News

A new brain imaging method may help diagnose mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), which according to some studies can be associated with a 50% higher risk of developing Parkinson’s. Available methods, like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), leave most cases of mTBI, or concussions, undiagnosed. They occur when a physical…

Scientists have developed a molecule that promotes the clearance of toxic clumps of the alpha-synuclein protein — a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease — by targeting its template rather that the protein itself. “We have found that targeting the RNA needed to build the toxic protein may be an optimal…

Produodopa (foslevodopa/foscarbidopa), AbbVie‘s continuous under-the-skin (subcutaneous) infusion formulation of levodopa/carbidopa, now is available in the European Union (EU) for advanced Parkinson’s disease patients whose severe motor fluctuations and involuntary movements are not controlled well with standard therapies. AbbVie initially was granted marketing authorization for Produodopa — also known…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Medtronic‘s Percept RC deep brain stimulation (DBS) system, clearing it for use to treat Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. DBS is a surgical procedure in which an electrode is implanted in the brain to provide electrical stimulation…

Scientists have created an implantable device that can provide electrical stimulation in the body without need for a battery. The new technology, which is powered by ultrasound, may serve as a useful platform to develop next-generation implantable devices to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The team described its…

People who carry a specific mutation in the gene for a small protein called SHLP2 are about half as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, a study from the University of Southern California (USC) has found, offering a new direction to treat the disease. The mutation, found mainly in people…

Researchers at Harvard and Boston universities have adapted a soft, robotic wearable device to help mitigate the effects of gait freezing, a potentially disabling Parkinson’s disease symptom marked by patients feeling like their feet are stuck to the floor, and they’re unable to take another step. The device or…

Scientists have uncovered the complex structure and interplay of two proteins, called LRRK2 and Rab29, that are implicated in late-onset Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, they found LRRK2 is recruited to the membranes of cells by forming a complex with Rab29, causing LRRK2 to undergo changes in its structure and adopting…

A man with Parkinson’s disease saw an easing of his motor and nonmotor symptoms and better fitness after taking part in Spinning Wheels, an 85-day, cross-country bike tour of Canada supporting people with the neurodegenerative condition. Steve Iseman, 57, cycled 7,850 km (nearly 5,000 miles) from Canada’s west…

A protein called NEMO can dock to misfolded forms of alpha-synuclein — the protein whose toxic aggregates damage and kill nerve cells in Parkinson’s disease — sending them off for recycling in cellular structures called lysosomes, a study reports. But problems with this waste disposal process can lead to…