People with Parkinson’s disease who have orthostatic hypotension — that’s where the blood pressure drops suddenly upon standing up from a sitting or lying position — appear more likely to develop heart and digestive problems, act out their dreams, and go through motor fluctuations, a study finds. These clinical…
While loss of dopamine is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, patients with tremor may actually have pools of dopamine in a specific region of the brain, a study by researchers at Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal found. The results could pave the way for targeted treatments to control shaking at…
Mice modeling Parkinson’s disease performed better on tests of memory and spatial recognition when given daily under-the-skin injections of PNA5, an experimental ProNeurogen therapy targeting cognitive symptoms — suggesting the treatment’s potential to slow cognitive decline in patients. In this preclinical study, researchers from the University of Arizona…
An upcoming Phase 2 clinical trial is due to test NEU-411, a brain-penetrant oral small molecule that Neuron23 is developing to slow the progression of Parkinson’s in people with early-stage disease who carry variations in the LRRK2 gene. The trial, called NEULARK (NCT06680830), is expected to…
People with Parkinson’s face risks during hospital stays, even when admitted for reasons other than the neurodegenerative disease itself, leading researchers to urge hospitals and health systems to adopt better practices, such as those recommended by the Parkinson’s Foundation. “Patients with Parkinson’s disease are at increased risk for…
Crushed dried seeds of the jujube fruit, a traditional herbal medicine also known as Chinese or red date, eased the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s and helped with neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain, in a mouse model of the disease. In a study led…
Vesalius Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with GSK to advance the development of new therapies for Parkinson’s disease and one other undisclosed neurodegenerative condition. Under the agreement, Vesalius will be responsible for identifying new treatment targets for the conditions, while GSK will have the option to…
A type of RNA structure called G-quadruplex, or G4 — a four-stranded RNA structure that forms when calcium enters cells in response to stress — may offer a scaffold for the alpha-synuclein protein to clump together and become toxic to nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease, research suggests. In a…
Two newly identified brain pathways originating from the striosome — a cluster of nerve cells (neurons) in the striatum, a brain region that controls movement and motivation — may provide an additional layer of regulation, a mouse study found. The findings challenge scientists’ understanding of how the brain controls those…
A rapid release of the chemical messenger dopamine in the brain is not needed for initiating movement, while it’s important for motivation and reward-seeking behaviors, according to a study in mice. If these findings hold true in patients, they may help in explaining why levodopa or L-DOPA, a mainstay treatment,…
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