News

The flamingo exercise — training to stand on one leg, as the bright-pink wading birds often do — was shown to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls among people with Parkinson’s disease in a Turkish study. Such balance training was found most effective when the exercise was…

Medications commonly used to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and pain may delay Parkinson’s disease onset, according to a U.S. study. Analyses found that anti-hypertensives such as adrenergic blockers, cholesterol-lowering statins, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were strongly associated with later onset disease. In contrast,…

Performing cognitive tasks while walking may help distinguish between early Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy (MSA), a neurodegenerative disorder with similar symptoms, a study suggests. MSA patients had more walking impairments alongside higher brain activity during cognitive tasks while walking than Parkinson’s patients, the research shows. “We…

A new positron emission tomography (PET) developed by Merck can enter the brains of people with Parkinson’s and highlight the toxic alpha-synuclein fibrils responsible for nerve cell loss, a small first-in-human study shows. Working with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), researchers recruited eight…

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and, in the U.S. and across the globe this year, patients, caregivers, medical professionals, and advocates will be focusing their attention on helping to empower those living with the neurological disease by providing educational resources, fostering community, and providing opportunities to get involved. World Parkinson’s…

A new positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer can accurately visualize inflammation within the healthy human brain, a first-in-human study found. By using a marker that binds to COX-2, a key enzyme associated with brain inflammation or neuroinflammation, researchers were able to quantify low levels of this enzyme in healthy individuals.

A new collaborative effort between Mayo Clinical Laboratories and Amprion will expand access to the diagnostic company’s SAAmplify–αSYN test — designed to detect the presence of abnormal alpha-synuclein protein in people suspected of having neurodegenerative diseases — across the U.S., according to a joint press release.

Lecigon, an intestinal gel formulation of levodopa, entacapone, and carbidopa, provided sustained motor symptom control for people with advanced Parkinson’s disease, according to interim, one-year analyses from a real-world study in Europe. The treatment, which is approved in several European countries and Australia, but not the U.S.,…

Researchers at the University of Delaware have developed a model that combines artificial intelligence with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to measure brain stiffness and volume for predicting brain age. MRE is a noninvasive method that can measure changes in brain stiffness by using a gentle vibration of a person’s head…

Irlab Therapeutics is moving its oral candidate, IRL757, into a Phase 1b clinical study to assess its safety and explore early signs of efficacy in treating apathy in people with Parkinson’s disease. Patient enrollment is expected to begin in the second half of 2025. Financial support for the trial…