Marisa Wexler, MS, senior science writer —

Measuring how often a person spontaneously blinks could help predict motor changes in people with Parkinson’s disease being treated with levodopa, a study suggests. The study, “Using Spontaneous Eye-blink Rates to Predict the Motor Status of Patients with Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in the journal Internal…

Ballet practice may not improve balance and gait in people with Parkinson’s disease — at least not over the long term, a small study in patients engaged in dance for at least a year suggests, possibly contradicting earlier research reporting evidence of such benefits. But the work did find probable…

Yoga focused on mindfulness — a mental exercise focused on accepting oneself in the present — could lower anxiety and depression as well as motor impairment in people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease, a study says. The study, “Effects of Mindfulness Yoga vs Stretching and Resistance…

A new study suggests a relationship between the use of statins (medications  used to lower cholesterol) and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The study, “Association of statin use with Parkinson’s disease: Dose-response relationship,” was published in the journal Movement Disorders. Statins are one of the…

Social support, followed by satisfaction with life and economic status, are the three factors that most significantly influence how people experience living with Parkinson’s disease, according to a study of patients in five Spanish-speaking countries. That experience was not influenced by disease-related factors, such as its duration, stage, or the…

A Parkinson’s disease subtype characterized by postural instability and gait disturbance, usually referred to as PIGD, is associated with small amounts of bleeding in the brain, called cerebral microbleeds, a study reports. The study, “Cerebral Microbleeds are Associated with Postural Instability and Gait Disturbance Subtype in People with Parkinson’s Disease,” was…

Abbott has announced promising preliminary results from the PROGRESS trial (NCT02989610) evaluating its Infinity Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The initial results, detailed in a press release, suggest that the DBS system achieved its primary goal of broadening the “therapeutic window” — the…

Migraines, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and seasonal allergies seem to be associated with Parkinson’s disease and are likely to occur many years before the typical age of diagnosis, a large study has found. Results of the study, “The Parkinson’s phenome—traits associated with Parkinson’s disease in a broadly phenotyped cohort,” were…

Two new studies in mice suggest that caffeine might have protective effects in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients. The studies, “Chronic Caffeine Treatment Modulates  Disease Progression in a Transgenic Alpha-Synuclein Prion-Like Spreading Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease,” and “Chronic Caffeine Treatment Reverses A-Synuclein-Induced…

Parkinson’s patients who have had the disease for a long time, who do not sleep very efficiently, and have higher motor impairment are more likely to experience sleep benefit — the phenomenon in which Parkinson’s patients wake up feeling better before taking medication. The study with that finding, “…