Published: August 27, 2008
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Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered in mice that the brain must create new nerve cells for either exercise or antidepressants to reduce depression-like behavior.
In addition, the researchers found that antidepressants and exercise use the same biochemical pathway to exert their effects.
These results might help explain some unknown mechanisms of antidepressants and provide a new direction for developing drugs to treat depression, said Dr. Luis Parada, chairman of developmental biology and senior author of a study in the Aug. 14 issue of the journal Neuron. [continue reading…]
Published: August 27, 2008
AÂ Physician’s Memoir of Life, Love and Loss With Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia. By Thomas Graboys, M.D., with Peter Zheutlin.
Dr. Thomas Graboys’ memoir of dealing with Parkinson’s disease stands out as a small wonder.
Below is a brief excerpt from ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.’s  book review.  Published: August 26, 2008 in the New York Times
  Link here to read the entire book review
Doctors get seriously ill just like ordinary people, and some of them never recover from the shock. If of a literary bent, they are often moved to reflect for posterity on this disruption of the natural order, detailing their former hubris and the enlightening misery of health care experienced from the other side of the bed.
Against this generally lackluster collection of memoirs, Dr. Thomas Graboys’s stands out as a small wonder. Unsentimental and unpretentious, it manages to hit all its marks effortlessly, creating a version of the old fable as touching, educational and inspiring as if it had never been told before. [continue reading…]
Published: August 27, 2008
A new study shows that older people’s mental skills start declining years before death, even if they don’t have dementia. The study is published in the August 27, 2008, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. [continue reading…]
Published: August 27, 2008
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Many scientists work on mechanisms that determine lifespan in model organisms such as worms, flies and mice, but what will it take to develop strategies to increase human lifespan? In a Review “Puzzles, promises and a cure for aging” appearing in Nature this week, Jan Vijg and Judith Campisi discuss current knowledge and outline questions for future research. [continue reading…]
