Neurodegenerative disease: Giving survival a boost

sea-maid submitted, created time 1 month 2 weeks (www.nature.com)

Although it is the selective death of motor neurons that ultimately causes the symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease also renders other spinal cord cells, including astrocytes, dysfunctional. Maragakis and colleagues have now shown that the replacement of damaged astrocytes through precursor cell transplantation might be a useful therapeutic strategy for ALS.

The authors transplanted glial restricted precursors (GRPs) into the grey matter of the spinal cord in a transgenic rat model of ALS

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Link suggested between soccer and motor neurone disease

collapsar submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.nature.com)

British neuroscientists are planning to investigate whether playing soccer contributes to the development of motor neurone disease. The move comes after three amateur footballers playing in the same league developed the disease, which normally affects less than one person in every 50,000 each year. Experts are now aiming to launch a full epidemiological study of professional footballers and motor neurone disease (MND) patients, to see whether the sport really does raise the incidence of the disease among those who play it at a high level.

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