News

APOE Variant Directly Tied to Lewy Body Dementias in 2 Studies

A variant of the apolipoprotein (APOE) protein, called APOE4, has been shown to directly affect Lewy body dementias, such as Parkinson’s disease. Two separate studies, published simultaneously, found that APOE4 directly regulates levels of alpha-synuclein, which clumps  to form the nerve-damaging Lewy…

‘Sidekicks Anytime’ Offers Artsy Activities to Do at Home

With people everywhere hunkering down to avoid the newly identified coronavirus known as COVID-19, the Sidekicks Anytime program is offering creative, at-home activities tailored to people with Parkinson’s disease. The program is an offshoot of Sidekicks, sponsored by the Davis Phinney Foundation and Lundbeck, a pharma…

Immune Biomarkers May Better Classify Patients, Direct Therapy, Study Says

Biomarkers of brain inflammation could provide a useful means for classifying Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s patients and defining the mechanisms underpinning each person’s disease. Testing for these biomarkers could support clinicians in providing precision medicine, by helping people with the progressive neurodegenerative disorders to choose treatments with a greater…

Parkinson’s Foundation’s ‘Care Partner Summit’ Online Only This May 16

With a focus on the unpredictable path often facing caregivers, the Parkinson’s Foundation is again hosting a free-of-charge, English-Spanish bilingual summit for those helping Parkinson’s patients with their daily needs. But the Care Partner Summit (Cumbre Para Cuidadores) on Saturday, May 16, will be exclusively online — due the coronavirus, COVID-19,…

Ultrasound-activated Neurons Used to Study Parkinson’s, Other Neurodegenerative Diseases

Using an engineered sound-sensitive protein, researchers have developed neurons that can be activated by ultrasound. This could be useful in studying, and even developing therapies for, neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s. The study, “Sonogenetic Modulation of Cellular Activities Using an Engineered Auditory-Sensing Protein,” was published in Nano Letters.