News by Subject Social & Behavior

New avenues are now being opened for future treatment of Laing distal myopathy, a rare disorder that causes muscles in the feet, hands and elsewhere to atrophy. In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers have identified an enzyme with a clear link to how the disease develops.

In a new study, researchers focused on one of the most common caregiving arrangements: daughters between the ages of 40 and 70 who were likely to need to provide informal care to their mothers at some point in the near future. Participants were identified using the Health and Retirement Study, a survey conducted by the University of Michigan since 1992. Findings from this new analysis were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

A rapid genetic test developed by Newcastle researchers has identified the first four patients with inherited mutations in a new disease gene, a building block of complex I called NDUFA6.

The oldest group reported the lowest levels of depressive symptoms and the highest levels of Physical QOL. 'These results were unexpected,' said Dr. Strober, 'given the functional limitations, disease progression, and neurological lesions seen in the aging MS population. Contrary to our hypothesis, the trend by age paralleled the general population. Younger individuals with MS are at greater risk for depression and poor QOL. If confirmed, targeted screening for depression by age may be warranted in this population.'

'These results indicate that processing speed is fundamental to higher order cognitive function in individuals with MS,' said Dr. Chiaravalloti, the Foundation's director of Neuropsychology, Neuroscience, and Traumatic Brain Injury Research. 'Looking at the impact of cognitive interventions on neuropsychological measures isn't enough, however. The outcomes of our research studies need to include the effects of cognitive rehabilitation protocols on how people perform in their daily lives.'

Four research participants with chronic, complete cervical spinal cord injury, persistent low resting blood pressure and blood pressure decrease when sitting up experienced improvements in blood pressure and heart rate regulation during and after spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES).

Taking a low-dose aspirin daily does not prolong healthy living in older adults, according to findings from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial published online Sept. 16 in three papers in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Older adults fitted with a cochlear implant to compensate for severe hearing loss have significantly poorer cognitive function than their normal-hearing counterparts. Hearing loss is a risk factor for cognitive decline, so this new finding suggests cochlear implants cannot fully compensate for this deterioration in brain function. Rehabilitation treatment should be tailored to the cognitive profile of cochlear implant patients, with further research determining the impact of cochlear implants on cognition and its decline.

Answers to treating muscular dystrophies could lie in better understanding muscle repair -- which resembles a delicate cellular dance choreographed by special cells called fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs). Now, scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have revealed that FAPs don't have just one identity -- but several distinct identities that emerge during key stages of muscle regeneration. These cells they could be targeted for drug development. The study was published in Nature Communications.