Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

People prescribed certain medications to treat asthma or high blood pressure are less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to an analysis of healthcare data in Norway. The finding implies these therapies may have protective effects in Parkinson’s, which are currently being explored in preclinical models. Trond Riise, PhD,…

The investigational combination therapy P2B001 was similar to Mirapex (pramipexole) at controlling symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in a clinical trial. But patients treated with P2B001 were less likely to experience sleepiness and fewer had orthostatic hypotension (a sudden drop in blood pressure on standing) as side effects. Lawrence Elmer,…

DopaFuse, a continuous oral levodopa-carbidopa delivery system, led to more stable levels of medication in the blood and better control of symptoms for people with Parkinson’s disease in a small Phase 2 study. Warren Olanow, MD, a neurologist at Mount Sinai, presented findings from the trial at the…

Most people with Parkinson’s disease treated with SPN-830, an apomorphine infusion pump, report improvement in their health status. SPN-830 also reduced “off” time, when symptoms are not being adequately controlled, by an average of about three hours a day. That’s according to new results from an open-label…

People with Parkinson’s disease tend to report a poorer quality of life if their treatments cannot fully control nonmotor symptoms, which increase with disease duration and severity, a study reported. Findings highlight how important it is for clinicians to accurately identify and properly address nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s,…

Implanting electrodes into the brain triggers inflammation by activating a group of immune signaling proteins called the inflammasome — which detects infection and, in turn, prompts a strong inflammatory response, a new study shows. These findings may open new avenues to improve deep brain stimulation, a type of therapy used…

Measuring the length and density of nerves in the cornea — the clear outer layer of the eyeball — can help distinguish between motor subtypes of Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. The study, “The severity of corneal nerve loss differentiates motor subtypes in patients with…

Remote assessments using smartphones and smartwatches could be used in clinical trials to track the severity of Parkinson’s disease, a new study indicates. “In this multicenter study, a commercially available smartwatch and a smartphone research application captured key motor and non-motor features of early, untreated” Parkinson’s, the researchers wrote,…

Mutations associated with a rare genetic neurological disorder called neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA) do not appear to be risk factors for Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. NBIA refers to a group of extremely rare genetic conditions characterized by a buildup of iron in the brain, damaging and…

People with Parkinson’s disease who smoke cigarettes are less likely to die of neurological problems than non-smokers, a new study shows — though Parkinson’s smokers were found to have a higher risk of death due to related smoking-related complications such as lung cancer. The findings support the idea that…