Posts by: Magdalena Kegel

Magdalena Kegel

Magdalena is a writer with a passion for bridging the gap between the people performing research, and those who want or need to understand it. She writes about medical science and drug discovery. She holds an MS in Pharmaceutical Bioscience and a PhD — spanning the fields of psychiatry, immunology, and neuropharmacology — from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

May 26, 2017

Healthcare Costs for DMD Patients in US 10 Times That of Healthy Youth, Study Finds

News

Healthcare costs for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) are about 10 times those of healthy people, and increase as patients age, according to a new analysis of claims ... Read more

May 11, 2017

Weekly Instead of Daily Steroids May Prevent Muscular Dystrophy Muscle Wasting, Study Reports

News

Using glucocorticoid steroids once a week instead of once a day to slow the progression of muscular dystrophy (MD) could prevent downsides of the treatment, including accelerated muscle wasting, a ... Read more

March 15, 2017

Duchenne Children’s Balance Deteriorates as Disease Progresses, Study Finds

News

The balance of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who are moving becomes worse as the disease progresses, suggesting that balanced-focused interventions may improve the children’s ability to handle everyday ... Read more

February 13, 2017

Neck Muscle Strength Linked to Movement Performance in Duchenne MD Boys

News

The strength of neck-flexing muscles not only affects torso movements but also the overall daily performance of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a study has found. A key ... Read more

February 8, 2017February 9, 2017

Researchers Identify New Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

News

Researchers suggest a mutation in the INPP5K gene caused a new type of congenital muscular dystrophy. Individuals affected by the unique mutation also have a short stature, intellectual disabilities, and ... Read more

January 30, 2017January 30, 2017

Few Studies Explore How to Improve Duchenne MD Patients’ Bone Health, Analysis Finds

News

Bone fragility is a serious consequence of long-term corticosteroid treatment — the main option for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) — but an analysis found that there are no high-quality studies ... Read more

January 27, 2017

More Research Needed to Understand Physiological Responses to Assistive Technology, Study Finds

News

People with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a lower heart rate variability than healthy people — an abnormality that worsened after completing a computer task. Since low heart rate variability has ... Read more

December 12, 2016December 12, 2016

Blood Pressure Medication Slows Heart Fibrosis, and Probably Heart Disease, in MD Patients

News

Treating Duchenne and Becker’s muscular dystrophy patients with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) blocking drugs at early disease stages may slow the development of heart fibrosis and, as a consequence, offer ... Read more

October 5, 2016October 10, 2016

Duchenne ‘Tongue-on-a-Chip’ Model Captures Shortcomings of Muscle Stem Cells in Patients

News

Using a newly engineered tongue-on-a-chip model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, researchers found one reason that muscle regeneration fails — muscle stem cells react poorly to signals telling them new muscles need to ... Read more

August 8, 2016October 25, 2016

Gene Therapy May Safely Counter Muscle Wasting Process in Muscular Dystrophy

News

Researchers have developed a new gene therapy for muscle wasting conditions, and are now working to bring into clinical use through a newly formed biotech venture. The study describing ... Read more