Researchers have discovered that they can help alleviate some of the symptoms of familial dysautonomia through diet. FD patients are deficient in the protein IKAP, which affects genes that make monoamine oxidase (MAO), an enzyme that destroys tyramine. A diet high in tyramine can cause the autonomic crises that lead to such symptoms as vomiting,…
The 38-year-old Dysautonomia Treatment and Evaluation Center at the New York University Medical Center has, in a few months’ time, undergone a vast expansion. Between November 2007 and this past February, the space the center occupies doubled, the center’s staff more than doubled and the equipment used was “really enhanced,” according to center director Felicia…
Diana Muir Appelbaum and Paul S. Appelbaum have done a fascinating round-up for The Jerusalem Post of what genetics research reveals about the origins of various Jewish sub-populations. While there’s not much new for people who closely follow news about this area of research, the Appelbaums’ article is great because is puts all the data…
Is Jewish intelligence genetic? Slate’s William Saletan, who recently attended a panel discussion on the topic, doesn’t want to think so. Still, he grudgingly admits: A culture that trains its young people to procreate only with one another becomes, over time, a genetically distinct population. And if that culture glorifies intelligence to such a degree…
The MILO Gladstein foundation 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #583 Los Angeles, CA 90028 www.bloomssyndrome.org [email protected] Lauri and Richard Gladstein established the Milo Gladstein Foundation for Bloom’s Syndrome in 2004 shortly after their son Milo was diagnosed with the disorder. The foundation’s goal is to fund research aimed at finding a treatment for the disease. Canavan Foundation…
Two clinical studies for the treatment of late-onset Tay-Sachs with Zavesca, a drug used to treat Gaucher disease, produced neutral results — “a scientific way of saying that it didn’t work,” said Kim Crawford, director of member services for the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association. According to Crawford, Actelion, which produces Zavesca, will not…
Epidemiologist Ann Pulver found her research calling early. As an undergraduate at Boston University, she worked with schizophrenia patients and saw firsthand the devastation the disease can cause. She decided then to devote her career to fighting it. Now, as head of the epidemiology-genetics program in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, Pulver is doing just…
Richard Fishel describes DNA-mismatch repair as the human body’s spell-check program. In most people, this surveillance system is always on, correcting thousands of errors as cells transfer information to new cells. Fishel and his research partner, Joanna Groden, are heading a major new project devoted to finding a cure for Bloom’s syndrome, a rare genetic…
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