Dogs could soon be used to sniff out Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms start to show.
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Nike to release ‘Back to the Future’ shoes
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxQQV-XukRc&hd=1[/youtube]
Marty McFly’s self-lacing Nike trainers from Back to The Future Part 2 were the envy of 1980s school boys. Now versions of the famous futuristic sneakers are being made available to buy.
Scientists Create Microchip That Talks to Brain Cells
The neurochip is able to monitor the electrical and chemical dialogue between animal brain cells.
Calgary researchers have created a microchip that “communicates” with brain cells, a discovery that could help patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
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Transgenic Songbirds Provide New Tool To Understand The Brain
Zebra Finch. The ability to manipulate songbird genes may yield the molecular secrets of vocal learning and neuronal replacement.
The ability to manipulate songbird genes may yield the molecular secrets of vocal learning and neuronal replacement.
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Skin Test Could Detect Alzheimer’s Disease
Cultured skin cells (green) from a healthy person (top) and a person with Alzheimer’s disease (bottom).
A novel test that detects enzymes that are dysfunctional in patients with Alzheimer’s disease–and that are found both in the brain and in skin cells–is about to undergo large clinical trials. Researchers at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), in Morgantown, WV, who developed the diagnostic have also garnered approval from the Food and Drug Administration to test in humans an experimental drug that activates the enzymes–a mechanism that represents a new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer’s.
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Playing Nintendo Wii Can Help Relieve Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s patient uses the Nintendo Wii with guidance from her occupational therapist
The games console, which simulates sport and other physical activities like dancing and guitar hero, could potentially improve symptoms of the degenerative illness, experts say.
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Japanese Scientists Create World’s First Transgenic Primates
Japanese scientists announced they had created the world’s first transgenic primates, breeding monkeys with a gene that made the animals’ skin glow a fluorescent green.
In a controversial achievement, Japanese scientists announced on Wednesday they had created the world’s first transgenic primates, breeding monkeys with a gene that made the animals’ skin glow a fluorescent green.
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Electrical Stimulation Through The Spinal Cord May Ease Parkinson’s Symptoms
Neural activity in the brain of a Parkinsonian rat before (top) and after (bottom) electrical stimulation is applied to its spinal cord.
Delivering electrical stimulation to the spinal cord through tiny, platinum electrodes could ease the severe motor deficits of Parkinson’s disease as effectively as a much more intrusive procedure currently in clinical use, according to a new study in rodents. If the findings are confirmed in humans, scientists say, the procedure could dramatically improve treatment for the disease by making electrical therapies safer and more broadly available.
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FDA To Allow First Clinical Trial Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Therapy
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the world’s first study of human embryonic stem cell therapy, Geron Corp said on Friday.
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Transplanted Stem Cells Undo Birth Defects
Neural stem cells, tagged green with a fluorescent dye, have been transplanted among the brain cells (red) of a mouse born with brain damage after its mother was given heroin during pregnancy.
By injecting stem cells directly into the brain, scientists have successfully reversed neural birth defects in mice whose mothers were given heroin during pregnancy. Even though most of the transplanted cells did not survive, they induced the brain’s own cells to carry out extensive repairs.
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Vitamin D And Sun Exposure Play A Role In Disease Prevention
The sun is a natural and effective source of Vitamin D that we need to protect our bones, protect us from auto-immune diseases, help prevent Alzheimers disease, and protect us from certain kinds of cancers. Deficiencies in vitamin D are highly-linked to these diseases. Now, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have found that Vitamin D deficiency is also linked to Parkinson’s Disease.
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Stem Cell Therapy Lessens Damage Caused By Stroke
Stem Cell
Until recently, the promise of stem-cell therapy has centered on stem cells’ ability to morph into virtually any kind of cells. But researchers are finding that stem cells may have other healing effects. In recent studies, scientists have observed stem cells acting as anti-inflammatory agents, reducing swelling and even scarring when administered to injured tissue.
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