Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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Study Offers Insights Into Spinal Cord Injuries
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THURSDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDayNews) -- Surprising new information about paralysis caused by spinal cord injury has been discovered by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers. They found that excess amounts of ATP, a nucleotide that provides energy to keep cells alive, accumulate at the site of a spinal cord injury and destroy motor neurons, which control movement. The loss of these motor neurons leads to paralysis. When ATP's effects on motor neurons was blocked in rats with spinal cord damage, the rats recovered most of their normal movement. They were able to walk, run and climb almost as well as healthy rats, the study found. Scientists already knew that initial trauma to the spinal cord is made worse by a series of molecular events in the first few hours following a spinal cord injury. But this is one of the first studies to identify the role of high levels of ATP in causing that secondary damage. The finding could help scientists develop new ways to reduce damage caused by spinal cord injury by blocking the action of ATP. "There is no good acute treatment now for patients who have a spinal cord injury. We're hoping this work will lead to therapy that could decrease the extent of the secondary damage," lead researcher Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, a professor in the department of neurosurgery, said in a prepared statement. "This is an unusual way of looking at spinal cord injury. Much of the focus of research has been on trying to re-grow portions of the spinal cord. We're trying to stop the damage up front," Nedergaard said. The study appears in the August issue of Nature Medicine. More information The American Association of Neurological Surgeons has more about spinal cord injuries.
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