- 2014
- Press releases - 30.06.2014
Alzheimer’s disease: simplified diagnosis, with more reliable criteria
How many patients receive an incorrect diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease? The answer is a surprisingly high number: over a third! To reduce the number of errors, the diagnostic criteria must be the most reliable possible, especially at the very early stages of the disease. For the last decade, an international team of neurologists, coordinated by Bruno Dubois (Inserm/Pierre and Marie Curie University/AP-HP Joint Research Unit 975) has been working towards this. In the June issue of The Lancet Neurology journal, we see how the researchers have developed a simplified diagnosis based on the most specific criteria of the disease. A challenge primarily for research, but also for clinical practice.
- Press releases - 25.06.2014
Neurons are oversensitive to cellular stress from the outset in Huntington’s disease
Neurons cannot properly defend themselves against Huntington’s disease, right from the onset of the pathology. This has been discovered by a team of Inserm researchers from the Paris-Seine Biology Institute (IBPS) (Inserm/CNRS/Pierre and Marie Curie University) and their American and Australian colleagues. The cause is the failure of an important mechanism involved in cellular longevity. In addition to this result, the present study shows the importance of restoring the ability of the neurons to resist stress in order to delay the manifestations of the disease. This work is leading to a new approach for treating neurodegenerative diseases. The results of this work are published in PLoS Biology.
- What's on? - 23.06.2014
New outbreak of ebola fever in Africa
According to WHO, between 29 May and 1 June 2014, 37 new cases of Ebola fever and 21 deaths were recorded in Guinea, and 13 new cases (no deaths) were recorded in Liberia. The Jean Mérieux BSL-4 Laboratory is a high-level containment laboratory dedicated to the study of class 4 pathogens. The biological safety level applied is 4, […]
- Press releases - 20.06.2014
How a stem cell sees red
Many medical situations require a supply of red blood cells—anaemia, road accidents and chemotherapy, for example. But there is a genuine shortage of blood. Researchers throughout the world are therefore working hard to find solutions to alleviate these shortages, and their sights are set on the potential for creating an unlimited supply of red blood […]
- Press releases - 19.06.2014
Can injuries to the skin be painless?
Teams led by Priscille Brodin in Lille and Laurent Marsollier in Angers have studied lesions in patients with Buruli ulcer, a tropical disease.
- What's on? - 18.06.2014
2014 World Sickle Cell Awareness Day
Thursday 19 June 2014 is World Sickle Cell Disease Day. This is the most widespread genetic disorder in the world: It affects over five million people(1). It can have serious consequences—anaemia, episodes of pain—and may involve different organs or reduced resistance to certain infections. From the physiological point of view, this disease of the blood […]
- Press releases - 17.06.2014
The Inserm Ethics Committee publishes two notes on embryo research and gender research
A l’occasion de leur première grande réunion annuelle, qui a eu lieu ce mardi 17 juin à l’Auditorium de l’Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, plusieurs groupes de travail du Comité d’éthique de l’Inserm dont le groupe « Embryon & développement » et le groupe « Genre et recherche en santé » rendent leur avis sous forme de note.
- Press releases - 13.06.2014
H1N1 influenza: Vaccination induces an immune memory response comparable to that of a moderate infection
How long does the immune memory response produced by vaccination last? Is it similar to that induced by the infection itself? New information on the A(H1N1) pandemic influenza virus has just been brought to light by researchers at Joint Research Unit 1135, Cimi-Paris (Centre for Immunology and Infectious Diseases – Inserm – Pierre and Marie Curie University).
- Press releases - 12.06.2014
Mild hearing impairment may indicate greater underlying problems
Scientists from the Institut Pasteur, INSERM, Collège de France, and Pierre and Marie Curie University, in collaboration with a team from the University of Auvergne, identified mice models that mimic high-frequency hearing impairment in humans, with a strong low-frequency sound interference. Their work sheds light on the anomalies causing the hearing impairment and reveals cochlear defects that profoundly affect the way sound frequencies are processed. This work could explain the pronounced masking effect experienced by some hearing-impaired individuals when trying to discriminate high-frequency sounds in noisy environments. The scientists suggest that more substantial auditory assessments would enable clinicians to improve diagnosis of these auditory impairments and provide better care for individuals who, despite showing only a mild hearing impairment using standard audiometric evaluations, should be fitted with hearing aids that appropriately target the defective sound frequencies and correct the hearing impairment.
- What's on? - 12.06.2014
2014 World Blood Donor Day
Introduced for the first time in 2004, at the initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) takes place on 14 June each year. Organised in France by the French National Blood Service, WBBD pays tribute to the millions of anonymous volunteer blood donors throughout the world. This also helps to […]