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At a Loss for Words

By Guest PostNovember 20, 2011Health, Scienceaphasia, aphasia research project, biological and cognitive processes, brain, brain damage, brain impairs, bullet, celeste barajas, communication impairments, gabrielle giffords, human communication problems, inability to speak or write, language and hearing sciences, language impairment, language recovery, loss of phonology, magnetic resonance imaging, mechanisms of recovery, mri, national institutes of health, network of brain regions, neuroimaging, pelagie beeson, pima county, rehabilitation, scanner, speech, speech language pathology, steven rapcsak, stroke, traumatic brain injury, university of arizona

*Research into aphasia – the inability to speak or write well-formulated sentences and words – is strong at the UA. Researchers have received $2 million toward the study of the condition.*

The National Institutes of Health have awarded the University of Arizona’s Aphasia Research Project in the department of speech, language and hearing sciences a $2 million grant to research communication impairments in adults who have suffered brain injury.

Aphasia – the inability to speak or write well-formulated sentences and words – is a common result of a stroke or a traumatic brain injury such as the one suffered by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head earlier this year. The bullet damaged regions of the brain that are critical for language and control of the right side of the body. (more…)

Religious, Spiritual Support Benefits Men and Women Facing Chronic Illness, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 27, 2011Healthbrain injury, brick johnstone, cancer, chronic health conditions, chronic illness, effective coping strategy, emotional care, faith traditions, financial assistance, forgiveness practices, general health perception, general mental health, health psychology professor, physical and mental health, religion and spirituality, religious counseling, socialization, spinal cord injury, stephanie reid arndt, stroke, university of missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Individuals who practice religion and spirituality report better physical and mental health than those who do not. To better understand this relationship and how spirituality/religion can be used for coping with significant health issues, University of Missouri researchers are examining what aspects of religion are most beneficial and for what populations. Now, MU health psychology researchers have found that religious and spiritual support improves health outcomes for both men and women who face chronic health conditions. (more…)

Researcher Aims to Improve Effectiveness of Radiation Therapy for Cancer

By Guest PostMarch 7, 20112 commentsHealth, Scienceanticancer drugs, biology of tumor cells, cancer therapy, cancer treatment, characterize the tumors, chemotherapy, ct, diabetes, heart attacks, hypoxia, hypoxia induced pathways, hypoxic cells, localiz, malignant cells, methods for imaging tumors, microscopic tumors, mri, oxygen deficiency, oxygen deficiency in tissues, PET, pharmacology, radiation, sara rockwell, stroke, therapeutic radiology, yale

Sara Rockwell is a leader in her field. A professor of therapeutic radiology and pharmacology at the School of Medicine, Rockwell was among the first researchers to study the effects of oxygen deficiency on the response of malignant cells to radiation and anticancer drugs, and was among the first to consider the implications of this deficiency in microscopic tumors for the development of solid malignancies.

Rockwell, who is also associate dean for scientific affairs, joined the faculty of Yale School of Medicine in 1974, and teaches radiation biology, pharmacology, cancer biology, ethics and career development skills. She earned her bachelor’s degree in physics from Penn State University in 1965. She went on to earn her doctorate degree in biophysics from Stanford University in 1971. (more…)

Stroke Takes ‘Enormous Toll’ on Hollywood Stars

By Guest PostFebruary 11, 2011General, Healthcardiovascular disease, elizabeth taylor, fatal strokes, grace Kelly, hannah smith, heart attack, high blood pressure, hollywood actors, hollywood stars, kirk douglas, los angeles, mary pickford, oscar nominees, rana fiaz, researchers, richard burton, stroke, united states

A study by researchers at the UCLA Stroke Center found that stroke and cardiovascular disease have exacted an enormous toll on Hollywood stars.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference (ISC) in Los Angeles on Feb. 10.

“Since this is the first time the ISC is being held in Los Angeles, we thought it was an appropriate occasion to investigate the frequency and impact of stroke among leading Hollywood actors,” said Hannah Smith, a staff research associate at the UCLA Stroke Center. “By documenting the toll that stroke and myocardial infarction have exacted on stars like Kirk Douglas and Grace Kelly, we hope to illustrate the damage that cardiovascular disease can cause.” (more…)

UCLA Researchers Identify Molecular Program for Brain Repair Following Stroke

By Guest PostNovember 13, 20101 commentHealth, Scienceadult brain, atrx, axons, brain, brain stroke, carmichael, cells, DNA, drug, gene, giovanni coppola, healing process, molecular cascade, mouse, neurons, peri infarct tissue, s thomas carmichael, stroke

Mouse Stroke. An MRI of a mouse brain after stroke. The mouse section has been stained to show cell bodies. Image credit: University of California

A stroke wreaks havoc in the brain, destroying its cells and the connections between them. Depending on its severity and location, a stroke can impact someone’s life forever, affecting motor activity, speech, memories, and more.

The brain makes an attempt to rally by itself, sprouting a few new connections, called axons, that reconnect some areas of the brain. But the process is weak, and the older the brain, the poorer the repair. Still, understanding the cascade of molecular events that drive even this weak attempt could lead to developing drugs to boost and accelerate this healing process.

Now researchers at UCLA have achieved a promising first step. Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience, senior author Dr. S. Thomas Carmichael, a UCLA associate professor of neurology, and colleagues have, for the first time, identified in the mouse the molecular cascade that drives the process of reconnection or sprouting in the adult brain after stroke. (more…)

‘Study Reveals Why Brain Has Limited Capacity for Repair After Stroke’

By Guest PostNovember 4, 2010Health, Scienceadult disability, brain, brain cells, brain repair, chemical system, neurological recovery, phasic inhibition, recovery, stroke, stroke damage, tom carmichael, tonic inhibition

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability, due to the brain’s limited capacity for recovery. Physical rehabilitation is the only current treatment following a stroke, and there are no medications available to help promote neurological recovery.

Now, a new UCLA study published Nov. 3 in the journal Nature offers insights into a major limitation in the brain’s ability to recover function after a stroke and identifies a promising medical therapy to help overcome this limitation.

Researchers interested in how the brain repairs itself already know that when the brain suffers a stroke, it becomes excitable, firing off an excessive amount of brain cells, which die off. The UCLA researchers found that a rise in a chemical system known as “tonic inhibition” immediately after a stroke causes a reduction in this level of excitability. (more…)

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