Can Peripheral Nervous System Regenerative Mechanisms be Introduced into the Central Nervous System?
The nervous system in general is not particularly regenerative, but peripheral nervous system tissue is more capable of repair than central nervous system tissue. Focusing on neurons that link these two parts of the nervous system, researchers here report on mechanisms involved in repair of nervous system cells, and propose that it might be possible to make central nervous system cells act more like peripheral nervous system cells in this regard. Whether or not this can be achieved safely is another question, however; this is very early stage work, too early to answer many questions about safety and plausibility.
...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 12, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Edge Headset for Enhanced Learning and Memory: Interview with Dr. Tim Fiori, Co-founder of HUMM
HUMM, a San Francisco-based tech company, has developed the Edge headset, a wearable electrical stimulation device that the company claims can boost learning and memory. The device consists of a headband that delivers electrical stimulation to the brain, and using it for just 15 minutes is reported to provide certain cognitive enhancements for at least one hour.
In an increasingly fast-paced and competitive world, researchers have been exploring electrical brain stimulation as a way to enhance our cognitive abilities at the flick of a switch. People think nothing of using a stimulant such as coffee to improve their concent...
Source: Medgadget - December 10, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Neurology Psychiatry Sports Medicine Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 10th 2018
In conclusion, this is the first report to show that pyroptotic cell death occurs in the aging brain and that the inflammasome can be a viable target to decrease the oxidative stress that occurs as a result of aging.
Reducing Levels of Protein Manufacture Slows Measures of Aging in Nematodes
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/12/reducing-levels-of-protein-manufacture-slows-measures-of-aging-in-nematodes/
Researchers here demonstrate that an antibiotic slows aging in nematode worms, providing evidence for it to work through a reduction in protein synthesis. Beyond a slowing of aging, one of the co...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 9, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
MusicGlove Combining Music and Games for Stroke Rehab: Interview with Dr. Nizan Friedman, CEO of Flint Rehab
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability around the world. In the United States alone, nearly 800,00 people suffer from a stroke each year. Many of those who are lucky to survive continue to live with various long-term physical disabilities, including upper limb motor impairment.
Studies have shown that early motor rehabilitation is one of the most important factors to help minimize disability and regain function after a stroke. This rehabilitation period usually includes multiple intensive and highly repetitive exercises designed to help the brain rewire itself and reclaim function through neural plasticity.
Unfo...
Source: Medgadget - December 6, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Kenan Raddawi Tags: Exclusive Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
The Current State of Therapeutic Development Involving Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
A little more than a decade has passed since the development of a simple cell reprogramming approach that reliably created pluripotent stem cells from ordinary somatic cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells. These stem cells are very similar, near identical in fact, to the embryonic stem cells that were previously the only reliable source of cells capable of forming any cell type in the body. Arguably the most important aspect of induced pluripotency is not the promise of the ability to generate patient-matched cells for regenerative therapies and tissue engineering of replacement organs, but rather that it is a lo...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 4, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, November 19th 2018
Fight Aging! provides a weekly digest of news and commentary for thousands of subscribers interested in the latest longevity science: progress towards the medical control of aging in order to prevent age-related frailty, suffering, and disease, as well as improvements in the present understanding of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to extending healthy life. Expect to see summaries of recent advances in medical research, news from the scientific community, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to help speed work on the repair and reversal of aging, links to online resources, and much more.
This content is...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 18, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Does the Altered Blood Flow of Atrial Fibrillation Contribute to Dementia?
Given what we know of the relationship between hypertension and dementia, in which increased blood pressure damages the fragile tissues of the brain, causing loss of function over time, it is reasonable to consider that other disruptions of blood flow could have a similar relationship with the onset of dementia in later life. Researchers here investigate the association between atrial fibrillation and dementia, in search of specific disruptions in blood flow and brain tissue that could explain this relationship in terms of greater structural damage to the brain.
Researchers enrolled 246 patients in the study: 198 ...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 13, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
The Future of Our Brains – Health in Black Mirror
Black Mirror, the iconic British anthology series asks what could happen to our identities, memories, social and personal selves, life and death after getting in touch with the digital. What could happen to the most complex and least understood human organ, the brain, being exposed to powerful, dimension-altering perception? We pondered on whether the current state of technology and research could ever take us on the dystopian, blind alley called future in Black Mirror. [SPOILER ALERT: the article contains a detailed description of episodes]
Waldo’s predictions of politics
On the day after the U.S. election, when everyo...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 10, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Bioethics Cyborgization Future of Medicine Medical Professionals Patients avatar BCI black mirror brain brain-computer interface death digital digital avatar digital health dystopia life memory sci-fi science fiction Source Type: blogs
Paralyzed People Walk Again, Even Without Neurostimulation
The word “paralysis” is starting to lose its gloomy permanence, as researchers at top-end institutions around the world have been getting some people back on their legs who were previously thought to have to spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs. Well targeted electrical nerve stimulation, coupled with specialized rehab training, has been the key to these achievements. The hits keep coming, though. A team at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland has managed to get three people with serious spinal cord injuries to walk and to even move their legs without any electrical stimul...
Source: Medgadget - November 2, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, September 10th 2018
In conclusion, HSC ageing is characterised by reduced self-renewal, myeloid and platelet HSC skewing, and expanded clonal haematopoiesis that is considered a preleukaemic state. The underlying molecular mechanisms seem to be related to increased oxidative stress due to ROS accumulation and DNA damage, which are influenced by both cell- and cell non-autonomous mechanisms such as prolonged exposure to infections, inflammageing, immunosenescence, and age-related changes in the HSC niche. Thus, HSC ageing seems to be multifactorial and we are only beginning to connect all the dots.
The Price of Progress or the Waste...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 9, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Inducing Axons to Connect Through Scar Tissue in a Mouse Model of Spinal Injury
The two primary challenges in nerve regeneration are firstly to induce nerve tissue to regrow at all, and secondly to find a way to deal with the blockade of scarring that forms around injury sites. The existence of this scar tissue is why it is the case that some progress has been made in treatment for recent nerve injury, but very little can yet be done for patients with older injuries. In that context, the recent research results noted here are exciting, an advance that offers tangible hope to the many people who presently live with loss of function due to severed or damaged nerves. This is still very early stage work, ...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 4, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Magnetic Stimulation Restores Bladder Control in Paralyzed Men
Patients with spinal cord injuries report that in addition to paralysis the lack of bladder control is one of the most troubling issues. At University of California Los Angeles, researchers have shown that they were able to restore significant bladder control to five men that suffered through spinal cord injuries years prior to treatment.
The researchers used transcutaneous magnetic spinal cord stimulation as their technique, delivering pulses of focused magnetic fields to the site of the injuries. Similar technology was just cleared in the United States to treat obsessive compulsive disorder.
The magnetic stimulation see...
Source: Medgadget - August 22, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Medicine Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
Have You Run Out of Spoons? It ’ s Time to Replenish Your Energy Reserves
A few days ago, a friend indicated on her Facebook page that she had “run out of spoons” and asked for support and energy to be sent her way. I had heard the term but didn’t know what it meant, so I turned to Google and typed in those words and what came up was the explanation that came from a conversation between two friends, one of whom had Lupus.
Christine Miserandino was sitting at a table with her college roommate who asked her what it was like to have a disease that for many people would be considered invisible since overt symptoms may be elusive to the casual observer.
Christine pondered for an ever ...
Source: World of Psychology - August 15, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW Tags: Caregivers Inspiration & Hope Motivation and Inspiration Policy and Advocacy Stigma alone time caregiving Disability Disability Advocacy energy Rejuvenation Source Type: blogs
3D Printed Silicone and Stem Cell Implant to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries are notorious for the disabilities they cause and for the difficulty of finding a way to fix them. At the University of Minnesota researchers are pointing to a potential solution in the form of 3D printed scaffolds seeded with neuronal stem cells.
The team has already created a prototype device, made of silicone with living cells printed into its structure. The device is designed to be implanted at the site of injury, to allow the cells embedded within it to proliferate and link the two disconnected parts of a spinal cord together. Hopefully, this would lead to a meaningful recovery in paralyzed patien...
Source: Medgadget - August 13, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Materials Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 6th 2018
In this study, we analyzed FGF21 levels and alterations in the expression of genes encoding components of the FGF21-responsive molecular machinery in adipose tissue from aged individuals so as to ascertain whether altered FGF21 responsiveness that develops with aging jeopardizes human health and/or accelerates metabolic disturbances associated with aging.
We studied a cohort of 28 healthy elderly individuals (≥70 years) with no overt signs of metabolic or other pathologies and compared them with a cohort of 35 young healthy controls (≤40 years). Serum FGF21 levels were significantly increased in elderly individ...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 5, 2018 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
