News

Low selenium intake may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in people carrying a particular genetic mutation, according to a study on environmental and genetic interactions and their impact on Parkinson’s disease (PD) development. The research demonstrated that cataloging knowledge of gene-environment interactions is indispensable for leveraging knowledge from…

Brain inflammation suffered by athletes in contact sports like football appears to be directly linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a cause of dementia, and may lead to neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, according to a study in the journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications. Indeed, the authors argue that American football players and others with a history of repetitive…

The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF) is marking this year’s National Family Caregivers Month by offering a set of free resources to address the unmet needs reported by care partners of Parkinson’s disease patients. PDF is a division of the Parkinson’s Foundation, formed recently by a merger of PDF…

A new study showed that treadmill training with a virtual reality component reduced fall rates compared to treadmill training alone in a group of older adults with Parkinson’s disease, dementia, or mild cognitive impairment. The research paper, “Addition of a non-immersive virtual reality component to treadmill training to reduce fall…

Intec Pharma has been granted a Chinese patent  covering the company’s Accordion Pill, an experimental technology platform to allow for the prolonged absorption of drugs with a small absorption window, such as the combination of carbidopa and levodopa for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The patent granted by the…

Though alpha-synuclein, the dysfunctional protein in Parkinson’s disease that can be found in skin nerve fibers, has been shown to be a reliable biomarker of the condition that could lead to early treatment, more research is needed to standardize diagnostic techniques using biopsies, according to recent study perspective published in …

A large genome-wide study discovered a strong association between essential tremor, commonly misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease, and a specific gene, and less strong associations with two other genes. This is an important finding for a movement disorder that causes postural and kinetic tremor of the upper extremities,…

New research by the Leibniz-Institut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP) aims to make possible the early detection of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by using strongly magnetized xenon gas to enhance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The project, funded by a nearly $350,000 three-year award from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, was,…

Researchers have discovered a factor that controls the accumulation of both alpha-synuclein and tau, two proteins that drive neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. The findings bring not only a new understanding of how the two conditions may be linked, but also offer possibilities for the development of new treatment…

The rare lysosomal storage disorder Krabbe’s disease is caused by an enzyme deficiency and has been found to have surprising similarities with neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Establishing this connection can be a valuable tool for developing novel therapeutic targets and new biomarkers for identifying patients at risk for developing Parkinson’s.