On the website of the University of California there is a description of a rare disease with a non-specific clinical course. A 51-year-old lawyer, previously healthy, starts to spend the financial resources of his company to pornographic material. It turns out that he does it in order to hide his sexual activity from his wife. In these circumstances it is not difficult to accuse the man of unethical behavior. But this case refers to the example of a rare nervous system disorder manifestation.

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Polish scientists from Medical Genetics Institute of Warsaw Medical University discovered that tendencies to certain reactions to alcohol are genetically conditioned and may lead to an increase in probability of suicidal attempts. Read full text »

Polish scientists from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Science and The International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IIMCB) in Warsaw under the guidance of dr. Ewelina Knapska, Ph.D. Jacek Jaworski and professor Leszek Kaczmarek confirmed common speculations that two independent of each other neuronal pathways are responsible for triggering and inhibiting phobias. It is manifested in difficulties of phobias treatment because creating competing engrams is responsible for quenching fear. Read full text »

For the first time an implantation of muscle and nerve controlled arm prosthesis was conducted at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg (Sweden). The arm prosthesis is attached permanently using electrodes and nerves of an amputee. The result is that the control of an advanced robotic prosthetic improved and similar to the pattern of movement of a human arm. Read full text »

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a disorder belonging to a large group of neurodegenerative diseases. One of the features of most of these disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) is the unknown pathogenesis. The same applies to PD. Recent studies show that abnormal polyamine biochemical changes in the CNS may cause neurotoxicity responsible for the development of PD. Read full text »

Using diet for medicinal purposes has been known since the beginnings of medicine. Due to the lack of other methods, diet was also used in epilepsy treatment. The ketogenic diet has been used for over 80 years and it is quite effective. Even though pharmacological treatment of epilepsy is widely available nowadays, not every child with epilepsy responds well enough to it. This is the reason for the growing interest in ketogenic diet (KD).

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Owing to the fact that societies are ageing, especially in industrialized countries, the number of geriatric patients to whom we should pay special attention increases. It was noticed long time ago that not the metrical but the biological age is significant to asses condition and prognosis of the patients. That’s why a scale called Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) was developed. After describing the co-existent diseases and disability or impairment of cognitive functions, it allows for assessment of the biological age of the patient. Read full text »

Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a very complicated clinical matter from a practical point of view – certain confirmation of this condition in patients is an autopsy of a central nervous system (CNS). However, lately it is reported that a novel marker Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) used in positron emission tomography (PET) may diagnose AD in patients before decease (1). Read full text »

Scientists from a team of professor Małgorzata Kossut from Experimental Biology Institute of M. Nencki in Warsaw announced that using popular anti-inflammatory drugs may facilitate brain tissue regeneration after cerebral crisis in rats. Read full text »

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is used in medical terminology to describe developmental disorders which have characteristic symptoms: poor social interaction, communication difficulties and repetitive behaviours. Autism spectrum disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). It is estimated that the disease affects 1 per 1000 people and is four times more common among males than females. Currently, the disease is incurable and in order to mitigate its symptoms pharmacological and psychological treatment can be used.

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