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Know Where to Go if Stroke Strikes: Penumbra, Inc. Launches QuEST2StopStroke.com

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Penumbra, Inc., announces the launch of an educational website QuEST2StopStroke.com, designed to empower the public with the knowledge they need to help stop stroke. The website asks visitors to Join the Quest and learn where to find their closest advanced stroke center that offers lifesaving inside-the-artery clot removal. The website also provides educational information about ischemic stroke and common treatment methods, as well as testimonials from patients whose lives were saved by the Penumbra System, an innovative clot-removal technology that uses suction and acts as a tiny vacuum cleaner to remove blood clots from the brain. Ischemic stroke, caused by a blood clot in the brain, accounts for approximately 87 percent of all strokes, and is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.1 The standard protocol in hospital stroke centers is the administering of a clot-busting medication called tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), but it must be given within 3 hours after symptoms begin to be effective. Even though tPA drug therapy can be very successful, many stroke victims do not make it to their local stroke center in time, and even if they do tPA does not always work if the clot is too … Continue reading →

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Experimental drug may extend therapeutic window for stroke

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) A team led by a physician-scientist at the University of Southern California (USC) has created an experimental drug that reduces brain damage and improves motor skills among stroke-afflicted rodents when given with federally approved clot-busting therapy. Clinical trials to test the safety of the drug in people are expected to start later this summer. Stroke, which occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain stops, is the No. 4 cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. According to the American Stroke Association, the Food and Drug Administration-approved tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) is the best treatment for stroke caused by a blocked artery, but to be effective, it must be administered within three hours after symptoms start. If given outside that three-hour window, tPA has shown serious side effects in animal and human brains, including bleeding and breakdown of the brain's protective barrier. Generally, according to the American Stroke Association, only 3 to 5 percent of those who suffer a stroke reach the hospital in time to be considered for tPA treatment. "What tPA does best is to break down clots in the blood vessel and restore blood … Continue reading →

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Modified tPA could be effective stroke treatment without bleeding risk

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

Public release date: 17-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Quinn Eastman qeastma@emory.edu 404-727-7829 Emory University Even when its clot-dissolving powers are removed, the stroke drug tPA can still protect brain cells from the loss of oxygen and glucose induced by a stroke, researchers have discovered. The finding suggests that a modified version of tPA could provide benefits to patients who have experienced a stroke, without increasing the risk of bleeding. The results will be published in the Journal of Neuroscience. "We may have been giving the right medication, for the wrong reason," says senior author Manuel Yepes, MD, associate professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine. "tPA is more than a clot-busting drug, it functions naturally as a neuroprotectant," The co-first authors of the paper are postdoctoral fellows Fang Wu and Jialing Wu from the Department of Neurology, and Andrew Nicholson from the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences. tPA was introduced as a treatment for acute stroke in the 1990s. Doctors have debated its effectiveness and safety ever since, because it can increase the likelihood of deadly hemorrhage. Many people experiencing a stroke do not receive tPA because of time constraints or other contraindications. "tPA … Continue reading →

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Musical glove improves sensation, mobility for people with spinal cord injury

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) Georgia Tech researchers have created a wireless, musical glove that may improve sensation and motor skills for people with paralyzing spinal cord injury (SCI). The gadget was successfully used by individuals with limited feeling or movement in their hands due to tetraplegia. These individuals had sustained their injury more than a year before the study, a time frame when most rehab patients see very little improvement for the remainder of their lives. Remarkably, the device was primarily used while the participants were going about their daily routines. The device is called Mobile Music Touch (MMT). The glove, which looks like a workout glove with a small box on the back, is used with a piano keyboard and vibrates a persons fingers to indicate which keys to play. While learning to play the instrument, several people with SCI experienced improved sensation in their fingers. Researchers at Georgia Tech and Atlantas Shepherd Center recently completed a study focusing on people with weakness and sensory loss due to SCI. After our preliminary work in 2011, we suspected that the glove would have positive results for people with SCI, said Ph.D. graduate Tanya Markow, the projects leader. But we were … Continue reading →

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Researchers Turn Skin Cells into Brain Cells, A Promising Path To Better Parkinson's Treatment

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

--Parkinsons in a dish should advance hunt for new drugs or earlier use of older ones Newswise Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of human neuron specifically damaged by Parkinsons disease (PD) and used various drugs to stop the damage. Their experiments on cells in the laboratory, reported in the July 4 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, could speed the search for new drugs to treat the incurable neurodegenerative disease, but also, they say, may lead them back to better ways of using medications that previously failed in clinical trials. Our study suggests that some failed drugs should actually work if they were used earlier, and especially if we could diagnose PD before tremors and other symptoms first appear, says one of the studys leaders, Ted M. Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dawson and his colleagues, working as part of a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke consortium, created three lines of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from the skin cells of adults with PD. Two of the cell lines had the mutated … Continue reading →

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Biogen, Bayer Drugs Don’t Slow MS Progress, Study Finds

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

By Meg Tirrell - 2012-07-17T20:07:56Z The most commonly prescribed multiple sclerosis drugs, including those made by Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB), Bayer AG (BAYN) and Merck KGaA, failed to slow disability progression in a long-term study that raises new questions on whether the treatments can achieve that goal. Researchers compared historical outcomes for MS patients in British Columbia to assess the use of interferon beta drugs. The results, published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the medicines didnt delay progress of the patients disability. It dampens somewhat the enthusiasm for so-called first- line therapies, said Ludwig Kappos of University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, and author of an editorial that accompanied the study, in an e-mail today. MS is an autoimmune disease that affects about 2.1 million people worldwide and can lead to limb numbness, loss of vision and paralysis, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The most common form, relapsing-remitting, is characterized by sporadic flare-ups followed by periods of inactivity. Avonex, made by Biogen, Bayers Betaseron and Merck KGaA (MRK)s Rebif generated $6.6 billion in 2011 revenue, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Called disease-modifying drugs, they have been shown to slow the frequency of … Continue reading →

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Widely used MS treatment may not slow disease: study

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012 1:44PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012 4:46PM EDT Many multiple sclerosis patients have complained for years that commonly used MS drugs called beta interferons dont do much to stop the disease from getting worse. Now, new research appears to back them up. A study from researchers at the University of British Columbia and the UBC Hospital MS Clinic and Brain Research Centre found no strong evidence that the drugs had much of an impact on the long-term progression of the disease. Beta interferons are the most widely used treatment for relapse-remitting MS, which is the most common form of MS in Canada, affecting about 85 per cent of patients. In this form of the disease, new symptoms such as partial paralysis, numbness and lack of coordination can appear for or old ones can resurface or worsen. The relapses are followed by periods of weeks or months in which the patient fully or partially recovers. For the study, the team looked at the health records of 2,656 British Columbia patients between 1985 and 2008. They included those with MS who were treated with beta interferons, as well as untreated MS patients. The … Continue reading →

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MS treatment reduces relapses, but can’t slow progression: study

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012 1:44PM EDT Last Updated Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2012 4:46PM EDT Many multiple sclerosis patients have complained for years that commonly used MS drugs called beta interferons dont do much to stop the disease from getting worse. Now, new research appears to back them up. A study from researchers at the University of British Columbia and the UBC Hospital MS Clinic and Brain Research Centre found no strong evidence that the drugs had much of an impact on the long-term progression of the disease. Beta interferons are the most widely used treatment for relapse-remitting MS, which is the most common form of MS in Canada, affecting about 85 per cent of patients. In this form of the disease, new symptoms such as partial paralysis, numbness and lack of coordination can appear for or old ones can resurface or worsen. The relapses are followed by periods of weeks or months in which the patient fully or partially recovers. For the study, the team looked at the health records of 2,656 British Columbia patients between 1985 and 2008. They included those with MS who were treated with beta interferons, as well as untreated MS patients. The … Continue reading →

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Widely prescribed MS treatment may not slow progression of disease: VCH-UBC research

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

Public release date: 17-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Brian Lin brian.lin@ubc.ca 604-822-2234 University of British Columbia Researchers with the UBC Hospital MS Clinic and Brain Research Centre at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia have published important data in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) about the impact of a common drug therapy on the progression of multiple sclerosis for people with the relapsingremitting form of the disease. The study, led by Drs. Helen Tremlett, Afsaneh Shirani, Joel Oger and others, shows no strong evidence that a group of drugs, beta interferons (-IFNs), prescribed to treat MS had a measurable impact on the long-term disability progression of the disease. The team examined the linked health records of 2656 BC patients between 1985 - 2008 in a retrospective cohort study, which means data from already collected sources were linked together in an anonymized form and studied. Data sources included the BC Ministry of Health, PharmaNet and the BC Multiple Sclerosis (BCMS) database, facilitated by Population Data BC. The study population included patients with MS who were treated with beta interferons (-IFNs), the most widely used treatment for relapsingremitting MS, as well as untreated … Continue reading →

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Widely prescribed MS treatment may not slow progression of disease

Posted: Published on July 18th, 2012

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) Researchers with the UBC Hospital MS Clinic and Brain Research Centre at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia have published important data in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) about the impact of a common drug therapy on the progression of multiple sclerosis for people with the relapsing-remitting form of the disease. The study, led by Drs. Helen Tremlett, Afsaneh Shirani, Joel Oger and others, shows no strong evidence that a group of drugs, beta interferons (-IFNs), prescribed to treat MS had a measurable impact on the long-term disability progression of the disease. The team examined the linked health records of 2656 BC patients between 1985 -- 2008 in a retrospective cohort study, which means data from already collected sources were linked together in an anonymized form and studied. Data sources included the BC Ministry of Health, PharmaNet and the BC Multiple Sclerosis (BCMS) database, facilitated by Population Data BC. The study population included patients with MS who were treated with beta interferons (-IFNs), the most widely used treatment for relapsing-remitting MS, as well as untreated MS patients. The research team discovered that administration of -IFN was not associated with a … Continue reading →

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