Disease

Some of the country’s top medical researchers arrived in Newport Beach on Thursday to help find a cure for a fatal genetic disease that strikes young boys. The Newport Beach-based nonprofit CureDuchenne is hosting its first Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Summit at the Newport Beach Marriott this week to discuss the latest developments in medical research on the disease. “I’m very humbled, first of all, to have this level of top researchers in the world giving up their weekend to come out here,” said mom and CureDuchenne co-founder Debra Miller.

A study by UC Irvine researchers could prove that stress is even more harmful to the human body than previously thought — specifically to the brain. The researchers, led by Frank LaFerla, discovered a hormonal connection between stress and Alzheimer's disease. The study shows that increased levels of stress increases acceleration of the disease through the brain. UCI researchers Kim Green and Lauren Billings worked to solve the connection between stress and Alzheimer's using a crew of genetically altered mice.

The Islamic faith does not prohibit embryonic stem cell research or its use, especially for the treatment of major diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and others. However, the problem arises when this type of research is used for cloning, which might end up in devastating repercussions on humanity. IMAM MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI Islamic Educational Center of Orange County Costa Mesa "Choose life," Deuteronomy 30:19, seems so simple and directive.

Last week, my boss asked me to tag along with him for lunch at our favorite spot, the Yardhouse. He was planning to meet with Debra Miller, a Newport Beach woman who had started the organization CureDuchenne Muscular Dystrophy, www.cureduchenne.org , to discuss news coverage of her group and its events. Not one to turn down a free lunch, I agreed. I'm sure glad I did. Miller told us her story about how she founded the organization, and it was both heartbreaking and inspirational.

The state’s stem cell agency have given $1.5 million to UCI researchers Sunday under two separate grants to study Huntington’s disease and an eye disease, school officials said Monday. One will go toward researching stem cells and the other will fund the planning stages of the research for the disease, officials said. UCI professor Leslie Thompson was awarded nearly $1.4 million to develop a treatment for Huntington’s disease. She also received $54,618 to coordinate the disease study.

Young Chang The title of the Alzheimer's Assn. of Orange County's next conference -- Spiritual Care of Patients and Families Affected by Alzheimer's Disease: A Conference for Clergy -- might raise some eyebrows. Why the clergy? "We try to encourage leaders in our community to understand. The family stops going to church. They lose their connection with their religion," said Linda Scheck, executive director of the organization. To bring caregivers and people with Alzheimer's back to their faith -- and to help keep them from straying in the first place -- the Interfaith Outreach Committee of the Alzheimer's Assn.

At the UC Irvine Brain Imaging Center, treatments and diagnoses of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other brain-related illnesses are being discovered through the center's state-of-the-art imaging technology. The center is a world-class imaging facility, and one of its most recent technological advances has pushed it to a new height. It now houses a High Resolution Research Tomograph, a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner with 10 times the resolution of the center's previous scanner.

It was 41 months ago today that Augie Nieto was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. His motor functions have been compromised and his family shaken, and his life is often an attempt at finding balance. Nieto said half of those diagnosed with ALS don’t survive past 18 months. But Nieto, 50, has fought through those months and worked to raise awareness and money to support research about the disease. For Nieto, it is his quest — and that of his wife, Lynne — to champion the cause for the rest of his life, which he intends to have last for a long time.

dpt-thecrowd30Text23285B20ON THE WEB To comment on this column, go to www.dailypilot.com and click on "Blogs and Columns." Then click on the column and scroll to the bottom to find the comments field. A remarkable $2.125 million in donations was received by the Cystinosis Research Foundation at the sixth-annual Natalie's Wish dinner at the Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach. It was a record amount for the Cystinosis Research Foundation, and in fact a record amount for charitable donations for a dinner of its kind countywide.

There are social events that are all about posturing and community connections. And there are social events that are all about coming together to make a difference for a community purpose. Last week in Costa Mesa, Circle 1000, in support of The Hoag Cancer Institute, attracted a sold-out breakfast crowd at the Orange County/Costa Mesa Hilton hotel, who were all intent on standing up to cancer. This 24th annual gathering had nothing to do with fashion or social standing. It had everything to do with survival.

Joyce Wyatt Joyce, a native Californian born in Pomona 9/29/1931, to Edwin and Mae Masturzo. Diagnosed in 2005 with Alzheimer's she fought a great battle but finally lost to the unforgiving, debilitating disease 4/15/2012. She grew up in Camarillo and graduated from Oxnard HS in 1949. While attending Ventura JC she met her husband Bob and they were married in 1951.  They have lived in Costa Mesa since 1961. She loved her sports and played tennis with a great group of “ladies” even after diagnosis.

An annual AIDS conference in Irvine is aiming to create change by targeting the most vulnerable — the county's youth, an event organizer said this week. The sixth annual Youth Conference on AIDS, a free event, is hosted by the Africa Project Youth Board, the city of Irvine High School Youth Action Team and UCI AIDS Fundamentalists. "In our communities, we are not as aware of HIV as they are in Africa where it is openly talked about," said Debra Bianchi, executive director of the Africa Project.

COSTA MESA — Members of Costa Mesa High School's Class of '84 will gather Saturday morning in Irvine to raise awareness about Lou Gehrig's disease, which afflicts one of their classmates. A group of nearly 60 is expected to take part in the three-mile walk, organized by the ALS Association, that starts at 8:30 a.m. at William R. Mason Regional Park. Dubbed "Class of '84 for Nancy!", the group was formed in support of Nancy Polisso, 44, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease — also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

NEWPORT BEACH - Some see beauty pageants as demeaning to women. But not Heather Shields, 20. She finds the experience empowering. "I figured if I could get on stage in front of lots of people in a bathing suit, I could do just about anything," she said at her home Friday. Shields is preparing to represent Corona del Mar in the Miss California USA pageant in January and sees it as more than just a chance to get all dressed up, although she is excited about that too. The competition gives her a chance to raise awareness about diabetes and, if she wins, a real platform to get the word out about the disease that has afflicted her since she was 11. "If I won, I'd be in awe, and I'd really try to use that position to raise money awareness about Type 1 diabetes, and there are so many chronic conditions that so many people have and people just don't know about," she said.

President Obama this week awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers to UC Irvine assistant professor Rommie Amaro. "I was pretty surprised — very honored and surprised," said Amaro, 34, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and computer science and chemistry. "I feel really very, very fortunate to be selected as a recipient of this award. " Amaro's research focuses on discovering new treatments for cancer, influenza, chlamydia and neglected diseases such as African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis disease.

A search continued Friday for a Newport Beach doctor who went missing near Tucson, Ariz. Dr. Kenneth Litwack, 71, an infectious disease physician, checked into the Sierra Tucson treatment center about 3 p.m. Aug. 12, and went missing from the facility Tuesday afternoon, said Litwack's wife, Louise Litwack. Litwack has a practice on Superior Avenue near Hoag Hospital. Friends and family members have gone to Tucson to search for Litwack, said family friend Ben Sheffner, and authorities in Tucson were searching by ATV and air. His disappearance is a "complete mystery.

The Kids Institute for Development and Advancement will present the latest developments in the research on autism in a comprehensible, "parent-oriented" format at the third annual Summit on Autism, the center's founder said Friday. Designed to be a "community service" to educate parents, family members and friends of those with autism, the two-panel summit will focus on two parts: autism and its impact on the family and technology's impact on the syndrome, said Fariborz Maseeh, founder of the Irvine center for autism research, treatment and education.

Dusty Brandom has endured more suffering in his 18 years than most of us can imagine. Trapped in a wheelchair, his body a constant source of pain and disappointment, Dusty has every reason to be angry at the lousy card he's been dealt. He has a degenerative genetic disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which has robbed him of mobility and caused a raft of other terrible symptoms. Yet the Newport Beach teen is full of hope and promise, and it is those very qualities that led him to the White House earlier this month, where he met President Obama.

There are social events that are all about posturing and community connections. And there are social events that are all about coming together to make a difference for a community purpose. Last week in Costa Mesa, Circle 1000, in support of The Hoag Cancer Institute, attracted a sold-out breakfast crowd at the Orange County/Costa Mesa Hilton hotel, who were all intent on standing up to cancer. This 24th annual gathering had nothing to do with fashion or social standing. It had everything to do with survival.

NEWPORT BEACH — For the first time in decades, doctors believe that early diagnosis may help delay the onset of Alzheimer's Disease in some patients, local health experts said. The change was brought on by this week's announcement that the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer's Assn. have published new guidelines for diagnosing the disease — the first revised set in 27 years. The new guidelines recognize an earlier stage, a change in the memory called mild cognitive impairment, which in many patients is linked to the later development of dementia that occurs 7 to 22 years earlier than previously recognized, said Dr. William Shankle, program director for Memory & Cognitive Disorders at Hoag Hospital's Neurosciences Institute.