Catarina Silva, MSc,  —

Untreated Parkinson’s patients who also have type 2 diabetes mellitus may be at a higher risk of developing impulse control disorders, severe depression, apathy, and sleep problems, research suggests. The study, “Preexisting Diabetes Mellitus is Associated with More Frequent Depression and Impulse Control Disorders in Drug Naïve Parkinson’s…

Exercise and fall prevention education can improve front-to-back trunk mobility in Parkinson’s patients with a history of falls, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial. The study, “Trunk exercises improve gait symmetry in Parkinson disease: A blind phase II randomized-controlled trial” was published in the American Journal of…

Antiparkinsonian medicines may allow patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease to experience freedom of movement, which could be confused with balance issues if measured by traditional postural stability testing, researchers suggest. Their findings were published in the study, “The influence of dopaminergic medication on…

Antiparkinsonian medicines may cause Parkinson’s patients to develop abnormal sensitivity to temperature, touch and pain, according to a recent study. The study, “Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) in Drug-Naïve Patients with Parkinson’s Disease” was published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease. The somatosensory system is composed of neurons that…

Infusion of a naturally occurring protein, GDNF, into a motor control area of the brain may restore cells damaged by Parkinson’s disease and ease patients’ symptoms, results from a European clinical trial suggest. The study, “Extended Treatment with Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Parkinson’s Disease” was published…

The loss of dopamine causes neurons in the striatum — a brain region involved in voluntary movement control — to change their activity, explaining some of Parkinson’s hallmark symptoms. Instead of firing in sequence, some of these neurons are overactive and fire simultaneously, making the mice have a repetitive rotation…

The metabolism of certain types of fats, namely palmitic acid and stearic acid commonly found in animal and vegetable fats and oils, may be altered in Parkinson’s disease, according to a study in rats. The study, “Palmitate and Stearate are Increased in the Plasma in a 6-OHDA Model of Parkinson’s…

A palm-worn device can quantify joint stiffness in Parkinson’s disease patients by tracking changes in rigidity following treatment with deep brain stimulation, and may be of use in measuring fluctuations in motor symptoms, scientists who created the tool report. Their study, “A Palm-Worn Device to Quantify Rigidity in…

Discoveries into molecular mechanisms, risk factors — especially genetic — and advances in potential and repurposed therapies for Parkinson’s disease over the last 20 years are reason to believe that major breakthroughs await the next two decades, a review article by two researchers states. The review article, “Therapies to…

People who have had kidney, heart, lung, or bone-marrow transplants are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than the general population, research suggests. The study, “Transplant and risk of Parkinson disease” was published recently in Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.  Chronic neuroinflammation is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease with…