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Schizophrenia affected by 'poor ability to track moving objects'
Date: Jul-30-2013Impaired eye movements could play a part in the symptoms of schizophrenia, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers form the University of British Columbia tracked the eye movements of patients with schizophrenia while they played a basic video game. Schizophrenia is a mental illness most likely to appear in late adolescence or early adulthood. Symptoms of the disorder include loss of personality, delusions, agitation, confusion, social withdrawal, psychosis and bizarre behavior...
Restless legs syndrome: Study raises hope for better drugs
Date: Jul-30-2013John Hopkins researchers may have discovered why insomnia persists in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS), despite successful treatment of the condition.� People with restless legs syndrome, sometimes called "jimmy legs,"�have an uncontrollable urge to move their legs. The condition varies in severity and can be painful, distressing and�interrupt daily activities as well as disturb sleep.� In spite of effective drugs to relieve RLS, studies have shown that they do not improve sleep outcomes and only treat the restless legs.� A research team led by Dr...
Happiness is expressed in your genes
Date: Jul-30-2013"If you're happy and you know it..." Researchers have studied how "positive psychology" impacts gene expression in humans. Steven Cole from UCLA led a team who examined the human genome - some 21,000 genes - in light of two different classifications of happiness: Eudaimonic well-being - the type of happiness associated with having "a deep sense of purpose and meaning in life" Hedonic well-being - the type of happiness associated with unmitigated self-gratification...
'Breastfeed for longer' to boost child's future IQ
Date: Jul-30-2013Researchers have discovered that the longer a mother breastfeeds, the more intelligent their child will become later in life. A study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics has provided evidence that breastfeeding in infancy leads to better cognitive development later in life, but it depends upon how long the infant is breastfed. Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital say previous work has suggested that breast milk can boost an infant's brain as it contains docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which helps cognitive development...
MAPS technology may generate vaccines conferring strong immunity at reduced cost and risk
Date: Jul-30-2013A new method of vaccine design, called the Multiple Antigen Presentation System (MAPS), may result in vaccines that bring together the benefits of whole-cell and acellular or defined subunit vaccination. The method, pioneered by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, permits rapid construction of new vaccines that activate mulitple arms of the immune system simultaneously against one or more pathogens, generating robust immune protection with a lower risk of adverse effects...
New understanding of actin filament growth in cells
Date: Jul-30-2013University of Oregon biochemists have determined how tiny synthetic molecules disrupt an important actin-related molecular machine in cells in one study and, in a second one, the crystal structure of that machine when bound to a natural inhibitor. The accomplishments - done in the name of fundamental understanding, or basic science - provide new windows on the complexities of cellular structure and suggest a potential future route to therapeutic targeting, said Brad J. Nolen, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the UO, who was principal investigator on both studies...
Singapore scientists discover new drug targets for aggressive breast cancer
Date: Jul-30-2013Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) led in a study that has identified genes that are potential targets for therapeutic drugs against aggressive breast cancer. These findings were reported in the July 2013 issue of PNAS. Out of the 1.5 million women diagnosed with breast cancer in the world annually, nearly one in seven of these is classified as triple negative. Patients with triple- negative breast cancer (TNBC) have tumours that are missing three important proteins that are found in other types of breast cancer...
FDA approves treatment for major depressive disorder in adults
Date: Jul-30-2013Forest Laboratories, Inc. announced that FETZIMA (levomilnacipran extended-release capsules) was approved by the FDA for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in adults. MDD, also generally known as depression, affects almost 16 million adults in the United States every year. MDD is a serious medical condition, and despite available options, people with MDD often struggle to find a treatment that works for them -- so FDA approval of FETZIMA may be important for adults living with MDD. FETZIMA is the most recent addition to Forest's growing mental health portfolio...
Investing in cardiovascular research benefits economy
Date: Jul-30-2013Investing in cardiovascular disease research in Canada provides economic and societal benefits to Canadians, according to new research published in CMAJ Open. "Our main goal was to understand how much "bang" we were getting from our research "buck" and whether investing in cardiovascular disease research is worthwhile from a population health perspective," writes Dr. Claire de Oliveira, scientist and health economist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, with coauthors. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of hospitalization and death in Canada...
Innovation in mouse model helps researchers distinguish disease mechanisms and biomarkers
Date: Jul-30-2013A team led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health has overcome a major biological hurdle in an effort to find improved treatments for patients with a rare disease called methylmalonic acidemia (MMA). Using genetically engineered mice created for their studies, the team identified a set of biomarkers of kidney damage - a hallmark of the disorder - and demonstrated that antioxidant therapy protected kidney function in the mice...
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