Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Latest Parkinson's Disease News and Research

New method reveals complete set of aberrant signaling pathways that give rise to cancers

One major obstacle in the fight against cancer is that anticancer drugs often affect normal cells in addition to tumor cells, resulting in significant side effects. Yet research into development of less harmful treatments geared toward the targeting of specific cancer-causing mechanisms is hampered by lack of knowledge of the molecular pathways that drive cancers in individual patients.

2 Dec 2011

Enrollment complete in Ceregene's CERE-120 Phase 2b trial for Parkinson's

Ceregene, Inc. reported today that it has completed enrollment in its Phase 2b trial of CERE-120, a gene therapy product expressing the neurturin (NRTN) gene for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

1 Dec 2011

Study reveals no clear advantage of one implant type over another

More than 270,000 Americans get hip replacement surgeries every year -- a number that is projected to double in the next decade as the population ages. With various options for implants, including metal-on-polyethylene, metal-on-metal and ceramic-on-ceramic, there have been questions about which kind works best.

1 Dec 2011

New marker may provide more accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's, FTLD

New research finds a marker used to detect plaque in the brain may help doctors make a more accurate diagnosis between two common types of dementia - Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

1 Dec 2011

Study shows how UK scientists develop simple blood test to detect early-stage Parkinson's

A new research report appearing in the December issue of the FASEB Journal shows how scientists from the United Kingdom have developed a simple blood test to detect Parkinson's disease even at the earliest stages.

1 Dec 2011

Mayo Clinic becomes FUS Foundation's new Research Award recipient

The Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation has announced that its Research Awards Program is funding a Mayo Clinic study that will be the first to use U.S. commercial database information to compare the costs of three minimally-invasive treatments for symptomatic uterine fibroids, a benign and often debilitating condition that affects more than one in four American women.

30 Nov 2011

Exposure to TCE, PERC and CCI4 may increase risk of Parkinson's

A University of Kentucky faculty member is a contributing author on a new study demonstrating a connection between a common solvent chemical and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Franca Cambi of the UK Kentucky Neuroscience Institute collaborated with researchers from across the U.S. on a paper recently published in the Annals of Neurology.

29 Nov 2011

Scientists seek to prove beta oscillations of the cortex

Before she could seek to convince the world that her computer model of a key brain circuit explains a fundamental, 80-year-old mystery of neuroscience with potential relevance to Parkinson's disease, Stephanie Jones sought to convince Christopher Moore.

29 Nov 2011

Scientists use genetic methods to successfully repair cleft lips in mice embryos

Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College used genetic methods to successfully repair cleft lips in mice embryos specially engineered for the study of cleft lip and cleft palate. The research breakthrough may show the way to prevent or treat the conditions in humans.

29 Nov 2011

New database for scientists researching fission yeast

A new database promises to be an invaluable resource to scientists who use a unique single-celled fungus to study human diseases.

29 Nov 2011

Transplantation of new neurons into damaged area of the brain could restore brain functions

Without neurons reacting to the blood leptin level, the brain does not control the feeling of hunger and fullness. This type of genetic defects results in severe obesity in humans and animals.

25 Nov 2011

Carefully selected young, healthy neurons can repair brain circuitry

Neuron transplants have repaired brain circuitry and substantially normalized function in mice with a brain disorder, an advance indicating that key areas of the mammalian brain are more reparable than was widely believed.

24 Nov 2011

Biochemists identify structure of hydroxyurea that specifically inhibits proteasome

As the "recycling plant" of the cell, the proteasome regulates vitally important functions. When it is inhibited, the cell chokes on its own waste. Cancer cells, in particular, are very sensitive because they need the proteasome for their uncontrolled growth. Biochemists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) have now identified the lead structure of a new class of drugs that attacks the proteasome in an unusual way. New medication could be developed on the basis of this previously unknown binding mechanism.

22 Nov 2011

PAREXEL implements fMRI technology in early phase CNS drug development

PAREXEL International, a leading global biopharmaceutical services provider, today announced that it has enhanced its central nervous system (CNS) capabilities for clinical development through the implementation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology in its Early Phase units.

From Parexel 22 Nov 2011

Study examines link between early-stage Alzheimer's and lower BMI

Studies have shown that people who are overweight in middle age are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease decades later than people at normal weight, yet researchers have also found that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease are more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI). A current study examines this relationship between Alzheimer's disease and BMI.

22 Nov 2011

Older home health care patients are prescribed PIMs three times higher than others

Older adults receiving home health care may be taking a drug that is unsafe or ineffective for someone their age. In fact, nearly 40 percent of seniors receiving medical care from a home health agency are taking at least one prescription medication that is considered potentially inappropriate to seniors, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed.

22 Nov 2011

Scientists discover second faulty gene linked to ALS

Following a major Northwestern Medicine breakthrough that identified a common converging point for all forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease), a new finding from the same scientists further broadens the understanding of why cells in the brain and spinal cord degenerate in the fatal disease.

21 Nov 2011

Nature Medicine publishes dexpramipexole Phase 2 ALS study results

Knopp Biosciences LLC today announced the publication in Nature Medicine of comprehensive results from the Phase 2 study of dexpramipexole, a small-molecule modulator of mitochondrial bioenergetics, in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

21 Nov 2011

Scientists show that the sense of smell can be improved

In a new study scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have shown that the sense of smell can be improved. The new findings, published online November 20, 2011, in Nature Neuroscience, suggest possible ways to reverse the loss of smell due to aging or disease.

20 Nov 2011

Deep brain stimulation benefits highly treatment resistant patients with major depressive disorder

Results from the first multi-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depressive disorder were published online today by the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study, conducted at three research facilities in Canada, was designed to replicate and build upon an earlier study by Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Helen Mayberg which was published in the journal Neuron in 2005.

18 Nov 2011