Parkinson’s disease tagged posts

How the Gut Influences Neurologic Disease

AHR limits microglial pro-inflammatory transcriptional responses during EAE.

AHR limits microglial pro-inflammatory transcriptional responses during EAE.

A study published this week in Nature sheds new light on the connection between the gut and the brain, untangling the complex interplay that allows the byproducts of microorganisms living in the gut to influence the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have been using both animal models and human cells from patients to tease out the key players involved in the gut-brain connection as well as in the crosstalk between immune cells and brain cells. Their new publication defines a pathway that may help guide therapies for multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases.

The new research focuses on the influence of gut microbes on two types of cells that play...

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3-4 cups of Coffee a day linked to Longer Life

3-4 cups of Coffee a day linked to Longer Life

3-4 cups of Coffee a day linked to Longer Life

Three or 4 cups a day confers greatest benefit, except in pregnancy and for women at risk of fracture. Drinking coffee is “more likely to benefit health than to harm it” for a range of health outcomes, say researchers in The BMJ today. They bring together evidence from over 200 studies and find that drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of death and getting heart disease compared with drinking no coffee. Coffee drinking is also associated with lower risk of some cancers, diabetes, liver disease and dementia.

However, they say drinking coffee in pregnancy may be associated with harms, and may be linked to a very small increased risk of fracture in women...

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Asthma Medicine Halves Risk of Parkinson’s

Asthma medicine has positive side effects, a study from the University of Bergen shows. Copyright: Colourbox

Asthma medicine has positive side effects, a study from the University of Bergen shows. Copyright: Colourbox

Using data gathered from 100 million Norwegian prescriptions, researchers have found that asthma medicine can halve a patient’s risk of developing Parkinson´s disease. Researchers at the Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care (IGS) at the University of Bergen (UiB) have completed a large study that included data from the Norwegian Prescription Database, in cooperation with researchers at Harvard University.

“Our analysis of data from the whole Norwegian population has been decisive for the conclusion in this study,” says Professor Trond Riise at IGS. He leads the registery study in Norway...

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Source of Cell-specific Change in Alzheimer’s disease

mRNA expression analysis of EWAS-related genes in AD CA1 pyramidal neurons AD CA1 astrocytes and AD CA1 microglia. Only two of the seven identified transcripts in the EWAS study were significantly differentially expressed, BIN1 in AD neurons and SERPINF2 in AD microglia. * indicates p < .05.

mRNA expression analysis of EWAS-related genes in AD CA1 pyramidal neurons AD CA1 astrocytes and AD CA1 microglia. Only two of the seven identified transcripts in the EWAS study were significantly differentially expressed, BIN1 in AD neurons and SERPINF2 in AD microglia. * indicates p < .05.

ANK1 gene expression change found in brain’s microglia cells associated with neuroinflammation. Researchers led by Arizona State University (ASU) and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have identified altered expression of a gene called ANK1, which only recently has been associated with memory robbing Alzheimer’s disease, in specific cells in the brain...

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