News

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…

Zhichan powder, a traditional Chinese medicine, contains several active compounds that may be of therapeutic value in Parkinson’s disease, researchers suggest. Their study, “Network Pharmacology Analysis on Zhichan Powder in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease,” appeared in the journal Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening. Parkinson’s is…

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who live in rural areas of the United States face unique challenges, such as limited access to experts, according to a study that also suggests that technology could help overcome these obstacles. The study, “Considering Health Care Needs in a Rural…

The levels of levodopa, one of the gold-standard treatments in Parkinson’s disease, may be assessed using a fast, simple, low-cost, fluorescent-based method, a new study suggests. The study, “Blue and green emission-transformed fluorescent copolymer: Specific detection of levodopa of anti-Parkinson drug in human serum,” was published in…

The way that cells in the nose sense scents is more complicated than previously thought, a study reports. A better understanding of this system could be important to interpreting better how the brain processes scents, and in understanding neurological diseases, like Parkinson’s, where loss of smell is a common early…

Mutations in a gene called ATP10B may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a study has found. When mutated, ATP10B is no longer able to provide instructions to make a functional protein that is necessary to transport a fatty substance — known…