Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder. It occurs when certain nerve cells (neurons) in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra die or become impaired. When approximately 80 percent of neurons are damaged, the symptoms of Parkinson's disease appear. Parkinson's disease affects 1 in 100 people over the age of 60, with the average age of onset being 60 years. The risk of developing Parkinson's disease increases with age. In the United States, it is estimated that 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's disease are diagnosed each year, with 1.5 million Americans currently living with the disease.

What is Parkinson's Disease?

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease of the brain. It affects parts of the brain that are associated with normal movement and balance.

Parkinson's Disease Pathophysiology

Parkinson's Disease Diagnosis

Parkinson's Disease Treatment

Parkinson's Disease Prognosis

Parkinson's Disease History

Parkinson's Disease Research

Parkinson's Disease Support

Herpes Virus and Parkinson's Disease

Physiotherapy for Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's Compared to Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB)

VPS35 Gene and Parkinson's Disease

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Parkinson's Disease and the Gut Microbiome

Parkinson's Disease and Helicobacter Pylori

Does Exercise Slow Parkinson's Disease Progression?

Human brain may stay active for hours after death

Neurophysiotherapy for Parkinson's Disease

Thalamotomy, Pallidotomy and Subthalamotomy

Estrogen as a Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease and Sleeping Disorders

Uncovering Hidden Symptoms: Hallucinations and Delusions in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson's Disease and the Gut Microbiome

Gut Bacteria Affecting Parkinson’s Treatment

Identifying Early Symptoms in Parkinson’s

Do Antioxidants Benefit Patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s?

Insulin Resistance and Parkinson's Disease

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) Versus Parkinson's Disease

Parkinsonism in Spinocerebellar Ataxia

Where Does Parkinson’s Disease Originate?

Is Appendectomy Linked to Parkinson’s Disease?

Bipolar Disorder and Parkinson’s

Gene Therapies for Parkinson’s Disease

Latest Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Study reveals surprising connection between herpes and Alzheimer's

University of Pittsburgh researchers uncovered a surprising link between Alzheimer's disease and herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), suggesting that viral infections may play a role in the disease. The study results are published today in Cell Reports.

2 Jan 2025

SPLICER shows promise in Alzheimer's and other diseases

A new gene editing tool that helps cellular machinery skip parts of genes responsible for diseases has been applied to reduce the formation of amyloid-beta plaque precursors in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report.

23 Dec 2024

Vanderbilt researchers achieve milestone in Alzheimer's drug development

Researchers at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, a clinical stage biotech within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, have detailed the successful drug discovery of a phase I single ascending dose clinical trial of VU319, a drug for memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

19 Dec 2024

Space experiment shows faster maturation of brain organoids in microgravity

Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cognition, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain.

18 Dec 2024

Heat waves pose unique threats to people with Parkinson's and dementia

As 2024 is set to end as Earth's hottest year on record – breaking the previous record set in 2023– a UCLA Health researcher says people living with neurodegenerative diseases will be uniquely vulnerable to worsening heat waves because of a higher risk of heat-related complications.

17 Dec 2024

New method detects Parkinson's disease through emotional brain responses

A joint research team from the University of Canberra and Kuwait College of Science and Technology has achieved groundbreaking detection of Parkinson's disease with near-perfect accuracy, simply by analyzing brain responses to emotional situations like watching video clips or images.

16 Dec 2024

USC researchers awarded $3.4 million to combat age-related cognitive decline in women

A team of researchers at The Keck School of Medicine of USC have received a $3.4 million federal grant to advance research on an innovative approach to slowing age-related cognitive decline.

14 Dec 2024

Wearables and machine learning predict five-year fall risk in Parkinson’s patients

Wearable sensor data combined with machine learning predicts fall risk in Parkinson's patients, enhancing preventive care and clinical outcomes over five years.

10 Dec 2024

New brain stimulation trial aims to improve cognitive recovery from TBI

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability among young people in the United States and is the most devastating survivable injury in modern warfare, according to the University of Cincinnati's Ishita Basu.

9 Dec 2024

New Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network advances AI solutions for Parkinson’s disease

Neurological disorders are now the leading cause of disability worldwide. Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and case numbers are growing quickly.

6 Dec 2024

Immune cells play a key role in movement control and metabolic balance

Immune cells have a surprising and critical role in controlling movement and bridging neural activity with metabolic demands, concludes a groundbreaking study published in Nature by researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Imperial College London.

4 Dec 2024

CU Anschutz Medical Campus receives $46 million for blindness cure research

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus will receive up to $46 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program to advance pioneering research aimed at curing total blindness through human eye transplantation.

2 Dec 2024

Hypothalamic DBS therapy improves recovery of lower limb movements after spinal cord injury

Researchers at EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), led by professors Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch, have achieved a major milestone in the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI).

2 Dec 2024

Study highlights the critical role of TLR7 in sex-biased Alzheimer’s-related demyelination

Inhibiting an immune signaling protein called TLR7 may help preserve the protective layer surrounding nerve fibers in the brain during both Alzheimer's disease and ordinary aging, suggests a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.

2 Dec 2024

Beta-blocker drugs may slow Huntington's disease progression

A common heart drug may slow the progression of Huntington's disease (HD), according to a new study by University of Iowa Health Care researchers.

2 Dec 2024

Parkinson's disease drug disrupts the gut microbiome by inducing iron deficiency

In a groundbreaking new study, conducted within the framework of the FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence "Microbiomes drive Planetary Health", scientists from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Aalborg University and Boston University, have revealed that the widely prescribed Parkinson's disease drug entacapone significantly disrupts the human gut microbiome by inducing iron deficiency.

22 Nov 2024

AI could detect Parkinson's disease by analyzing subtle changes in voice

Algorithms that can detect subtle changes in a person's voice are emerging as a potential new diagnostic tool for Parkinson's disease, according to researchers from Iraq and Australia.

21 Nov 2024

New protein target offers promise for alleviating cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease

A recently published study by researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences found that a tiny protein called PNA5 appears to have a protective effect on brain cells, which could lead to treatments for the cognitive symptoms of Parkinson's disease and related disorders.

19 Nov 2024

Parkinson's study reveals dopamine's unexpected link to tremor

Researchers from the Champalimaud Foundation shed light on the puzzling relationship between dopamine and rest tremor in Parkinson's disease, finding that preserved dopamine in certain brain regions may actually contribute to tremor symptoms, challenging common beliefs.

18 Nov 2024

Researchers use cerebrospinal fluid to unlock pathways in Alzheimer's disease

A multitude of genes have been linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Specifically how those genes might influence the progression of neurodegeneration remains something of a black box though, in part because of the challenges of examining in molecular detail the brain of a living patient.

14 Nov 2024