Huntington’s Treatment Blog

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that a drug used in some countries to treat the symptoms of Huntington’s disease actually prevents the death of brain cells in mice genetically engineered to mimic the hereditary condition.
The research sheds light on the biochemical mechanisms involved in the disease and suggests new avenues of study for […]

St Andrews University (Fife) biologists claim to have moved a step closer to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, in developing a compound which has successfully prevented the disease killing brain cells. It also appears to improve memory and learning ability that is already damaged.
Working with American researchers they developed man-made compounds capable of blocking […]

New insights into how bacteria form fibers called curli offer intriguing clues to the formation of harmful protein tangles in diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, University of Michigan researchers report.
The research builds on a chance discovery that U-M microbiologist Matthew Chapman and co-workers made five years ago. In research initially aimed at understanding […]

Researchers at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) have identified a potential new drug target for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and possibly for other degenerative neurological disorders.
In an upcoming issue of the journal Science, the investigators describe finding, in cellular and animal models, that blocking the action of an enzyme called SIRT2 can […]

Important research reported in May 2007 Nature Magazine shows that Huntington’s turns a normally protective enzyme into one that likely accelerates disease progression. Dr. Cynthia McMurray and colleagues show that OGG1, an enzyme that normally repairs damaged DNA, seriously malfunctions and causes a further increase in the already enlarged CAG repeat number in HD […]

Mice carrying the genetic mutation that causes Huntington’s Disease (HD) showed marked improvements in alertness and their ability to learn after they were given drugs that put them to sleep.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that daily treatments of Alprazolam or chloral hydrate, two different sedative drugs, enabled them to develop a regular sleep […]