Bohol nutrition scholars go for zero malnutrition

Cebu Daily News

BOHOL Gov. Edgar Chatto led the launching of the 10th Barangay Nutrition Scholars Congress at the Bohol Cultural Center on Thursday.

This is to jumpstart its program on zero malnutrition for Bohol in 2015.

Bohol Association of Barangay Nutrition Scholars president and national Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar awardee Irenea Ordinario cited the strong leadership of Chatto as the organization continues its advocacy for nutrition improvement.

Nutrition programs in the province are implemented by the Provincial Health Office led by Dr. Reymoses Cabagnot and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist headed by Nutrition Action officer Larry Pamugas.

Chatto recognized the efforts of barangay nutrition scholars and urged them to lead the implementation of various programs, such as Bahay Kubo Food always in the home or Faith, Herbal Organic Plants Enhancement (Hope) and Chicken always raised/ready in the yard (Charity).

The governor said sufficient food leads to proper nutrition, which in turn leads to healthy well-being.

This years regional outstanding barangay nutrition scholar awardee Christie Renoblas of Buenos Aires, Tubigon was recognized during the congress.

A barangay nutrition scholar for three years, Renoblas initiated several income generating projects (IGPs) to sustain their regular feeding program in the community. One of the IGPs is the swine raffle, where two male and female swine would be given to the residents for reproduction. A few months after birth when the piglets are not anymore put under milk, the residents will give back at least four piglets, of which three would be raffled off and one sold for nutrition fund.

Other IGPs are tilapia fishpond, a BNC garden where they grow vegetables used as ingredients for their feeding and the Palayan sa Nutrition, where one-fourth of the harvested rice is also used for the feeding.

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Bohol nutrition scholars go for zero malnutrition

UCLA Longevity Center’s Healthy Aging Conference Set For Oct. 27

Posted Sep. 30, 2012, 6:00 am Mirror Staff

The UCLA Longevity Center will host a Healthy Aging Conference, which will take place Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Olympic Collection Conference Center in West Los Angeles.

The conference theme is Healthy Aging Taking Control of Your Life and features a diverse group of speakers that represent the UCLA community and beyond.

Speakers announced include Dr. Gary Small, author and Director of the UCLA Longevity Center; UCLA geriatric physician and researcher Dr. David Merrill; motivational speaker and author Joan Moran; Tim Carpenter, Founder and Executive Director of EngAGE; UCLAs noted couples/sex therapy expert Dr. Walter E. Brackelmanns; Dr. L. Stephen Coles, Director of the LA Gerontology Research Group and the Supercentenarian Research Foundation; and many others.

Panels include:

Nutritious Eating for Healthy Aging

The Centenarians: Life Past the Century Mark

Train Your Brain: Boot Camp For Your Mind

Alzheimers Research Update

Sex After 70

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UCLA Longevity Center’s Healthy Aging Conference Set For Oct. 27

DNA from maggot guts used to identify corpse in criminal case

A team of pathologists has published a paper revealing how, for the first time, crime investigators identified the body of a burn victim by conducting a DNA analysis of the gastrointestinal contents of the maggots feeding on the remains.

The revelatory study, published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, cites the case of an unidentifiable body found in the woods by Mexican police. It was suspected the body was that of a woman who had been abducted ten weeks earlierher graduation ring was found near to the scene, however, the body was burned so badly it was impossible to collect any DNA samples from the damaged and deteriorated tissue.

It had already been suggested by other researchers that the gastrointestinal contents of maggots could be used to identify the subjects they feed on. However, never before has the theory been trialed in a legal, criminal case. Pathologists at Autonomous University of Nuevo Len in San Nicols, Mexico, led by Mara de Lourdes Chvez-Briones and Marta Ortega-Martnez, carried out short tandem repeat typing tests (a common method of DNA profiling) on the matter extracted from three dissected maggots found on the victim's face and neck, and separately on the alleged father of the missing woman. Preliminary results showed that the body was female, and the final outcome was a 99.685 percent probability of positive paternitythe victim had been identified.

Speaking to the New Scientist, Jeffrey Wells, a biologist at Florida International University who specializes in genotyping and insect evolution in relation to forensics, explained that the method could have plenty of practical applications, including identifying a victim through analysis of a maggot found in a vehicle transporting a body.

Maggots are already commonly used in criminal investigations to help police calculate time of death, particularly in bodies left to decompose for more than 72 hours. This is done by identifying the species of maggot infesting the corpse and working out how long that species has been alive by measuring itshortly after death, blowflies and flesh flies are attracted to the body and lay larvae, which become maggots. By taking the maggots back to the lab and letting them grow to adulthood, thus ensuring the species has been correctly identified, police can get a pretty accurate timeline of events. One etymologist is even setting up a DNA sequence database so maggot species can be detected earlier.

Investigators are now catching up with research that has been ongoing in this area for some time now, recognizing the other potential practical benefits provided by corpse-loving insects. Pathologists are, for instance, also keen to use DNA extracted from hematophagous arthropods (blood-feeding insects) to identify corpses. In one study, adult crab lice removed from volunteers were frozen, air-dried and then profiled using the same methods designed for extracting mitochondrial DNA from human hair, teeth and bone. A comparison with DNA extracted from the volunteers' saliva showed the method could work in real-world cases, such as the one in Mexico. It can even be done with bed bugs. The stomach-churning possibilities of this burgeoning field seem to be wide open, and heralding in a new age of insect-aided criminal investigation.

Listing image by Pieter Cornelissen

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DNA from maggot guts used to identify corpse in criminal case

Posted in DNA

DNA Clears Death Row Inmate

NEW ORLEANS

Damon Thibodeaux received the ovation you'd expect of a man who's just been exonerated of a crime he didn't commit.

WGNO News Reporter Darian Trotter asked, "How do you feel now?" "Free," Thibodeaux replied.

Damon Thibodeaux has been on death row in Louisiana since October, 1997.

He was convicted of the murder and rape of his 14-year old step-cousin, Crystal Champagne.

It was a crime for which he had been coerced into falsely confessing.

But DNA and other evidence have proven his innocence.

It took seven years and hundreds of thousands of dollars of DNA testing for the Innocence Project and Jefferson Parish prosecutors to exonerate Thibodeaux.

"When you think you have an innocent man and people on both sides can get together and really share evidence and conduct an investigation into the search for the truth that's what's important. So we are tremendously indebted to Paul Connick and his team for the cooperation and the integrity with which they went about this process," Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said.

Thibodeaux makes the 300th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence in the U.S. And the 18th who served time on death row.

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DNA Clears Death Row Inmate

Posted in DNA

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education selected for inclusion in PubMed Central

Public release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Leslie Robinson lrobinson@asmusa.org 202-737-3600 American Society for Microbiology

The Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (JMBE), an online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology and the premier journal for microbiology and biology education research, has been selected for indexing by PubMed Central.

"Sharing solid, peer-reviewed research extends the value of the research and produces cost-effective benefits to society," says JMBE Editor-in-Chief Christopher J. Woolverton, who is professor of environmental health sciences at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. "PubMed Central indexing of the scholarly research published in JMBE will certainly provide great benefit to the students of microbiology and biology, and to the educators who prepare the next generation of scientists. We are excited that the scholarship of our authors will now be accessible through PubMed Central."

Developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, PubMed Central is a full-text digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature. To be accepted in the archive, a journal must qualify on the merits of its scientific and editorial content and on the technical quality of its digital files.

Launched in 2000, JMBE is designed to foster scholarly teaching in the biological sciences. The scientific scope of the journal is rooted in microbiology while branching out to biology. The educational scope of the journal is primarily undergraduate education; however, the journal also publishes articles that feature good pedagogy and good design used in kindergarten through high school education or graduate and professional (e.g., medical school) education.

Each issue of JMBE features peer-reviewed, practical tips for teaching, education research and perspectives, innovative classroom and laboratory exercises, and reviews. To access current and past issues, view instructions for authors, or sign up for eTOC alerts, visit http://jmbe.asm.org.

###

The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.

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Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education selected for inclusion in PubMed Central

4 ASM-NSF biology scholars named leadership fellows

Public release date: 28-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Leslie Robinson lrobinson@asmusa.org 202-737-3600 American Society for Microbiology

The ASM-NSF Biology Scholars Program is pleased to announce that four Scholar alumni have been chosen for a group created to recommend institutional-level improvements for undergraduate biology education. Teresa C. Balser, Dean, Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida; Loretta Brancaccio-Taras, Chair, Biological Sciences Department, Kingsborough Community College, Nitya M. Jacob, Chair, Biology Department, Oxford College; and Todd P. Primm, Chair, Biological Sciences Department, Sam Houston State University, have been named Vision and Change Leadership Fellows of the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) program.

A joint initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and National Institutes of Health (NIH), the PULSE program is an effort to support a yearlong program in which fellows consider and then recommend models for improving undergraduate life sciences education. The effort is rooted in recommendations made in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action, a report published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011.

Forty Vision and Change Leadership Fellows were selected from more than 250 applications.

"The fellows represent a diverse group of extremely capable faculty," says Judith Verbeke of NSF. "They bring a variety of experiences that will inform the development of an implementation framework that will transform undergraduate education in the life sciences."

The fellows will produce an implementation framework describing strategies for institutional change. Because a change in institutional culture is needed, PULSE activities are focused on academic departments rather than individual faculty members. The framework document will be available on the PULSE website, and other life scientists are encouraged to review it and provide comments from November 2012 until May 2013.

A full list of the Vision and Change Leadership Fellows is available at http://www.pulsecommunity.org/forum/topics/announcement-v-c-leadership-fellows.

###

Sponsored by a grant [DUE-1022542] from the National Science Foundation, the ASM-NSF Biology Scholars Program is a national leadership initiative that seeks to improve undergraduate biology education based on evidence of student learning. The program has brought together more than 150 Scholars to create and disseminate examples of scholarship in teaching in biology. These examples have been made possible through the program's independent, but intertwined, virtual residency programs the Assessment, Research, and Transitions Residencies. For more information, please visit http://www.biologyscholars.org.

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4 ASM-NSF biology scholars named leadership fellows

Boston Scientific Launches Vercise™ Deep Brain Stimulation System in Europe

NATICK, Mass., Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX) received CE Mark approval for use of its Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The Vercise DBS System is the first and only commercially available DBS system to incorporate multiple independent current control, which is designed to selectively stimulate targeted areas in the brain. This system is an innovative technology that is designed to provide physicians fine control of stimulation.

"The launch of the Vercise DBS System represents a key expansion for Boston Scientific,"said Maulik Nanavaty, senior vice president and president of Boston Scientific's Neuromodulation Division. "Vercise DBS is the only system on the market able to finely control stimulation with multiple independent current control. This unique technology underscores our commitment to improving patients' lives."

The first commercial implant of the Vercise DBS System was performed by a team at the University Clinic Wurzburg in Germany that included Prof. Dr. Cordula Matthies, Head of Functional Neurosurgery and Prof. Dr. Jens Volkmann, Director of the Department of Neurology.

"We welcome the Vercise DBS System," said Prof. Dr. Volkmann. "We believe it represents advancement in DBS technology through flexible and unique programming options. We believe the system gives neurologists the ability to precisely target stimulation based on patient needs."

The Vercise System is designed to provide comfort, control, and convenience to the clinician's practice and to patients with Parkinson's disease. It is intended to minimize side effects of stimulation by controlling current at each individual contact on the lead. In addition, the system is designed to offer unique patient benefits including the longest battery life available for DBS therapy and the smallest stimulator footprint.

"The unique technology offered by the Vercise DBS System provides us with new stimulation options we have never had before," said Prof. Dr. Matthies. "I look forward to seeing a positive impact in patients' quality of life."

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder which affects 6.3 million people worldwide according to European Parkinson's Disease Association. Deep Brain Stimulators are neurostimulator devices that stimulate specific areas of the brain using electrical signals to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Patient Testimonials

To view a patient testimonial about the Vercise DBS System, please CLICK HERE.

"I am really satisfied with the outcome of the DBS surgery and finally back to a normal life. When the Wurzburg team proposed the Vercise DBS system with new capabilities, I thought this was the best solution for me. The recharging system is so convenient, simple and easy to use. I am glad that this new system is expected to minimize the need to undergo regular replacement surgeries and related complications," said Rudolph Roland, a patient with Parkinson's disease from Wurzburg, Germany.

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Boston Scientific Launches Vercise™ Deep Brain Stimulation System in Europe

Parkinson's could be detected by telephone call

New technology being developed in America analyses tremors, breathiness and other weaknesses in people's voices which are believed to be one of the condition's earliest symptoms.

Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim that their computer programme can pick out Parkinson's sufferers with 99 per cent accuracy simply by analysing their speech.

Dr Max Little, a British researcher who is leading the initiative at MIT, now hopes to determine whether the same results could be produced from a patient speaking over the telephone.

By recruiting Parkinson's patients and health volunteers to take part in a three-minute telephone call where they will say "ah", speak some sentences and answer a few questions, he said the system could be programmed to diagnose people remotely, allowing earlier treatment.

He said: "Science tells us voice impairment might be an early sign of Parkinson's. It sounds counterintuitive as Parkinson's is a movement disorder but the voice is a form of movement.

"Neurologists look at changes in the ability to move, which is done with the limbs, but we are looking in the vocal organs the sounds that come out of the mouth. We are fairly confident we can detect the disease over the telephone."

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Parkinson's could be detected by telephone call

Parkinson’s could be detected by telephone call

New technology being developed in America analyses tremors, breathiness and other weaknesses in people's voices which are believed to be one of the condition's earliest symptoms.

Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claim that their computer programme can pick out Parkinson's sufferers with 99 per cent accuracy simply by analysing their speech.

Dr Max Little, a British researcher who is leading the initiative at MIT, now hopes to determine whether the same results could be produced from a patient speaking over the telephone.

By recruiting Parkinson's patients and health volunteers to take part in a three-minute telephone call where they will say "ah", speak some sentences and answer a few questions, he said the system could be programmed to diagnose people remotely, allowing earlier treatment.

He said: "Science tells us voice impairment might be an early sign of Parkinson's. It sounds counterintuitive as Parkinson's is a movement disorder but the voice is a form of movement.

"Neurologists look at changes in the ability to move, which is done with the limbs, but we are looking in the vocal organs the sounds that come out of the mouth. We are fairly confident we can detect the disease over the telephone."

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Parkinson's could be detected by telephone call

Using dance to deal with Parkinson’s

A classically trained dancer is using her expertise to raise the spirits and flexibility of people with Parkinsons disease.

Heather Waldon, of Woodside, who has performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, recently started teaching therapeutic dance routines in Forest Hills for those with the degenerative disease.

I love seeing the joy of the people who have Parkinsons and seeing them do pretty sophisticated choreography, said Waldon, 41, who has taught at NYU and other universities.

The free classes, which are held on the third Friday of every month, are part of a recent expansion into Queens by the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Groups Dance for PD program.

We wanted to provide this resource to them in their own neighborhood, said David Leventhal, the program manager.

The class, which is meant to be more recreational than a rigorous physical therapy session, helps people with their coordination, flexibility and rhythm.

All of these seem to fit Parkinsons like a glove, he said.

The BambooMoves yoga studio on Queens Blvd., where the classes are held, donated the space to the program.

Leventhal said he hopes to grow the program into a weekly operation with multiple locations in the borough.

Early adopters of Dance for PD, which began in Forest Hills in July, said they feel empowered during the vibrant sessions.

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Using dance to deal with Parkinson’s

Multiple sclerosis finding may change therapy strategy

Published: Thursday, September 27, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

NEW YORK -- A cellular signature seen in the blood of multiple sclerosis patients may help determine their likelihood of relapse, potentially influencing which therapy physicians prescribe, a study found.

Differences in patients' blood cells delineated them into two groups, one with a 40 percent lower risk of relapse, according to research today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The findings eventually could help doctors determine whether to prescribe a drug such as Biogen Idec Inc.'s Avonex, which is moderately effective with fewer side effects, or its Tysabri, an aggressive therapy with greater safety issues, said Philip De Jager, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a study author.

Relapsing-remitting MS is the most common form of the illness, which affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide and about 400,000 Americans, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Patients with RRMS get attacks that degrade their neurological function, followed by periods of recovery.

"This study is a very important contribution to developing the kinds of tools that can help the physician personalize treatment," said Timothy Coetzee, chief research officer of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in a telephone interview. "The challenge we've faced in MS is that for a physician there isn't a blood test, like for your cholesterol level," to provide information about the disease.

Doctors aim to be able to attack multiple sclerosis similarly to the way cancer is starting to be treated: by identifying the underlying cause of a patient's tumor and selecting a drug tailored to attack it, said Coetzee, whose group is based in New York and Denver.

In MS, being able to determine a patient's likelihood of flare-ups may lead doctors to prescribe a more aggressive treatment earlier, according to De Jager, who is also an MS specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

"If we had information about trying to predict the course of the disease, that would be very helpful for managing the patient's care," he said in a telephone interview.

The researchers drew on data from a study of the disease out of Brigham and Women's, feeding information from 363 patients' immune cells into a computer program that hunted for similarities. The analysis turned up two groups of patients, designated MS(a) and MS(b), separated by cellular differences and the likelihood of patients experiencing an exacerbation.

Patients in the MS(a) group expressed more genes in T-cell receptor and B-cell receptor pathways, which play roles in the immune system, and certain others, the researchers found. Those were the patients more likely to have an inflammatory event.

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Multiple sclerosis finding may change therapy strategy

Multiple sclerosis: Canada launching clinical trial of controversial treatment developed by Zamboni

TORONTOA long-awaited Canadian trial of a controversial experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis has been given the go-ahead and will soon begin recruiting patients, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Friday.

Aglukkaq, in Halifax for a meeting with provincial and territorial health ministers, said about 100 MS patients will be enrolled in the trial to assess the safety of the procedure to unblock narrowed neck veins and its efficacy in improving MS symptoms.

The condition dubbed chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI has been proposed as a possible cause of MS by Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni.

More than three years ago, Zamboni hypothesized that narrowed and twisted veins in the neck and chest create a back-up of blood in the brain, resulting in iron deposits that could cause the brain lesions typical of MS.

The disease causes the destruction of myelin, the protective sheath around nerves throughout the body, leading to progressive physical and cognitive disability. An estimated 55,000 to 75,000 Canadians have MS, and the county has one of the highest rates of the incurable disease in the world.

Dr. Anthony Traboulsee, medical director of UBC Hospitals MS Clinic, will lead the $6-million study, which will be conducted initially in Vancouver and Montreal. Medical and ethical approval is also being sought for parts of the trial to be conducted in Quebec City and Winnipeg.

Its going to be a randomized-control study where patients who have the presence of CCSVI will be randomly selected to either have the venoplasty, which is dilation of the vein, or a sham treatment, which is not an actual dilation, just a pretend dilation, Traboulsee said Friday from Vancouver.

And after a year, the groups will switch so that everybody eventually gets the dilation of the vein.

A venoplasty to widen veins is the same technique as an angioplasty used to expand coronary arteries; a tiny balloon is fed into the blood vessel, then expanded.

None of the participants will know which treatment they received or during which half of the study, Traboulsee said.

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Multiple sclerosis: Canada launching clinical trial of controversial treatment developed by Zamboni

Two categories of multiple sclerosis patients defined

ScienceDaily (Sep. 26, 2012) There are approximately 400,000 people in the United States with multiple sclerosis. Worldwide, the number jumps to more than 2.1 million people. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to treating the millions with multiple sclerosis, what if doctors could categorize patients to create more personalized treatments? A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) may one day make this idea a reality in the fight against the debilitating autoimmune disease.

A research team led by Philip De Jager, MD, PhD, BWH Department of Neurology, senior study author, has found a way to distinguish patients with multiple sclerosis into two meaningful subsets. The ability to categorize patients with multiple sclerosis may open new doors for treatment development.

The study will be electronically published on September 26, 2012 in Science Translational Medicine.

"Our results suggest that we can divide the multiple sclerosis patient population into groups that have different levels of disease activity," said De Jager. "These results motivate us to improve these distinctions with further research so that we may reach our goal of identifying the best treatment for each individual who has multiple sclerosis."

De Jager and his team extracted RNA -- key molecules involved in making proteins from the instructions found in the DNA sequence -- from blood cells of patients with multiple sclerosis. After analyzing the samples, they found distinct sets of RNA molecules among the patient samples. These unique sets formed a transcriptional signature that distinguished two sets of multiple sclerosis patients -- MSa patients and MSb patients -- with those in the MSa group having a higher risk for future multiple sclerosis relapse.

According to the researchers, knowing the category a person with multiple sclerosis is in may help doctors make more informed treatment decisions. For instance, since a patient who falls into the MSa category is more likely to experience relapse, her doctor may consider a stronger treatment for the patient.

In light of the discovery, the researchers remain cautious about the findings.

"Our study is an important step towards the goal of personalized medicine in MS, but much work remains to be done to understand under which circumstance and in combination with which other information this transcriptional signature may become useful in a clinical setting," said De Jager.

However, from the pre-clinical perspective, the researchers recognize that the findings are essential because they build on earlier studies that had suggested that this structure might be present.

"The study will further enable the community of MS researchers to build upon this transcriptional signature with other data in order to enhance patient care in the future," said De Jager.

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Two categories of multiple sclerosis patients defined

Dual Multiple Sclerosis Finding May Change Therapy

By Meg Tirrell - 2012-09-26T18:00:00Z

A cellular signature seen in the blood of multiple sclerosis patients may help determine their likelihood of relapse, potentially influencing which therapy physicians prescribe, a study found.

Differences in patients blood cells delineated them into two groups, one with a 40 percent lower risk of relapse, according to research today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The findings eventually could help doctors determine whether to prescribe a drug such as Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB)s Avonex, which is moderately effective with fewer side effects, or its Tysabri, an aggressive therapy with greater safety issues, said Philip De Jager, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a study author.

Relapsing-remitting MS is the most common form of the illness, which affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide and about 400,000 Americans, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Patients with RRMS get attacks that degrade their neurological function, followed by periods of recovery.

This study is a very important contribution to developing the kinds of tools that can help the physician personalize treatment, said Timothy Coetzee, chief research officer of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, in a telephone interview. The challenge weve faced in MS is that for a physician there isnt a blood test, like for your cholesterol level, to provide information about the disease.

Doctors aim to be able to attack multiple sclerosis similarly to the way cancer is starting to be treated: by identifying the underlying cause of a patients tumor and selecting a drug tailored to attack it, said Coetzee, whose group is based in New York and Denver.

In MS, being able to determine a patients likelihood of flare-ups may lead doctors to prescribe a more aggressive treatment earlier, according to De Jager, who is also an MS specialist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston.

If we had information about trying to predict the course of the disease, that would be very helpful for managing the patients care, he said in a telephone interview.

The researchers drew on data from a study of the disease out of Brigham and Womens, feeding information from 363 patients immune cells into a computer program that hunted for similarities. The analysis turned up two groups of patients, designated MS(a) and MS(b), separated by cellular differences and the likelihood of patients experiencing an exacerbation.

Patients in the MS(a) group expressed more genes in T-cell receptor and B-cell receptor pathways, which play roles in the immune system, and certain others, the researchers found. Those were the patients more likely to have an inflammatory event.

Read more:
Dual Multiple Sclerosis Finding May Change Therapy

Therapy Trends: Multiple Sclerosis — KOL Insight and Consensus Outlook Modules

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Therapy Trends: Multiple Sclerosis -- KOL Insight and Consensus Outlook Modules

http://www.reportlinker.com/p01006955/Therapy-Trends--Multiple-Sclerosis----KOL-Insight--and-Consensus-Outlook-Modules.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Pathology

Charting the Future Multiple Sclerosis Market Landscape

Over the next five years, the global multiple sclerosis (MS) market is set to grow from $12.3 billion in 2011 to $17.3 billion in 2016. Primary drivers of this growth will be the entry of new pipeline therapies, satisfying the unmet needs of convenient administration and more efficacious therapy, and continued uptake of existing therapies.

Therapy Trends Consensus Outlook: Multiple Sclerosis analyses the global MS market players and products of today and tomorrow. Start mapping your market parameters with access to the following comprehensive resources:

An in-depth 5-year forecast report based on analyst consensus, mapping the impact of future events to predicted product performance

A detailed forecast data analysis spreadsheet model comparing critical market parameters including

Timely event-driven market forecast report and data analysis updates over the next 12 months

Mapping Future Events to Product Sales Forecasts

See the original post here:
Therapy Trends: Multiple Sclerosis -- KOL Insight and Consensus Outlook Modules

Consensus Outlook: Multiple Sclerosis

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Consensus Outlook: Multiple Sclerosis

http://www.reportlinker.com/p01006956/Consensus-Outlook-Multiple-Sclerosis.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Pathology

Charting the Future Multiple Sclerosis Market Landscape

Over the next five years, the global multiple sclerosis (MS) market is set to grow from $12.3 billion in 2011 to $17.3 billion in 2016. Primary drivers of this growth will be the entry of new pipeline therapies, satisfying the unmet needs of convenient administration and more efficacious therapy, and continued uptake of existing therapies.

Therapy Trends Consensus Outlook: Multiple Sclerosis analyses the global MS market players and products of today and tomorrow. Start mapping your market parameters with access to the following comprehensive resources:

An in-depth 5-year forecast report based on analyst consensus, mapping the impact of future events to predicted product performance

A detailed forecast data analysis spreadsheet model comparing critical market parameters including

Timely event-driven market forecast report and data analysis updates over the next 12 months

Mapping Future Events to Product Sales Forecasts

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Consensus Outlook: Multiple Sclerosis

Screening Tool Reveals Two Multiple Sclerosis Types

By Serena Gordon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental screening technique finds that multiple sclerosis patients have two different molecular "signatures" that reflect disease severity.

This suggests that doctors might one day use this tool to help determine who has a more aggressive form of MS and might need earlier treatment with stronger medications, researchers report.

"This study shows there is evidence that we can begin to identify subsets of MS patients, and that we're moving ever-so-slowly to personalizing MS care," said study author Dr. Philip De Jager, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an associate neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

But this screening tool "is not ready for the clinic at this point. It needs to be validated in another trial," De Jager said. He envisions that this test would be one component of a number of tests doctors could use to generate risk estimates.

Results of the study are published in the Sept. 26 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

About 400,000 Americans have MS, a chronic, sometimes disabling disease that affects the central nervous system. The central nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. MS symptoms may include fatigue, numbness in the limbs, balance and coordination problems, bladder or bowel dysfunction, vision problems, pain, and even paralysis.

A few treatment options exist for one type of the disease, but no single therapy helps everyone with MS, and there is no cure.

The four types of MS include relapsing-remitting, primary progressive, secondary progressive and progressive-relapsing, the MS society says. About 85 percent of people with MS have the relapsing-remitting form of the disease, and the available treatments are for this form of the disease.

It's often difficult to diagnose MS, and it can take even longer to figure out which type someone has. In addition, doctors have no way to predict which patients will respond to a particular drug.

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Screening Tool Reveals Two Multiple Sclerosis Types

Research and Markets: Multiple Sclerosis (Event Driven)

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/g525xq/multiple) has announced the addition of Decision Resources, Inc's new report "Multiple Sclerosis (Event Driven)" to their offering.

The market for disease-modifying multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies is poised to undergo a dramatic transformation as a suite of new and promising emerging therapies enter the market over the next five years, including the first, and much-anticipated, orally delivered products. Novel therapies will drive growth of the MS market through 2015, but the gains will be constrained by a conservative prescriber base and lingering favoritism for time-tested current agents, at least over the near term, coupled with forecasted generics competition. All new agents are expected to be approved to treat relapsing forms of MS; ample opportunity will remain for therapies to treat the underserved population of patients who suffer progressive forms of the disease.

Key Topics Covered:

Executive Summary

What are the key parameters of the multiple sclerosis market?

What factors are driving the market for multiple sclerosis therapies?

What factors are constraining the market for multiple sclerosis therapies?

What are the drug development activities of note in multiple sclerosis?

What do the experts say?

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Research and Markets: Multiple Sclerosis (Event Driven)