Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

Reports of anxiety and other mental health issues are fewer in people with Parkinson’s who make greater use of a coping mechanism known as self-compassion, a U.K. study based on patients’ views found. These results further suggest that self-compassion can help to negate the negative affects of “internalized stigma,” or fear…

Diagnosing Parkinson’s disease might be a matter of using artificial intelligence to “smell” patients’ skin, scientists in China reported. The artificial intelligence smell system they developed is detailed in study, “Artificial Intelligent Olfactory System for the Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease,” published in ACS Omega. No single test can…

Treatment with an herbal preparation called Tongtian oral liquid, long used in traditional Chinese medicine, helped to prevent nervous system damage and normalize movement in a zebrafish model of Parkinson’s. Scientists in China reported these findings in the study, “Neuroprotective effects of Tongtian oral liquid, a…

A new carbidopa/levodopa oral therapy for Parkinson’s disease, called Dhivy, is now available in the U.S., its manufacturer Avion Pharmaceuticals announced. According to Avion, Dhivy is the first and only such therapy available as a tablet with four snappable segments, allowing for more precise dosing of carbidopa/levodopa. “The…

Metabolomics — global analyses of the many small, biologically relevant molecules in blood — may help to identify males with Parkinson’s disease who carry a mutation in the LRRK2 gene, allowing for earlier diagnosis, a study reported. The study, “Plasma Metabolite Signature Classifies Male LRRK2 Parkinson’s Disease…

Mice in a Parkinson’s disease model treated at higher doses with the anti-anxiety medication buspirone had lesser evidence of nerve cell degeneration in the brain and more normalized behaviors than untreated mice, a pair of researchers in Australia reported. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the ability…

Older age at disease onset among people with Parkinson’s is associated with a more rapid increase in the severity of motor symptoms, as well as a faster decline in health-related quality of life, a new study found. According to investigators, understanding the factors underlying the development of symptoms “is…

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp drop in admissions to nursing homes and emergency rooms among adults with Parkinson’s disease and those with dementia, according to a new study from Canada. The study also suggests that virtual visits with doctors have become much more common…

Some people with Parkinson’s disease find that using cannabis products helps to ease certain symptoms, according to results from a survey. The findings notably suggest that cannabis products with high levels of the chemical THC are more likely to induce both positive and negative effects in Parkinson’s patients. “These…

Zhittya Genesis Medicine is hosting a webinar next week to provide information about the recently announced “Compassionate Use Clinical Trial” of the company’s lead therapy for Parkinson’s disease. The webinar is taking place on Tuesday, Feb. 1, at 3 p.m. Pacific time (6 p.m. Eastern). Registration is…