http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (AP) -- Her first pregnancy brought Dianna Fiore Radoslovich a break from the weakness and pain of her multiple sclerosis. http://phys.org/news224175711.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 May 2011 16:02:18 EST news224175711 Historically, many scientists have regarded itching as just a less intense version of pain. They have spent decades searching for itch-specific nerve cells to explain how the brain perceives itch differently from pain, but none have been found. http://phys.org/news168790835.html Medicine & Health Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:10:01 EST news168790835 A new study published in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) finds that two years after anterior cervical neck operations, patients who have arthroplasty (disc replacement) or arthodesis (spine fusion) can be expected to have significant improvement in their headache symptoms. http://phys.org/news168519037.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:00:02 EST news168519037 In a major step in spinal cord injury research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that regenerating axons can be guided to their correct targets and re-form connections after spinal cord injury. Their findings will be published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience on August 2. http://phys.org/news168439968.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:53:37 EST news168439968 Although macrophages are known as essential players in wound healing, their contribution to recovery from spinal cord injury is a subject of debate. http://phys.org/news167989498.html Medicine & Health Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:45:30 EST news167989498 A common food additive that gives M&Ms and Gatorade their blue tint may offer promise for preventing the additional - and serious - secondary damage that immediately follows a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. In an article published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) stops the cascade of molecular events that cause secondary damage to the spinal cord in the hours following a spinal cord injury, an injury known to expand the injured area in the spinal cord and permanently worsen the paralysis for patients. http://phys.org/news167934592.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:00:06 EST news167934592 (PhysOrg.com) -- Damaged nerve cells in a finger will regrow, but those in the spinal cord do not. Why the difference? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology working with an international team of researchers can now explain two important details. Nerve cells in the spinal cord still have the ability to grow even many weeks after an injury. However, the regeneration is prevented by scar tissue created after the injury occurs. Now that they have this knowledge, scientists can search for ways to reduce the scar tissue and activate the relevant growth mechanisms. (Current Biology, June 2009) http://phys.org/news166719838.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:04:34 EST news166719838 (PhysOrg.com) -- The abrupt withdrawal of morphine-like analgesics - opioids - can increase sensitivity to pain. Experiments have now shown that this effect is caused by a memory-like process, the long-term potentiation of synaptic strength in the spinal cord. The study, which was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), also found ways of avoiding this increase in pain sensitivity. These pioneering results have now been published in the prestigious journal Science. http://phys.org/news166449845.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:04:38 EST news166449845 A team of Rice University bioengineering students who invented a device to measure intrinsic hand muscle strength has won two prestigious honors for their patent-pending creation, PRIME. The device could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of hand injuries and neurological disorders, specifically carpal tunnel syndrome. http://phys.org/news166197262.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:55:05 EST news166197262 An assistive technology that enables individuals to maneuver a powered wheelchair or control a mouse cursor using simple tongue movements can be operated by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries, according to the results of a recently completed clinical trial. http://phys.org/news166097287.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:08:37 EST news166097287 Skinning a knee, swallowing habanero salsa, and installing snow chains bare-handed might seem pretty different at first. But all have one thing in common -- they're guaranteed to hurt. http://phys.org/news165766405.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:30:01 EST news165766405 Grasping a cup of coffee and raising it to the mouth is a daily ritual most people take for granted. Yet, for those who have suffered a stroke or injury to the spinal cord, the task can be impossible to perform—until now. http://phys.org/news164467783.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:40:02 EST news164467783 Brain may win out over brawn as the primary cause of breathing problems in children with a severe form of muscular dystrophy known as Pompe disease. http://phys.org/news162490827.html Medicine & Health Mon, 25 May 2009 17:20:51 EST news162490827 The research group of Dr. Frédéric Charron, a researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), has made a discovery which could help treat spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases. This new finding has been published in the current issue of the prestigious scientific journal Neuron. Patricia T. Yam, Sébastien D. Langlois and Steves Morin, all at the IRCM, are listed as co-authors. http://phys.org/news161609335.html Medicine & Health Fri, 15 May 2009 12:29:17 EST news161609335 Transplanted embryonic stem cells are recognized as a potential treatment for patients suffering from the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI). However, in studies using embryonic stem cells transplanted into SCI laboratory animals, a serious drawback has been the development of tumors following transplantation. http://phys.org/news161267482.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 13:31:51 EST news161267482 Tiny zebrafish could hold the key to stem cell treatments for motor neurone disease. http://phys.org/news160217899.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:58:56 EST news160217899 (AP) -- Surprising new research says nearly 1.3 million Americans are living with a spinal-cord injury, five times more than previous estimates. http://phys.org/news159520294.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:12:00 EST news159520294 (PhysOrg.com) -- In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking Web site Twitter -- just by thinking about it. http://phys.org/news159453062.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:31:52 EST news159453062 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Alberta are looking to the tiny zebrafish for a way to regenerate damaged nerve cells in people. http://phys.org/news159194818.html Medicine & Health Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:48:06 EST news159194818 (AP) -- When President Barack Obama eased limits on taxpayer-funded embryonic stem cell research, the big question became how far scientists could go. Friday, the government answered: They must use cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away. http://phys.org/news159194009.html Biology Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:34:07 EST news159194009 Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, USA, report in the journal Development the successful generation from human embryonic stem cells of a type of cell that can make myelin, a finding that opens up new possibilities for both basic and clinical research. http://phys.org/news158475622.html Biology Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:00:51 EST news158475622 For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement. The regeneration was accomplished in a brain injury site in rats by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and is described in a study to be published in the April 6th early on-line edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://phys.org/news158258501.html Medicine & Health Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:42:36 EST news158258501 Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have been able to speed recovery and substantially reduce damage resulting from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies. http://phys.org/news157718167.html Medicine & Health Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:36:42 EST news157718167 February's brutal chimpanzee attack, during which a pet chimp inflicted devastating injuries on a Connecticut woman, was a stark reminder that chimps are much stronger than humans—as much as four-times stronger, some researchers believe. But what is it that makes our closest primate cousins so much stronger than we are? One possible explanation is that great apes simply have more powerful muscles. Indeed, biologists have uncovered differences in muscle architecture between chimpanzees and humans. But evolutionary biologist Alan Walker, a professor at Penn State University, thinks muscles may only be part of the story. http://phys.org/news157653323.html Biology Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:38:03 EST news157653323 Recognition of the benefits of cooling strategies to protect the brain and spinal cord after traumatic injury has led to a wealth of cutting edge research, prime examples of which are featured in a special hypothermia issue of Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://phys.org/news156707776.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:57:33 EST news156707776 A novel stimulation method, the first potential therapy to target the spinal cord instead of the brain, may offer an effective and less invasive approach for Parkinson's disease treatment, according to pre-clinical data published in the journal Science by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news156693095.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:52:25 EST news156693095 Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have learned that a protein called Shp2 plays a critical role in the pathways that control decisions for differentiation or self-renewal in both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). http://phys.org/news156619552.html Biology Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:26:24 EST news156619552 A newly identified molecular pathway that directs stem cells to produce glial cells yields insights into the neurobiology of Down's syndrome and a number of central nervous system disorders characterized by too many glial cells, according to a recent study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. http://phys.org/news156174646.html Biology Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:51:52 EST news156174646 Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have determined that injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (autologous BMCs) directly into the spinal column using multiple routes can be an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) that returns some quality of life for SCI patients without serious adverse events. http://phys.org/news156091469.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:45:05 EST news156091469 (PhysOrg.com) -- As a high school sophomore, Asad Moten read a news story about engineering new organs for patients waiting for a transplant, and decided to start his own tissue-engineering project. http://phys.org/news155489423.html Chemistry Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:32:25 EST news155489423