News

A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease is associated with greater Medicare costs and out-of-pocket spending, according to a population-based study in the U.S. These findings also revealed substantial geographic variation in prevalence and health service use and spending among Medicare beneficiaries. The study, “State-level prevalence, health service…

The ability to block out irrelevant information when asked to recognize and name objects, known as inhibitory processing, remains intact in patients with Parkinson’s disease, a study has found. The study, “The Suppression of Irrelevant Semantic Representations in Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in the journal Frontiers in Human…

A new way to understand and study how the brain represents tool embodiment — the physical actions for using tools — was proposed in a new research article. The study recommends methods for understanding Parkinson’s disease signs and symptoms relating to the brain’s ability to represent motor…

A shorter, simpler version of testing to diagnose mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease is just as effective as a lengthier evaluation at predicting the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease dementia, a report shows. The study, “Risk of Parkinson’s Disease Dementia Related to Level I MDS PD-MCI,”…

Levodopa, one of the main medicines used to treat Parkinson’s symptoms, can be converted into dopamine by gut bacteria, researchers report. The findings might explain why levodopa treatment is less effective in some patients. The study, “Gut bacterial tyrosine decarboxylases restrict levels of levodopa in the treatment…

Cancer patients appear to have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, even when taking into account important risk factors and overall survival, a study has found. The study, “Cancers Preceding Parkinson’s Disease after Adjustment for Bias in a Danish Population-Based Case-Control Study,” was published in Neuroepidimiology.

Physical activity and participation in competitive sports, as well as coffee, caffeinated tea or moderate alcohol consumption before diagnosis, protect against worsening motor and cognitive function in Parkinson’s patients, according to a new population-based study. In contrast, smoking and heavy alcohol consumption — or never consuming alcohol — correlated…

Using a parameter called interleaving stimulation (ILS) in deep brain stimulation (DBS) eased dyskinesia — involuntary, jerky movements — in patients with Parkinson’s, according to a new study. In contrast, the benefits in people with tremor or dystonia — abnormal muscle tone — or in mitigating DBS-induced adverse side effects were not…

An inexpensive off-the-shelf hand-tracker can objectively and reliably measure Parkinson’s disease-related slowness of movement (bradykinesia) over time, both in a clinical setting or at a patient’s home, researchers report. The study, “Objective evaluation of bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease using an inexpensive marker-less motion tracking system,” was published…

Onstryv (safinamide) has been approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in Canada, where roughly 100,000 individuals live with the disorder. The announcement was made by Quebec-based Valeo Pharma and Italian pharmaceutical conglomerate Zambon, the commercialization partner of Newron Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development…