Researchers announced last week that they had enabled paralyzed rats to walk while supporting their own weight. It was done through a combination of drugs, electrical stimulation and regular exercise. Researches found that regeneration of severed nerve fibers is not required for the animals to learn to walk again.
“Spine cells in mammals generate a current that helps make muscles and parts of the body move. If we can find ways to harness that current and stimulate appropriate areas with electrical stimulation to enhance that current, we may be able to help people who have complete spinal cord injuries stand and walk on their own,” according to Dr. Susan Harkema at the University of Louisville.
Discuss or provide additional information here: Times Discussion Forum
Source: http://php.louisville.edu/advancement/ocm/news/release.php?relid=1249
In an animal study conducted at the University of Missouri, researchers found that the common Asian spice curcumin “delayed the first appearance, decreased incidence and reduced multiplicity of progestin-accelerated tumors” and “prevented the appearance of gross morphological abnormalities in the mammary glands”.
Postmenopausal women who have taken a combined estrogen and progestin hormone replacement therapy have increased their risk of developing progestin-accelerated breast tumors according to previous studies.
Progestin accelerated the development of certain tumors by increasing production of a molecule called VEGF that helps supply blood to the tumor. By blocking the production of VEGF, researchers could potentially reduce the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Curcumin inhibits progestin-induced VEGF secretion from breast cancer cells according to the study.
The study, “Curcumin delays development of MPA-accelerated DMBA-induced mammary tumors,” has been accepted for publication in Menopause, a journal of the North American Menopause Society.
Link: Details from the University of Missouri report
