Cerebro en llamas movie#

The disease in people occurs unexpectedly when antibodies produced by the body’s own immune system attack NMDA receptors in the brain. With that information, researchers could specifically block the damaging autoimmune reaction and test new therapeutic strategies using their newly developed model for the disease in mice. Crucial for learning and memory, these receptors are required for the formation of new memories in the hippocampus of humans and animals and have been implicated in several neurological and psychiatric conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and depression. NMDA receptors are present in almost every neuron in the brain. In 2014, Gouaux, also a senior scientist in the Vollum and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, published an unprecedented three-dimensional view of the NMDA receptor in the journal Nature. “The goal is a cure that is specific to this disease,” said senior author Gary Westbrook, M.D., a senior scientist in the Vollum Institute.īrian Jones, a doctoral student in OHSU’s neuroscience graduate program, and Westbrook collaborated with scientists in the lab of co-author Eric Gouaux, Ph.D. Scientists with the Vollum Institute at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, say the discovery clears the way for developing a near-atomic image of how the immune system attacks the NMDA receptor. The study, published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, reports an original animal model for this puzzling disease. The disease is characterized by intellectual changes, severe memory loss, seizures, and even death. The autoimmune disease is triggered by an attack on one of the key neurotransmitter receptors in the brain, the NMDA receptor.

Cerebro en llamas movie#

Scientists have developed an animal model that may provide a path toward improving the diagnosis and treatment of the devastating brain disease chronicled in the bestselling autobiography “Brain on Fire.” The book, along with a 2017 movie by the same name, traces newspaper reporter Susannah Cahalan’s harrowing descent into the throes of the disease. Source: Oregon Health & Science University The disease occurs when antibodies attack NMDA receptors in the brain, leading to memory loss, intellectual changes, seizures, and death. More comprehensive programmes should be developed and resources dedicated to research, prevention, early diagnosis, multidimensional treatment, and multidisciplinary management of these patients in order to reduce the health, social, and economic burden of dementia.Summary: A rare autoimmune disorder popularized by the autobiography and movie “Brain on Fire” is triggered by an attack on NMDA receptors. The economic impact of dementia is huge and difficult to evaluate due to the combination of direct and indirect costs. Around 80% of all patients with dementia are cared for by their families, which cover a mean of 87% of the total economic cost, resulting in considerable economic and health burden on caregivers and loss of quality of life. Dementia is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, disability, and dependence, and results in a considerable decrease in quality of life and survival. AD is the most common cause of dementia (50%-70% of all cases). Prevalence of dementia and AD is higher in women for nearly every age group. Most population studies of patients older than 65 report prevalence rates ranging from 4% to 9%. Es necesario desarrollar programas globales e incrementar los recursos enfocados a fomentar la investigación, prevención, diagnóstico precoz, tratamiento multidimensional y abordaje multidisciplinario, que permitan reducir la carga sanitaria, social y económica de la demencia. El impacto económico de la demencia es enorme, y de evaluación compleja, por la mezcla de costes sanitarios y no sanitarios, directos e indirectos. El 80% de los enfermos es cuidado por sus familias, que asumen de media el 87% del coste total, con la consiguiente sobrecarga y menoscabo de la salud y calidad de vida de los cuidadores. La demencia provoca un aumento de la morbilidad, mortalidad, discapacidad y dependencia de los pacientes, con una importante disminución de la calidad de vida y la supervivencia. La enfermedad de Alzheimer es la causa de demencia más frecuente (50-70% del total). La prevalencia es mayor en mujeres en casi todos los grupos de edad. La mayoría de estudios en población mayor de 65 años estiman una prevalencia entre el 4% y el 9%.