Related topics: proceedings of the national academy of sciences , brain cells



Neurodegenerative disease

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Neurodegenerative 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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with neurodegenerative diseases

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Proline Repeats in Protein Help Grow Tooth Enamel (w/ Podcast)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 21, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A simple amino acid that is repeated in the center of proteins found in tooth enamel makes teeth stronger and more resilient, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.


Cut out the (estrogen) middleman

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

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.


Watching stem cells repair the human brain

Watching stem cells repair the human brain

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 19, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (14) | comments 0

There is no known cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But new hope, in the form of stem cells created from the patient's own bone marrow, can be found ― ...


Misfolded proteins: The fundamental problem is aging

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 2

Proteins are essential for all biological activities and the health of the cell. Misfolded and damaged proteins spell trouble and are common to all human neurodegenerative diseases and many other age-associated diseases. ...


Fish oil protects against diseases like Parkinson's, study

Medicine & Health / Health

created Apr 19, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Dr. Nicolas Bazan, Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Boyd Professor, and Ernest C. and Yvette C. Villere Chair of Retinal Degenerative Diseases Research at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, will present ...


An atomic-level look at an HIV accomplice

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(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 ...


Brain disorder suggests common mechanism may underlie many neurodegenerative diseases

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 11, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0

A Mayo Clinic-led international consortium has found a mechanism that may help explain Parkinson's and other neurological disorders.


Toxicity mechanism identified for Parkinson's disease

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 02, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Neurologists have observed for decades that Lewy bodies, clumps of aggregated proteins inside cells, appear in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.


Protein inhibitor helps rid brain of toxic tau protein

Protein inhibitor helps rid brain of toxic tau protein

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Sep 29, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

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 ...


Study supports possible role of urate in slowing Parkinson's disease progression

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 12, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

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 ...


First direct information about the prion's molecular structure reported

First direct information about the prion's molecular structure reported

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Oct 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(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. ...


Widely used cholesterol-lowering drug may prevent progression

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

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 ...


Study Shows How Normal Cells Influence Tumor Growth

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

(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 ...


Scientists uncover evolutionary origins of prion disease gene

Medicine & Health / Research

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

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 ...


New class of compounds discovered for potential Alzheimer's disease drug

New class of compounds discovered for potential Alzheimer's disease drug

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

A new class of molecules capable of blocking the formation of specific protein clumps that are believed to contribute to Alzheimer's disease pathology has been discovered by researchers at the University of ...