News

Older age at onset, a faster rate of disease progression, and severe cognitive impairment are key factors in poorer survival rates for people with Parkinson’s disease, a study that followed patients in northern China for 10 years found. Fatigue may also be an indicator of poorer survival, while physical exercise…

GT-02287, Gain Therapeutics’ experimental oral therapy, reduced the toxic alpha-synuclein protein clumps that characterize Parkinson’s disease in lab-grown nerve cells derived from patients with disease-causing mutations in the GBA1 gene, the company announced. The treatment also boosted the function of lysosomes, the cells’ recycling centers, which is…

Zonisamide, an epilepsy medication approved in the U.S. for some seizure-causing disorders, may reduce the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, according to a review study of clinical trial data. The findings also suggest the therapy is associated with improvements in daily life activities for Parkinson’s patients, and with reductions…

A Phase 1/2a clinical trial testing the ability of AMDX-2011P to safely detect abnormal protein deposits in the retina of adults with Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), possibly allowing earlier diagnosis and easier patient monitoring, has dosed its first participants. These proteins comprise alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s…

Continuously monitoring the gait of Parkinson’s disease patients in their homes using a wireless device is feasible and may provide more sensitive measurements of disease progression and treatment response, according to a new study. The device, which monitors fluctuations in motor function by tracking gait speed, may improve disease…

Clumps of alpha-synuclein protein, which build to toxic levels in the brain and spinal cord of Parkinson’s disease patients, spread via a cellular waste-ejection process, according to a study in mice. These clumps, which failed to be broken down in lysosomes, the cells’ recycling centers, are released by nerve…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) announced it will expand the number and reach of Parkinson’s disease clinician-researchers around the world, in partnership with the Edmond J. Safra Foundation. The Edmond J. Safra Fellowship in Movement Disorders aims to fund medical centers to…

Gain Therapeutics’ GT-02287, an oral candidate therapy for Parkinson’s disease, led to dose-dependent improvements in the health of nerve cells and fine motor skills in mice. These findings, presented recently as a poster at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders 2022 in Madrid, add to…

Researchers have developed a test that may help to more accurately diagnose Parkinson’s disease and monitor its progression. It combines two already-used laboratory techniques to measure clumps of alpha-synuclein in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Alpha-synuclein is the protein that progressively builds to toxic levels in the brain and…

A new study suggests that infections requiring specialty hospital care are associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease later in life. An increased risk also was observed for Alzheimer’s disease, but not for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). “Hospital-treated infections, especially in early- and mid-life, were associated with…