News

Widening efforts to give Parkinson’s disease patients access to high-quality speech therapy, the Parkinson Voice Project (PVP) has named the Andrews University School of Communication Sciences & Disorders (SCSD) a recipient of this year’s SPEAK OUT! & LOUD Crowd Grant Program. As is the case with all awardees, the…

Bacterial infections in the intestines may trigger Parkinson’s progression by altering the immune system and damaging dopaminergic neurons, according to an early study supporting a “gut-brain” connection in this disease. The findings, “Intestinal infection triggers Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms in Pink1−/− mice,” were published as a letter in…

Treatment with the naturally occurring antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) along with standard Parkinson’s therapies improved patients’ motor and mental abilities, possibly by restoring the function of dopamine-producing nerve cells, according to new research. The study, “N-Acetyl Cysteine Is Associated With Dopaminergic Improvement in Parkinson’s Disease,” appeared in…

Veterans of the Gulf War are not, as a whole, more likely to experience Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms, a new study has found. However, veterans with Gulf War illness do appear to be at greater risk of these symptoms. The study, “Do Gulf War veterans with high levels…

Oxidative stress may be a trigger for Parkinson’s and can promote its progression by facilitating the spread of toxic alpha-synuclein protein across cells, researchers report. Their study, “Oxidative stress in vagal neurons promotes parkinsonian pathology and intercellular α-synuclein transfer,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Parkinson’s is…

Impax Laboratories‘ investigational carbidopa-levodopa extended-release capsules, IPX203, are better than immediate-release tablets at maintaining steady levels of levodopa in the blood, and prolonging the alleviation of motor symptoms, in people with advanced Parkinson’s disease, according to clinical data.

Considerable evidence has been published concerning the benefits of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) techniques in chronic pain, fibromyalgia, diabetes, chronic fatigue, psoriasis, arthritis, and individuals with multiple depressive episodes. This research has led to the hypothesis that MBSR may also be helpful for those…

An oral combination that includes Aricept (donepezil) — an Alzheimer’s therapy — and Ginkgo biloba improved cognitive abilities and quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) treated for six months, a study from China reports. The study, “The efficacy of a ‘cocktail therapy’ on…

Parkinson’s disease patients with either depression or psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, confusion, or illusion may have higher levels of the mineral zinc in their hair, researchers report. Their study, “Higher zinc concentrations in hair of Parkinson’s disease are associated with psychotic complications and depression,” was published in…

People with generalized pain related to their Parkinson’s are prone to disturbed nighttime sleep, a reason these two disease symptoms — central parkinsonian pain and poor sleep — are common together and may imply shared mechanisms, a study reports. The study, “Sleep disturbances in Parkinson’s disease are associated with…