News

Potential environmentally-driven alterations in certain epigenetic marks — DNA modifications that control gene activity — were detected in the blood of people with newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve, sporadic Parkinson’s disease, a study revealed. These epigenetic marks were linked with cellular processes driving ongoing neurodegeneration that underlies Parkinson’s, and changed over…

A dozen years after its first meeting, the International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) program is continuing to expand upon its ongoing efforts to ultimately heighten the number of treatment options in Parkinson’s disease and improve patients’ quality of life. The patient-centered global program, a collaboration of the U.K.’s …

A test known as the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay, or alphaSyn-SAA, was able to measure the accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein in the blood up to 10 years before a clinical diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. These findings support the use of such a blood test “as a…

A six-week Pilates-based exercise program helped reduce bradykinesia of the upper limbs in a small group of people with Parkinson’s disease, a study from Brazil reports. The study, “Short-term effects of Pilates-based exercise on upper limb strength and function in people with Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the…

Variations in genes that are important for the function of lysosomes — the cellular equivalent of garbage disposals, which are responsible for removing molecular waste from cells — may help set the stage for the development of Parkinson’s disease in people who’ve had long-term pesticide exposure, a new study…

Researchers have developed analogs of cannabinol (CBN), a lesser-known cannabinoid, that show neuroprotective abilities in lab studies not unlike the effects from the active chemicals in the cannabis plant, which are a benefit in Parkinson’s as well as other neurodegenerative diseases. “Not only does CBN have neuroprotective…

Researchers in Canada have developed a new method to generate functional dopaminergic neurons, the dopamine-producing nerve cells lost in Parkinson’s disease, from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). The scientists used an antibody to selectively activate FZD5, a receptor, in the stem cells, which stimulated a specific molecular signaling pathway involved…

Self-care is important for people with Parkinson’s disease, and patients should be armed with tools for tracking symptoms, keeping informed about the disease, and leaning on support from others. That’s according to a study, “Balancing feeling ‘prepared’ without feeling ‘devoured’: A qualitative study of self-care from…

Toxic substances that enter via the nose or gut give rise to toxic protein clumps that eventually cause Parkinson’s disease, researchers propose. “In both the brain-first and body-first scenarios the [disease mechanism] arises in structures in the body closely connected to the outside world,” Ray Dorsey, MD, a professor…

Parkinson’s disease may change the way basic emotions — such as anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise — are felt in the body, a study suggests, opening up new perspectives into the disease’s nonmotor symptoms and how they’re managed. “The results of our study raise many interesting questions…