Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
While about 11 percent of children (4-17 years old) nationwide have been diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the long-term health effects of having ADHD and of common ADHD medications remains understudied. Researchers at University of Utah Health found that ADHD patients had an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s and Parkinson-like diseases than individuals with […]
Electrical stimulation of the brain and spinal cord may help treat the symptoms of rare movement disorders called neurodegenerative ataxias, according to a study published in the August 22, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. There are several types of these disorders, which can be hereditary or occur randomly, […]
For many, hearing the word “Parkinson’s” conjures an image of tremors. But Parkinson’s disease, brought about by loss of nerve and other brain cells, is actually an incredibly complex movement disorder that can cause symptoms as wide-ranging as smell loss, thinking issues, depression and swallowing problems. More than 1.5 million people in the U.S. have […]
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have developed an experimental drug, similar to compounds used to treat diabetes, that slows the progression of Parkinson’s disease itself — as well as its symptoms — in mice. In experiments performed with cultures of human brain cells and live mouse models, they report the drug blocked the degradation of […]
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may slow the progression of tremor for early-stage Parkinson’s disease patients, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study released in the June 29 online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study is the first evidence of a treatment that slows the progression of one […]
Scientists know that faulty proteins can cause harmful deposits or “aggregates” in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Although the causes of these protein deposits remain a mystery, it is known that abnormal aggregates can result when cells fail to transmit proper genetic information to proteins. University of California San Diego Professor Susan […]
A decay of brain function is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, or DLB. Specifically, cognitive dysfunction defines DLB, and nearly eight of every 10 Parkinson’s patients develop dementia. In both of these neuro-degenerative diseases, aggregates of misfolded alpha-synuclein protein develop in brain neurons, including the hippocampus, the region of the […]
A recent study from researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provides new insights into a link between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Parkinson’s disease, and may have significant implications for the treatment and prevention of Parkinson’s disease. The recent study, published in JAMA Neurology, shows that individuals with IBD are at […]
People who have been diagnosed with a mild concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, may have a 56 percent increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study published in the April 18, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Previous research has shown a strong link […]
Dopamine, a signaling chemical in the brain, has the lofty job of controlling emotions, moods, movements as well as sensations of pleasure and pain. Dysfunction of this critical neurotransmitter is the cause of a number of diseases, most notably, Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is caused by the death of dopamine-producing cells and most theories of […]
Working with lab-grown human brain cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have uncovered a much sought-after connection between one of the most common genetic mutations in Parkinson’s disease and the formation of fatty plaques in the brain thought to contribute to the destruction of motor neurons that characterize the disease. The mutation occurs in a […]
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced top line results from its pivotal Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials from its pivotal Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, CTH-300, that evaluated apomorphine sublingual film (APL-130277) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who experience motor fluctuations (OFF episodes). Study CTH-300 met its primary and key secondary endpoints, […]
An international group of researchers led by Professor Wim Versées (VIB-VUB) has unraveled the workings of an essential mechanism in ‘Parkinson’s protein’ LRRK2. Their study demonstrates a direct link between the protein’s ‘dimerization’ – two copies that are bound together -and mutations that lead to Parkinson’s disease. This process could eventually lead to a promising […]
Recent research on Parkinson’s disease has focused on the gut-brain connection, examining patients’ gut bacteria, and even how severing the vagus nerve connecting the stomach and brain might protect some people from the debilitating disease. But scientists understand little about what’s happening in the gut — the ingestion of environmental toxins or germs, perhaps — […]
The finding of a common protein abnormality in these degenerative diseases supports a hypothesis among experts that abnormal deposition of proteins in many neurodegenerative disorders reflects an early change in these proteins. “We have pinpointed a protein abnormality known as the ‘SOD1 fingerprint’ in regions of neuronal loss in the Parkinson’s disease brain,” said Associate […]
Drug that transforms immune system may predict motor improvement In an early phase human clinical trial, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center tested a drug that transforms the immune system for diagnostic and therapeutic gain in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The medicine was proven safe and generally well tolerated. Side effects were minimal, but […]
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) today announces the launch of a phase II clinical trial to study the safety of the cancer drug nilotinib and its effects on clinical outcomes and biomarkers in people with Parkinson’s disease. GUMC is recruiting volunteers for the study in collaboration with its clinical partner, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. The […]
AMES, Iowa – Recently published research from Iowa State University may hint at a new treatment for Parkinson’s disease. In a paper published in the academic journal Nature Communications, ISU scientists identified a protein called Prokineticin-2 (PK2) that may protect brain cells and is expressed with greater frequency in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. […]
For more than five years, urine and cerebral-spinal fluid samples from patients with Parkinson’s disease have been locked in freezers in the NINDS National Repository, stored with the expectation they might someday help unravel the still-hidden course of this slow-acting neurodegenerative disease. Now, research by Andrew West, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama […]
A University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist has inserted a genetic switch into nerve cells so a patient can alter their activity by taking designer drugs that would not affect any other cell. The cells in question are neurons and make the neurotransmitter dopamine, whose deficiency is the culprit in the widespread movement disorder Parkinson’s disease. Dopamine […]