News

Excessive sweating, known as hyperhidrosis, is fairly common among people with Parkinson’s and can worsen as the disease progresses, a three-year study of patients in early disease stages reported. Researchers also observed that hyperhidrosis was associated with motor symptoms like dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements) and often accompanied non-motor symptoms…

Multidisciplinary rehabilitation for Parkinson’s disease is associated with reduced disability and better functional status and quality of life relative to conventional rehabilitation, according to a review study. However, these differences failed to reach statistical significance. This means that either of the two approaches provide equivalent benefits, or the small number…

People with Parkinson’s disease who have arthritis in their knees report minimal improvements in life quality after undergoing knee replacement surgery, a new study reports. “Data from this study suggest that [total knee replacement] has no clinical benefit in improving [quality of life] beyond a slight improvement in pain-related…

Improving access and care for Parkinson’s disease patients, increasing the number of practitioners, and improving healthcare providers’ education are three priorities raised in a Parkinson Canada report that explores the advocacy needs of the Parkinson’s community in Canada. The organization, which plans to build a foundation for future…

A protein involved in the transport of brain signaling molecules may confer protection against neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease, a study shows. This transport protein, called vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGLUT2), is associated with greater resilience to the toxic effects of alpha-synuclein clumps in dopamine-producing neurons, preventing their death. Dopamine…

A modified version of the Interlocking Finger Test — a bedside screening done by assessing hand movements — could be useful for detecting dementia in people with Parkinson’s disease, a new study indicates. “We recommend the use of the modified test version,” the researchers wrote, noting that “scores…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is offering a free guide about medical marijuana and Parkinson’s disease (PD) in response to a survey, conducted through Fox Insights, that found more than 70% of patients use cannabis for medical purposes. Nearly one in three respondents (31.8%) also reported not…

OccamzRazor has received $6.1 million in investments to support its artificial intelligence (AI)- based platform aimed at accelerating the identification of new therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease. With the technology, which uses AI to analyze data from many published sources, novel treatment targets can be identified and…

Multiple cognitive difficulties, especially problems with memory, are quite common among people in the later stages of Parkinson’s disease, a study in these patients reported. Its researchers found evidence of difficulties that ranged verbal learning to comprehension, with memory most severely affected in 64% of the patients evaluated, and…

Data from a new U.K. study with the most diverse group of patients ever reported show that Parkinson’s disease symptoms — including tremors, cognitive difficulties, epilepsy, and hearing loss — can emerge up to 10 years before a diagnosis. Moreover, ethnicity or socioeconomic status were not found to be associated with…