Live updates from the Australasian MND Symposium, March 22, 2018. Written by a non-scientist for a layperson audience. This means we’re skipping the complicated science and going straight for the highlights. Typing fast and editing slow, so excuse spelling mistakes. The team from MND New Zealand are at the inaugural Australasian MND Symposium hosted by … Read more
We are please to introduce the ‘Review of Current Research Regarding the use of Medicinal Cannabis for MS and MND Symptom Management’, jointly commissioned by Multiple Sclerosis NZ and MND New Zealand. The review suggests that medicinal cannabis can provide some relief from pain and spasticity for people with MND. There are also risks involved. … Read more
We are thrilled to announce that the website of the New Zealand MND Research Network (www.mndresearch.auckland.ac.nz) launched on November 1st 2017. We are thrilled to announce that the website of the New Zealand MND Research Network (www.mndresearch.auckland.ac.nz) launched on November 1st 2017. The Research Network website’s purpose is to provide a central location informing others … Read more
The New Zealand MND Registry was launched in May 2017, just 8 months after 4000 participants in the Walk 2 D’Feet MND fundraised to establish the Registry. The New Zealand Motor Neurone Disease Registry was launched on on Monday 22 May 2017, just eight months after 4000 participants in 14 fundraising walks all over New … Read more
Edaravone is not yet available on prescription in New Zealand. MND New Zealand will keep our community informed about further developments and what they may mean for people with MND in New Zealand. This is what we know so far. On Friday 5 May, the US Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) announced its approval … Read more
New research has confirmed a link between pesticides and an increased risk of MND… but don’t panic and chuck out all your non-organic veggies just yet. It’s specifically to do with exposure at work to organochlorine pesticides, many of which are now banned (like DDT). Read more about this interesting line of research here. Dr Belinda … Read more
Another interesting finding in the ongoing hunt for MND treatments comes from University of Tokyo researchers, who have discovered that a safe, existing anti-epileptic drug called perampanel has successfully prevented the death of motor neurons in mice with an animal model of MND. Their research shows that perampanel is worthy of a clinical trial for … Read more
If you looked at the motor neurones of people with MND down the microscope, you would see clumps of a protein called TDP-43. Researchers around the world are working to find why these clumps form and how they are linked to MND. Dr Jemeen Sreedharan has been looking at the effects of TDP-43 in fruit … Read more
“I’ve never seen a more exciting year,” says Dr Richard Bedlack, top doc at the Duke ALS Clinic in the US. He thinks 2016 is a pivotal year in the fight against MND/ALS, because in just the last year scientists have made a number of potential breakthroughs (greatly due to money brought in by the … Read more