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A fear of the potential side effects of Parkinson’s disease treatments, dubbed “levodopa phobia,” can cause patients and their doctors to delay the use of these therapies, a neurologist says. However, evidence suggests that starting adequate levodopa therapy early is safe, particularly for patients with increased functional disability, according…

Abbott has announced promising preliminary results from the PROGRESS trial (NCT02989610) evaluating its Infinity Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The initial results, detailed in a press release, suggest that the DBS system achieved its primary goal of broadening the “therapeutic window” — the…

Researchers are conducting a study assessing the use of different motion-tracking sensors to remotely gather data from Parkinson’s disease patients. The technology holds the potential to noninvasively monitor Parkinson’s motor symptoms, as well as the effects of medication, over the course of patients’ normal daily lives at home. The…

Parkinson’s disease patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have a lower quality of life if their memory is impaired, according to a study that also revealed that MCI is associated with more severe attention and memory dysfunction in people with the disease. The study, “Mild…

Urate, a salt derived from uric acid, and homocysteine, an amino acid, may predict motor and cognitive decline in early Parkinson’s disease, researchers report. The study with that finding, “Urate and Homocysteine: Predicting Motor and Cognitive Changes in Newly Diagnosed Parkinson’s Disease” was published in the Journal…

Migraines, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and seasonal allergies seem to be associated with Parkinson’s disease and are likely to occur many years before the typical age of diagnosis, a large study has found. Results of the study, “The Parkinson’s phenome—traits associated with Parkinson’s disease in a broadly phenotyped cohort,” were…

People with Parkinson’s disease whose motor symptoms are eased by levodopa (L-DOPA) therapy may be “more likely” to develop earlier in their disease course the abnormal involuntary movements known as dyskinesia than do patients with a limited response to this treatment, researchers report. Data on this finding were presented…

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), given at high or low frequency, effectively reduces motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease patients, but the effects of high-frequency rTMS are superior and last longer, a clinical trial shows. Investigators also found that the treatment is more effective in patients with akinetic-rigid Parkinson’s — those…

Christina Korines was 22 — a recent college graduate and a newly minted Spanish teacher — when she noticed a tremor in her right foot. That tremor soon progressed into a pronounced limp, and an arm that didn’t swing when she walked. Something was terribly wrong, she just didn’t know…

Treatment with the experimental oral therapy ITI-214 was safe and well-tolerated in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease, according to a Phase 1/2 clinical trial. Trial findings also suggested that ITI-214 may ease motor symptoms in these patients. The study, “A Phase I/II Clinical…