Newsline — Tuesday, November 8, 2011 15:49
New Thoracic Spine Surgery Technique Helps Avoid Operating on the Wrong Level
Modern Football Helmets No Better Than Vintage Leatherheads at Protecting Against Subconcussive Impact
Monday, November 7, 2011 22:24
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, and United Hospital Center in West Virginia were surprised by the results of impact tests they performed comparing 21st-century American football helmets to “leatherheads” used in the early 20th century. The authors subjected both helmet types to biomechanical loads that simulated near-concussive and subconcussive head impacts from a variety of directions. They discovered that the protection offered by the vintage leather helmets often was comparable to or better than that provided by today’s varsity helmets. Author Adam Bartsch, Ph.D., says the researchers were “very surprised. We thought that the lighter leatherhead might reduce force and torque on the neck, but never suspected the head injury metrics would be comparable. We did not appreciate how stiff the modern helmets would be in common, everyday hits. Hence, the stiff modern helmet was often comparable to the minimalistic leatherhead.” For more on information on this study, click here to read full release.
Study Finds Spine Surgery Patients Are Low in Vitamin D
Thursday, November 3, 2011 20:16
Many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery, according to new research. In a study of 313 patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery, orthopaedic surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis discovered that more than half the participants had inadequate levels of vitamin D. Additionally, one-fourth of the patients were more severely deficient. For more study results, click here to read full release.
Public Briefing on Upcoming National Research Council Report: Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 17:49
At the request of the Director’s Office of National Institutes of Health, an ad hoc committee of the National Research Council explored the feasibility and need, and developed a potential framework, for creating a “new taxonomy” of human diseases based on molecular biology. The committee took the feasibility, need, scope, impact, and consequences of defining this new taxonomy into consideration for this report. The committee considered the essential elements of the framework by addressing topics that include, but are not limited to: – Compiling the huge diversity of extant data from molecular studies of human disease to assess what is known, identify gaps, and recommend priorities to fill these gaps. – Developing effective and acceptable mechanisms and policies for selection, collection, storage, and management of data, as well as means to provide access to and interpret these data. – Defining the roles and interfaces among the stakeholder communities — public and private funders, data contributors, clinicians, patients, industry, and others. – Considering how to address the many ethical concerns that are likely to arise in…
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UAB’s Division of Neurosurgery, Cancer Center Receive $2.3 Million to Research Brain-tumor Therapies
Monday, October 31, 2011 17:25
The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $2.3 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UAB Division of Neurosurgery, to be used over a three-year period, to conduct research and develop new therapies to treat brain tumors. G. Yancey Gillespie, PhD, professor of surgery; and James M. Markert Jr., MD, MPH, FAANS, James G. Galbraith professor of neurosurgery and division director, both from the UAB Division of Neurosurgery and senior scientists in the neuro-oncology program in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, will co-lead the program to study contemporary therapeutics for anaplastic gliomas, the most deadly and most frequent form of malignant brain tumors. UAB is one of only four institutions awarded a brain-tumor SPORE grant. The award also includes $200,000 from the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to accelerate the initiation of two new clinical trials in the first year. To read more about the grant and the research planned, click here.
Updated AAN Guidelines Address Treatments for Essential Tremor
Thursday, October 20, 2011 20:25
Updated guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) address how to best treat essential tremor, the most common type of tremor disorder, which often is confused with other movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. The guideline appers in the Oct. 19 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the AAN. Essential tremor affects the hands, head and voice, and can be disabling for an estimated 10 million people in the United States who live with the disorder. Essential tremor usually starts after age 40, although symptoms can appear at any age and may cause problems with daily activities such as eating, writing, sewing or shaving. Click here to read the AAN’s essential tremor update.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Gets $5.7 Million Research and Treatment Grant
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 20:18
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University received a $5.7 million grant to fund the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health. The grant supports Einstein’s ongoing efforts to improve the lives of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through combined basic science research and clinical practice. Occurring in an estimated 10 percent of the population, IDDs constitute some of the most significant health conditions in children. They represent a diverse group of chronic conditions – such as autism spectrum disorders and Down syndrome – that can limit daily function and impede mobility, language and more. IDDs can begin anytime during a child’s development, from birth up to 22 years of age, and usually last a lifetime. To find out more about the grant and its research parameters, click here to read the full release.
Scientists Find Evidence Suggesting DNA Demethylation Occurs in Non-dividing Neurons
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 16:28
Scientists at Johns Hopkins, investigating chemical modifications across the genomes of adult mice, have discovered that DNA modifications in non-dividing brain cells, thought to be inherently stable, instead underwent large-scale dynamic changes as a result of stimulated brain activity. Their report, which appears in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience, has major implications for treating psychiatric diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and for better understanding learning, memory and mood regulation. Specifically, the researchers found evidence of an epigenetic change called demethylation — the loss of a methyl group from specific locations — in the non-dividing brain cells’ DNA, challenging the scientific dogma that even if the DNA in non-dividing adult neurons changes on occasion from methylated to demethylated state, it does so very infrequently. “We provide definitive evidence suggesting that DNA demethylation happens in non-dividing neurons, and it happens on a large scale,” says Hongjun Song, Ph.D., professor of neurology and neuroscience and director of the Stem Cell Program in the Institute for Cell Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Scientists have previously underestimated how…
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AANS Member Reports Positive Preliminary Results on Noninvasive Deep Brain Treatment for Essential Tremor at CNS Meeting
Thursday, October 6, 2011 18:36
In a presentation at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons on Oct. 3, 2011, University of Virginia neurosurgeon W. Jeffrey Elias, MD, FAANS, reported that preliminary results of a pilot clinical trial indicate that MR-guided focused ultrasound has the potential to safely and effectively control essential tremor (ET), a common neurological condition that affects 10 million Americans. Results from the study’s first 10 patients showed a 78 percent improvement in contralateral tremor scores in the hand, as assessed with the Clinical Rating Scale for Tremor (CRST). Patients’ functional activities scores improved by 92 percent, as measured in the ‘Disability’ subsection of the CRST. Outcomes and complications were comparable to other procedures for tremor, including stereotactic thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation. “So far, this noninvasive treatment has been life-changing for patients,” said Dr. Elias, the study’s principal investigator and Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at UVA. “All now have improved ability to use their dominant hand to perform tasks that they couldn’t do before treatment, such as writing legibly, drinking and eating without spilling, and buttoning clothes….
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Tumor Specimens Offer New Insight into Brain-cancer Cell Formation
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 14:48
A team of scientists have gained some interesting new insights from brain-tumor specimens taken from neurosurgery cases at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, finding out more about just how healthy brain cells begin to transform and develop into tumors. The work may help identify new drugs to target oligodendroglioma, a common type of brain tumor, at its earliest stage, when it is generally most treatable. Any potential drugs identified will have to prove safe and effective in clinical trials, a process that can take several years. As described in the journal Cancer Cell, the UCSF team found that the pool of cells from which oligodendroglioma tumors emerge normally divide “asymmetrically” by splitting into two unequal parts – like giving birth to fraternal twins who look different and have distinct fates. When these normal cells transform into cancer cells, they switch gears and begin dividing symmetrically, essentially giving birth to identical twins instead. “This happens early – before the tumor forms, and it may provide a point to intervene in the process of…
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