Simple eye scan opens window to multiple sclerosis
EurekAlert! Mon, 15 Oct 2007 1:16 PM PDT
A five-minute eye exam might prove to be an inexpensive and effective way to gauge and track the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis, potentially complementing costly magnetic resonance imaging to detect brain shrinkage -- a characteristic of the disease's progression.

Procedure may cut risk of Tysabri complication
Boston Globe - United States
Three procedures to remove and replace 12 patients' plasma with an alternative fluid rapidly cleared Tysabri from their bloodstreams, according to research ...
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Cigarette smoking may accelerate disability in multiple sclerosis
News-Medical-Net Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:48 PM PDT
Persons with multiple sclerosis who smoke risk increasing the amount of brain tissue shrinkage, a consequence of MS, and the subsequent severity of their disease, new research conducted at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) at the University at Buffalo has shown.

Familial multiple sclerosis appears more severe than non-familial
News-Medical-Net Mon, 15 Oct 2007 1:02 PM PDT
Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of a large group of patients with multiple sclerosis has provided the first evidence that those with a history of MS in their families show more severe brain damage than patients who have no close relatives with the disease.

Biogen Idec And Elan Provide Update On Utilization And Safety Of TYSABRI® In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
Medical News Today Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:15 PM PDT
Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) and Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) have announced new data on the global utilization and safety of TYSABRI® (natalizumab), citing that as of the end of September 2007 approximately 17,000 patients are on commercial and clinical therapy worldwide, and that the safety data to date continue to support a favorable benefit-risk profile for TYSABRI. [click link for full ...

Eye Scan May Help Diagnose, Treat MS
HealthDay via Yahoo! News Mon, 15 Oct 2007 1:00 PM PDT
MONDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A short and simple eye scan not only appears capable of spotting multiple sclerosis earlier in the course of the disease, but might also provide a way to track progression of the illness, as well as the effectiveness new drugs in development, researchers say.

Eye Scan May Help Diagnose, Treat MS
KOLD News 13 Tuscon Mon, 15 Oct 2007 2:57 PM PDT
By Amanda Gardner , HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A short and simple eye scan not only appears capable of spotting multiple sclerosis...

MS campaign hits city
The Scotsman Mon, 15 Oct 2007 4:11 AM PDT
A CAMPAIGN to raise awareness of Multiple Sclerosis has hit Edinburgh.

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MS advocates fight for provincial drug coverage
CTV.ca Mon, 15 Oct 2007 5:11 AM PDT
MS advocates say an expert panel's advice that provinces and territories not cover the cost of two Multiple Sclerosis drugs creates a system of two-tiered care.

Interferon Beta-1b in Combination With Azathioprine for Secondary ...
DG News - USA
Secondary progressive MS is characterised by continuous worsening disability and can be accompanied by relapses after varying periods of relapsing-remitting ...
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Retinal Thickness May Augur Brain Atrophy in MS
MedPage Today - Little Falls,NJ,USA
However, there was no association between OCT and MRI findings for the 15 patients with secondary-progressive MS; the remaining five patients had primary ...
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Eye Scan May Help Diagnose, Treat MS
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
... to scan the layers of nerve fibers of the retina in 40 people with either relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, or primary progressive MS. ...
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Ahead of the Bell: Acorda Therapeutics
Houston Chronicle - United States
Fampridine-SR was developed to help improve walking ability in multiple sclerosis patients. Acorda presented the new data at a conference over the weekend. ...
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Analyst upgrades: STD, ACOR, AG, NLY and IMGN
BloggingStocks - USA
Friedman Billings added Acorda Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ACOR) to its Top Picks List, as they have confidence in fampridine-SR's safety profile. ...
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BioMS Medical presents at the 23rd Congress of the European ...
Canada NewsWire (press release) - Canada
MAESTRO-03: A pivotal phase III US trial evaluating MBP8298 for the treatment of SPMS. The trial is a randomized, double-blind study enrolling approximately ...
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Research gets five-year $1.7 million boost for MS
News Record - Cincinnati,OH,USA
In March 2006, Bielekova and colleagues published results of a National Institutes of Health [NIH]-funded study on the MS drug daclizumab [Zenapax] which ...
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Morning business news - Oct 15
RTE.ie - Ireland
Biogen has a 50% share of Tysabri. Elan said that under an agreement with Biogen, it had a number of options in the event of a takeover. ...
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MS advocates fight for provincial drug coverage
CTV.ca - Canada
A similar recommendation was issued in the spring for Tysabri, a drug that slows progression of the disease. The MS Society argues those decisions put the ...
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Bullishalerts.com: Growth Watch
Trading Markets (press release) - Los Angeles,CA,USA
The companies have been informed by the FDA that the Agency requires additional time to review information regarding the proposed TYSABRI risk management ...
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Biogen gets extended review of Tysabri
Bizjournals.com - Charlotte,NC,USA
Biogen Idec Inc. faces an extended regulatory review for expanding the use of its drug Tysabri, the company said on Monday. The Cambridge, Mass., company ...
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Elan Corp says new positive Tysabri data to be presented Oct 13
Forbes - NY,USA
Separately, Elan (nyse: ELN - news - people ) said new data on the global utilisation and safety of Tysabri suggests at end-September about 17000 patients ...
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Top-Line Efficacy Data Presented from Phase 2 Trial of Alemtuzumab in Multiple Sclerosis
The San Francisco Examiner Mon, 15 Oct 2007 3:25 PM PDT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. ( Map ) - CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genzyme Corporation (Nasdaq: GENZ ) today announced that top-line, three-year data from a completed Phase 2 clinical trial comparing alemtuzumab with Rebif(R) (interferon beta- 1a) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis were presented this weekend at the 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and ...

Genzyme And Bayer Schering To Present New Data On Alemtuzumab In Multiple Sclerosis At ECTRIMS
Medical News Today Mon, 15 Oct 2007 9:16 AM PDT
Genzyme Corporation and Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany announce that important, new clinical data will be presented this weekend from two studies regarding alemtuzumab use in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the 23rd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) underway in Prague. [click link for full article]

Humans May Stay Young For 400 Years

'In principle, if you understand the mechanisms of keeping things repaired, you could keep things going indefinitely,' says Cynthia Kenyon, biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco. In her lab she has increased the life span of tiny worms called Caenorhabditis elegans up to six times their normal lifespan by suppressing a single gene. This regulator gene, named daf-2, in combination with other genes, appears to control an entire cluster of genes that direct aging not only in worms, but in similar genetic pathways in flies, mice and, possibly humans. This is the equivalent of people living for 400 years, and the good news is that the worms stay young for most of their extended lifespans.
Diet it seems is a major contributory factor.An experiment with the worms proves that sugar turns on a genetic sequence that increases the amount of insulin produced by an organism, which in turn causes the body to demand more sugar. This increases damage to cells in the body, speeding up the slow degradation of cells that contribute to aging. Red wine and green tea have been shown to help repair cells and contribute to an increased lifespan.
The most significant finding is that the worms remained vigorous till until the very end of their extended lives. In human terms it would mean that a person would remain young for decades, growing old very slowly. It also suggests a radical new method for treating maladies of aging such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and some cancers, which might be put off or eliminated if youth is extended. 'Age is the single largest risk factor for an enormous number of diseases,' says Kenyon. 'So if you can essentially postpone aging, then you can have beneficial effects on a whole wide range of disease.'
When asked whether it was possible to be immortal Kenyon says 'I think it might be possible. I'll tell you why. You can think about the life span of a cell being the integral of two vectors in a sense, the force of destruction and the force of prevention, maintenance and repair. In most animals the force of destruction has still got the edge. But why not bump up the genes just a little bit, the maintenance genes. All you have to do is have the maintenance level a little higher. It doesn't have to be much higher. It just has to be a little higher, so that it counterbalances the force of destruction. And don't forget, the germ lineage is immortal. So it's possible at least in principle.'

http://interesting-life-on-net.blogspot.com/2007/10/humans-may-stay-young-for-400-years.html