Forest Ray PhD,  —

New guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that dental amalgams — a silver-colored tooth filling that contains mercury — no longer be used with select groups of people, including those with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s. Dentists should instead use mercury-free…

Seelos Therapeutics has signed an agreement with Duke University in North Carolina to conduct a pre-clinical study of SLS-004, one of its gene therapy candidates, as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The proof-of-concept study will seek to determine if the investigational therapy can prevent or delay Parkinson’s disease…

A new webinar titled “Is Parkinson’s Inherited?” — led by a research vice president at the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) — focused on the genetics and heritability of Parkinson’s disease and spoke to the need for greater diversity in clinical trials. The MJFF’s latest Third Thursday Webinar,…

D&D Pharmatech has launched a new company called Valted Seq, aimed at discovering pathways and biomarkers relevant to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. To this end, the company claims in a press release to have created the world’s largest repository of single-cell sequencing data. This data comes…

Impaired recycling of mitochondria — the powerhouses of the cell — may drive the loss of the neurons at the heart of Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study. Boosting the cell’s ability to remove old mitochondria and produce new ones then may prove an effective way to prevent…

The COVID-19 pandemic likely limited access to Parkinson’s disease medication globally, causing a worsening of patients’ symptoms, according to a recent study. Also, poorer countries appear to have been affected more than wealthier ones, according to the study, “The impact of COVID‐19 on access to Parkinson’s…

Levodopa improved handwriting and dexterity tasks among people living with Parkinson’s disease, a recent study found. The results, “Levodopa improves handwriting and instrumental tasks in previously treated patients with Parkinson’s disease,” were published in the Journal of Neural Transmission. Neurological examinations of Parkinson’s patients that seek…

Manufacturing will soon begin on a generic version of the Neupro patch, a transdermal delivery system for rotigotine — a dopamine agonist — to treat Parkinson’s symptoms, Vektor Pharma announced in a press release. Testing of its rotigotine patches will first take place at Vektor’s laboratories in Germany, before quickly moving into…

A diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and nuts appears to lower the risk of several non-motor symptoms that tend to be associated with a later finding of Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. The study, “Diet pattern and prodromal features of Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the journal …

Highly rhythmic, Brazilian dance shows promise as a physical therapy for Parkinson’s disease, according to the results of a small clinical trial. Over a 12-week period, practicing a dance program inspired by samba and forró (derived from the English “for all”) improved patients’ functional mobility and gait.