Movement Disorder News and Research

Latest Movement Disorder News and Research

Palliative care needs expanding

Individuals with late-stage Parkinson's disease and other related motor disorders experience severe symptoms of physical and psychologic distress, suggesting that current care is falling short, say UK researchers.

29 Nov 2012

Study shows how Parkinson's spreads and leads to nerve cell death

Understanding how any disease progresses is one of the first and most important steps towards finding treatments to stop it. This has been the case for such brain-degenerating conditions as Alzheimer's disease. Now, after several years of incremental study, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have been able to piece together important steps in how Parkinson's disease (PD) spreads from cell to cell and leads to nerve cell death.

17 Nov 2012

Sleep experts advise people to reset sleep habits when they reset clocks

On Sunday morning, the clocks will fall back to mark the official end of daylight savings time. Northwestern Medicine sleep experts warn that the one hour time shift can be disruptive to sleep patterns, but that it also offers an excellent opportunity to evaluate and improve sleep patterns.

3 Nov 2012

Dopaminergic treatment has ‘minor impact’ on autonomic symptoms in Parkinson’s

Norwegian researchers say that dopaminergic treatment should be considered for patients with early Parkinson’s disease after finding that dopaminergic medication only has a minor impact on autonomic symptoms after 1 year.

17 Oct 2012

Extradural brain stimulation safe and effective for patients with Parkinson's

Electrical stimulation using extradural electrodes—placed underneath the skull but not implanted in the brain—is a safe approach with meaningful benefits for patients with Parkinson's disease, reports the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

17 Oct 2012

Study looks at rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism that has no known treatment

Fewer than 100 people in the world are known to be affected by a movement disorder called rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism (RDP), but its symptoms are life-changing. Seemingly normal young people are suddenly and dramatically unable to control movement of their arms or legs and have trouble speaking or swallowing. A normal life is nearly impossible.

27 Sep 2012

Researchers identify mechanism that appears to underlie non-familial form of Parkinson's

Researchers in the Taub Institute at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have identified a mechanism that appears to underlie the common sporadic (non-familial) form of Parkinson's disease, the progressive movement disorder.

26 Sep 2012

Bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease: an interview with Dr. Joseph Giuffrida, President of Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies

Currently in the United States, there are over 1.5 million people living with Parkinson's and 50,000 new cases reported each year

30 Aug 2012

Study identifies how genetic mutations in the nervous system cause Duane Syndrome

A research team from King's College London and the University of Exeter Medical School has identified how a genetic mutation acts during the development of nerves responsible for controlling eye muscles, resulting in movement disorders such as Duane Syndrome, a form of squint.

22 Aug 2012

FDA approves Codman’s MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. (Codman), the global neurological device company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval through a PMA supplement for its MEDSTREAM Programmable Infusion System, an implantable infusion pump and catheter system used in the treatment of spasticity, a movement disorder often caused by stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.

9 Aug 2012

Scientists link some cases of Essential Tremor to specific genetic problem

Researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine and CHUM hospitals have linked some cases of Essential Tremor (ET) to a specific genetic problem. ET is the most common movement disorder, becoming increasingly frequent with increasing age, which is characterized by an involuntary shaking movement (tremor) that occurs with motion, particularly when doing precise fine movement.

3 Aug 2012

ATP1A3 gene mutations responsible for alternating hemiplegia of childhood

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a rare disorder that usually begins in infancy, with intermittent episodes of paralysis and stiffness, first affecting one side of the body, then the other. Symptoms mysteriously appear and disappear, again and again, and affected children often experience dozens of episodes per week. As they get older, children fall progressively behind their peers in both intellectual abilities and motor skills, and more than half develop epilepsy.

31 Jul 2012

Exposure to high-intensity vibrations increases risk of Parkinson's

Severe influenza doubles the odds that a person will develop Parkinson's disease later in life, according to University of British Columbia researchers.

21 Jul 2012

GUMC, MedStar GUH launch Huntington Disease Care, Education and Research Center

Georgetown University Medical Center in collaboration with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital announce the launch of the Huntington Disease Care, Education and Research Center.

20 Jul 2012

Micrographia prevalent in Parkinson’s

Around half of patients with Parkinson’s disease display symptoms of micrographia, a case–control study shows.

19 Jul 2012

Carotid stenosis, ECG anomalies foreshadow Parkinson’s disease

Individuals aged 65 years and over who have carotid stenosis or electrocardiography abnormalities face an elevated risk for subsequently being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, results of a 14-year longitudinal study show.

19 Jul 2012

UCB’s Neupro now available in U.S. pharmacies

UCB announced today that Neupro (Rotigotine Transdermal System) is now available in U.S. pharmacies. Neupro was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in April to treat the signs and symptoms of early and advanced stage idiopathic Parkinson's disease and moderate-to-severe primary Restless Legs Syndrome.

16 Jul 2012

Scientists identify abnormal gene that leads to Parkinson's

An international team including scientists from the University of Saskatchewan-Saskatoon Health Region and University of British Columbia, with the help of Saskatchewan Mennonite families, has identified an abnormal gene which leads to Parkinson's disease.

28 Jun 2012

Small coils activate neurons to modulate brain-cell activity

Magnetic fields generated by microscopic devices implanted into the brain may be able to modulate brain-cell activity and reduce symptoms of several neurological disorders.

27 Jun 2012

Gene transfer technique eliminates specific neural circuit linked to Parkinson's disease

In the brains of humans and non-human primates, over 100 billion nerve cells build up complicated neural circuits and produce higher brain functions. When an attempt is made to perform gene therapy for neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease, it is necessary to specify a responsible neural circuit out of many complicated circuits.

27 Jun 2012