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Five Multiple Sclerosis Research Centres Established
In a move intended to significantly accelerate the pace of MS research, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada announced the establishment of five research and training centres involving over 100 established scientists and 250 trainees.
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'Taking Up A Dialogue' With The Brain: Letter Decoding From Single-trial Brain Signals
Brain-computer interfaces "translate" what a person is thinking in words or actions. Researchers from Maastricht University in the Netherlands performed functional MRI brain scans on healthy participants, instructing them to "type" by performing mental tasks corresponding to different letters in the English alphabet. Researchers were able to use signals from the participants" brain activation patterns to decode information about the intended letter that a participant was thinking about, and to use this in a conversation with the experimenters without any spoken words. It is hoped that such technology can enable communication with "locked-in" patients or assessment of consciousness in non-responsive patients.
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Pharmacists Have Solutions To Help Address Recommendations In The Leaders' Project Health Care Reform Report
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) applauds the recommendations regarding chronic disease in the report by the Bipartisan Policy Center"s (BPC) Leaders" Project, entitled "Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System." The report outlines key health care reform policy recommendations from a bipartisan perspective to ensure that all Americans have quality, affordable health care.
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Immunotherapy Linked To Lower Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease

IVIg treatments, the addition of good antibodies into the blood stream, may hold promise for lowering the risk of Alzheimer"s disease and other similar brain disorders, according to research published in the July 21, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "In our study, we looked at the association of the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) with the occurrence of Alzheimer"s disease. IVIg has been used safely for more than 20 years to treat other diseases but is thought to have an indirect effect on Alzheimer"s disease by targeting beta-amyloid, or plaques in the brain," said Howard Fillit, MD, with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. For the study, researchers analyzed the medical records of 847 people given at least one treatment of IVIg over four years and 84,700 who were not given IVIg treatment. Participants were treated for immune deficiencies, leukemia or other types of cancer, anemia and other diseases. The records were pulled from a database of 20 million patients age 65 or older developed by SDI Health. Scientists made sure the groups were similar in their risk factors for Alzheimer"s disease. The study found that people who received IVIg for other conditions had a 42-percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer"s disease over four years compared to those who did not receive IVIg. Only 2.8 percent of those treated with IVIg developed Alzheimer"s disease compared with 4.8 percent of those not treated with immune-based therapy. "Our study provides evidence that previous IVIg treatments may protect against Alzheimer"s disease," said Fillit. "The current Alzheimer"s drugs on the market treat the symptoms of the disease. Immunization could treat the underlying cause." "These findings do not constitute an endorsement of IVIg treatment for Alzheimer"s disease. A large scale clinical trial is underway to determine whether IVIg could be an effective treatment for Alzheimer"s," researchers said. The study was supported by Baxter International Inc., a manufacturer of IVIg. The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 21,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, restless legs syndrome, Alzheimer"s disease, narcolepsy, and stroke. American Academy of Neurology (AAN)


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