NF Smarty Pants

Archive for November, 2008

Wayne Berzon of Northbrook, Illinois, bought President-Elect Barack Obama’s National Doodle Day doodle for $2075 last year. Now, the piece has obviously become more valuable as a collectable. Mr. Berzon, however, says he’s not selling.

Jessica Stone tested her brand new cochlear implant earlier this month. For the first time in many months, she’s able to hear sounds again. Read and watch WKYC’s report at their website. For the complete Jessica Stone history, simply enter her name in the search field at the top of this page.

Jodi Harrington and Josh Howell have been hiking the American Discovery Trail for the past nine months. On Saturday, November 8, they reached the Pacific Ocean. Jodi has been hiking in honor of her friend Jeremy Eby, who has NF. Josh hiked for his mother and The Alzheimer’s Association.

Read about their last day on the trail at Jodi’s amazing trail journal.

Through mouse models, Dr. Alcino Silva and his team of researchers have discovered that a neurotransmitter, GABA, exists in excess for those with NF. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. It decreased the plasticity of neurons.

Through drug treatments, Dr. Silva was able to reverse the learning deficiencies within mice with NF.

You can read more on his study at:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• original press release

The following are excerpts from an October 30 NIH press release. To read the entire statement, please click here.

Researchers studying neurofibromatosis type 1 — a rare disease in which tumors grow within nerves — have found that the tumors are triggered by crosstalk between cells in the nerves and cells in the blood. The researchers, who were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD), also found that a drug on the market for treating certain kinds of blood cancer curbs tumor growth in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type 1. A clinical trial of the drug is underway in people with the disease.

Combined with previous findings, the new study suggests that the formation of plexiform neurofibromas requires two steps: complete loss of NF1 in Schwann cells (rendering them NF1 -/-) and an interaction between NF1 -/- Schwann cells and NF1+/- mast cells. While Schwann cells appear to be the primary tumor causing cell, mast cells appear to stimulate tumor growth by recruiting other cell types and blood vessels to the tumor.

James O’Neal’s story first appeared at this site on June 2nd. On November 6, he finally underwent his life changing surgery.

Seattle’s KOMO News has coverage of his procedure. Please be warned, if you watch the video new story, there are graphic images since the cameras were inside the operating room.

Other NF Smarty Pants posts include:

• James O’Neal Update
• Safeway Continues to Support James O’Neal
• James O’Neal Story Goes National