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Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences
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Total 132 results found since Jan 2013.
UCLA scientists hunt down origin of Huntington's disease in the brain
The gene mutation that causes Huntington's disease appears in every cell in the body, yet it kills only two types of brain cells. Why? UCLA scientists used a unique approach to switch the gene off in individual brain regions and zero in on those that play a role in causing the disease in mice.
Published in the April 28 online edition of the journal Nature Medicine, the research sheds light on where Huntington's starts in the brain. It also suggests new targets and routes for therapeutic drugs to slow the devastating disease, which strikes an estimated 35,000 Americans.
"From Day One of conception, the mutant gene that caus...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - April 28, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Today's statin users consume more calories and fat, and weigh more, than their predecessors
People who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol appear to have developed a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses.
A new UCLA-led study suggests that people who took statins in the 2009–10 year were consuming more calories and fat than those who used statins 10 years earlier. There was no similar increase in caloric and fat intake among non–stain users during that decade, researchers said.
In 1999–2000, statin users were consuming fewer calories and less fat than individuals who didn't take these medications, but that is no longer the case. Increase...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - April 25, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA researchers discover new gene involved in Parkinson's disease
In the past decade, scientists have identified a handful of genes connected with Parkinson's disease. Now, a team of UCLA researchers has identified another gene involved in the neurological disorder. Their finding may provide a target for drugs that could one day prevent or even cure the debilitating illness.
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, after Alzheimer's disease, and it has no cure. About 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease each year, and it is estimated that as many as 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease – more than the number of people wit...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 9, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Study provides more evidence that sleep apnea is hurting your brain
This study brings us closer to understanding what causes the problems in the brain of people with sleep apnea,” concluded Macey.
The study also found the problem is greater in women with sleep apnea, which may explain the worse apnea-related outcomes in females than males. Studies recently published by the UCLA School of Nursing have shown that brain injury from sleep apnea is much worse in women than men.
The researchers are now looking at whether treatment for obstructive sleep apnea can reverse the damaging effects.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. Other authors of the study were Raj...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 10, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA volunteers at free clinic solve small problems for poor that could become catastrophic
It was a typical misunderstanding that could have led to disastrous consequences. The man had run out of medication to control his hypertension. But he couldn’t afford to get it refilled, or so he thought.
So instead of picking up a simple, generic medication at Wal-Mart or Target for $4, the man decided to go without it and unknowingly put himself at risk for a stroke. All because he didn’t realize he could obtain the medication cheaply.
Fortunately, he was one of hundreds who were treated by UCLA health care workers volunteering at the Care Harbor’s annual health clinic held Sept. 11-14 at the Los Angeles Sports Ar...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 18, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Procedure to fix radio DJ’s aorta posed high risk to his voice, but UCLA docs came through
Just a few months ago, Sandy “The Sandman” Fagin, a disc jockey with Laguna Beach’s KX-93.5 FM and a voiceover actor, was living with a ticking time bomb — a tennis ball–sized aneurysm near his heart that was threatening to burst.
Because of the aneurysm’s location, a rare two-part surgery was recommended at UCLA. But the first procedure carried a surprising risk: It could damage his voice, as it involved rerouting the blood flow from his neck’s carotid arteries, which are in close proximity to the delicate vocal cord nerves.
The 40-year radio veteran developed the aneurysm as a consequence of a condition kno...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - October 8, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center recognized with award for heart failure care
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award.
The award recognizes the hospital’s work implementing quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation guidelines for heart failure patients.
This marks the sixth consecutive year that Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has been recognized with a quality achievement award for its work treating heart failure.
Get With The Guidelines – Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospita...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - November 14, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Half a million California seniors fall repeatedly but many don’t seek medical attention
More than half a million older Californians — 12.6 percent of the state’s senior population — fall more than once a year, but nearly 60 percent of them fail to seek medical attention afterward, according to a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
The study also found that among those who did seek treatment, 40 percent did not receive counseling from a medical provider about how to prevent future falls.
Falls are the leading injury-related cause of death and need for medical care among Californians age 65 and older, according to the study. In 2012, more than 1,800 seniors died after falling and se...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - November 21, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Brain’s reaction to virtual reality should prompt further study, suggests new research by UCLA neuroscientists
UCLA neurophysicists have found that space-mapping neurons in the brain react differently to virtual reality than they do to real-world environments. Their findings could be significant for people who use virtual reality for gaming, military, commercial, scientific or other purposes.
“The pattern of activity in a brain region involved in spatial learning in the virtual world is completely different than when it processes activity in the real world,” said Mayank Mehta, a UCLA professor of physics, neurology and neurobiology in the UCLA College and the study’s senior author. “Since so many people are using virtual r...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - November 25, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Lost memories might be able to be restored, new UCLA study indicates
New UCLA research indicates that lost memories can be restored. The findings offer some hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
For decades, most neuroscientists have believed that memories are stored at the synapses — the connections between brain cells, or neurons — which are destroyed by Alzheimer’s disease. The new study provides evidence contradicting the idea that long-term memory is stored at synapses.
“Long-term memory is not stored at the synapse,” said David Glanzman, a senior author of the study, and a UCLA professor of integrative biology and physiology and of neurobiology. “...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - December 19, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Oxytocin shows promise for improving social skills in autistic mice
UCLA
Dr. Daniel Geschwind
People with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty with social behavior and communication, which can make it challenging to form friendships, engage in routine conversations or pick up on the social cues that are second nature to most people. Similarly, mice with symptoms of autism show little interest in interacting or socializing with other mice.
A drug called risperidone has been shown to treat some symptoms of autism — including repetitive behaviors — in both humans and mice, but so far no medication has been found to help improve the ability to socialize.
In a study published online b...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - January 27, 2015 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
UCLA researchers identify molecular ‘switch’ that causes Huntington’s disease–like symptoms in mice
This study makes clear that a major neuroprotective function of N17 is to prevent the mutant protein from entering the nucleus and eliciting more severe toxicities,” Yang said, adding that the result is consistent with findings from several studies of other, related disorders in which mutant proteins with expanded glutamine in the nucleus are key for jump-starting a disease.
The researchers also found that the mice in the study experienced inflammation in the brain somewhat similar to that found in people with Huntington’s.
“Neuroinflammation is emerging as a potentially shared mechanism in multiple neurodegenerative...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 13, 2015 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
For most children with HIV and low immune cell count, cells rebound after treatment
UCLA Health Sciences
Dr. Paul Krogstad
Most children with HIV who have low levels of a key immune cell eventually recover levels of this cell after they begin treatment, according to a new study conducted by researchers at UCLA and other institutions in the U.S. and Brazil.
The researchers were funded by the National Institutes of Health.
“We were pleased to find that the vast majority of children experience immune system recovery with effective therapy,” said Dr. Paul Krogstad, professor of pediatric infectious diseases and of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and t...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - March 26, 2015 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Has Brazil found the way to better health care?
Under Brazil’s family health program, when a woman learns that she is pregnant, she contacts her local community health agent, who often is a neighbor.
Typically, the agent visits her home to arrange an appointment with the neighborhood’s family health team, and the woman visits the health center for an assessment by a nurse assistant and a physician. During the pregnancy, if she misses a prenatal care appointment, the agent checks in on her at home and helps her reschedule her visit. Any prenatal medications she needs are provided free of charge.
Brazil — home to the world’s fifth-largest population and seventh-l...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 5, 2015 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Room to breathe for L.A. apartment residents
Public health efforts in California over the last two decades have succeeded in clearing the air of tobacco smoke in workplaces, restaurants, bars and many other public places. But for those who reside in multi-unit apartment complexes, the home is not always a smoke-free zone — even if they want it to be and even if their health suffers as a result.
With a $3 million federal grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in the public health school is leading an initiative to change that reality for low-income Latino and African-American families living ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - July 7, 2015 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
