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Researchers have found a novel mechanism through which mutations in a gene called PRKN, linked with early-onset Parkinson’s disease, play a crucial role in familial forms of the disorder. The study found that PRKN gene mutations lead to a disruption in the communication between two vital components within the…

DGX-001, an experimental oral therapy that Viage Therapeutics is developing to treat cognitive problems associated with Parkinson’s disease, appears to work as expected in people, based on data from a Phase 1 study that tested it in healthy volunteers. Results also suggested that the therapy had a positive safety…

A digitally delivered dual-task training (DTT) program was just as good as a standard physical therapist-led one at improving gait in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small clinical trial suggests. Eight-week DTT programs, which are designed to improve patients’ ability to multitask when moving, led to significantly increased gait…

Skin cells from people with Parkinson’s disease were transformed into stem cells that could generate dopamine-producing neurons, the same type that’s progressively lost with the disease. The technique opens new avenues for cell therapies to treat Parkinson’s while avoiding possible immune rejections. The researchers used animal models of the…

Activating the Nurr1 protein eased both motor and smell deficits and showed neuroprotective properties in mouse and cell models of Parkinson’s disease in a recent study. The newly developed Nurr1 activator, called 4A7C-301, also did not induce dyskinesia, the involuntary movements associated with certain standard Parkinson’s treatments,…

Small vesicles that contain the protein alpha-synuclein may help distinguish Parkinson’s disease patients from healthy people, according to a meta-analysis. When isolated from easily accessible samples, like the blood, these vesicles may “reflect changes in the brain,” researchers wrote in “Extracellular Vesicles for the Diagnosis of Parkinson’s…

Note: This story was updated July 26, 2023, to correct two errors from the source material: “Parkie Pong” is available at West Hartford Senior Center’s Elmwood location, and Laini Weitz announced the program’s creation during a support group meeting. When a knee injury limited newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease…

Lacosamide, a medication approved to treat epilepsy, showed a potential to be neuroprotective in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease, a study reports. Treatment with lacosamide significantly prevented the loss of dopamine-producing neurons that marks Parkinson’s, boosted dopamine production in key areas of the brain, and improved motor function…

Parkinson’s disease patients’ quality of life significantly improved with Duopa, a formulation of levodopa and carbidopa infused directly into the intestines, and subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS), but not with a continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion, according to a real-world, single center study. Apomorphine also didn’t show any major…

A research project to help enhance communication for individuals with Parkinson’s disease has been awarded a multimillion-dollar grant. The five-year grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was given to a team of researchers led by…