Few human injuries are as catastrophic as those to the spine. An accident, disease or act of violence affecting the spine can result in poor function – even paralysis – almost anywhere in the body.
The spinal column is enormously complex, with limited capacity for regeneration and any health implications are usually long-term and chronic.
While there is no known way to repair a spinal cord injury (SCI), scientists may be on the cusp of some important breakthroughs. New approaches are being taken to reverse the nerve damage, with some researchers attempting to reshape the architecture of the spinal cord using materials engineered in the laboratory.
In adult mice with loss of CHD8 gene function, FDA-approved drug partially restores disrupted brain cell production
CINCINNATI, Sept. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Research led by a scientist at Cincinnati Children’s who primarily studies brain tumors may open doors for improved treatment of autism.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects about one in 40 children between ages 3 and 17, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. Those affected often experience difficulty socializing, impaired language development, repetitive behaviors, and other symptoms. Of those tested for various genes linked to the condition, nearly everyone with disruptive mutations of the gene CHD8 has autism.
Research and blogs talk a lot about the health benefits of green tea. It’s rich in antioxidants and flavonoids, which have positive influences on our physical and mental well-being. Some studies show that green tea can boost metabolism, reduce inflammation and improve cognitive function.
But what’s less talked about are the side effects of green tea. They may be uncommon, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve discussion! This is of particular importance to those who have caffeine sensitivity or who may be taking certain medications which interact with caffeine and other bioactive components in green tea.
So before you brew yourself a cup, read on about the potential side effects of drinking green tea so you’re fully educated about what you’re consuming.
“From day one, we’ve taken an aggressive public health approach to combat the spread of polio and ensure New Yorkers are protected,” Hochul said. “This declaration will bolster our ongoing efforts to protect New Yorkers against paralytic disease, prevent spread, and support our public health partners.”
Public health officials at the county level will have expanded ability to receive funding and resources for immunization clinics and conduct outreach for unvaccinated and under-vaccinated New York residents. Local health officials will be able to claim a reimbursement for these efforts, back dated to July 21 and running through Dec. 31.
“Working daily with local county health departments, our partners at CDC, and trusted leaders, the Department is working effectively to increase childhood and community vaccination rates in counties where the virus has been detected,” Bassett said. “Thanks to long-established school immunization requirements, the vast majority of adults, and most children, are fully vaccinated against polio. Our focus remains on ensuring the on-time administration of polio vaccination among young children and catching kids and adults up who are unimmunized and under-immunized in the affected areas. That work continues at full force.”
Scientists at the Krembil Brain Institute, part of the University Health Network, have proposed a new mechanistic model (AD2) for Alzheimer’s, looking at it not as a brain disease, but as a chronic autoimmune condition that attacks the brain.
This novel research is published today, in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
“We don’t think of Alzheimer’s as fundamentally a disease of the brain. We think of it as a disease of the immune system within the brain,” says Dr. Donald Weaver, co-Director of the Krembil Brain Institute and author of the paper.
Neurodegenerative diseases—like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s—are complicated, chronic ailments that can present with a variety of symptoms, worsen at different rates, and have many underlying genetic and environmental causes, some of which are unknown. ALS, in particular, affects voluntary muscle movement and is always fatal, but while most people survive for only a few years after diagnosis, others live with the disease for decades. Manifestations of ALS can also vary significantly; often slower disease development correlates with onset in the limbs and affecting fine motor skills, while the more serious, bulbar ALS impacts swallowing, speaking, breathing, and mobility. Therefore, understanding the progression of diseases like ALS is critical to enrollment in clinical trials, analysis of potential interventions, and discovery of root causes.
However, assessing disease evolution is far from straightforward. Current clinical studies typically assume that health declines on a downward linear trajectory on a symptom rating scale, and use these linear models to evaluate whether drugs are slowing disease progression. However, data indicate that ALS often follows nonlinear trajectories, with periods where symptoms are stable alternating with periods when they are rapidly changing. Since data can be sparse, and health assessments often rely on subjective rating metrics measured at uneven time intervals, comparisons across patient populations are difficult. These heterogenous data and progression, in turn, complicate analyses of invention effectiveness and potentially mask disease origin.
Summary: Researchers aim to map and track cellular changes in the human brain over a lifetime.
Source: UCSD
With a five-year, $126 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a multi-institution team of researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Salk Institute for Biological Studies and elsewhere has launched a new Center for Multiomic Human Brain Cell Atlas.
A newer-generation clot-busting drug called tenecteplase outperforms the traditional treatment for ischemic strokes in several key areas, including better health outcomes and lower costs, according to a new study published today in the American Stroke Association’s journal Stroke.
The study was led by a team of neurologists at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin and was carried out over a 15-month period at 10 Ascension Seton hospitals in Central Texas starting in September 2019.
The Dell Med Neurology Stroke Program was one of the first in the United States to make this change. Based on even the earliest results from this study, other experts across the country were convinced and made the switch from alteplase to tenecteplase at their own stroke centers, including at Ascension hospitals nationwide.
