News

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…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected an application from Verily Life Sciences that sought to add a Parkinson’s disease symptom assessment tool to the company’s clinical research-focused smartwatch. In its response letter, the FDA said there was not enough evidence that the criteria evaluated…

Oral doses of silibinin — a plant compound sold as a dietary supplement — were found to lessen cognitive impairment in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. It worked, according to researchers, by preventing neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with cognitive function. These neuroprotective effects…

The first patient has been dosed in a still-recruiting Phase 1 clinical trial testing DA01, an investigational cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease. A separate Phase 1 trial of a potential gene therapy for Parkinson’s is also recruiting eligible patients in the U.S., according to a press release from…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and 23andMe are opening “robust” genetic data to researchers worldwide that could help in identifying markers of treatment response and disease progression, and ultimately may lead to better therapies for Parkinson’s disease. These new and de-identified (for privacy)…

The use of antipsychotics by people with early Parkinson’s disease (PD) has fallen substantially since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings about treating dementia with these medications, according to a database study of patients in Wales. Black-box warnings, which indicate a risk of death or serious…

A chemical sense related to smell, called the trigeminal system, may help researchers understand which people who lose their sense of smell will later develop Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson Canada is supporting this research through a $45,000, yearlong grant, given to Johannes Frasnelli, PhD, of l’Université de Québec á…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Medtronic‘s SenSight Directional Lead System, which offers both sensing and directional capabilities allowing for more precise use of deep brain stimulation (DBS), a widely approved surgical treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The first SenSight directional lead systems were implanted in a…

Treatment with Nuplazid (pimavanserin) can ease symptoms of Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP) for up to 10 weeks, and is generally safe and well-tolerated, according to new clinical trial data. The findings were published in Parkinsonism and Related Disorders, in the study, “Efficacy results of pimavanserin…

A highly sensitive and specific blood test has been developed that can distinguish Parkinson’s disease from multiple system atrophy (MSA), a team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health reported. The test examines the levels of a protein called alpha-synuclein in exosomes — tiny vesicles released…