Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Lupus have long been suspected to have a common genetic component. Narrowing the field of possibilities to just one likely candidate has taken researchers years to accomplish. The suspected gene is STAT4, but it is too early to tell what impact it will have in therapy for both diseases. This is… Read more

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe various cognitive degenerative diseases. A common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. A relatively rare hereditary form of dementia is frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with parkinsonism-17. Both of these forms of dementia share a common pathology–an over accumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain’s neurons… Read more

Laboratory for Advanced Brain Signal Processing (Japan) has an unique non-invasive approach for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Using EEG recordings, the researchers tested two groups of subjects. One group has the mild form of Alzheimer’s disease, while the other does not have any cognitive impairment. Both groups are approximately the same age. By comparing test… Read more

At one point, immunoglobulin G (IgG) was studied as a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and the results were not what researchers had hoped to achieve. Michael Steinitz, from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, focused on  immunoglobulin M (IgM) as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, but the problem with IgM is that scientists did not believe… Read more

A recent study found that Alzheimer’s patients have an elevated level of magnetic iron oxides in the area of the brain that is affected by the disease. Jon Dobson, professor, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK, looked at the brain tissue from 11 Alzheimer’s disease patients and 11 age-matched control subjects. For the first time it shows… Read more

Neuropathic pain is caused by nerve damage that can be associated with chronic inflammation or direct nerve injury. This type of pain differs from ordinary pain in that it is usually perceived as ongoing burning or as ‘pins and needles’ electric-shock type of sensation. It is the type of pain that often associated with shingles, cancer, repetitive… Read more

High blood pressure, or hypertension, appears to be associated with an increased risk for mild cognitive impairment according to Christiane Reitz, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the Columbia University Medical Center, New York. Researchers followed 918 Medicare recipients with an average age of 76.3-years. None of the participants showed signs of cognitive impairment at the beginning… Read more

Patients who have elective surgery that requires general anesthesia sometimes experience postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). For some time, heart surgery patients have been known to be at risk for POCD–problems with memory, concentration , and processing of information. Terri Monk, M.D., anesthesiologist Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Duke University, reports in the January 1… Read more

Veterans Adminstration (VA) Secretary Jim Nicholson has been accused by injured Iraq war veterans of denying them benefits. The class action suit was filed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of veterans. Attorneys filing the class action said that the objective is not monetary. What they want is for the VA to provide the mental… Read more

Fibrohugs is a large interactive site designed for Fibromyalgia patients and their families. The site also includes articles and an support for Fibromyalgia. For those curious about symptoms check out the page that list various articles… Read more

Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be connected with neurons in the memory center of the brain that are choked as a result of the buildup of two types of proteins: tau protein, which turns destructive when aberrant forms of the  protein form fibrous tangles, and amyloid beta, which produces an amyloid plaque. The NYU Medical Center researchers focused their attention on… Read more

Patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: ALS) suffer from a progressive degenerative motor neuron disease that is almost always fatal. Patients with ALS often demonstrate a range of coping capabilities. Joanna H. Fanos, Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, and colleagues, sought to find the different ways ALS patients use internal and… Read more