Author Archives: Iqra Mumal, MSc

Joining a “co-produced” walking group can be beneficial for people with Huntington’s disease, increasing their confidence, strength, and ability to walk, a study found. However, further research is needed to find ways to motivate Huntington’s patients to join such programs — and to keep the groups going, the investigators…

Stem cell therapy delivered via the nose led to longer lives and evidence of better circadian (internal “clock”) activity in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, and may offer a way of using these treatments in people, a study reports. The study, “Intranasal Administration of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Ameliorates…

A newly developed smartphone application, called the Neural Impairment Test Suite app, can run a series of tests and calculate the probability that a user is displaying early symptoms of Huntington’s disease. Developed by a group of researchers at the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) in…

Exercise training may help improve cardiovascular and mitochondrial function in patients with Huntington’s disease, with little to no treatment-related adverse events, a review study suggests. The study, “Exercise in Huntington’s Disease: Current State and Clinical Significance,” was published in the journal Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements. Huntington’s…

A deficiency in energy metabolism in the cells of patients with Huntington’s disease can partly explain the variation in age of onset among individuals, a study shows. The study, “Bioenergetics in fibroblasts of patients with Huntington disease are associated with age at onset,” was published in the journal…

Huntington’s disease begins early, before birth, but symptoms tend to appear much later in life. Now, researchers working with mice have found a way to reverse so-called “pre-Huntington’s symptoms,” including abnormal nerve cell differentiation, with early therapeutic intervention. This could have important implications for future treatment strategies. The study, “Early postnatal…

Salivary uric acid is a valid biomarker for a wide range of potential conditions and disease states, including Huntington’s disease, according to a recent study. The study, “The validity, stability, and utility of measuring uric acid in saliva,” was published in the journal Biomarkers in Medicine. Technical…

MMJ International has filed two applications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting permission to begin clinical studies to test its pharmaceutical grade cannabis-based therapies in easing symptoms associated with Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis. MMJ also has requested a meeting with FDA officials to…

The level of damage present in the DNA inside the cell nucleus — called nuclear DNA — correlates with disease duration and functional capacity in patients with Huntington’s disease, suggesting its potential use as a disease biomarker, a new study shows. The study, “Increased nuclear DNA damage precedes mitochondrial dysfunction in…

Skyhawk Therapeutics and Celgene have entered into a five-year global partnership to use Skyhawk’s STAR* technology platform to discover, advance, and commercialize new small-molecule therapies to treat patients with neurological diseases, including Huntington’s disease. The STAR* approach, which stands for “small-molecule therapies for alternative splicing in RNA,” aims to correct the…