News

Fear is real. Those who live with a chronic illness may deal with it on a daily basis. It robs you of the joy of in your journey, the thrill of tomorrow, the delight of your day. It steals your contentment, empties you of enjoying the now, replaces wonder with…

An implanted wireless device that is smaller than a cubic millimeter may be the future for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease. A team of engineers at the non-profit Draper Laboratory built such a device, then tested it in animals to prove that it works. Draper’s team and collaborators at…

Niclosamide, an oral medication widely used to eradicate tapeworm infections, may have the potential to slow disease progression in Parkinson’s patients with mutations in the PINK1 gene, researchers report. Their study, “The Anthelmintic Drug Niclosamide and its Analogues Activate the Parkinson’s Disease Associated Protein Kinase PINK1,” was…

Researchers at the University of California found that tau and beta-amyloid protein deposits in the brains of Parkinson’s patients does not influence their cognitive function. They found, interestingly, that those with greater tau accumulation had higher levels of β-amyloid in the brain. The study, “Associations Between Tau,…

Researchers have uncovered how aggregates of the Parkinson’s disease-associated protein alpha-synuclein damages nerve cells. The discovery offers scientists a road map to strategies for developing new treatments for the disease. The study is also a breakthrough in Parkinson’s research. Even though researchers have long known that alpha-synuclein protein…

Mutations of genes responsible for breaking down and recycling cell waste products may promote Parkinson’s disease, a study shows. Scientists have known for some time that deficiencies in these lysosomal storage genes cause Gaucher disease and other disorders. The study, “Excessive burden of lysosomal storage disorder gene…

Psychosis is an important marker for impaired volition (the act of making a conscious choice) in people with Parkinson’s disease who are treated with dopamine replacement therapy, a new study shows. The study, titled “Markers of impaired motor and cognitive volition in…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Boston Scientific’s Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation system to help Parkinson’s patients control their movement. Europe and Australia have already approved the system — the first to target specific nerve cells in the brain. It does this by stimulating electrodes that surgeons…

Researchers at China’s Nanjing Medical University have found a link between Parkinson’s patients’ depression and deterioration of white matter in their brains, particularly on the left side. Their work, “Impaired long contact white matter fibers integrity is related to depression in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in the journal…

Patients with rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, or RBD, have a form of inflammation in the brain that puts them at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or dementia, according to researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark. The study, “Assessment of neuroinflammation in patients with idiopathic rapid-eye-movement…