Limitations in functional abilities due to advanced Parkinson’s disease result in billions of dollars of lost economic value in the U.S., but effective treatments that restore some essential abilities can lessen this lost value, a study reports. Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel, sold in the U.S. under the brand name…
Fecal transplants — when patients receive a transplant of healthy gut microbiota into their intestines — were found to alleviate gastrointestinal problems, including constipation, and lessen both motor and non-motor symptoms in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small study showed. The results of…
Non-motor symptoms are major determinants of quality of life (QOL) for people with Parkinson’s disease who have undergone deep brain stimulation, known as DBS, a new study reports. “Postoperative QOL was associated with non-motor symptoms … rather than motor symptoms,” the researchers found, specifically noting that patients with…
A considerable number of people with Parkinson’s disease living at home missed every flu vaccination given over five years despite being at higher risk of preventable respiratory infections, a single-site U.S. study of homebound and ambulatory patients found. Nearly 25% of these patients also expressed hesitancy about vaccines, and…
A mutant form of the alpha-synuclein protein — associated with early onset, severe familial Parkinson’s disease — recruits its normal version to propagate the toxic clumps that lead to neurodegeneration, a study in mice has found. The data, specific for the E46K mutant version of alpha-synuclein, suggest that…
Despite economic challenges due to COVID-19 shutdowns, the Parkinson’s Foundation is investing $10 million toward research, its care network, and community grants, the CEO of the nonprofit has announced. “As it turns out, our donors have really stayed with us,” said John L.
A new formulation of rasagiline, approved for Parkinson’s disease, may allow the therapy to be given by applying it to the skin. The treatment’s new formulation was described in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, in a study titled “Microemulsion-based gel for the…
A four-ingredient, small-molecule cocktail was seen to protect stem cells from the stresses of lab work better than existing agents, helping to preserve their normal structure and function, researchers reported. This cocktail may overcome the “daunting challenge” of keeping pluripotent stem cells viable, so to be more useful in research into stem…
People with moderate or advanced Parkinson’s disease have abnormally low levels of caffeine in their saliva, despite normal caffeine metabolism, a new study indicates. The findings suggest that measuring caffeine in saliva could be useful for gauging Parkinson’s disease progression. The study, “Salivary caffeine in Parkinson’s…
Gain Therapeutics‘ investigational compounds were able to lessen motor symptoms in a rat model of GBA1-associated Parkinson’s disease and also decrease the levels of alpha-synuclein accumulation in nerve cells — two hallmarks of the neurodegenerative disease. The two candidates — GT-02287 and GT-02329 — are…
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