Parkinson’s disease is the second commonest neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s, affecting 1% of the over-65 population and 2% of the over-80’s. Recent research (1) published in Biological Psychiatry from the Institute of Biophysics, Academia Sinica in Beijing indicates that polyphenols in green tea have a protective effect on neurons that could be put to potential clinical use.

In a laboratory study carried out on rats, serving as the animal model for Parkinson’s disease, damage was inflicted upon dopamine-secreting neurons of rats — simulating the disease in humans where the loss of such neurons leads to debilitating disorders of movement. Read more →

Mike Huckabee, ex-Governor of Arkansas, might not be a Universal Healthcare advocate, but his stance on tackling the obesity epidemic might need closer scrutiny than many of the professional nutrition programs out there. Beyond the rhetoric of his advocacy of a slimmer America, there is one important truth – current healthcare insurance systems indirectly reward ‘obesity’ through payouts rather than personal initiatives to stay fit. As the Governor of Arkansas he led the battle against obesity for the state at a political level, calling for changes in insurance legislation. Read more →

Well, if you think that the anti-tobacco lobby has won the war, think again. Do the Wall Street charts show a downtrend – I don’t think so. It’s true that conventional advertising for cigarettes through magazines and billboards is down at its all time low, but recent statistics from the Federal Trade Commission indicate that marketing expenditure by the tobacco industry rose by 22% between 2002-2003, from $12 billion to $15 billion. Marketing strategy had just shifted to more niche-oriented methods like direct mail, event promotions and coupon discounts. Read more →

The Human Genome Project completed nearly 7 years ago may have been a slight disappointment for the “genetic technology” industry, as far fewer genes that we once thought exist on the human chromosome. Worse, this implies that there are possibly far fewer single gene disorders than we once thought, and hence the market for single gene therapy appears to be quite “limited.”

Enter Human Genetic Variation – dubbed by Science magazine as the Breakthrough of the Year 2007. Read more →

A new study conducted by neuroscientists at Duke University explains how we can feel confident and certain about events that never occurred. It all depends upon the area of the brain that is processing the memory. Read more →

On November 3, 1906, a key paper from a German physician at the Royal Psychiatric Clinic at Munich University, described a case of dementia and altered behavior in Frau Auguste Deter, who had died 7 months earlier. Although dementia was a commonly diagnosed symptom of the day, the paper was unique because for the first time, its symptoms and pathological features under the microscope — ‘neurofibrillary tangles’ and ‘plaques’ were described together. Read more →