Margarida Maia, PhD,  science writer—

Tiny bubbles containing a flaky form of phosphorus, called black phosphorus, delivered to the brain may help to control overactive microglia — the brain’s resident immune cells — that drive the inflammation damaging to nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease, scientists in China report. In a study in a rat…

There were more cases of Parkinson’s disease and cancer than expected among attorneys who worked near a now-closed dry cleaner in Rochester, New York that leaked trichloroethylene (TCE) and other dry cleaning solvents into the soil, a study finds. While they failed to reach statistical significance, the findings add…

NKGen Biotech plans to begin clinical testing of SNK01, a natural killer (NK) cell therapy being developed to treat neurodegenerative diseases, in people with Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. This follows a go-ahead by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an investigational new drug (IND) application…

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…

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…

There appears to be no link between a unique pattern of the gut microbiome — the genetic material carried by all of the microorganisms, such as bacteria, living in the gut — and mild cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson’s disease, a study found. The study, “Gut microbiome…

People with Parkinson’s disease who experience digestive issues or probable rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder may be as much as twice as likely to develop symptoms of psychosis, a study found. Understanding what predicts early-onset psychosis in Parkinson’s can help doctors identify at-risk patients sooner, enabling them…

Having irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a gastrointestinal disorder that may be linked to how the brain and gut communicate with each other, does not seem to increase a person’s risk for Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study of more than 400,000 people. In an analysis, the researchers “did…

SPARX3, an ongoing clinical trial investigating the effects of moderate– and high-intensity aerobic exercise — specifically, treadmill walking four times per week — in Parkinson’s disease, is still recruiting patients at 23 sites in the U.S. and one in Canada, according to the…