News

Patients, Caregivers Asked to Help Adira in Choosing Grant Awards

The Adira Foundation is inviting people with neurodegenerative diseases and their caregivers to join a grant proposal review committee. A nonprofit foundation, its mission is to unite people affected by some of most common neurodegenerative diseases — namely, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and…

Sweet Marjoram Tea May Lessen Non-motor Symptoms

Daily consumption of sweet marjoram tea, in addition to standard antiparkinsonian medication, may help reduce non-motor symptoms and depression in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small study suggests. Notably, the one-month intervention, while safe, was found to have no significant effect on patients’ motor symptoms, even though they showed…

B-SOiD Algorithm May Make it Easier to Study Behavior

A novel machine learning algorithm called B-SOiD quickly and efficiently analyzes animal behaviors, and may be useful in assessing movement disorders in people with Parkinson’s disease. Researchers described their findings in the study, “B-SOiD, an open-source unsupervised algorithm for identification and fast prediction of behaviors,” published in Nature…

Many Patients Harbor Misconceptions About Vaccines

Many people with Parkinson’s disease have misconceptions about routine vaccinations, with more than one of 10 patients thinking they are not recommended for people with Parkinson’s — even though they very much are, as they can be life-saving. The results, based on a survey of patients in the U.S.,…

Transcranial Stimulation With Exercise May Boost Benefits for Patients

Transcranial stimulation — a noninvasive procedure that sends low-level electric currents to certain brain regions — may boost the benefits of aerobic exercise and improve gait for people with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, a small study reports. “We found that transcranial stimulation activated the pre-frontal cortex, a brain region that Parkinson’s…

Virtual Reality Games Take Aim at Trunk Control in Parkinson’s

A Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) team is developing immersive virtual reality “games” to help those with movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Led by James S. Thomas, PhD, a physical therapy professor, the multidisciplinary science team at VCU’s Motor Control Lab in the College of Health Professions hope these…