Genetic cause for migraine discovered
A US scientist, who suffered from crippling migraines as a child, has found the gene flaw that causes the condition, paving way for better treatments for unpredictable and pounding headaches.
As a teenage student athlete, Emily Bates hated never knowing when the next migraine would strike, disrupting her schoolwork, practices and competitions. Brigham Young University chemistry professor identified mutations in a gene that makes people more susceptible to migraine headaches.
“I would lose my vision, vomit uncontrollably. I decided then that I was going to work on migraines, that I was going to figure them out and help find a cure,” Bates said.
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Scientists slow down ageing in mice
New York: Scientists claim to have found the “fountain of ageing” in the shape of hypothalamus — a small region of the brain which they say holds key to slowing down the rate of ageing.
The almond-sized structure in the brain is involved in regulating the secretion of various hormones. For the first time, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report that the hypothalamus of mice controls ageing throughout the body.
“The mice showed a decrease in muscle strength and size, in skin thickness, and in their ability to learn, all indicators of ageing,” said senior author Dongsheng Cai, a professor at Einstein. PTI
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