By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post Staff Writer Makers of popular antidepressants such as Paxil, Zoloft and Effexor have refused to disclose the details of most clinical trials involving depressed children, denying doctors and parents crucial evidence as they weigh fresh fears that such medicines may cause some children to become suicidal. The companies say the studies are trade secrets. Researchers familiar with the unpublished data said the majority of secret trials show that children taking the medicines did not get any better than children taking dummy pills. Although the drug industry's practice of suppressing data unfavorable to its products is legal, doctors and advocates say such secrecy distorts the scientific record. © Copyright 1996-2004 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Depression; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 4886 - Posted: 06.24.2010

UK reclassification prompts dope debate. HELEN R. PILCHER This Thursday sees the downgrading of cannabis from a class B to a class C drug in Britain, putting it on a par with tranquillizers and steroids. Many people welcome the move, but it has also sparked controversy. Some caution that cannabis can trigger mental illness, whereas others maintain that the drug is medically useful. In Britain, drugs are grouped into three categories. Class A drugs include heroin and morphine, class B drugs include amphetamines and barbiturates, and those in class C, now including cannabis, are judged to be the least damaging. Under the reclassification, the possession, production and supply of marijuana are still illegal, but the penalties are different. Adults found carrying the drug are now more likely to receive a warning than a prison sentence. And the maximum prison sentence for possession has dropped from five to two years. Legally, this brings Britain in line with some European countries such as the Netherlands, although in practice these laws are likely to be more strictly enforced in Britain. An estimated three million people in Britain take cannabis each year, some for medicinal reasons, but most for recreational use. This includes one-quarter of those aged between 16 and 24.

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 4885 - Posted: 01.29.2004

Hundreds of thousands of strokes could be prevented each year by a simple mesh cylinder that diverts blood clots away from the brain, claims the company that developed the device. It was implanted in a patient for the first time late in 2003. Strokes are the second most common cause of death in the western world, and those who survive are often left disabled. The most common cause is a blood clot elsewhere in the body breaking off and travelling to the brain, where it blocks one of the small blood vessels. This deprives cells of oxygen, killing off part of the brain. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 4884 - Posted: 06.24.2010

As the National Institute for Clinical Excellence launches guidelines on the treatment of eating disorders, BBC News Online talks to one woman about her experience. Ann Cox remembers starting to over-eat when she was aged 11, something she believes was triggered by her anxiety about moving to secondary school. "We had a walk-in pantry. I was an only child, so I had to be very deceitful, and I couldn't blame anyone else if food went missing. "I can remember being terrified of being discovered by my parents. But I was compelled to do it. I was addicted." Ann over-ate throughout her teens - but was never discovered because she was naturally thin. "As an only child, I felt everyone knew everything about me. "Over-eating was something I was addicted to. But it was also something that was my secret, something I had control over." (C)BBC

Keyword: Anorexia & Bulimia
Link ID: 4883 - Posted: 01.29.2004

Teenagers suffering from depression may have abnormal brain structure, according to new research. An article published in BMC Medicine this week shows that adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder tend to have a small hippocampus - a part of the brain associated with motivation, emotion, and memory formation. Researchers from Dalhousie University and the National Research Council of Canada studied 34 adolescents between the ages of 13 to 18 years old, half of whom were suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) they scanned each volunteer's brain and measured the volume of their left and right hippocampuses. The hippocampus of patients with MDD was, on average, 17% smaller than that of controls. The size difference was particularly evident in the left hippocampus, where the average volume was 2.53cm3 in patients with depression and 3.05 cm3 in those without.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 4882 - Posted: 01.29.2004

By REUTERS Researchers have identified brain lesions in some victims of migraines, a finding that could indicate that those severe headaches can be a symptom of progressive brain-damaging disease, a new study says. The research, which has possible implications for treatment, involved 295 Dutch adults 30 to 60 years old, some of whom had migraines along with vision problems while the others had migraines without any such problems. They were compared with 140 similar people who were migraine-free. Using magnetic resonance images, the researchers found that for patients with both migraines and visual problems, the risk of cerebral infarction — the death of tissue due to lack of oxygen when a blood clot blocks an artery — was 13 times as high as the risk within the group that had no migraines at all. Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 4881 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists at Northwestern University have discovered new clues into the chain of events that causes Alzheimer’s. As this ScienCentral News video reports, they wanted to settle the debate about plaques that form in the brain. Researchers have known for a while that plaques of protein in the brain play a role in Alzheimer's disease, the progressive, degenerative brain disease that currently devastates over 4 million Americans. These plaques are called beta-amyloid plaques, or "senile" plaques, and are thought of as the hallmark brain lesions of Alzheimer's. But brain researchers at Northwestern University's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center wanted to know if the plaque was just a symptom, or the cause of the disease. John Disterhoft, physiology professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern, studied this in mice. Disterhoft and his team genetically altered a strain of mice so that they would be prone to get Alzheimer's. They did this by giving the mice a human gene that causes excess formation of amyloid precursor protein, or APP. © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4880 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Alzheimer's disease researchers say they can use brain scans to detect the disease early—before it consumes people's memories, and their lives. As this ScienCentral News video reports, the new approach could help prevent Alzheimer's. Much of the research into Alzheimer's disease, the progressive, degenerative disease of the brain that devastates roughly 4 million people in the U.S. today, goes toward coming up with treatments for patients who already have it. But some scientists are working on detecting this slow-developing disease before a patient gets it. George Bartzokis, professor of neurology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine, director of the UCLA Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease Clinic and Clinical Core director of the UCLA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, closely analyzed MRI scans of 250 men and women's brains over three years to study the organ's internal "wiring." In healthy people, the wiring is coated with a fatty tissue called myelin, which has the highest cholesterol count of any brain tissue. The high amount of cholesterol allows the myelin to tightly wrap itself around the neurons, nerve cells that transmit messages to each other electrochemically, acting as a kind of natural "insulation." © ScienCentral, 2000-2003.

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 4879 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Leprosy is infamous for disfiguring its victims with boils and decaying flesh, but underlying the disease are degenerating nerves. Now researchers investigating a region of DNA that can render some people more susceptible to the scourge have found a potential link between leprosy and another neurodegenerative disease. The region includes part of two genes that have been linked to Parkinson's disease, suggesting the two disorders may share some biochemical pathways. About 700,000 people in India, Brazil, and at least 16 other countries have leprosy. A microbe called Mycobacterium leprae causes the disease when it infects immune system cells known as Schwann cells and macrophages. Schwann cells insulate the nerves, and as the cells take ill, conduction through the nervous system falters. (Among other things, this degeneration blunts the pain caused by skin lesions making it more likely they will go untreated.) Some people seem to have a genetic susceptibility to the disease, and geneticists have homed in on a stretch of chromosome 6 that contains about 30 genes. Copyright © 2004 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 4878 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Sy Montgomery Sam Marshall doesn’t waste much time. Seconds after stepping into the steaming rain forest of French Guiana, he announces his agenda: “Let’s divide and search for holes with big, hairy legs.” After all, he hasn’t come to French Guiana for the beaches (muddy and shark infested), the food (cheese, bread, and sardines), or the shopping (none, but credit cards can be used to dig out ticks). He has come for the tarantulas—tarantulas that are big enough to eat birds. When threatened, the Usambara orange tarantula can get very aggressive. It rears up, slaps the ground, hisses loudly, and even drips venom from its fangs. “They don’t try to bite very much,” says arachnologist Sam Marshall. “It’s really just a display.” © 2003 The Walt Disney Company. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Neurotoxins
Link ID: 4877 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Older men with lower levels of free, or unbound, testosterone circulating in their bloodstreams could be at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than their peers, according to research conducted by investigators at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the National Institutes of Health, and others*. This prospective observational study is believed to be the first to associate low circulating blood levels of free testosterone with AD years before diagnosis. The study appears in the January 27, 2004 issue of the journal Neurology. “Our finding that low free testosterone might be associated with an increased risk of developing of AD is a step forward in helping to understand the possible effects of sex hormones on the aging brain and other parts of the body,” said Susan Resnick, Ph.D., an investigator in the NIA’s Laboratory of Personality and Cognition and corresponding author of the study.

Keyword: Alzheimers; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 4876 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service Cambridge University has axed plans for a controversial primate centre to conduct animal research into brain diseases. However, the centre could still be built elsewhere, possibly at a location more protected from action by anti-vivisectionists. The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had backed the plan as being "of national importance". The university blames "escalating costs" caused by years of delays and security concerns for its decision to axe the centre. But it is being accused by many of having buckled under a sustained campaign from animal-rights activists who opposed the centre from the outset. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 4875 - Posted: 06.24.2010

NewScientist.com news service A newly discovered neurodegenerative disease could be affecting tens of thousands of men around the world, say researchers. The disease closely resembles Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and senile dementia, but appears to be caused by a genetic defect linked to fragile X syndrome. Until now carrying the defect was not thought to be harmful. Researchers believe the new disease, named FXTAS (fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome), may affect up to one in 3000 men, with most sufferers being over 50 years old. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Movement Disorders
Link ID: 4874 - Posted: 06.24.2010

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---When someone's spinal cord is completely severed, brain signals can no longer reach the legs to tell the legs to walk. A study in this month's journal Spinal Cord shows that those who have suffered a spinal cord injury can generate muscle activity independent of brain signals. Dan Ferris, now an assistant professor of kinesiology at U-M, led the research as part of his post-doctorate work with Susan Harkema at University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. While many studies have shown that locomotor training, such as working with patients on treadmills, is a viable therapy for helping those who have suffered a spinal cord injury learn to walk again, Ferris and his UCLA colleagues added further evidence that adding weight to the limbs during therapy can provide an important sensory cue to help regain walking.

Keyword: Prions
Link ID: 4873 - Posted: 01.28.2004

Cuddling linked to how the brain processes emotion. HELEN R. PILCHER Women are more likely to cradle babies on their left-hand side because it activates bonding-related brain regions, research suggests. Previous studies have shown that up to 85% of women instinctively clasp infants to their left breast - irrespective of age and maternal status. Some think mothers do this to keep the baby's head close to their hearts, naturally soothing the child. Others rationalize the bias in terms of handedness. Left-handed women say they prefer to hold their infant in their stronger left arm. Right-handers argue it keeps their dominant hand free to attend to the child. But neither argument fully explains the phenomenon, argue Victoria Bourne and Brenda Todd from the University of Sussex. Instead, it may come down to differences in the brain. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2004

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Emotions
Link ID: 4872 - Posted: 06.24.2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – A team of researchers, led by physicians at the UC Davis M.I.N.D Institute, have discovered a new, progressive neurodegenerative disorder that predominantly affects men over age 50 and results in tremors, balance problems and dementia that become increasingly more severe with age. A significant but currently unknown number of adults with these tremor and balance problems are being diagnosed as normal aging, Parkinson's disease, senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease when their condition may be accurately and easily identified with a standard DNA blood test ordered by their doctor. The discovery is published in the Jan. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Known as fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, or FXTAS (pronounced fax-tass), the disorder affects older men who are carriers of a small mutation (premutation) in the same gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation. Nearly 1 in 800 men in the general population carries this premutation in the fragile X gene, and UC Davis research suggests that as many as 30 percent of carriers -- roughly 1 in 3,000 men -- may develop FXTAS later in life.

Keyword: Genes & Behavior; Movement Disorders
Link ID: 4871 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff A decade ago, any researcher who dared to suggest that Down syndrome could one day be "cured" was heading straight for the scientific fringe. Mainstream consensus went: Down syndrome, the leading genetic cause of mental retardation, was too complex a problem even to approach. Now, although that goal remains beyond the horizon, a growing number of reputable researchers at universities such as Stanford and Columbia say they can foresee a time when they'll be able to break the link between Down syndrome and retardation. Armed with an array of new tools -- from genome mapping and stem cells to genetically engineered mice and a deepening understanding of Alzheimer's disease -- they are trying to pinpoint just how the extra chromosome of Down syndrome leads to retardation and a host of other problems. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

Keyword: Development of the Brain; Genes & Behavior
Link ID: 4870 - Posted: 06.24.2010

RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer A study of the skulls of Neanderthals, comparing them with early and modern humans, concludes that that ancient group is unlikely to have been the ancestor of people today. Scientists have long debated whether modern people are related to Neanderthals, the squat, powerful hunters who dominated Europe for 100,000 years before dying out on the arrival of modern humans. The new study, led by anthropologist Katerina Harvati of New York University, measured 15 standard landmarks on the face and skull of Neanderthals, early modern humans, current humans as well as other primate species. The results are published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ©2004 Associated Press

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 4869 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Low levels of a particular chemical during the night may be important in the formation of new memories. Researchers from a German University found that volunteers with boosted levels of acetylcholine performed less well in night-time memory tests. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is intriguing for experts interested in Alzheimer's disease. A lack of the chemical is currently thought to play a role in the illness. The small study at the University of Lubeck focuses on healthy young men - rather than older subjects or Alzheimer's patients. The researchers wanted to test the relationship between levels of the brain chemical to their ability to lay down new memories during the night.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 4868 - Posted: 01.27.2004

Plans to build a controversial centre for experiments on monkeys have been shelved by Cambridge University. It has decided the costs, including measures needed to protect the facility from animal rights militants, would make the laboratory uneconomic. The announcement will be a blow to Prime Minister Tony Blair who gave personal support to the project. The centre had become a focus of the growing battle between medical researchers and anti-vivisectionists. The news had been expected next week, but was brought forward. Patients' groups who believe the research is essential to find cures for many brain diseases will be dismayed. (C)BBC

Keyword: Animal Rights
Link ID: 4867 - Posted: 01.27.2004