurable benefit to the Zamboni procedure, according to the neurologist who led the research. "I cannot recommend this treatment to MS patients," said Dr. William Pryse-Phillips, a neurologist and the lead researcher of the study. The province launched the study of what is known as the Zamboni procedure, or liberation therapy, nearly two years ago after people from this province travelled abroad to undergo the experimental procedure. It's based on a theory that MS is linked to blocked veins in the neck, and that opening them up helps relieve symptoms of the debilitating disease. Mark Lane, who lives with MS and paid $4,000 to have procedure done in Poland almost two years ago, was at the announcement about the study's findings in St. John's on Thursday. "I'm disappointed by these findings. We all had hope," Lane, 36, said. "I know it's not a cure, but I still believe despite this that there is a link and I'm getting [the procedure] again if I start to deteriorate." The province spent more than $400,000 for the study after intense lobbying from … Continue reading →

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Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation increases survival in systemic sclerosis patients

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

Public release date: 7-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Candice Debleu eularpressoffice@cohnwolfe.com 44-789-438-6425 European League Against Rheumatism Berlin, Germany, June 7 2012: Initial results from an international, investigator-initiated, open label phase III trial were presented at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism. Data indicate that haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) results in better long term survival than conventional treatment for patients with poor prognosis early diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. The ASTIS (Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation International Scleroderma) trial enrolled more than 150 patients between 2001 and 2009, and randomised patients to the HSCT arm or to intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide treatment. As of May 1, 2012, significantly more deaths have occurred in the conventional treatment group. Half of the deaths in the HSCT group occurred early and were deemed treatment-related according to an independent data monitoring committee. In the conventional treatment group in contrast, none of the deaths were deemed to be treatment-related; but more deaths occurred later and most were related to progressive disease. "Systemic sclerosis is a debilitating disease that can lead to heart, lung or kidney failure and premature death, especially in patients who have the diffuse cutaneous form of the … Continue reading →

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Stem cells may be to blame for clogged arteries

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

A newly discovered type of stem cell may be one of the major driving forces behind heart attacks and other killer vascular diseases, according to a new study. The finding may provide a brand new target for future heart disease treatments, the researchers said. While doctors have long thought that it was the smooth muscle cells within the blood vessel walls that combined with cholesterol and fat to clog the arteries--and developed treatments accordingly--the new research indicates the guilty party may actually be a previously unknown type of stem cell, called a multipotent vascular stem cell. In a study conducted in mice, researchers found it was these stem cells, rather than muscle cells, that formed the scar tissue that blocks the flow of blood in the arteries and causes them to harden. According to the researchers, because multipotent stem cells are capable of becoming multiple types of cells, including smooth muscle, nerve, cartilage, bone and fat cells, the ability of the stem cells to form bone or cartilage could explain how a soft artery calcifies and hardens. We are very confident that vascular stem cells play a much more important role than what was thought previously, principal investigator Dr. Song … Continue reading →

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Type of stem cell may contribute to heart disease

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

UC Berkeley scientists have discovered a type of stem cell that appears to lie dormant in blood vessel walls for decades before waking up and causing the arterial hardening and clogging that are associated with deadly strokes and heart attacks. The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications, go against the prevailing theory on the cause of heart disease - that the smooth muscle cells that line blood vessels become damaged over time and are triggered to proliferate. Those smooth muscle cells were thought to build up like scar tissue and cause the blood vessels to become narrow or brittle. The new theory suggests that the smooth muscle cells found in the blood vessel walls aren't to blame, but rather a small cluster of stem cells is. It's those stem cells that proliferate and cause damage, and they should be the target of drug therapies to treat, and potentially cure, heart disease, the UC Berkeley scientists say. "We call them sleeping beauty or sleeping evil cells, because they don't do anything when they're dormant. The stem cells stay quiescent for decades before they start to grow and they make the blood vessels harden," said senior author Song Li, a … Continue reading →

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Unborn babies could be tested for 3,500 genetic faults

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

By contrast, the scientists say their new test would identify far more conditions, caused by genetic errors. However, they warned it raised many ethical questions because the results could be used as a basis for abortion. These concerns were last night amplified by pro-life campaigners, who said widespread use of such a test would inevitably lead to more abortions. The American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code principally from tiny traces free-floating DNA, which makes its way into the mothers blood. Blood sample DNA from the mother was also studied as well as DNA extracted from the father's saliva. Fitting pieces of the genetic jigsaw together, scientists in the US were able to reconstruct the entire genetic code of an unborn baby boy. They were then able to see what spontaneous genetic mutations had arisen. Such natural mutations - called de novo mutations - are responsible for the majority of genetic defects. By checking their prediction of the babys genetic code with actual DNA taken after the birth, the team from the University of Washington in Seattle, found they were able to identify 39 of 44 such mutations in the child. De novo mutations are thought to … Continue reading →

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Study: Testing Unborn Babies for Genetic Disorders

Posted: Published on June 7th, 2012

Prospective parents might soon be able to screen their unborn babies for thousands of genetic disorders, according to a study published by Science Translations Medicine. This is potentially a two-edged sword. Although it might pick up more curable conditions, some experts worry that it may lead to more abortions American scientists were able to map the babys genetic code form tiny traces of free-floating DNA in blood from the babys mother, who was 18 weeks pregnant. They were also able to pinpoint if the mutations came from the mother or fathers side. If the technique is refined and the technology becomes inexpensive, as many experts predict, this type of prenatal testing could allow doctors to screen unborn babies for 3,500 genetic disorders by taking a blood sample from the mother and a swab of saliva from the father. Now, the only genetic disorder routinely testing is Down Syndrome. On the positive side, picking up genetic problems early may lead to better treatments, sometimes while the baby is still a fetus, sometimes right after birth and that might prevent complications, said NBC4 health expert Dr. Bruce Hensel. Some experts believe the finding is a double-edged sword, and could potentially raise ethical … Continue reading →

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