US researchers have found two potential targets for treating multiple sclerosis after an extensive trawl through proteins in the brain. Comparison of 2,538 proteins from MS patients with those from healthy brains showed damage in two proteins not before linked to the disease. In mice blocking the effects of the proteins led to reversal of symptoms, the study in Nature reported.
UK scientists hope to mend shattered bones and damaged cartilage using a patient's own stem cells. They are developing a "bioactive scaffold" to protect the stem cells and encourage them to grow into bone or cartilage when placed in the body.
A 23-year-old Tyneside man left severely disabled after a car crash has been awarded £6.3m damages. David Dei-Ceci, was on his way to a camping trip in Kielder Forest in 2002, when the car in which he was a passenger crashed into a field. He was thrown from the vehicle and sustained brain injuries, leaving him requiring round-the-clock, live-in care for the rest of his life. Mr Dei-Ceci, of Newcastle, was 17 at the time of the crash in 2002.
Commenting on reports that Alan Johnson is to explore how GPs can issue 'well notes' to people on incapacity benefit, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:
I was last in Beijing just over two years ago - my first time in the country. But with the Paralympics fast approaching, I recently revisited China with the BBC's Inside Sport programme to see whether access and attitudes had changed since I was last there.
Liberal Democrats at County Hall have welcomed assurances from the leadership of the county council that it is prepared to look for further savings on county council overheads.