News

A recent study has found that Parkinson’s disease could be triggered by a protein in the stomach that travels to the brain through the vagal nerve. Researchers found that those who had the vagal nerve removed had a 40 percent lower chance of developing the disease. MORE: Varying thresholds for Parkinson’s protein toxicity form the basis…

International Stem Cell’s clinical trial testing its ISC-hpNSC neural cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) can move forward, the company said. The announcement comes after an evaluation from experts from a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), who looked at the safety data from the first group of patients…

The stress hormone cortisol prevents dopaminergic neurons from dying by promoting the expression of parkin, a protein that is in short supply in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients, a study indicates. The research, “Hydrocortisone-Induced Parkin Prevents Dopaminergic Cell Death Via CREB Pathway In Parkinson’s Disease Model,” was published in…

Researchers have identified why patients with Parkinson’s disease gain weight after deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical procedure performed to treat their neurological symptoms and help control their movements. They found that, after this procedure, patients have an increased desire for food and an increase in impulsiveness, which leads to…

Brazilian researchers discovered by accident that the antibiotic doxycycline prevented nerve cell damage in mice with Parkinson’s disease, a finding that was so exciting that they and colleagues from other countries decided to delve further into the subject. They have come up with a number of findings indicating doxycycline could…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) is giving three clinical trial centers a $125,000 incentive to increase accessibility and volunteer enrollment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) studies as part of its new Parkinson’s Disease Trial Recruitment Innovation (PD-TRI) program. The centers – Barrow Neurological Institute in…

Living Cell Technologies (LCT) has completed treatment in the six patients enrolled in the third and final cohort of the Phase 2b clinical trial evaluating NTCELL in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand. LCT’s lead product, NTCELL, is an alginate-coated capsule…

Klick Labs has developed a device that records and transmits Parkinson’s Disease tremors so doctors get a sense of what a patient goes through in real time. By showing what a patient experiences, the hope is that the SymPulse Tele-Empathy Device prompts doctors to pay even more attention to patients’ needs,…

Acorda Therapeutics, which recently announced a corporate restructuring, will focus on the late-stage development of its two therapies for Parkinson’s disease, CVT-301 and tozadenant. The news comes after a March 31 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, invalidated four Acorda patents related to multiple sclerosis therapy Ampyra. Acorda, based in…

American scientists have formed what they call the BRAIN Center to develop, test and market innovative technologies to help people with neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, stroke and paralysis, and people who have lost limbs. The goal of BRAIN, which stands for Building Reliable Advances and Innovation in Neurotechnology, is to…