Paralysed actor Christopher Reeve believes he will walk again, if stem cell research in the UK is allowed to continue. The star of the Superman films said he would be willing to travel to Britain for treatment to repair his spinal cord, which was damaged during a riding accident in 1995. Mr Reeve told BBC Radio 5 Live that the House of Lords Select Committee must decide in favour of embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning when it votes on the issue later this week. He said: "I certainly hope that in revisiting the issues the Lords will really take the time to understand what the technology actually is and to recognise that it has nothing to do with destroying life." (C) BBC

Keyword: Stem Cells; Regeneration
Link ID: 1584 - Posted: 02.24.2002

By Suzanne Elston If you're feeling a little winter weary right about now, you're not alone. It turns out that getting enough sunlight, particularly during the winter months, can be critical to our mental health. This seasonal lack of sunlight can affect the balance of chemicals in our brain, including serotonin. That's the chemical that's responsible for regulating sleep patterns and it can also affect our moods and our appetite. For most of us, the next sunny day will be enough to brighten our spirits. But for some people, lack of sunlight can cause a serious condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. "Some of us don't do very well with the light that's available during the winter months." SAD sufferers can have symptoms that range from chronic fatigue and oversleeping, to overeating and subsequent weight gain. In severe cases, individuals are unable to function normally. SAD sufferers may also experience persistent physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain that doesn't respond to treatment. In extreme cases, SAD patients may even become suicidal. Women are four times more likely than men to suffer from SAD, but it can affect anyone at any age. SAD symptoms in children include irritability, difficulty getting out of bed and school problems. This could help explain why your child has trouble making it out of the door in time to catch the school bus during the winter months. © Straight Goods, 2000-2002. All Rights Reserved.

Keyword: Depression; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 1582 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Randy Dotinga, HealthScoutNews Ecstasy users claim the controversial club drug is like time-traveling to nirvana. But a growing number of young people are turning to a dangerous chaser — Prozac — in a misguided and potentially dangerous bid to make sure their brains will work properly upon their return, health experts say. "People are definitely doing it," says Dr. Julie Holland, author of a book on ecstasy and an assistant professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. "I understand it's a pretty popular thing for those who have access to prescription medicines." © Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Keyword: Drug Abuse; Depression
Link ID: 1581 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The Hollywood movie "A Beautiful Mind" starring Russell Crowe is tipped to win several Oscars next month. The film tells the story of brilliant mathematician John Nash who made a stunning breakthrough in the field of economic game theory while still a student at Princeton University, but who then developed schizophrenia. After a decades-long struggle with the condition, Nash finally manages to start teaching again, and more than 40 years after his breakthrough, he is awarded the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economic Science. A powerful central theme of the film is that although schizophrenia is often a debilitating condition, it is possible for people to overcome it. BBC News Online's Richard Warry talked to Emma Harding, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia while at college. (C) BBC

Keyword: Schizophrenia
Link ID: 1580 - Posted: 02.23.2002

Land of nod is a learning experience SARA ABDULLA Cramming all night might help you to scrape through exams, but it won't make you clever in the long run. Human and animal experiments are lending new support to a common parental adage: that a good night's sleep is essential to learning. "Modern life's erosion of sleep time could be seriously short-changing our education potential," warned Robert Stickgold of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the meeting of American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston this week. Many pianists find that sleeping on a tune can help their performance. Similarly, in the lab, volunteers' skill at key-tapping and speed-spotting tasks improved by 20 per cent with one nights' sleep after training. Extra nights of slumber enhanced skills even more. © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002

Keyword: Sleep; Learning & Memory
Link ID: 1578 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Adam Feuerstein Staff Reporter Regeneron has run into a buzzsaw of rumors linking its experimental obesity drug, Axokine, with a potentially serious nervous system disorder. Two weeks ago, executives at the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based biotech firm acknowledged that a person taking Axokine as part of an ongoing, late-stage clinical trial developed Guillain-Barre syndrome -- a nerve disorder that causes temporary muscle weakening and paralysis. Regeneron was quick to deny any connection between its drug and the patient's illness, and its assertion was backed by the opinion of the patient's doctor. But that hasn't stopped concerns from being raised about Axokine's safety, because the drug has already shown some evidence of making a patient's nervous system susceptible to certain viruses. © 1996-2002 TheStreet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 1577 - Posted: 06.24.2010

12 Volunteers Said to Be Seriously Ill With Brain Inflammation By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer Twelve volunteers inoculated with a highly touted experimental vaccine designed to reverse the course of Alzheimer's disease have fallen seriously ill with brain inflammation, forcing the vaccine's manufacturer to stop giving the shots and raising doubts about the product's clinical potential, according to sources familiar with the study. The vaccine, made by the Irish pharmaceutical company Elan and known by its code name AN-1792, had generated unusually intense enthusiasm among scientists and patient advocates during the past two years, as experiments in mice suggested it could halt the progression of Alzheimer's and perhaps even cure the deadly disease. Alzheimer's gradually robs people of their minds. It affects 2 million to 4 million elderly Americans and is expected to affect 15 million by 2030. Even the best treatments today have a very modest impact. © 2002 The Washington Post Company

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1576 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Is it human nature to be competitive? Aggressive? Violent? Popular and scientific literature says yes. An anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis who studies primate behavior says no. Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and a colleague found that affiliated behavior -- or friendly behavior like grooming and playing -- is probably a hundred times more frequent than aggressive behavior in primates, and that aggressive behavior constitutes less than 1 percent of primates' activities. Sussman and Paul A. Garber, Ph.D., a former graduate student of Sussman's who is now chair and professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, did a survey of the literature and followed that up with real-life observations. They had two questions: How much time do primates in general spend in social behavior, and how much of this social behavior is spent in aggressive interaction? Copyright ©2002 Washington University in St. Louis. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Aggression; Evolution
Link ID: 1574 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Scientists at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research have developed an experimental therapy which enables rats with a spinal cord lesion to partially recover from their paralysis. Up until now not even the slightest degree of recovery was possible. PhD student Bas Blits was part of this team. The method uses a combination of transplantation and gene therapy. For the transplantation, the researchers implanted nerve cells cultured in vitro. The cells originated from the nerves between the ribs where they could be missed. Following the transplantation gene therapy has to further stimulate the growth and recovery of the damaged nerve cells. This is done by means of growth stimulating molecules. These neurotrophic factors are naturally present during, for example, the recovery of nerves following a deep cut in the finger. Normally they are not present in large enough quantities in the spinal cord.

Keyword: Regeneration; Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1573 - Posted: 02.22.2002

University Park, Pa. --- In a small study conducted at Penn State, researchers have shown, for the first time, that heavy or moderate smokers who stop smoking have symptoms similar to those experienced by patients undergoing an inflammatory response – suggesting that anti-inflammatory medication might ease some nicotine withdrawal woes. Dr. Elizabeth Corwin, assistant professor in the school of nursing and the Intercollege Physiology Program, says, "Our research shows that nicotine withdrawal is a significant physical as well as psychological stressor that impacts multiple systems of the body, including the immune system. If we can relieve some negative symptoms – including depression – by reducing the inflammatory response, we may be able to increase the likelihood that heavy or moderate smokers can successfully quit."

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1572 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The old adage "laughter is the best medicine" has proved its worth among children coping with pain, research suggests. Medical experts in the USA found laughter helped children relax, which had a major impact on how they dealt with and accepted pain. They believe the healing power of humour can reduce pain and stimulate immune function in children with cancer, Aids or diabetes and in children receiving organ transplants and bone marrow treatments. Their study reinforces practices adopted by UK hospitals, where laughter is used as a tool to make hospital wards a friendlier place. (C) BBC

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1571 - Posted: 02.22.2002

By Dr. John Marler Special to ABCNEWS.com What Is Stroke? A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the part of the brain is suddenly interrupted (ischemic) or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding the brain cells (hemorrhagic). The symptoms of stroke are easy to spot: sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking; dizziness; or loss of balance or coordination. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or when they are damaged by sudden bleeding into or around the brain. These damaged cells can linger in a compromised state for several hours. With timely treatment, these cells can be saved. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1570 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Dr. Patrick D. Lyden Special to ABCNEWS.com Feb. 21 — As many as 80,000 stroke patients who arrive at the hospital in time may be eligible for treatment for disability-preventing therapy with clot-busting medications. Yet current estimates show that only three to five percent of all such eligible patients receive treatment, and it is clear that America faces a major public health problem. The most common kind of stroke, known as ischemic stroke, occurs in 85 percent of the estimated 750,000 annual cases. These strokes are caused by blood clots forming in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. The part of the brain that is deprived of blood begins to die almost immediately. Ischemic strokes can be treated using clot-busting medications such as tissue plasminogen activator or t-PA, which provides a 30 to 50 percent better chance of cure from stroke disability. However, delays to treatment and the unavailability of hospital equipment and staff can prevent many people from benefiting from this therapy. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1569 - Posted: 06.24.2010

An appetite stimulant produced by the stomach may lead to treatments for obesity and wasting syndromes John Travis Perhaps you skipped breakfast this morning. It's nearly noon and your stomach is starting to rumble. Or maybe you're working late and developing a headache because you haven't had dinner yet. In both of these cases, your body is sending a clear signal: Give me food, right now. Figure out how that signaling works and the world will beat a pathway to your door. Controlling weight, after all, is important for cosmetic and medical reasons, and it's already a multibillion-dollar business. "We all know that around mealtime, one tends to get hungry. It's a very powerful sensation. All of us have had it. Yet the nature of that powerful stimulus is quite vague," notes David E. Cummings of the University of Washington in Seattle. "There's no clear consensus on why we get hungry at mealtimes." Over the years, scientists have proposed many hunger signals. Some researchers argued that the contracting stomach provides the trigger. One investigator went so far as to swallow a balloon and inflate it. This dulled his appetite all right, but other researchers countered that people who had had their stomachs surgically removed still became hungry. Broglio, F., et al . 2001. Ghrelin, a natural GH secretagogue produced by the stomach, induces hyperglycemia and reduces insulin secretin in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 86(October):5083-5088. From Science News, Vol. 161, No. 7, Feb. 16, 2002, p. 107. Copyright ©2002 Science Service. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Obesity; Hormones & Behavior
Link ID: 1568 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Concerns about the over use of tranquilisers to treat dementia have sparked a four-year study to test their effectiveness. The Alzheimer's Society, which is carrying out the research, believes these drugs are not needed in many of the cases when they are prescribed. Alzheimner's Society director Dr Richard Harvey said drugs were used outside their licensed indications as a "chemical cosh" or "chemical straightjacket". He said: "Tranquilisers are the easy option. Quite often they are given covertly, mixed with food. (C) BBC

Keyword: Alzheimers
Link ID: 1567 - Posted: 02.21.2002

The first cases of adult-type diabetes have been found in overweight white children in the UK. The disclosure provides highly disturbing evidence of the threat to health posed by growing levels of obesity in the developed world. It has also prompted a warning that rising rates of obesity among the young will place a serious burden on the health service in years to come. But a spokesman for the Department of Health said initiatives were already in place to combat obesity in young and old. (C) BBC

Keyword: Obesity
Link ID: 1566 - Posted: 02.21.2002

IF YOU are a loner, you'd better get yourself some friends or else risk losing precious brain cells. That's the suggestion from a study into the brains of songbirds, which found that birds living in large groups have more new neurons and probably a better memory than those living alone. How the brain stores long-term memory is a mystery, but some researchers think it involves permanent changes in the gene expression of brain cells. So animals like songbirds that have small brains and relatively long lifespans would run out of neural "space" to store new memories if they didn't grow a constant supply of new cells. Songbirds do grow new neurons, though most of these die within three to five weeks and so can't store memories for long. But those that survive may provide space for new long-term memories.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Neurogenesis
Link ID: 1565 - Posted: 02.21.2002

In the Dutch language questions are spoken with a higher pitched voice than statements. This was revealed in experimental linguistic research conducted by Judith Haan at the University of Nijmegen. Her research supports the hypothesis that the intonation of questions has a biological origin. In many languages, questions have a higher average pitch than statements. Linguist Judith Haan has demonstrated that Dutch is not an exception to this. Her results support the theory of the American linguist Ohala, who proposes that the raised pitch in questions has a biological origin. Research has shown that mammals and birds upon meeting one of their own kind, can estimate the physical supremacy of the other, based on the pitch of the sound they make. A sound with a lower pitch or lower frequency indicates a larger body. According to Ohala this so-called frequency code also plays a role in human speech. Asking a question can be seen as a form of dependency: for certain information the enquirer is dependent upon the listener. This is expressed in the form of a high pitch and could explain why this phenomenon is found in such a wide range of languages. This elevated pitch reveals itself immediately at the start of the interrogative sentence (also in Dutch), something which Spanish texts express very appropriately by placing an upside down question mark at the start of the interrogative sentence.

Keyword: Language; Evolution
Link ID: 1564 - Posted: 02.21.2002

By John Yang [ABCNEWS.com] — For people in cardiac arrest — sudden, abrupt heart failure — time counts. New research indicates temperature counts, too. About 300,000 Americans suffer cardiac arrest each year, and about half of them are able to be resuscitated. For survivors, a major problem is permanent brain damage, the result of interrupted blood flow. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, doctors in Europe and Australia report that lowering body temperature significantly reduces the risk of that damage. What's more, cooling the patients for the first 12 to 24 hours increased their chances of survival by more than 25 percent. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures.

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1563 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The tricks behind one of the most spectacular feats of memory in the natural world have been revealed. The Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) hides between 20,000 and 25,000 pine seeds in up to 5000 different caches to provide for itself and its new chicks through the cold winter and spring of the Rocky mountains. Remarkably, the birds can recall the locations up to nine months later. "I can't think of a more extreme example," says Alan Kamil, who has been studying the bird's abilities with colleagues at the University of Nebraska. But he adds that many other, less studied species also hoard food. © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Evolution
Link ID: 1559 - Posted: 06.24.2010