By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK MOLALLA, Ore., — There are 8,300 active doctors in Oregon. Of these, 777 have authorized at least one patient to use marijuana, under terms of a voter-approved medical- marijuana law. There are 272 who have authorized more than one patient; several have approved a handful; one is up to 61, another 65. Then there is Dr. Phillip E. Leveque. With 1,718 such authorizations, Dr. Leveque, a 78-year-old semiretired osteopath in this Portland suburb, has granted 49.7 percent of Oregon's medical-marijuana cards since the law went into effect in May 1999. So lopsided are the numbers that Dr. Leveque has drawn the attention of Oregon medical authorities, who pledge to crack down on him for "repeated negligence" in granting the marijuana approvals, some for patients he never saw. The state's Board of Medical Examiners said this week that it would issue a formal complaint, asserting that some of those he has approved to use marijuana did not qualify under the law. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 1512 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Birdwatchers have long known that a little chili pepper added to the birdfeeder keeps the squirrels away. Now biochemists can tell them why. A new study reveals the cellular difference that makes mammals uniquely sensitive to capsaicin--the fiery molecule that makes chili peppers the bane of gringos and the delight of culinary masochists. The finding may lead to a new class of pain medications. In 1999, researchers showed that desert rodents scorn chilies, whereas birds wolf them down (ScienceNOW, 13 August 1999 ). That preference works out nicely for the chili plants--because the seeds break down in the rodent gut, but not in the avian gut, birds are better at dispersing the seeds. Cell biologists later found that in mice the same pain receptor is responsible for sensitivity to both heat and capsaicin (Science NOW, < AHREF="http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2000/413/1">13 April 2000). This led them to suspect that the receptor, called VR1, might differ between birds and mammals. Copyright © 2002 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Evolution
Link ID: 1511 - Posted: 06.24.2010

The Popular Drug May Reduce the Effects of Stroke By Jennifer Warner WebMD Medical News -- Viagra, the drug best known for reviving men's sex lives, may also revitalize the brain, according to new research. An animal study suggests that the anti-impotence drug can reduce the effects of stroke by helping the brain heal itself. "What we found is that we can use certain drugs like Viagra to create new brain cells," said study author Michael Chopp, PhD, scientific director of the Neuroscience Institute at Henry Ford Hospital, in a news release. "And these cells are created in both elderly as well as young subjects." Chopp presented his research today at the 27th International Stroke Conference in San Antonio, Texas. He says Viagra was selected for testing in stroke treatment because it is chemically similar to other compounds that have been shown to improve brain function in animals after stroke. © 1996-2002 WebMD Corporation. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Stroke; Neurogenesis
Link ID: 1510 - Posted: 06.24.2010

New Haven, Conn. -- A Yale researcher has received a $1.4 million grant to study a neurotransmitter whose loss in the brain is believed responsible for narcolepsy, an often misunderstood disease marked by an uncontrollable desire to sleep. "It's profoundly debilitating," said Anthony van den Pol, professor of neurosurgery at Yale School of Medicine . "For example, narcoleptics may go to work and, despite their best intentions to the contrary, spontaneously fall asleep, raising the ire of their employer. Then at night they may have trouble sleeping, and may suffer from hallucinations when falling asleep or waking." Van den Pol's laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues at Stanford and the Scripps Research Institute, first described the hypothalamic neurotransmitter, hypocretin, in 1998. Later studies showed that patients with narcolepsy did not have any neurons in the brain to make hypocretin. More recently, van den Pol and other researchers also found that hypocretin appears to be linked to pain modulation in the spinal cord.

Keyword: Narcolepsy; Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1509 - Posted: 02.09.2002

Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer Scientists have discovered a new type of specialized, light-sensing cell in the eye that keeps the brain's built-in circadian clock running on track. The new findings outline a previously unknown link between basic physiology and the amount of light in the environment, suggesting a new approach for relieving jet lag, the grind of shift work and maybe even the wintertime blues. It's long been clear that the amount of light in the environment has a big effect on hormones, mood and many other basic body functions. But how the light cues are gathered and sent to the brain is only now starting to become clear. ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Vision
Link ID: 1508 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BRAILLE READING STRATEGIES MAY ENHANCE STIMULATION OF THE BRAIN RESPONSIBLE FOR VISION Findings appear in recent edition of the Journal of Neurophysiology,a publication of the American Physiological Society (APS) Bethesda, MD -- The federal government records that more than 365,000 Americans under the age of 65 suffer from a severe loss of sight that merits assistance. Among the challenges faced by the suddenly blind is learning Braille, the international system of writing and printing by means of reading raised dots corresponding to letters, numbers, and punctuation. How can a person who has become sightless learn Braille, allowing access to the printed word? For most, hard work and determination plays a major role. However, new research has demonstrated that the brain compensates for loss of vision, and works to assist the sightless individual in learning Braille. © 1995-2002 Newswise

Keyword: Pain & Touch; Vision
Link ID: 1507 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Children born as a result of IVF treatment have a higher than normal chance of having cerebral palsy, claims research. However, scientists believe that the worrying increase is largely due to the higher number of multiple pregnancies caused by fertility treatment. IVF babies in general, and particularly twins and triplets, are more likely to be born early, and have low birthweight, both of which can be influential. Tellingly, the proportion of IVF twins suffering cerebral palsy was not greatly different to the number of normally-conceived twins affected. (C) BBC

Keyword: Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1506 - Posted: 02.08.2002

New research to be published on Friday is expected to show there is no link at all between the controversial MMR vaccination and autism. The research, carried out by a team at the Royal Free Hospital in London, is to be published on the British Medical Journal's website. It follows stringent defence of the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella immunisation by Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England. In remarks posted on the 10 Downing Street website, Prime Minister Tony Blair gives another hint that his son Leo has had the jab. (C) BBC

Keyword: Autism
Link ID: 1505 - Posted: 02.08.2002

By SANDRA BLAKESLEE With the help of three kinds of blind mice and some ugly frogs, scientists have discovered a new class of light-sensing cells in the retina. The cells, which are different from the rods and cones that enable vision, appear to reset the body's master biological clock each morning and night. The researchers said that while the finding was made in mice, it was certain to hold true for humans, with implications for possible treatment of sleep disorders, jet lag, depression and other maladies involving the body's internal clock. "We thought we knew everything about the retina," said Dr. Michael Menaker, a neuroscientist at the University of Virginia and an expert on biological clocks, who is familiar with the research. "Now we find we have two separate systems in the eye, one for vision and one for setting the clock. We have a new way of thinking about how light is interpreted by the nervous system." Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Vision
Link ID: 1503 - Posted: 02.08.2002

NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Bionic limb replacements that look and work exactly like the real thing will likely remain a Hollywood fantasy, but fast advances in human-to-machine communication and miniaturization could bring the technology close within a decade. That is the outlook of Rutgers biomedical engineer and inventor William Craelius, whose Dextra artificial hand is the first to let a person use existing nerve pathways to control individual computer-driven mechanical fingers. Craelius published an overview of bionics entitled "The Bionic Man - Restoring Mobility," in the international journal "Science," on Feb. 8.

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 1502 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Copyright © 2002 AP Online By DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor SAN ANTONIO - Despite many failed studies, experimental new drugs designed to protect the brain from self-destruction following a stroke may lead to useful treatments after all, data released Thursday suggest. The search for so-called neuroprotective drugs has been frustrating. So far, more than 50 of them have looked encouraging in animal experiments, but all have failed to work when tested on people. However, the new data suggest that if enough patients are studied - and they are measured the right way - some of the drugs indeed may be proven to work. Copyright © 2001 Nando Media

Keyword: Stroke
Link ID: 1501 - Posted: 06.24.2010

BY JANET RAE BROOKS (c) 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Bill Johnson has some unfinished business in Utah. The Olympic gold medalist, who suffered a horrific crash last year in a comeback attempt in the downhill, wants to collect his father's ashes from Los Angeles and scatter them over Lake Powell. Just one problem. Johnson has no memory of his father's death in 1995. © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune.

Keyword: Learning & Memory; Brain Injury/Concussion
Link ID: 1500 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Tim Radford, science editor The Guardian Yesterday's television fantasy is becoming tomorrow's reality. New bionic man may not be blessed with superhuman strength, but one day the injured may be able to move their paralysed limbs by the power of thought - and a tiny implanted computer. Synthetic tissues could begin to merge with flesh to restore failing organs, artificial blood could carry oxygen from the lungs, cochlear implants could directly stimulate "hearing" in the brain, and cameras implanted in the retina could restore some vision to the blind. Mechanical helpers could keep failing hearts beating, artificial livers could prolong patients' lives and artificial tendons might tether wasting muscle to bones. The catch is that the Six Million Dollar Man will cost nearer $6bn - and the tissue engineers who will repair tomorrow's humans have a long way to go. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

Keyword: Robotics
Link ID: 1499 - Posted: 06.24.2010

By Maggie Fox [Reuters] WASHINGTON, — Both placebos and strong painkillers activate the same areas of the brain, which suggests that pain relief may often be literally a case of mind over matter, researchers said on Thursday. THE EXPERIMENT also suggests the brain has a built-in mechanism for dealing with pain, which might someday lead to the development of better drugs to treat pain, the researchers report in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Martin Ingvar of the Neurophysiology Research Group in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues there and in Finland exposed volunteers to painful heat and took scans of their brains to see what happened when the volunteers got painkillers or placebo injections of salt water. “Placebo treatment and treatment with painkiller of the opioid family, they induced activity in the same region,” Ingvar said in a telephone interview. • MSNBC Terms, Conditions and Privacy © 2002

Keyword: Pain & Touch
Link ID: 1498 - Posted: 06.24.2010

— Researchers have traced the light-sensing circuitry for a type of “second sight” that is distinct from the conventional visual system and seems to interact directly with the body’s internal clock. The researchers speculate that subtle genetic malfunctions of this machinery might underlie some sleep disorders. In an article published in the February 8, 2002, Science, a research team led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator King-Wai Yau described the circuitry, which consists of a subset of nerve cells that carry visual signals from the eye to the brain. The scientists showed that circadian-pacemaker nerve cells almost certainly depend on a different light-sensing pigment, called melanopsin, than the conventional visual system, which relies on rod and cone photoreceptors arrayed across the retina. ©2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Keyword: Biological Rhythms; Vision
Link ID: 1497 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Women 'get used' to men's sperm Regular sex with the same man may prime a woman's immune system not to reject his sperm when they try to conceive, scientists suggest. The theory could partly explain why humans have sex even when they aren't trying for a baby. Even a year before conception, exposure to sperm, either through intercourse or other sex acts, can have protective effects against problems ranging from infertility to miscarriages and high blood pressure during pregnancy. (C) BBC

Keyword: Sexual Behavior
Link ID: 1495 - Posted: 02.07.2002

Echolocating bats, with their highly specialized auditory behaviors, have provided some of the clearest examples of structure/function relationships in the auditory cortex. Research points out differences and similarities between humans and bats in processing auditory information in a study published in the February 2002 edition of the Journal of Neurophysiology Bethesda, MD -- Bats have inspired awe, fear, and even the inspiration for a world famous comic book character. But for a team of physiologists, the pallid bat can provide new clues into the structure and function of the auditory cortex. Background This winged creature is unusual because it finds its prey by passively listening to prey-generated noise of short duration, while reserving high-frequency echolocation for obstacle avoidance. Echolocation is the method bats use to direct their flight and avoid solid objects. The creatures emit high-pitched cries, which are inaudible to human ears but are heard by bats as reflected echoes from objects in their path.

Keyword: Hearing
Link ID: 1494 - Posted: 02.07.2002

The chance of developing schizophrenia may be directly linked to how sunny it was in the months before a person's birth, research suggests. A lack of sunlight can lead to vitamin D deficiency, which scientists believe could alter the development of a child's brain in the womb. Research suggests people who develop schizophrenia in Europe and North America are more likely to be born in the spring, according to an article in the New Scientist. They are also roughly four times as likely to be born to Afro-Caribbean immigrants living in England as they are to have parents of other ethnic origins living in the same areas. (C) BBC

Keyword: Schizophrenia; Biological Rhythms
Link ID: 1493 - Posted: 02.07.2002

CHAPEL HILL ? Because of concerns about terrorists one day using such deadly nerve agents as sarin, soman, tabun and VX, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientist is urging the government and medical researchers to investigate potentially more effective treatments. Dr. David S. Janowsky says he has a strong candidate drug that might prevent many deaths from an attack. Studies he and colleagues published 16 years ago suggest scopolamine, a drug already routinely used to combat motion sickness, could be a significant improvement over the standard treatment, atropine, in treating civilians and military personnel exposed to toxic nerve agents. Copyright © 1992-2002 Bio Online, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Neurotoxins
Link ID: 1492 - Posted: 06.24.2010

Science trumps politics Just as the Senate gears up to debate the contentious issue of human cloning, a number of startling advances are emerging that may offer alternatives to the technique. In fact, the very scientists who forced the issue by creating the first cloned human embryo last October are announcing advances toward obtaining genetically matched replacement cells for patients without creating a viable embryo. And other scientists are making progress using adult stem cells to generate new tissues. Until now, the only known way to provide new body cells containing a patient's own DNA has been to create an early-stage cloned embryo to produce the versatile stem cells that can then be prodded to become any type of body tissue. But because embryo research is such an explosive issue, progress has been stymied and lawmakers have threatened to ban the work. © 2002 U.S.News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Stem Cells
Link ID: 1491 - Posted: 06.24.2010