News

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Xadago (safinamide) as an add-on therapy to increase the effectiveness of levodopa/carbidopa in Parkinson’s disease. Xadago limits the number of  “off” episodes, or increases in symptoms, among patients on levodopa/carbidopa, clinical trials have shown. “Parkinson’s is a relentless disease without a cure,” Eric Bastings,…

The Vancouver-based Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University (MNI) and Merck Canada have jointly established an innovative platform to develop and advance new drugs for Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurological illnesses. The initiative, dubbed NeuroCDRD, initially…

Even brief exposure to air pollution can increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological diseases, concludes a Korean study. The study, “Short-term air pollution exposure aggravates Parkinson’s disease in a population-based cohort,” appeared in the journal Scientific Reports. Various environmental factors contribute to the pathology of Parkinson’s, but air…

The 23rd Parkinson’s Unity Walk will take place on April 22 in New York City’s Central Park, according to The Parkinson Alliance. The walk is the largest grassroots fundraiser for Parkinson’s disease research in the U.S. Thousands of patients, caregivers, family, and friends will gather for the walk (or participate from home) to raise money for the…

Parkinson’s disease patients are known to be at a higher risk of falling, due to the changes in the brain caused by the disease. Recently, a study found that exercise may help prevent these falls. Researchers found that 25% of recently-diagnosed Parkinson’s patients suffer a fall in their first…

Folinic acid, an adjuvant medication for bowel cancer, also may become a potential treatment for early-onset Parkinson’s disease, according to results of a preclinical study that used fruit flies. The study “Folinic Acid Is Neuroprotective In A Fly Model Of Parkinson’s Disease Associated With pink1 Mutations” was published in…

3-D images of 11 mutant versions of a protein connected with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are helping scientists understand how the mutations changed the structure of the protein and damaged its functioning. The study, “Structural insights into human angiogenin (ANG) variants implicated in Parkinson’s disease…

Long forgotten by his own country, 18th-century English-born physician James Parkinson was honored at a global conference March 10-11 to mark two centuries of progress in understanding the disease that today bears his name. Organized by the International Parkinson and Movement Disease Society (MDS), the event paid homage to…

Partners in Parkinson’s has opened a video gallery online to help educate people about the disease and to support services to Parkinson’s patients worldwide. The group is also planning to host information events in two U.S. cities this year. The gallery’s aim is to bring essential information to patients that can…

A sublingual spray of apomorphine shows promising results in a Phase 1 pilot study for the treatment of severe uncontrollable motor fluctuations in late-stage Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, the British specialty drugmaker Renown Pharma has announced. Apomorphine is currently the only drug approved specifically to treat “off” episodes in patients with…