Although Charles O'Brien, MD, who heads the substance-related disorders work group, is a vigorous proponent of the notion of addiction as a disease, nothing about the proposed DSM-5 substance-related disorders section supports the idea that the syndrome is best understood as a chronic brain disease.
11 Vote(s)
August 25, 2010
August 20, 2010
Thumb sucking was a brain disease
I’ve just discovered an astounding article from the journal Medical History that left me, dare I say, open mouthed. It’s about how, in the early 1900s, thumb-sucking in children was considered a neurological disorder that was thought serious enough to justify paediatrics as a separate medical speciality. It sounds ridiculous now, but at the time [...]
7 Vote(s)
7 Vote(s)
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January 26, 2010
Gene therapy study seeks to improve brain function in Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) researchers are testing the effectiveness of gene therapy for the first time to treat patients with this common brain disease. A total of 12 institutions are participating in a nationwide study to test the experimental medication, CERE-110.
14 Vote(s)
14 Vote(s)
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September 8, 2009
Healthy Older Brains Not Significantly Smaller Than Younger Brains, New Imaging Study Shows
The belief that healthy older brains are substantially smaller than younger brains may stem from studies that did not screen out people whose undetected, slowly developing brain disease was killing off cells in key areas, according to new research. As a result, previous findings may have overestimated atrophy and underestimated normal size for the older brain.
15 Vote(s)
15 Vote(s)
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May 20, 2009
Proteins Underlying Devastating Brain Diseases Uncovered
Scientists have discovered a set of brain proteins that underlie some of the most devastating brain diseases including epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disease, mental retardation and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. The researchers developed new methods to explore many proteins within the molecular machinery that underlies brain disease, but
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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