Caffeinated drinks like coffee may help to protect people from Parkinson’s disease caused by mutations in the LRRK2 gene, much as research suggests it does in preventing sporadic, or non-familial, forms of this disease, a study reported. The study, “Association of caffeine and related analytes with resistance to Parkinson’s disease among…
Ongentys (opicapone) can reduce the extent of “off” periods in people with Parkinson’s disease being treated with levodopa, new clinical trial data show. The data were presented at the American Neurological Association 2020 Virtual Meeting. Therapies that aim to increase levels of dopamine in the brain,…
Portuguese pharmaceutical company BIAL has announced the opening of a Parkinson’s disease research facility in Cambridge, Mass., as part of its expansion to the United States under the name BIAL Biotech. Simultaneously, BIAL has acquired the Parkinson’s research programs operated by Lysosomal Therapeutics (LTI), including its lead candidate,…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted an investigational new drug application for mesdopetam (IRL790), an experimental therapy for reducing levodopa-induced dyskinesia, or involuntary movements, in people with Parkinson’s disease. This move by the FDA will allow for the enrollment of U.S. patients in…
Parkinson’s disease can be characterized as two different subtypes: one that starts in the brain and one that starts in the gut, a recent study suggests. This knowledge may open the door for the development of more personalized therapies, which could be based on the particular disease pattern of…
Spinal cord stimulation can effectively decrease pain, and also may help alleviate motor symptoms, in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), regardless of whether patients have previously undergone deep brain stimulation, a small study suggests. The study, “Single arm prospective multicenter case series on the use of…
The Parkinson’s Foundation has expanded its PD GENEration national study to include at-home genetic testing and virtual counseling in Spanish as well as English. Opened in 2019 through the organization and partly supported by Biogen, PD GENEration offers Parkinson’s (PD) patients free genetic testing plus…
New guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that dental amalgams — a silver-colored tooth filling that contains mercury — no longer be used with select groups of people, including those with neurological disorders like Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s. Dentists should instead use mercury-free…
Human stem cells can repair Parkinson’s disease-damaged neural circuits and restore motor function in mice, a recent study found. The study, “Human Stem Cell-Derived Neurons Repair Circuits and Restore Neural Function,” was published in the journal Cell Stem Cell. Stem cells are able to continuously divide…
The Engineering and Physical Research Sciences Council (EPRSC) at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded researchers at Imperial College London with a £5.5 million ($7.07 million) grant to develop a non-invasive technology that monitors the activity of individual brain cells. The grant was awarded by the…
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