People with Parkinson’s disease have lower-than-normal levels of certain fatty acids in their blood, which is not explained by dietary differences, a new study shows. The low levels of some of these fatty acids among Parkinson’s patients are associated with more severe motor symptoms, while high levels of…
Assessing vowel percentage, or duration, during a simple reading task is an effective method to detect changes in speech rhythm at early stages of Parkinson’s disease, according to a small study from Italy. Notably, such rhythmic differences between early-stage Parkinson’s patients and healthy individuals were not as pronounced during…
The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) has released a new guide that aims to help people with Parkinson’s disease and their loved ones make informed decisions about deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical treatment for the disorder’s motor symptoms. The 22-page guide, which is freely available online,…
Servier and Oncodesign have selected a LRRK2 inhibitor as their partnership program’s lead candidate for Parkinson’s disease and plan to start regulatory preclinical safety studies soon. A Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to begin in 2022. “We are particularly pleased with, and proud of, these results obtained…
In Parkinson’s disease, DNA that leaks out of mitochondria — small organelles that generate energy — leads to cell death and inflammation, according to a new study. The finding indicates that getting rid of this mitochondrial DNA could be a promising therapeutic strategy. The study, “Cytosolic dsDNA of…
The asymmetric loss of dopamine-producing, or dopaminergic, neurons in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease may determine the severity of patients’ motor and cognitive symptoms, a study suggests. Such differences in the loss of these dopaminergic neurons — a characteristic feature of Parkinson’s — may explain the contrast…
Two years of continuous treatment with apomorphine as an under-the-skin infusion safely preserved quality of life and effectively eased motor fluctuations in people with advanced Parkinson’s disease, according to a single-center, real-life study in France. Notably, patients with poor life quality before starting with continuous apomorphine were more likely to improve in…
Gut inflammation could play a critical role in the onset and progression of Parkinson’s disease, a preclinical study shows. Specifically, this type of inflammation triggered the accumulation of alpha-synuclein protein clumps in the nerves lining the colon of a mouse model of…
Caraway Therapeutics is partnering with AbbVie to develop and market Caraway’s small molecule therapies targeting TMEM175, a potassium ion channel implicated in Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. TMEM175 is present in lysosomes — tiny compartments in cells containing enzymes that break down unwanted cell parts, digesting and…
One month of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS), administered at home using a hand-held device by electroCore, improved walking and motor abilities, and eased freezing of gait in adults with Parkinson’s disease, according to data from a small clinical trial. Freezing of gait refers to a patient’s feeling for…
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