Dutch researchers have developed laser shoes to help Parkinson’s patients overcome a brain disconnect that causes them to stop walking when they want to keep going. Lasers attached to each shoe give patients a visual cue of where they need to go. Without a visual cue, the brain disconnect often leads…
Adding obstacle-avoiding virtual reality training to treadmill workouts dramatically decreases Parkinson’s patients’ falls, even in later stages of the disease, a Tel Aviv University study shows. The research, “Disparate effects of training on brain activation in Parkinson disease,” was published in the journal Neurology. Parkinson’s causes the gradual loss…
Synpromics and University College London are working together to create non-naturally-occurring DNA combinations that can be used to develop a gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Every gene requires a naturally occurring combination of DNA known as a promoter to code and produce a protein. Synpromics and UCL will develop synthetic promoters…
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has awarded $600,000 to Rodin Therapeutics to advance new research in Parkinson’s disease. One of the most prominent features in Parkinson’s is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in a brain regions called substantia nigra. These cells produce dopamine, the chemical messenger that coordinates…
Parkinson’s disease causes tremors — in some cases severe enough that patients can’t write or eat properly. Microsoft’s Emma Watch can alleviate the hand tremors that many patients experience. Haiyan Zhang, a Microsoft innovation director, invented the Emma Watch after meeting Emma Lawton, a graphic designer who was 29 when…
Verge Genomics and three non-industry partners will team up to identify the lab and animal models of Parkinson’s that can do the best job of mimicking the changes in the disease. The hope is that if researchers use the most precise models available, they can accelerate the preclinical-trial development of…
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a multi-institutional research team $4.37 million in grants to study the possible role of airborne pollutants as triggers for Parkinson’s disease. “It increasingly appears that a complicated mix of biological and environmental factors contribute to Parkinson’s,” Dr. Patrik Brundin, director of the …
Adherence to medicines is high among Parkinson’s disease patients regardless of income level, but more men with the disease are likely to feel depressed than women, according to a survey with over 5,000 responses to questions about the daily challenges of life with PD. The Parkinson’s Disease Patient Report…
The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and personal genetics company 23andMe will together gather genetic data for Parkinson’s disease research through the MJFF’s Fox Insight platform. MJFF will provide an undisclosed amount of funding for 23andMe researchers — using genetic data collected from 2009 to 2017 through the…
The Parkinson’s Foundation recently announced a merger with the Melvin Yahr International Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, a New York-based organization named after Melvin D. Yahr, MD, a pioneer in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research whose work led to the adoption of levodopa as an innovative treatment. The merger will be…
Get regular updates to your inbox.