News

Signs of frozen gait are most noticeable when people with Parkinson’s disease  are turning or walking in a circle, and more noticeable when they are walking backward rather than forward, a small study reported. Three distinct characteristics of walking — step length, walking speed, and range of joint motion —…

A surgery-like brain procedure called gamma knife thalamotomy may help to ease tremor in people with Parkinson’s disease, a new study highlights. The study, “Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery as a treatment for essential and parkinsonian tremor: long-term experience,” was published in Neurología. Tremor is one of…

A gene called Fer2 in fruit flies is essential for maintaining the health of dopamine-producing nerve cells and does so by supporting the cells’ mitochondria, which provide them with energy, a study reports. The human equivalent of this gene — a mammalian equivalent, called Nato3, was identified in mice — may…

SQZ Biotechnologies has received a $2 million grant to work out a way to turn a patient’s own immune cells into nerve cells (neurons) capable of producing dopamine, offering a new approach to treat Parkinson’s disease. Valid for two years, the Phase II grant for Small Business Innovation…

Parkinson’s News Today is bringing back its “30 Days of Parkinson’s” initiative for the second year during Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month in April. This project is aimed at raising awareness by highlighting different voices within the Parkinson’s community. Every day in April, we will feature a story from someone…

A real-time, home-monitoring system allowed for remote detection and management of orthostatic hypotension — a sudden drop in blood pressure when changing positions — in people with Parkinson’s disease during the COVID-19 pandemic, a pilot study shows. Notably, the eight patients involved reported these episodes profoundly affect daily life…

Some people with Parkinson’s disease have a characteristic genetic signature in a type of immune cell called memory T-cells, a new study suggests. “Parkinson’s disease is not usually seen as an autoimmune disease, but all of our work points toward T cells having a role in the disease,” Cecilia…

A form of the alpha-synuclein protein that can build up in the skin could help distinguish Parkinson’s disease from other neurodegenerative disorders, a study has found. Skin biopsy samples taken from Parkinson’s disease patients all showed a buildup of phosphorylated alpha-synuclein (p-syn), which is alpha-synuclein with an added phosphate…

A positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for the alpha-synuclein protein, whose damaging clumps mark Parkinson’s, captured its toxic aggregates in a living brain for a first time — instead of in post-mortem tissue as is done to date, scientists reported. The tracer, called ACI-12589, is a diagnostic tool designed to…

Combining a 12-week program of virtual reality (VR) training and motor imagery exercises with standard physical therapy (PT) significantly lessened motor symptoms — including tremors, slow movements (bradykinesia), and postural instability — among people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. “To the best of our knowledge, this…