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While manganese is an essential mineral involved in many bodily functions, both deficiency and excessive exposure can cause health issues. Chronic manganese exposure may result in a condition known as manganism, characterized by symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease, including tremors, muscle stiffness, and cognitive disturbances. New research employs model systems and human nerve cells to show the mechanisms by which manganese inflicts damage to the central nervous system. The study also suggests that the vitamin biotin may have a protective effect, potentially mitigating manganese-induced damage. "In this study, we applied untargeted metabolomics using high-resolution mass spectrometry and advanced cheminformatics computing in...

A research team has linked the mutation that causes Huntington's disease to developmental deficits in the brain's oligodendrocyte cells that are caused by changes in metabolism. They found that high doses of thiamine and biotin can restore normal processes. OL cells generate the insulating coating around neurons, called myelin. The study provides detailed insight into the entire process of how these changes in the genes that regulate cell metabolism impair development of OLs, as well as the therapeutic value of treating HD with high doses of thiamine and biotin. Thiamine and biotin are both B vitamins and are involved in...

Biotin is also known as vitamin H, named for the German words "Haar" and "Haut," which mean hair and skin. This was due to the fact that even slight deficiencies cause hair thinning, skin rash or brittle fingernails. New research, just published in PNAS, now shows that some forms of severe neurodegeneration, like the frontotemporal dementia seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, can directly result from lack of sufficient biotin. The authors discovered this by looking at fruit flies with dementia. Now, before anyone chuckles, fruit flies actually make a nice model of Alzheimer's or other diseases when they are given...

Q: I wanted to share my experience with tinnitus. It's not incapacitating, but it is annoying. I found something that helps by serendipity. My wife has hair loss. She takes levothyroxine (Synthroid) and liothyronine (Cytomel) because her thyroid was removed via radiation. She also takes biotin to lessen her hair loss. I'm bald on top, but I thought I'd see if biotin would help grow new hair. It didn't. What DID happen with the very first dose was total elimination of my tinnitus! A few hours after I take the biotin, the tinnitus returns, but at a much lower intensity....

The world's first Bitcoin ATM will be ready for use this week at a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. Created by Las Vegas based Robocoin, the new ATM in Vancouver will allow users to turn bitcoins directly into Canadian dollars, or turn Canadian dollars into bitcoins. As The Telegraph reports, the ATM first scans the user's palm to ensure security and transfers are limited to CAD$3,000 per day. Until now, the currency existed only on the web but the introduction of these ATMs brings bitcoin-as-cash usage closer.