An important signaling pathway that helps protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease is also required for sleep in fruit flies and zebrafish, according to a study. The findings support a link between sleep loss and neurodegenerative diseases.
Placing electrodes directly in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease revealed a “hyperdirect” pathway between two regions of the brain responsible for movement and cognition, a study reported. This pathway was shown to be important in being able to stop…
More than one-third of older people with Parkinson’s disease in long-term care who experienced therapy-related psychosis were prescribed antipsychotic medications considered inappropriate under current guidelines, a study found. Those with dementia or using antidepressants were more likely to be given these…
A blood test may be able to predict early cognitive decline in people with Parkinson’s disease by measuring the length of chromosomal telomeres (the “tips” of chromosomes) in immune cells and the presence of inflammatory markers, a study shows. The study, “…
A new potential target for treating Parkinson’s, a protein named Drp1, has been identified using a rat model of the disease, a study reported. The target was found to play a central role in the underlying cause of the degeneration and inflammation of nerve cells…
People with Parkinson’s disease reported a need for increased planning in their lives due to limited mobility and restrictions in everyday life caused by a decrease in their balance control, a study shows. Study participants described using specific movement and cognitive strategies as a consequence of…
Palliative care — focusing on physical, psychosocial and spiritual treatment — for people with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders (PDRD) led to a significantly better quality of life (QoL) than standard care alone, a study finds. Easing of both non-motor and motor symptom…
Two Louisiana Tech University biomedical engineering students designed a wearable medical device that can track and classify Parkinson’s disease tremors and their severity. Julie Gaudin and Elizabeth Hummel created the Tremor Tracker, a smart watch-like device that captures and immediately conveys information about body…
Elevated blood levels of the liver enzyme gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), a marker for liver disease, was found to be associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease in Korean women and a lower risk in Korean men, a large-scale study  found.
Antibodies that selectively target the misfolded form of the alpha-synuclein protein — that which underlies the development of Parkinson’s disease — reduced the formation of alpha-synuclein clumps and improved dopamine levels in a mouse model. The study with that finding also provided a framework for screening…
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