Mixed Neurodegenerative Disorders Are Emerging From The Shadows

Medical News Today, Article Date: 30 May 2009 - 1:00 PDT
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151967.php

Many cases of age-related neurodegenerative disease fall into the gray zone between big, defined diseases - Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, for example. Their diagnostic accuracy is low, researchers agree. That's a problem, because mixed disease is not only common, but also quite different in its course from pathologically 'pure' disease. (Mixed disease is often worse.) But there's also excitement and opportunity. The large overlap between established neurodegenerative diseases is ripe for scientific exploration, and recent advances at the genetic, clinico-pathologic, and molecular levels have turned it into a dynamic area of research. In particular, diseases such as Dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementias are drawing intense interest as biomarker development branches out beyond Amyloid beta and tau, holding out a future where molecular-based diagnoses can define the pathogenic proteins that together drive a given person's individual disease.


Australia/Tasmania: Parkinsons funding disparity

The Mercury, DAMIEN BROWN, May 30, 2009 08:00am
http://www.themercury.com.au/article...ania-news.html

A LACK of funding for one of Tasmania's most prevalent health conditions has angered politicians and sufferers.

Documents released in State Parliament this week showed Parkinson's disease is one of the most common health conditions in Tasmania.

However, the document obtained by Greens MP Cassy O'Connor shows there is no specific State Government health funding available directly to people with Parkinson's or their carers.


The doctor is in ... your own home

The State (Columbus, SC, By JOEY HOLLEMAN, Sunday, May. 31, 2009
http://www.thestate.com/living/story/806239.html
When Dale Hamrick pulls his red Toyota pickup into the driveway of a suburban home, he could be mistaken for a plumber or an electrician.

The backpack and running-style shoes he wears are misleading, too.

The comfortable shoes? They fit the personality and style of a doctor whose entire practice is house calls and whose focus is on elderly patients, many of whom suffer from dementia or Parkinson’s disease.


Combined stem cell-gene therapy approach cures human genetic disease in vitro

PsycOrg, May 31st, 2009
http://www.physorg.com/news162995465.html
A study led by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, has catapulted the field of regenerative medicine significantly forward, proving in principle that a human genetic disease can be cured using a combination of gene therapy and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. The study, published in the May 31, 2009 early online edition of Nature, is a major milestone on the path from the laboratory to the clinic.

"It's been ten years since human stem cells were first cultured in a Petri dish," says the study's leader Juan-Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte, Ph.D., a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory and director of the Center of Regenerative Medicine in Barcelona (CMRB), Spain. "The hope in the field has always been that we'll be able to correct a disease genetically and then make iPS cells that differentiate into the type of tissue where the disease is manifested and bring it to clinic."


Mixed Neurodegenerative Disorders Are Emerging From The Shadows

Medical News Today, Article Date: 30 May 2009 - 1:00 PDT
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/151967.php

Many cases of age-related neurodegenerative disease fall into the gray zone between big, defined diseases - Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, for example. Their diagnostic accuracy is low, researchers agree. That's a problem, because mixed disease is not only common, but also quite different in its course from pathologically 'pure' disease. (Mixed disease is often worse.) But there's also excitement and opportunity. The large overlap between established neurodegenerative diseases is ripe for scientific exploration, and recent advances at the genetic, clinico-pathologic, and molecular levels have turned it into a dynamic area of research. In particular, diseases such as Dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementias are drawing intense interest as biomarker development branches out beyond Amyloid beta and tau, holding out a future where molecular-based diagnoses can define the pathogenic proteins that together drive a given person's individual disease.


Accolade [Home Care] offers program to assist Parkinson’s patients

Borger New Herald (Texas), Thursday, May 28 2009, BY BROOKE HUFF
http://www.borgernewsherald.com/content/view/189332/60/

James Jordan knows firsthand the importance of the LVST BIG program, Kennedy said, and feels that he can walk and talk better since participating. When Jordan was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 10 years ago, he was also experiencing arthritis in his knees and was extremely shaky and stiff. At the age of 64, he finally took action, and two weeks into the treatment with Accolade, he said that his bones felt stronger, and he is able to bend over to pick up the television remote. With two weeks left to go in his therapy, Jordan is now able to take big steps, walk up and down stairs and get into bed without any problems.

“Everything in my life is better,” Jordan said.