News

Largely for its complex and successful efforts to personalize treatment timing for Parkinson’s patients, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has received The Joint Commission’s (TJC) Gold Seal of Approval for Parkinson’s Disease Certification. The Nashville, Tennessee-based VUMC is the nation’s second healthcare organization to receive the…

BioVie’s investigational oral therapy NE3107, taken in combination with standard levodopa, eases motor symptoms more substantially than levodopa alone in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to top-line results of a Phase 2 clinical trial. “NE3107 shows promise, and if the current findings are confirmed, it may represent one…

Combining Myrbetriq (mirabegron) with modifications like pelvic floor exercises failed to ease overactive bladder symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease in a pilot clinical trial, the study’s main goal. But the treatment, approved for overactive bladder, when used with such behavioral modifications did increase the amount of urine patients were…

Blood levels of small vesicles originating in neurons and containing proteins related to Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease — alpha-synuclein, phosphorylated tau, or insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) — can be biomarkers of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s patients, a study reported. Changes in the levels of vesicles carrying these…

People with early-stage Parkinson’s disease may be about 70% less likely to catch the common cold than those with other common brain diseases, a Japanese study suggests. The study, “Are patients with Parkinson’s disease at a lower risk of catching the common cold? Propensity score matching,” was published…

More than 30% of gut microbial species are found at abnormal numbers in Parkinson’s disease patients, according to a new analysis that assessed the gut microbiome in more detail than most prior studies. “We have shown that there is a widespread imbalance in the Parkinson’s [gut bacteria], creating an environment…

Pairing at-home healthcare visits with peer mentoring may help to prevent the strain of caregiving from worsening over time among people caring for homebound loved ones with advanced Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. “As the volume of family caregivers exponentially increases, peer mentoring — already a successful model in…

Among people undergoing surgery to remove a damaged spinal disc in the neck, those with Parkinson’s disease had significantly longer in-hospital stays and a greater risk of minor adverse events, according to an analysis of data collected from the U.S. National Inpatient Sample database. No differences were seen, however,…

Multiple doses of AL101, Alector’s investigational treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, safely increased progranulin levels in healthy volunteers, according to data from a Phase 1 clinical trial. Low levels of progranulin, a protein critical for immune activity and cell survival in the nervous system, have been…

An experimental vaccine that stimulates immune responses against three regions of the alpha-synuclein protein — whose toxic clumps contribute to Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) — is moving into late-stage preclinical research aimed at supporting future requests to test it in clinical trials. Called PV-1950R,…