http://medicalxpress.com/parkinsons-disease-news/ en-us Medical Xpress provides the latest research news on Parkinson's disease and movement disorders In Parkinson's disease, the protein "alpha-synuclein" aggregates and accumulates within neurons. Specific areas of the brain become progressively affected as the disease develops and advances. The mechanism underlying this pathological progression is poorly understood but could result from spreading of the protein (or abnormal forms of it) along nerve projections connecting lower to upper brain regions. Scientists at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn have developed a novel experimental model that reproduces for the first time this pattern of alpha-synuclein brain spreading and provides important clues on the mechanisms underlying this pathological process. They triggered the production of human alpha-synuclein in the lower rat brain and were able to trace the spreading of this protein toward higher brain regions. The new experimental paradigm could promote the development of ways to halt or slow down disease development in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-animal-insights-mechanisms-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 24 May 2013 11:38:10 EST news288614282 Gaucher disease causes debilitating and sometimes fatal neurodegeneration in early childhood. Recent studies have uncovered a link between the mutations responsible for Gaucher disease and an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life. New research published online on May 23 in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism indicates that the neurodegeneration found in Gaucher disease stems from defects in processes that break down and remove unwanted material from cells. This defective trash removal in cells can lead to the toxic build-up of proteins found to be responsible for neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, providing insight into the link between the two diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-defective-cellular-gaucher-patients-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 23 May 2013 12:14:20 EST news288530028 Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder marked by a progressive loss of motor control. Despite intensive research, there are currently no approved therapies that have been demonstrated to alter the progression of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-diabetes-drug-parkinson-disease-patients.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:02 EST news288269009 Neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken of VIB (Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and KU Leuven has shown for the first time that dysfunctional mitochondria in brain cells can lead to learning disabilities. The link between dysfunctional mitochondria and Parkinson's disease is known, but this new research shows that it is also present in other brain disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-faulty-energy-production-brain-cells.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 17 May 2013 08:30:01 EST news287996248 McGill University researchers have unlocked a new door to developing drugs to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease. Collaborating teams led by Dr. Edward A. Fon at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, and Dr. Kalle Gehring in the Department of Biochemistry at the Faculty of Medicine, have discovered the three-dimensional structure of the protein Parkin. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-unleashing-watchdog-protein.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 09 May 2013 15:43:22 EST news287332993 New research reveals that Solanaceae—a flowering plant family with some species producing foods that are edible sources of nicotine—may provide a protective effect against Parkinson's disease. The study appearing today in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, suggests that eating foods that contain even a small amount of nicotine, such as peppers and tomatoes, may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-peppers-parkinson-dietary-nicotine-key.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 09 May 2013 04:25:49 EST news287292338 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have exposed the possible function, in the healthy brain, of a mysterious molecule that has been strongly implicated in Parkinson's disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. They made their discovery using a stripped-down experimental system that mimics key aspects of how nerve cells communicate with one another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-reveals-probable-role-parkinson-protein.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 01 May 2013 09:09:48 EST news286618171 A protein known to be a key player in the development of Parkinson's disease is able to enter and harm cells in the same way that viruses do, according to a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-parkinson-disease-protein-virus.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:00:01 EST news286122034 Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive degenerative disease affecting a person's ability to coordinate and control their muscle movement. What starts out as a tremor in a finger will eventually lead to difficulty in writing and speaking, and ultimately the inability to walk without assistance. Since the 1950s research has shown that people with Parkinson's have decreased levels of the chemical dopamine in their brains, which is involved in sending messages to the part of the brain that controls coordination and movement. Subsequent research has found that dopamine-generating cells, known as dopaminergic neurons, are also absent in a specific area of the brain in those with PD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-inflammatory-stimulus-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:23:18 EST news285931393 The earliest signs of Parkinson's disease can be deceptively mild. The first thing that movie star Michael J. Fox noticed was twitching of the little finger of his left hand. For years, he made light of the apparently harmless tic. But such tremors typically spread, while muscles stiffen up and directed movements take longer to carry out. Research groups led by Armin Giese of LMU Munich and Christian Griesinger at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have developed a chemical compound that slows down the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease in mice. The scientists hope that this approach will give them a way to treat the cause of Parkinson's and so arrest its progress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-parkinson-anle138b-clumping-synunclein-protein.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:06:54 EST news285923169 Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the death of dopamine-producing neurons in the midbrain, resulting in motor symptoms such as tremors and stiffness. The cause of cell death remains unknown and researchers have long sought a way to replace the lost dopamine-producing cells. A study led by Takuya Hayashi from the RIKEN Center for Molecular Imaging Science now suggests that in monkeys such neurons can be derived from bone marrow stem cells and then transplanted back into the brain to reverse the symptoms of this devastating disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-dopamine-producing-neurons-derived-bone-marrow.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:20:02 EST news285839534 Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston have developed a gene therapy approach that may one day stop Parkinson's disease (PD) in it tracks, preventing disease progression and reversing its symptoms. The novelty of the approach lies in the nasal route of administration and nanoparticles containing a gene capable of rescuing dying neurons in the brain. Parkinson's is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by the death of dopamine neurons in a key motor area of the brain, the substantia nigra (SN). Loss of these neurons leads to the characteristic tremor and slowed movements of PD, which get increasingly worse with time. Currently, more than 1% of the population over age 60 has PD and approximately 60,000 Americans are newly diagnosed every year. The available drugs on the market for PD mimic or replace the lost dopamine but do not get to the heart of the problem, which is the progressive loss of the dopamine neurons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-noninvasive-avenue-parkinson-disease-gene.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:02:02 EST news285789711 (Medical Xpress)—A new study could help earlier diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, after a Malaysian researcher working for Newcastle University in the UK identified that even early in the disease people experience symptoms. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-parkinson-discovery-earlier-diagnosis.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:49:09 EST news285490111 University of Adelaide researchers are hoping to better understand why some sufferers of Parkinson's disease experience a marked reduction in blood pressure after they've eaten a meal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-meal-induced-falls-blood-pressure-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Wed, 03 Apr 2013 06:25:22 EST news284189110 In a mouse model of early Parkinson's disease (PD), animals displayed movement deficits, loss of tyrosine-hydroxylase (TH)-positive fibers in the striatum, and astro-gliosis and micro-gliosis in the substantia nigra (SN), without the loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons. These findings, which may cast light on the molecular processes involved in the initial stages of PD, are available in the current issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-early-parkinson-disease-pathology.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:45:44 EST news284031930 (Medical Xpress)—Clumps of α-synuclein protein in nerve cells are hallmarks of many degenerative brain diseases, most notably Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-disease-protein-gums-garbage.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 28 Mar 2013 08:50:02 EST news283677861 As part of a new initiative to speed the search for changes in the body that can help predict, diagnose, or monitor Parkinson's disease, a research team led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory recently received a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Scientists from PNNL, University of Miami, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rush University have teamed to identify new components of the Lewy bodies that accumulate in the brain during Parkinson's, and then use ultra-sensitive methods to see if any of these proteins have leaked into cerebrospinal fluid or blood. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-puzzle-assay-components-protein.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:50:02 EST news283505003 (Medical Xpress)—NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) and Mayo Clinic researchers have partnered on a study that shows genetic and clinical evidence that therapies targeting the expression of alpha-synuclein—a gene whose function is involved in the development and progression of Parkinson's disease—may accelerate disease progression and increase the risk of physical incapacitation and dementia. If replicated, the findings will have profound implications for therapies under development for Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-genetic-evidence-therapies-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:20:06 EST news283076397 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Parkinson's and Movement Disorders Center have found that mitochondrial quality and functional capacity play an important role in Parkinson's disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-disease-link.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:05:21 EST news282899112 Three studies released today present possible positive news for people with Parkinson's disease. The studies, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013, report on treatments for blood pressure problems, the wearing-off that can occur when people have taken the main drug for Parkinson's for a long time, and for people early in the disease whose symptoms are not well-controlled by their main drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-drugs-quality-life-people-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:20:13 EST news282496805 A small study of 20 people with Parkinson's disease suggests that "virtual house calls" using Web-based video conferencing provide clinical benefits comparable to in-person physician office visits, while saving patients and their caregivers time and travel. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-virtual-house-in-person-people-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:00:09 EST news282222743 Last month, the National Institutes of Health announced a new collaborative initiative that aims to accelerate the search for biomarkers—changes in the body that can be used to predict, diagnose or monitor a disease—in Parkinson's disease, in part by improving collaboration among researchers and helping patients get involved in clinical studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-effort-parkinson-biomarkers.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:41:45 EST news281709697 A team of scientists and clinicians at UC San Francisco has discovered how to detect abnormal brain rhythms associated with Parkinson's by implanting electrodes within the brains of people with the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-brain-rhythms-disease-deep.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:20 EST news281615559 Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how the most common genetic mutations in familial Parkinson's disease damage brain cells. The study, which published online today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, could also open up treatment possibilities for both familial Parkinson's and the more common form of Parkinson's that is not inherited. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-scientists-clean-up-snafu-brain-cells.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:00:18 EST news281520529 Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich identify a novel signal transduction pathway, which activates the parkin gene and prevents stress-induced neuronal cell death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-parkinson-disease-parkin-neuronal-cell.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:07:03 EST news281358185 A new therapy could help suppress tremors in people with Parkinson's disease, an Oxford University study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-therapy-electricity-cancel-parkinson-tremors.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:08:08 EST news280382872 Some 90,000 patients per year are treated for Parkinson's disease, a number that is expected to rise by 25 percent annually. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), which consists of electrically stimulating the central or peripheral nervous system, is currently standard practice for treating Parkinson's, but it can involve long, expensive surgeries with dramatic side effects. Miniature, ultra-flexible electrodes developed in Switzerland, however, could be the answer to more successful treatment for this and a host of other health issues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-disease-deep-brain.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Mon, 18 Feb 2013 03:40:10 EST news280381195 The most common genetic cause of Parkinson's is not only responsible for the condition's distinctive movement problems but may also affect vision, according to new research by scientists at the University of York. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-uncovers-potential-link-parkinson-visual.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:31:55 EST news280153899 Flinders University researchers have discovered that a protein in the brain may play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease – a common degenerative neurological disorder which affects the control of body movements. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-early-diagnosis-treatment-parkinson.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:40:05 EST news280145163 Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say overexpression of a protein called alpha-synuclein appears to disrupt vital recycling processes in neurons, starting with the terminal extensions of neurons and working its way back to the cells' center, with the potential consequence of progressive degeneration and eventual cell death. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-excess-protein-linked-parkinson-disease.html Parkinson's & Movement disorders Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:52:55 EST news279471152