News

Doctors are using Elekta‘s Leksell Vantage Stereotactic System for precision Parkinson’s disease surgery at three European hospitals. The system has led to improved treatment and patient comfort, the company said. A stereotactic system uses three-dimensional coordinates to locate small targets inside the body. The first surgeries using the system were performed…

A recent study has discovered a link between frequent or chronic occurrences of gastrointestinal (GI) tract infections and the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study’s authors have shown for the first time that the nerve cell protein alpha-synuclein (αS), produced by the enteric nervous system, is a key mediator of intestinal inflammation. The enteric nervous system (ENS)…

Consuming at least three servings of low-fat dairy per day is enough to increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 34 percent, compared to consuming less than one serving daily. So says a study, “Intake of Dairy Foods and Risk of Parkinson Disease,” published in Neurology, the journal of…

Treatment with a drug called CLR01 improved balance and movement coordination in mice with early stage Parkinson’s disease, according to results of a new preclinical study. Researchers said CLR01 acts by decreasing the amount of unstable alpha-synuclein, one of the two forms of the protein existing in the brain, and…

Global Kinetics Corporation (GKC), which develops technology to assist people with Parkinson’s disease, has presented a set of data collected from more than 10,000 reports of symptoms from patients with Parkinson’s. The new database — collected in the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia from January 2012 to January 2017 — can help researchers and physicians better…

Treatment with statins may accelerate the development of Parkinson’s disease in people already at risk for this disease, according to a new study by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine. The study, “Projection of the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the coming decades: Revisited,” appeared in the journal…

Researchers developed a method for noninvasive deep brain stimulation (DBS) that showed promise as a potential way to stimulate neurons without requiring surgery, a new study says. The method works by inducing electrical currents with different high frequencies. When these currents meet deep in the brain, they generate enough stimulation…

New research shows that alpha-synuclein is expressed in the enteroendocrine cells (EECs) of the intestine, which are directly connected to nerves that contain α-synuclein, forming a neural circuit between the gut and the nervous system. In this manner, external toxins and other environmental influences could aid in the misfolding of…

Results from a Phase 1/2a clinical trial (NCT01734733) show that treatment with Living Cell Technologies Limited (LCT)’s product NTCELL may be an effective and safe option for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The study investigated the effectiveness and safety of implanting 40 NTCELL capsules into one side of…

People living with Parkinson’s disease are frustrated with the difficulty in getting an accurate diagnosis, a new Health Union survey found. The “Parkinson’s in America 2017″ survey, conducted online between Jan. 19 and March 13 of this year, includes responses from 1,100 Parkinson’s patients and was released through ParkinsonsDisease.net, Health Union’s newest…