Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Latest Parkinson's Disease News and Research

Oxidative stress: mechanism of cell death clarified

Dr. Marcus Conrad of the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology and Tumor Genetics at the Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen has decrypted the molecular mechanism through which the death of cells is caused by oxidative stress.

3 Sep 2008

New stem cell tools to aid drug development

Scientists have designed, developed and tested new molecular tools for stem cell research to direct the formation of certain tissue types for use in drug development programmes.

2 Sep 2008

New sensory devices to help Parkinson's and stroke patients

People who have suffered a stroke or who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, could benefit from new research at Queen's University Belfast.

31 Aug 2008

Plastic coatings could help medical implants connect with neurons

Plastic coatings could someday help neural implants treat conditions as diverse as Parkinson's disease and macular degeneration.

21 Aug 2008

Australian scientist finds the key to overeating as we age

A Monash University scientist has discovered key appetite control cells in the human brain degenerate over time, causing increased hunger and potentially weight-gain as we grow older.

21 Aug 2008

New therapeutic approaches to protect neurons from inflammation and toxicity-induced neurodegeneration

New research led by Chu Chen, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, provides evidence that one of the only naturally occurring fatty acids in the brain that has the ability to interact with the receptors originally identified as the targets of THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) can help to protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

20 Aug 2008

Addiction drug Vigabatrin proves successful in animal weight loss study

Vigabatrin, a medication proposed as a potential treatment for drug addiction by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, also leads to rapid weight loss and reduced food intake according to a new animal study from the same research group.

20 Aug 2008

One night without sleep increases chemical dopamine in the human brain

Because drugs that increase dopamine, like amphetamines, promote wakefulness, the findings offer a potential mechanism explaining how the brain helps people stay awake despite the urge to sleep. However, the study also shows that the increase in dopamine cannot compensate for the cognitive deficits caused by sleep deprivation.

19 Aug 2008

FDA approves tetrabenazine for Huntington's disease

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved tetrabenazine, the first drug approved for use in the United States to treat Huntington's disease, a fatal, inherited neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no cure. The action comes about eight months after an advisory panel unanimously voted to advise FDA to make the medication available to treat the disease.

17 Aug 2008

URMC & NIH partner to expand, accelerate clinical research in neurological diseases

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are hosting a week-long training session designed to create a new generation of researchers with the specialized skills necessary to conduct clinical trials in neurological disorders.

14 Aug 2008

Robot controlled by biological brain provides insights into how the brain works

A multidisciplinary team at the University of Reading has developed a robot which is controlled by a biological brain formed from cultured neurons. This cutting edge research is the first step to examine how memories manifest themselves in the brain, and how a brain stores specific pieces of data.

13 Aug 2008

Therapies which boost the clearance of faulty proteins in cells may slow down ageing

Scientists say as people age, their cells become less efficient at getting rid of damaged protein and the result is a buildup of toxic material; this is particularly apparent in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders associated with ageing.

11 Aug 2008

Dopamine and Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease and drug addiction are polar opposite diseases, but both depend upon dopamine in the brain. Parkinson's patients don't have enough of it; drug addicts get too much of it. Although the importance of dopamine in these disorders has been well known, the way it works has been a mystery.

10 Aug 2008

Scientists stop age-related decline in an entire organ

As people age, their cells become less efficient at getting rid of damaged protein - resulting in a buildup of toxic material that is especially pronounced in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders.

10 Aug 2008

Recipe for cell reprogramming adds protein

A drug-like molecule called Wnt can be substituted for the cancer gene c-Myc, one of four genes added to adult cells to reprogram them to an embryonic-stem-cell-like state, according to Whitehead researchers.

6 Aug 2008

Markers in blood and spinal fluid, and a new imaging agent, show promise for early detection of Alzheimer's

With the continued aging of the population and the growing epidemic of Alzheimer's, early detection of the disease is crucial for risk assessment, testing new therapies, and eventual early intervention with better drugs, once they are developed. Four studies reported today at the Alzheimer's Association's 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago bring us closer to that goal of early detection by describing advances in biomarkers.

29 Jul 2008

How anti-depressants and cocaine interact with brain

In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction.

28 Jul 2008

First-of-its-kind study examines whether fat tissues from different areas of the body vary in stem cell concentration

Fat removed from the lower abdomen and inner thigh through liposuction was found to be an excellent source of stem cells, with higher stem cell concentrations than other areas of the body, reports a Brazilian-based study in August's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

23 Jul 2008

Study shows promising results in deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression

New data from a study of patients with treatment-resistant depression who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subcallosal cingulate region (SCG or Cg25) of the brain shows that this intervention is generally safe and provides significant improvement in patients as early as one month after treatment. The patients also experienced continued and sustained improvement over time.

21 Jul 2008

Genetic mechanisms at play in blood cells important in Parkinson’s disease

What does the genetics of blood cells have to do with brain cells related to Parkinson's disease? From an unusual collaboration of neurologists and a pharmacologist comes the surprising answer: Genetic mechanisms at play in blood cells also control a gene and protein that cause Parkinson's disease.

21 Jul 2008