News

To help Parkinson’s patients identify and discuss their “off episodes” — the return of disease symptoms — with healthcare providers, Acorda Therapeutics is offering a new online tool. Called the “Do Tell” Your Doctor Tool, the questionnaire is used to record such episodes, which can…

People with Parkinson’s disease are more likely to develop a disabling postural deformity known as Pisa syndrome if they have more severe axial symptoms — such as difficulty with speech or freezing of gait — and a sleep disorder known as rapid eye movement sleep behavior, a study suggests.

A form of repetitive transcranial brain stimulation known as intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) failed to improve cognitive function in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. The study, “Impact of Prefrontal Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation on Working Memory and Executive Function in Parkinson’s Disease: A Double-Blind…

Levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL) — a protein found in blood plasma — may be a useful biomarker of disease progression for Parkinson’s, a study says. The study, “Blood NfL: A biomarker for disease severity and progression in Parkinson disease,” was published in the journal…

Backward walking is significantly impaired and associated with motor symptoms and fear of falling in newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients, a small Korean study suggests. These results point to backward walking parameters as potential biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease progression. The researchers called for future studies investigating the dynamics of backward walking in…

Apart from physical health-related quality of life — which seemed to improve to a greater extent in males — the benefits of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on motor, cognitive, and mental function are similar in men and women with Parkinson’s disease, a study has found. The…

The more years of formal education that people with Parkinson’s disease have, the better they seem to respond to deep-brain stimulation — as seen in a greater ability to “dual-task,” or engage in higher-level thought while walking, a study suggests. “Education level affects dual-task gait after deep…

A newly created model helps to clarify the processes by which cells grow old and die, and which are known to be involved in the onset of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The study describing this model, “Proteostasis collapse is a driver of cell aging and…

Researchers have developed a new compound, called S-181, that can improve nerve cell function and decrease the build-up of disease-related harmful molecules by boosting the activity levels of the enzyme beta-glucocerebrosidase. That enzyme’s function is known to be compromised in Parkinson’s disease. The findings, “A modulator of…

The levels of calprotectin — a protein whose levels increase in response to tissue inflammation — in the stool may be used as a marker of bowel inflammation in patients with Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. The results, “Fecal Calprotectin as a Marker of the Gut…