News

When used in combination with levodopa, Requip (ropinirole) patches result in greater improvements in motor function compared to placebo for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, a Phase 3 clinical trial has found. Trial findings also demonstrated the effectiveness of the new skin patch formulation was not inferior…

A new therapeutic approach in which patient-derived dopamine-producing neurons are transplanted into the brain may halt Parkinson’s disease progression, a case report suggests. The approach uses patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs),  which are cells collected from the skin or blood that researchers can reprogram in a lab…

With numerous clinical trials interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is highlighting online ways that Parkinson’s (PD) patients and others can help to advance research. People are necessarily spending more time at home, but study participation remains crucial to treatment development. Even before…

Predictive models can help diagnose Parkinson’s disease in early stages, and could be used to distinguish Parkinson’s from conditions that present similarly, a new study suggests. The findings indicate that losing the sense of smell is particularly significant for predicting Parkinson’s. The study, “Non-motor Clinical and…

A program that teaches Parkinson’s patients and their caregivers techniques to manage day-to-day activities over the course of this disease can help improve both life quality and effective self-care, a study from Sweden suggests. The study, “Self-Management Education for Persons with Parkinson’s Disease and Their Care Partners: A Quasi-Experimental…

The Parkinson’s Foundation and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are collaborating on an effort to improve the health and life quality of veterans with Parkinson’s disease. The two want to provide people who served in the U.S. Armed Forces with better resources and ways to manage Parkinson’s, a…

Aptinyx has paused patient enrollment in its Phase 2 trial evaluating NYX-458 to treat mild cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson’s disease due to the current COVID-19 pandemic…

Intec Pharma and its manufacturing partner, Lohman Therapie-Systeme (LTS) have shown an ability to manufacture the Accordion Pill Carbidopa/Levodopa (AP-CD/LD), an investigational Parkinson’s therapy, at a commercial scale, and are advancing with the production of stability lots expected to bring it into a new Phase 3 trial. Meanwhile, Intec is…

Current or past tobacco smokers are at lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than lifelong non-smokers, a long-term study of doctors in the U.K. reports. How smoking might protect a person against Parkinson’s, however, remains poorly understood. The many known health risks of tobacco smoking also far exceed “any protective effect,”…

Although there isn’t currently sufficient evidence to draw definitive conclusions, it is possible that people who survive COVID-19 may be at increased risk of Parkinson’s disease, researchers from Brazil argued in a recent paper. More research is needed to examine this idea, which points to a need for…