News

People who develop Parkinson’s disease before the age of 50 may have been born with the defective brain cells responsible for causing the illness, a study suggests. These results also reveal that a medicine, which is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating…

People who live less than 50 meters (about 54 yards) from major roads or 150 meters (164 yards) from a highway have a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders, according to a Canadian study. Meanwhile, green spaces such as parks seem to offer protection and lower…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded Abbott’s Infinity Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) system approval to target a brain region critical for motor functions — the globus pallidus — as a way to lessen motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients who still show impairments after medication.

A new small molecule called synucleozid can prevent cells from producing the Parkinson’s-associated protein alpha-synuclein by inhibiting its translation from RNA, a study shows. The study, “Translation of the intrinsically disordered protein α-synuclein is inhibited by a small molecule targeting its structured mRNA,” was published in…

Two key types of brain nerves cells affected by Parkinson’s disease — cholinergic neurons and dopaminergic neurons — communicate and interact via signaling systems, researchers were able to “see” using a new imaging approach. This beneficial neuron-to-neuron interaction, confirmed through the novel approach in a rat model of the…

The Parkinson’s Foundation has established a first Parkinson’s Nurse Fellowship program in the U.S., offering one year of training and support to working nurses who want to specialize in treating people with this progressive disease. Applications are being accepted through Feb. 20 for the fellowship, worth up to…

Blood levels of valosin-containing protein (VCP) — an enzyme involved in protein degradation — may be used as a biomarker of preclinical and early clinical stages of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a study suggests. Reduced levels of VCP in the blood were found in both animal models of the…

The number of dopamine-producing (dopaminergic) neurons at birth could influence a person’s lifetime risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a group of experts. Because these nerve cells die over the course of the disease, having fewer of them to begin with could translate to a higher risk, the…

People with Parkinson’s disease taking part in the Fox Insight study, where they self-report details about their illness, share similar clinical and demographic features with patients brought through more traditional ways into large data studies, researchers report. This finding suggests that groups recruited exclusively online can be useful to Parkinson’s…

Stimulating the growth of blood vessels in the brain through the use of fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) may hold promise as a strategy for treating Parkinson’s disease, according to a white paper released by Zhittya Genesis Medicine (ZGM). Clinical trials testing this theory are being planned.