Study reveals why brain has limited capacity for repair after stroke, IDs new drug target
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Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain’s limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.
Now, a new UCLA study published in the Nov. 11 issue of the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain’s ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.
Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as “tonic inhibition” immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability.
Macrophage protein has major role in inflammation
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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a multi-tasking protein called FoxO1 has another important but previously unknown function: It directly interacts with macrophages, promoting an inflammatory response that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Contrarily, it also generates a negative feedback loop that can limit damage from excessive inflammation.
The findings by Jerrold M. Olefsky, MD, Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs and professor of Medicine, and colleagues are published in the November 2 issue of The EMBO Journal.
FoxO1 belongs to a group of well-known transcriptions factors crucial to determining the fate of cells. Earlier research has shown that FoxO1 helps govern the expression of genes involved in diabetes, cancer and aging. One unusual aspect of FoxO1 is that exposure to insulin causes cells to exclude the protein from their nuclei, inactivating it.
Males more considerate than imagined
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Male worms plug females after copulation as a form of ‘gift’, rather than to prevent them from mating again, as had previously been thought. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Frontiers in Zoology found that plugged females mated just as often and were just as attractive as those who were unplugged, and that plugging ultimately improved female fitness.
Nadine Timmermeyer worked with a team of researchers from the University of Tuebingen, Germany, to investigate the effects of copulatory plugs in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis remanei. She said, “Our results indicate that plugging neither affects the likelihood that a female is located by males, nor whether or not mating ensues. However, we found that plugging has a significant positive effect on egg production, suggesting that plugs may represent a beneficial act of a male towards its female partner rather than a competitive act between males”.
Mating plugs have been documented for a broad range of animal groups, including insects, arachnids, reptiles, and rodents.
Dentists offer Halloween candy buyback program
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Just a day after Halloween two Pennsylvania dentists are offering a candy buyback program to save the teeth of young trick-or-treaters and boost the morale of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dentists Nalin and Arpan Patel, of Fairless Hills near Philadelphia, say they will pay $1 a pound (0.45 kg) to parents and children who turn in excess candy collected on Halloween. The proceeds will be sent to U.S. troops serving in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
“Not only will it save your teeth, our troops that are serving our country overseas will be able to enjoy a Halloween away from home,” the dentists said in a statement.
US concussion guide makes return to play tougher
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New guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology say no U.S. athlete who has had a concussion should be allowed to resume play until all symptoms have passed, revising earlier guidelines that allowed some athletes back on the field after just a week on the sidelines.
The guidelines, published on Monday in the journal Neurology, set the standard of care for doctors and follow studies that suggest even small blows to the head can have a big impact on brain health.
“We now understand that there are some really profoundly bad possible outcomes either from two hits in a row or a lot of hits over a lifetime,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, who chairs the sports neurology section of the American Academy of Neurology.
Obesity Costs Twice as Much
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As politicians and pundits debate the repeal of President Obama’s health care plan, a new study shows that the treatment of obesity could fall under greater scrutiny when the legislation takes effect. The reason? Medical costs related to obesity may be twice as high as earlier estimates, according to one new report.
The study analyzed the actual weight of people, while previous studies only considered the self reported weight of patients, which was likely to be understated. Researchers also took into account the role of genetic factors in the patients, looking at the weight of each subject’s immediate family members to determine whether obesity ran in the family.
Researchers John Cawley, Ph.D., an associate professor at Cornell University, and Chad Meyerhoefer, Ph.D., professor of economics at Lehigh University, based their findings on data from a survey involving 24,000 adult patients from 2000 to 2005. They found that costs related to obesity medical care are close to $168 billion, representing 17 percent of medical costs in the U.S. The figure is a sizeable jump from last year’s estimate of $147 billion – a figure cited by federal health officials – which is 9 percent of the country’s total medical costs.
Mothers can prevent obesity in children
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From the Lempert Report: Moms already have a ton of responsibilities, and now results from a recent WomenTALK online survey found that most women underestimate their role in preventing obesity in their children.
The survey found that while 87 percent of women believe a parent’s weight affects a child’s risk of becoming obese, a little over a quarter of women actually assign that responsibility to themselves. Research has demonstrated that moms have a greater effect than dads on a child’s weight - yet another responsibility to give mom.
The results released earlier this month by Healthy Women, an independent online health information source for women, surveyed over 1,000 women. The results found that only 11 percent knew that a child’s risk of becoming obese more than doubled if the mother is obese during her first trimester of pregnancy.
How is Dysthymia in Children Treated?
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Dysthymia is a mood disorder which is less severe than depression. Children diagnosed with dysthymia can be treated using medications, therapy, or both approaches together.
Introduction:
Dysthymia is considered a chronic mood disorder which falls under the category of depression. Like adults, children also suffer from this type of mood disorder. While chronic depression is a very serious condition, dysthymia in children is treatable. Treatments which are considered to be effective include medications and non-medicated therapy such as psychotherapeutic approaches. The main goals for treating this condition include decreasing symptoms of depression, decreasing risk of the development of other mood disorders, and reinforcement of psychosocial functioning.
Study finds gene links to common lymphoma cancer
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Scientists have found three new gene variations linked to the development of Hodgkin lymphoma, one of the most common cancers in young adults, and say the findings should help in the development of better treatments.
Around a quarter to half of all cases of Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer originating from white blood cells called lymphocytes, are thought to be triggered by infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), but the disease can also develop in patients who have never been exposed to the virus.
Scientists had suspected genetic factors might be involved, since having a family history of the disease increases risk, but until now they had not been able to identify any specific genetic risk factors.
