Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/muscular_dystrophy/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240305.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240305.phpContinuing a series of groundbreaking discoveries begun in 2010 about the genetic causes of the third most common form of inherited muscular dystrophy, an international team of researchers led by a scientist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified the genes and proteins that damage muscle cells, as well as the mechanisms that can cause the disease...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240149.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240149.phpStudy reveals function of glycosylating enzyme involved in muscular dystrophy, brain development and infection by arenaviruses such as Lassa fever; ability to assay enzyme activity could help screen potential muscular dystrophy therapies Researchers at the University of Iowa have worked out the exact function of an enzyme that is critical for normal muscle structure and is i...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239819.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239819.phpResearchers describe how increased production of a microRNA promotes progressive muscle deterioration in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to a study published online on January 2 in the Journal of Cell Biology*. As DMD patients age, their damaged muscle cells are gradually replaced by collagen-rich, fibrous tissue...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239466.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239466.php A team of researchers grafting human spinal stem cells into rats modeled with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," a degenerative, lethal, neuromuscular disease, have tested four different immunosuppressive protocols aimed at determining which regimen improved long-term therapeutic effects...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238496.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238496.phpResearchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that it is safe to cut and paste together different viruses in an effort to create the ultimate vehicle for gene therapy. In a phase I clinical trial, the investigators found no side effects from using a "chimeric" virus to deliver replacement genes for an essential muscle protein in patients with muscular dystrophy...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238129.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238129.phpA health supplement used by bodybuilders could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting hundreds of Australian children, new research shows...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236156.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236156.php Researchers in Uruguay and Oregon have discovered a previously unknown type of neural cell that appears to be closely linked to the progression of amytrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, that they believe will provide an important new approach to therapies...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235089.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/235089.phpResearchers at the University of Missouri have identified a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in mice that may provide new insight into the debilitating and fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). "Critical communication occurs at the point where nerves and muscles 'talk' to each other...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234898.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234898.phpResearchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have turned back the clock on mature muscle tissue, coaxing it back to an earlier stem cell stage to form new muscle. Moreover, they showed in mice that the newly reprogrammed muscle stem cells could be used to help repair damaged tissue...Stem Cell Research Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234813.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234813.php A group of investigators from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have discovered a crucial link between prions and the neurodegenerative disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. This finding is considerable as it paves the way to new approaches to the treatment of ALS...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234788.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234788.phpFrontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease -- two fatal neurodegenerative disease with distinct but sometimes overlapping symptoms -- are triggered by a common mutation in many cases, according to researchers who say they have identified the mutated gene...Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234499.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234499.phpThe Allen Institute for Brain Science announced today the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234200.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/234200.phpInvestigators at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital are studying a potential new treatment strategy for dominant forms of muscular dystrophy, thanks to preliminary funding from The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233805.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233805.php Although several genes have been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it is still unknown how they cause this progressive neurodegenerative disease. In a new study, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have demonstrated that two ALS-associated genes work in tandem to support the long-term survival of motor neurons...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233814.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233814.php Activating your ABCs might help prevent AD (Alzheimer disease) Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia among older people. One of the main features of AD is the presence in the brain of abnormal clumps of the protein fragment beta-amyloid, which are known as amyloid plaques...Alzheimer's / Dementia Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233138.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233138.phpAll forms of ALS are caused by a protein recycling system in the neurons of the spinal cord and brain that breaks down. For neurons to function properly, they rely on the effective recycling of the protein building blocks in cells - they need to be removed and reprocessed. In ALS, when the recycling system is broken, the cells cannot repair themselves, resulting in serious damage...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232724.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232724.phpResearchers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232662.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232662.php By isolating cells from patients' spinal tissue within a few days after death, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new model of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). They found that during the disease, cells called astrocytes become toxic to nerve cells - a result previously found in animal models but not in humans...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Sat, 13 Aug 2011 08:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232707.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232707.phpFrom the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, investigators have identified a mutation on the SIGMAR1 gene linked with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232682.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232682.phpA mutation in a gene called SIGMAR1 is associated with the development of juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232574.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232574.phpFor decades, scientists have studied a laboratory mouse model that develops signs of the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as they age. In a new study appearing in Nature Biotechnology, investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital have developed a new model of ALS, one that mimics sporadic ALS, which represents about 90 percent of all cases...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232166.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232166.phpResearchers at Columbia University Medical Center have discovered the biological mechanism behind age-related loss of muscle strength and identified a drug that may help reverse this process. Their findings were published in the August 2 online edition of Cell Metabolism. As we grow older, our skeletal muscles tend to wither and weaken, a phenomenon known as sarcopenia...Bones / Orthopedics Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231710.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/231710.phpA molecular technique originally developed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has taken one step closer to becoming a treatment for the devastating genetic disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The novel treatment uses strips of genetic code called antisense oligonucleotides to restore the function of a defective dystrophin gene...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231656.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231656.phpAVI-4658, a targeted antisense therapy to restore expression of dystrophin, a key protein which patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy lack, shows promise, researchers from the Neuromuscular Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK, wrote in the journal The Lancet...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231525.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231525.phpA category of medications commonly used to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS), know as disease modifying drugs, cost Americans 67% more than fellow world leaders such as Britain, Canada, and Germany...Muscular Dystrophy / ALS