tremors
By examining data from a 20-year-old clinical trial, a research team based at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (MGH-MIND) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), has found evidence supporting the findings of their 2008 study -- that elevated levels of the antioxidant urate may slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. -- A Michigan hospital is embarking on a research study for advanced Parkinson's disease using a state-of-the-art treatment called gene transfer.
The clinical trial will test whether gene transfer therapy is able to restore better mobility in Parkinson's patients who have lost responsiveness to drug therapy.
GAINESVILLE -- A common antibiotic can function as an "off switch" for a gene therapy being developed for Parkinson's disease, according to University of Florida researchers writing online in advance of September's Molecular Therapy.
The observation that people taking medication for schizophrenia have lower cancer rates than other people has prompted new research revealing that anti-psychotic drugs could help treat some major cancers.
St. Louis, July 31, 2009 -- Parkinson's disease is well-known for impairing movement and causing tremors, but many patients also develop other serious problems, including sleep disturbances and significant losses in cognitive function known as dementia.
DALLAS -- July 13, 2009 -- People with Parkinson's disease have significantly higher blood levels of a particular pesticide than healthy people or those with Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (July 13, 2009) -- Whitehead Institute scientists have developed a rapid, inexpensive drug-screening method that could be used to target diseases that until now have stymied drug developers, such as Parkinson's disease. This technique uses baker's yeast to synthesize and screen the molecules, cutting target discovery and preliminary testing time to a matter of weeks.
Berkeley -- Increases in mysterious underground tremors observed in several active earthquake fault zones around the world could signal a build-up of stress at locked segments of the faults and presumably an increased likelihood of a major quake, according to a new University of California, Berkeley, study.
NEW YORK - In a study that reveals the clearest picture to date of neuron death in Parkinson's disease, researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have found that a trio of culprits acting in concert is responsible for killing the brain cells.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Doctors may be able to tailor a specialized form of brain surgery to more closely match the needs of Parkinson patients, according to results from the first large-scale effort to compare the two current target areas of deep brain stimulation surgery, or DBS.
Researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine appear to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their bodies and thereby "resetting" their immune systems.
Exercise might one day provide a non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical way to protect adults against the onset of symptoms of Parkinson's disease. PD affects more than 2 percent of the world's adult population, including 1 million adults in the United States. In addition, experts agree that in most cases, PD is caused by long-term exposure to toxins in the environment. PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by loss of dopamine-containing nerves in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra (SN). Common symptoms of PD include tremors, muscular stiffness and other movement problems.
After 40 years of treating Parkinson's disease with dopamine medications, a new study shows potential for a non-dopamine drug that may provide benefit for patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. Robert A. Hauser, M.D., first author of the study and director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the University of South Florida, and other researchers across the United States, found istradefylline (KW-6002) reduced by 1.7 hours per day the time that advanced Parkinson's disease patients experienced tremors, slowness and stiffness. Istradefylline did not worsen the severity of dyskinesias and was generally well tolerated by participants.
Scientists have averted the onset of neurodegenerative disease in fruit flies by administering medication to flies genetically predisposed to a disorder akin to Parkinson's disease. The result suggests a new approach to the treatment of human disorders including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Parkinson's disease is the second most common human neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by tremors, postural rigidity and progressive deterioration of dopaminergic neurons in specific areas of the brain. Despite the evolutionary gulf separating humans and fruit flies, neurotoxicity unfolds in a similar manner in both species.
