Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medicine have developed a new, accessible approach to analyze a patient’s walking ability and stances more effectively. Following numerous tests, they determined that a simple video recorded on a personal pocket device, such as a smartphone or tablet, can be used to measure gait at a clinical, high-quality level. Experts say current state-of-the-art approaches to gait analysis are often expensive and inaccessible due to time constraints and extensive efforts required for assessments. However, there is a significant need for this analysis in patients experiencing conditions such as traumatic brain injury, physical injury, or disorders. Through freely available software they created, walking abilities can now be assessed more conveniently, enhancing the comprehensiveness of rehabilitation. Dr. Ryan Roemmich, a research scientist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and co-principal investigator ...
The progressive and incurable brain disorder currently affects approximately 100 patients worldwide LifeArc has announced that it has funded a pivotal clinical trial at the University of Cambridge for £750,000 to re-purpose a UK-licensed medicine to treat the ultra-rare genetic disease neuroferritinopathy. The recently launched DefINe trial aims to stop the progression of the disease with an existing drug known as Ferriprox (deferiprone), manufactured by Chiesi Global Rare Diseases. Affecting approximately 100 patients worldwide, neuroferritinopathy is a progressive and incurable brain disorder caused by changes in a gene that produces the ferritin light chain protein. This change can lead to a build-up of iron in the brain, which can cause severe symptoms such as loss of speech and swallowing. With currently no effective treatments available to treat the condition, the new randomised, placebo-controlled trial aims to reduce the iron accumulation in the brain using Ferriprox, an affordable oral tablet licensed ...
With pimavanserin’s Phase 3 failure in schizophrenia, Acadia Pharmaceuticals said it will no longer run clinical trials for the drug, whose lone approval is for treating psychosis from Parkinson’s disease. The FDA previously rebuffed regulatory submissions for the drug in dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. By FRANK VINLUAN An Acadia Pharmaceuticals drug that’s already approved for treating psychosis in Parkinson’s disease patients could not beat a placebo in a pivotal schizophrenia study, spelling the end of efforts to develop a medication the company once envisioned as having potential applications across a range of neurological disorders. The clinical trial failure announced Tuesday evaluated the drug, pimavanserin, as a treatment for negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The main goal was to show a change in score according to an assessment used to measure the disease’s symptoms. According to the preliminary results, the pimavanserin arm achieved a numerical change in score that was similar to ...
Affecting 55 million people globally, dementia impairs the ability to remember, think or make decisionsRoche and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) have partnered to uncover new research to understand the structural changes of dementia. Using cutting-edge imaging and machine learning (ML), researchers will analyse the brains of patients living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Dementia is a general term used for the impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions that interferes with day-to-day activities and affects 55 million people globally, according to Alzheimer’s Society. Currently the most common form of dementia, AD is a progressive neurological disease that affects the part of the brain that controls thought, memory and language. PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the body’s nervous system. The main symptoms include shaking, slow movements and stiffness. The study will use advanced MRI to understand the bigger structural changes ...
The gamma treatment also shows potential for treating patients living with neurological diseases Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have shown that a non-invasive treatment called gamma treatment could protect cancer patients from “chemo brain,” memory impairment and other cognitive effects of chemotherapy. Chemo brain is a term used to describe thinking and memory problems that a patient may experience before, during or after cancer treatment. Originally developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the treatment works to stimulate gamma-frequency brain waves, involving exposure to light and sound with a frequency of 40 hertz. In the new study, MIT researchers used mouse models, which evaluated a chemotherapy drug known as cisplatin, often used to treat testicular and ovarian cancers, for five days and then took it off for five days and repeated it. One group received chemotherapy only, while another group was also given 40-hertz light and sound therapy ...
The non-invasive tool can also improve patient stratification and monitor disease progression Researchers from King’s College London (KCL) have developed a deep learning framework for a non-invasive brain-age prediction tool for the early diagnosis of neurological diseases. The study built and made available a set of models for clinical use after training multiple brain models from a variety of magnetic resonance image (MRI) types. Neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, are conditions that affect the brain as well as the nerves found throughout the human body and spinal cord. By comparing patients’ brain ages against their chronological ages, numerous neurological and psychiatric conditions can be identified, helping to predict future health outcomes for patients. Researchers collected over 81,000 patients’ head MRI examinations from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust between 2008 and 2019. After pre-training models, ...
Different factors, such as illness duration and virus variant, impacted patients cognitive abilities Imperial College London (ICL) researchers have revealed that people who have recovered from COVID-19 could have small but long-lasting impacts on the performance of cognitive and memory tasks. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the REACT Long COVID study enrolled over 140,000 participants, including long COVID patients, who undertook at least one cognitive task. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. For some patients, the condition can lead to long COVID, where symptoms can last up to 12 weeks. Using an innovative online cognitive assessment via the Cognitron platform, researchers detected subtle changes in different areas of brain function, including memory, reasoning, executive function, attention and impulsivity. The study revealed small deficits that were still detectable after a year or more following infection, including in people who had a short duration of ...
Dopamine neuron senescence is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons have reported that SARS-CoV-2 can infect dopamine neurones in the brain, triggering senescence. Long COVID patients should be monitored for an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD)-related symptoms, as dopamine neuron senescence is a hallmark of the condition. The study revealed that dopamine neurons that are infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, stop working and send out chemical signals that cause inflammation, triggering senescence, when a cell loses the ability to grow and divide. Neurons produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that acts on areas of the brain and causes feelings of pleasure, motivation, memory, sleep and movement. Damage to these neurons is also associated with PD, a neurodegenerative disorder that progressively damages parts of the brain. After generating multiple cell types from ...
With sales declining for aging multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Fampyra, Biogen has exercised an option to return licensing rights outside of the United States to Acorda Therapeutics. The move, which becomes effective on January 1 of 2025, ends a 15-year arrangement between the companies. The drug was approved by the FDA in 2010, six months after Acorda of Ardsley, N.Y., signed over its ex-U.S. rights to Biogen. Acorda said it will assume commercialization responsibilities this year as marketing authorization transfers and distribution arrangements are finalized for each territory. “We are excited to bring Fampyra in-house, which we believe will add significant value to Acorda, and allow us to continue to provide access to this important medication for people with MS around the world,” Acorda’s CEO Ron Cohen, M.D., said in a release. The extended-release tablet was the first of its kind upon its approval, allowing patients with MS to have ...
Novartis is paying Voyager Therapeutics $100 million up front to collaborate on gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. The deal builds on a relationship the companies started in 2022. By FRANK VINLUAN Novartis is committing $100 million to Voyager Therapeutics to see if the biotech’s technology can lead to new gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and spinal muscular atrophy. According to deal terms announced Tuesday, the sum is an upfront payment that includes a $20 million equity investment in Voyager. Milestone payments could bring the Lexington, Massachusetts-based biotech up to $1.2 billion more. If the partnership leads to commercialized therapies, Voyager would also receive royalties from sales. Gene therapies reach their bodily destinations carried aboard an engineered virus. The therapy’s genetic cargo is enveloped by a protein shell called a capsid. Voyager’s TRACER technology platform discovers capsids that can target particular types of tissue. In addition to ...
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