My favourite science news story today

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Tas
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My favourite science news story today

Post by Tas » 23rd Aug, '11, 07:50

From the general persons news papers, not the journals, Nature readers would be ahead of the game here :)

Cause found for deadly disease August 23, 2011

CHICAGO: Researchers say they have found a common cause behind the mysterious and deadly affliction of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that could lead to an effective treatment.

Dr Teepu Siddique, a neuroscientist with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said the key to the breakthrough is the discovery of an underlying disease process for all types of ALS.

The discovery, reported in the research journal Nature, could also help in developing treatments for Alzheimer's, dementia and Parkinson's disease.

The team identified the breakdown of cellular recycling systems in the neurons of the spinal cord and brain of ALS patients that results in the nervous system losing its ability to carry brain signals to the body's muscular system.

Without those signals, patients are gradually deprived of the ability to move, talk, swallow and breathe.

''This is the first time we could connect [ALS] to a clear-cut biomedical mechanism,'' Dr Siddique said. ''It has really made the direction we have to take very clear and sharp. We can now test for drugs that would regulate this protein pathway or optimise it, so it functions as it should in a normal state.''

Chicago Tribune


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/c ... z1Vny1JF6X
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Lili Von Shtupp
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Re: My favourite science news story today

Post by Lili Von Shtupp » 23rd Aug, '11, 07:57

Wow! Good science. Do you think this also applies to multiple sclerosis? I have a girlfriend with MS.
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Re: My favourite science news story today

Post by Fat Bob » 23rd Aug, '11, 08:25

There are some commonalities between MS and ALS, but that's all at a very basic level. We're actually working on various targets for ALS (and Huntington's) with a view to making any treatment discovered available in larger diseases like MS, Alzhiemer's and Parkinson's. Fingers crossed we find something that can be brought to market.

As a side face, ALS may not be the disease that Lou Gerhig was suffering from.
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Lili Von Shtupp
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Re: My favourite science news story today

Post by Lili Von Shtupp » 23rd Aug, '11, 08:44

I remember reading that too, that Lou Gerhig's Disease may not have actually been Lou Gerhig's disease.

I would love to see something developed that would help my friend, but to think that this breakthrough could develop treatments for not just ALS, but dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's too, that will affect many, many people.

Good News story!
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