A pilot study in Sweden shows the feasibility of testing how exercise benefits neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to adjust and make new connections in response to stimuli or damage — in people with Parkinson’s disease, making a larger and more scientifically rigorous clinical trial possible. An ability to replicate…
Prasinezumab (PRX002/RG7935), an antibody designed to eliminate the toxic clumps of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease patients, did not lessen the progression of motor and non-motor symptoms over one year, compared with a placebo, findings from a Phase 2 clinical trial show. While the results mean that…
Despite being safe, spinal cord stimulation does not lead to significant improvements in mobility in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, including those taking levodopa, a prospective trial has found. The trial findings were reported in the study, “Spinal Cord Stimulation for Very Advanced Parkinson’s Disease:…
In observance of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, the World Parkinson Coalition is launching its first WPC Care Partner Virtual Panel Series to highlight and address caregiver challenges. The four-part online series, offering support and guidance to caregivers and family members, begins on Tuesday, April 28. Presenters include experts in…
Scientists have created a device that allows them to accurately measure the levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines — molecules that mediate and regulate immune and inflammatory responses — normally found in the brain of patients with Parkinson’s disease. According to researchers, the new device may be used in…
Immune cells targeting the alpha-synuclein protein are common in Parkinson’s patients, and new research shows that these cells can be present in the blood up to 10 years before diagnosis, long before disease symptoms are evident. This finding carries important implications for people at risk, such as those carrying genetic factors…
Some clinical features of Parkinson’s disease patients — such as age at disease onset, disease duration, initial motor symptom, and use of dopaminergic agonists — can predict with high accuracy which patients will experience dyskinesia (abnormal involuntary movements) induced by levodopa treatment, a study found. The study,…
Use of duloxetine, a treatment for depression and nerve pain, fails to alleviate pain in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to data from a clinical trial. However, results also showed that it may be of benefit in easing motor symptoms and improving patients’ quality of life, although more…
A new microscope technology that allows real-time imaging of brain cell activity could have important applications in understanding the biology of the brain, and of brain diseases such as Parkinson’s. The technology was described in Nature Methods, in a study titled “Kilohertz two-photon fluorescence microscopy imaging…
Differences in gene expression between the left and right hemispheres of the brain may explain why Parkinson’s patients often show symptoms on one side of the body first, and continue to have more pronounced symptoms on that side as their disease progresses, a study suggests. According to…
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