Jonathan Schwartz's startup announces a third partnership, part of an effort to promote his company, gain insight into patient needs, and of course attract subscribers. Jonathan Schwartz CareZone, a startup for organizing and sharing personal information, announced a promotion that grants free access to those with a family member with epilepsy. Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz, who previously led Sun Microsystems, said a partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation will match what CareZone has done with groups dealing with autism and Parkinson's disease. (For a look at the executive and his views on Oracle, Apple, Amazon, and Intel, check CNET's accompanying Q&A with Schwartz.) Schwartz hopes CareZone will catch on as a way to let people privately share information such as instructions for babysitters, emergency lists of online banking passwords for family members, medication schedules, and treatment records from doctors and pharmacies. It'll cost $5 per month or $48 per year per person being monitored, but for now the service is free during an introductory period and for cases where a person has a particular affliction. Schwartz clearly enjoys the idea of a startup that helps people. What he's concerned about, he says, is "how do I help you connect with your … Continue reading →

Members of Winthrops Comprehensive Epilepsy Center Team celebrate their designation as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center with members of Winthrops Administration Patients living with epilepsy, a complex seizure disorder, face many challenges. Characterized by disabling seizures triggered by abnormal electrical activity in the brain cells, the disease can manifest itself through a range of symptoms from minor physical signs and thought disturbances to traumatic physical convulsions. Several types of seizures are easy to control, and many patients are well enough between episodes to lead normal lives. However, about 30% of the estimated 3 million Americans with epilepsy suffer with persistent seizures. In an outstanding validation of its commitment to improving the lives of patients with epilepsy, The Winthrop Comprehensive Epilepsy Center was recently recognized by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC) as a Level 4 Epilepsy Center. Level 4 Epilepsy Centers have the professional expertise and facilities to provide the highest level medical and surgical evaluation and treatment for patients with complex epilepsy. This outstanding achievement is a testament to Winthrops dedicated team of epilepsy physicians - Dr. Alan Ettinger, Dr. David Friedman, Dr. Brian Snyder, Dr. Shicong Ye, Dr. Neil Schaul, Dr. Dmitriy Kolesnik, Dr. Vijaya Alturu and … Continue reading →

MINNETONKA, Minn. -St. David's Center in Minnetonka celebrated a grand opening on a new campus project on Thursday. The effort will renovate its Children's Mental Health Clinic and Autism Day Treatment Center. Staff unveiled autism treatment suites designed to accommodate more kids and their specific struggles. The project also relieves a year long waiting list for the autism day treatment program, where some children age out of the program before they ever have the chance to enroll. The renovation allows parents, like Krista Mullin, a closer look into her little boy's world. Through an observation window in a new autism treatment suite, she sees how her 5-year-old, Evan, has embraced his new environment. "He is your typical little boy, just with some challenges most kids don't have," said Mullin. "Things like paint color and calming colors are huge. We don't think about that, but the calming colors, lower lighting really helps the kids with their sensory sensitivities." Program Director Sarah Rehman said her students need area to both soothe and stimulate the senses. Before the construction, her students would have to travel throughout the building for occupational therapy and speech therapy. Now, their services are in one place, eliminating difficult … Continue reading →

BrainsGate Ltd. has obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the clinical trial protocols for a study that the company began in June 2011 on its ischemic stroke treatment. The clinical trial includes 176 patients at 57 medical centers around the world. The FDA approval means that the company can recruit patients for the trial in the US. BrainsGate's technology uses electrical neurostimulation of the Spheno-Palatine Ganglion (SPG), a nervous center known to increase cerebral blood flow. It is designed to treat ischemic strokes with 24 hours of an event. Current pharmaceutical treatments, which include tPA proteins, are permitted only within 3-4.5 hours of a stroke. BrainsGate expects to complete the trial on 450 patients in the fourth quarter of 2013. BrainsGate has raised $70 million to date. Investors include IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) unit Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (TASE: ELRN), which owns 30% of the company, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) investment arm J&J Development Corporation, Boston Scientific Inc. (NYSE: BSX), Pitango Venture Capital, Infinity Private Equity, Agate Medical Investments LP, and Cipio Partners. The World Health Organization estimates the direct cost of ischemic strokes at $73.7 billion, and that 15 million worldwide suffer strokes every … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2012) Scientists led by the President of The University of Manchester have demonstrated a drug which can dramatically limit the amount of brain damage in stroke patients. Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Professor Stuart Allan and their team have spent the last 20 years investigating how to reduce damage to the brain following a stroke. They have been testing the effectiveness of the drug Anakinra (IL-1Ra), which is already used for rheumatoid arthritis in experimental studies of stroke. This new study builds on previous research, although the big difference is that rats with stroke risk factors such as obesity, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis were used alongside healthy rats and older ones. It means the findings have a far greater chance of being replicated in human stroke patients. Researchers induced a stroke in the rats and the drug IL-1Ra, or a placebo for comparison, was injected under the skin. The researchers did not know which animals had been given which drug. This is a similar process to what happens in clinical trials of medicines. The results were startling. MRI scans revealed that the rats that were given IL-1Ra up to three hours after the stroke had only about half … Continue reading →