Neurodegenerative disease
hideNeurodegenerative disease (Greek νέυρο-, néuro-, "nerval" and Latin dēgenerāre, "to decline" or "to worsen") is a condition in which cells of the brain and spinal cord are lost. The brain and spinal cord are composed of neurons that do different functions such as controlling movements, processing sensory information, and making decisions. Cells of the brain and spinal cord are not readily regenerated en masse, so excessive damage can be devastating. Neurodegenerative diseases result from deterioration of neurons or their myelin sheath which over time will lead to dysfunction and disabilities resulting from this.
Some sources limit the term "degenerative" to conditions primarily affecting gray matter that are not associated with a obvious inciting event.
For more information about Neurodegenerative disease, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with neurodegenerative diseases
Cut out the (estrogen) middleman
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 08, 2009 |
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Estrogen seems to act like a middleman in its positive effect on the brain, raising the possibility that future drugs may bypass the carcinogenic hormone altogether while reaping its benefits.
An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the discovery in 2007 that a component of human semen called SEVI boosts infectivity of the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have been trying to learn more about SEVI and how it works, in hopes of ...
Widely used cholesterol-lowering drug may prevent progression
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Simvastatin, a commonly used, cholesterol-lowering drug, may prevent Parkinson's disease from progressing further. Neurological researchers at Rush University Medical Center conducted a study examining the use of the FDA-approved ...
Inhibitor of Heat Shock Protein is a Potential Anticancer Drug, Study Finds
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Like yoga for office drones, cells do have coping strategies for stress. Heat, lack of nutrients, oxygen radicals - all can wreak havoc on the delicate internal components of a cell, potentially ...
Trembling hands and molecular handshakes
Oct 23, 2009 |
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The heritable Fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome is a common neurodegenerative disease. It is assumed to result from a relative lack of the protein Pur-alpha. A new study by a German team under the leadership of Dr. Dierk Niessing ...
Study Shows How Normal Cells Influence Tumor Growth
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It was once thought that the two communities of cells within a cancerous breast tumor - fast-growing malignant cells and the normal cells that surround them - existed independently, without interaction. Then ...
Understanding the brain's natural foil for over-excited neurons
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 19, 2009 |
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Glutamate is to the brain like coffee is to our bodies. A cup of Joe in the morning can wake us, but overloading on caffeine causes the stimulant to work against us.
Compound shows potential for slowing progression of ALS
Oct 19, 2009 |
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A chemical cousin of a drug currently used to treat sepsis dramatically slows the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, in mice. The results offer a bit of good news in ...
Study supports possible role of urate in slowing Parkinson's disease progression
Oct 12, 2009 |
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By examining data from a 20-year-old clinical trial, a research team based at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (MGH-MIND) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), has found evidence supporting the ...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may involve a form of sudden, rapid aging of the immune system
Oct 08, 2009 |
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Premature aging of the immune system appears to play a role in the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to research scientists from the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute ...
First direct information about the prion's molecular structure reported
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. ...
Protein inhibitor helps rid brain of toxic tau protein
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Sep 29, 2009 |
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Inhibiting the protein Hsp70 rapidly reduces brain levels of tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease when it builds up abnormally inside nerve cells affecting memory, neuroscientists at the University ...
Scientists uncover evolutionary origins of prion disease gene
Sep 28, 2009 |
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A University of Toronto-led team has uncovered the evolutionary ancestry of the prion gene, which may reveal new understandings of how the prion protein causes diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also ...
World’s Most Powerful MRI for Humans Opens New Vistas in Diagnosis
Sep 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New images from the world's most powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine, the 9.4-Tesla MRI at the University of Illinois at Chicago, are opening radical new possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment ...
Gene mutation alone causes transmissible prion disease
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Aug 26, 2009 |
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For the first time, Whitehead Institute researchers have shown definitively that mutations associated with prion diseases are sufficient to cause a transmissible neurodegenerative disease.
