Medtronic, a medical technology company, announced that its Activa patient programmer technology for deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is now available to U.S. patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders. The new programmer, approved by the FDA in July, is used with a customized…
Inappropriate antipsychotic medications — those approved for ills like schizophrenia but used to treat depression — given to elderly people with Parkinson’s disease increase their risk of pneumonia, a study suggests. The study, “Risk of pneumonia associated with atypical antipsychotic use in nursing home residents with Parkinson’s…
Parkinson’s UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK have teamed up to help fund a project that will test whether a “waste disposal system” in the brain could be exploited to help in the understanding and treatment of these diseases, Parkinson’s UK announced. The new project, which is expected to…
Researchers have discovered a new enzyme that might aid in “putting the brakes” on Parkinson’s by inhibiting the LRRK2 pathway, known to play a critical role in this neurodegenerative disease. The findings are still at an early stage, but the team is already trying to find compounds that can…
Researchers have developed a computer model of the mouse brain that integrates both Parkinson’s disease-related genetic risk factors and the animals’ brain networks to help them understand how abnormal alpha-synuclein protein spreads and how neurodegeneration progresses. The study, “Spread of α-synuclein pathology through the brain connectome is modulated by…
The impact of climate change and environmental risk factors on brain health was spotlighted at this year’s World Congress of Neurology, a gathering of scientists and clinicians to discuss the latest advances and future developments in neurology. The recent XXIV World Congress of Neurology in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,…
Researchers have developed algorithms that work with wearable sensors to continuously monitor tremor, and estimate total tremor, in Parkinson’s patients as they go about their daily routines. Analyses of sensor results using one algorithm, in particular, were similar to an established test assessing tremor without being dependent on the time the…
A particular signaling protein in the brain, called melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), was seen to help regulate impulse control in rats, a study reports. This finding may have implications for disorders where impulse behaviors manifest, from binge eating and drug addiction to Parkinson’s disease. The study, “Hypothalamus-hippocampus circuitry…
The U.S. Defense Department has awarded researchers from Northeast Ohio Medical University (NOMU) and Michigan State University (MSU) about $1 million each to study the effect of exercise at different stages of Parkinson’s disease. The three-year grant went to longtime collaborators Sheila Fleming, PhD,…
Inhibiting the activity of LRRK2 kinase — an enzyme whose mutated form is one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease — may benefit patients both with and without this disease-related mutation, a study finds. Molecules that block the activity of the LRRK2 kinase —…
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