Scientists have created wearable, flexible sensors — which can be integrated into fabrics, and detect touch pressure as well as measure body movements — that may be used to gauge motor disease progression in people with Parkinson’s, a study reported. Placing the sensors in the soles of patients’ shoes…
A new tool that analyzes speech using real-world, web-based recordings — participants are recorded via a webcam and a microphone connected to a personal computer or laptop — identified Parkinson’s disease patients with 74% accuracy, a study demonstrated. Moreover, this speech tool — called Parkinson’s Analysis with Remote Kinetic-tasks,…
No differences in cognitive abilities were identified between men and women with Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. Although no tests were conducted, the researchers suggested the lack of cognitive differences between male and female patients, which is found in aging healthy individuals, may be due to the…
The safety profile of IkT-148009, an investigational oral medication for Parkinson’s disease, improved the longer the drug was dosed, demonstrating target selectivity, according to interim three-month animal data. The ongoing toxicology studies, conducted by the therapy’s developer, Inhibikase Therapeutics, were designed to meet regulatory requirements for regular…
Current understanding of Parkinson’s disease does not reflect patients from diverse socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds, and they remain poorly represented in research, according to a position paper from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). “The current picture of PD [Parkinson’s disease] has been assembled from…
Immune cells in the brain responsible for breaking down the toxic protein clumps, or aggregates, that lead to nerve cell death in Parkinson’s disease join together to form networks to share the burden, a study showed for the first time. These networked cells also share energy-producing mitochondria to help…
Amprion has announced the commercial rollout of SYNTap Biomarker Test, a laboratory test to accurately detect alpha-synuclein aggregates, a hallmark of various brain diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. Alpha-synuclein, a protein, can misfold and accumulate (aggregate) in toxic clumps called Lewy bodies, leading to the death of nerve…
Vanqua Bio has raised $85 million in funding to accelerate the development of its small molecule technology platform for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Led by Omega Funds, the Series B financing will advance the research of Dimitri Krainc, MD, PhD, of Northwestern University, an…
Studies on twins and families have suggested that susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease has a substantial genetic component. Now, an analysis of gene activity in different brain tissues has identified gene candidates that may be directly involved in causing the neurodegenerative disorder. The study, “A transcriptome-wide association study…
The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) has released a new suite of free educational resources that focuses on so-called “off” periods when Parkinson’s disease symptoms reappear or worsen as medications wear off. These new resources, available at michaeljfox.org/off, offer patients and their families tips for managing “off” time,…
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