Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion Corp. (ORNBV.HE) said Monday it has been informed that an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) has been filed by Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (MYL) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking authorisation to produce and market a generic version of Orion's proprietary drug Stalevo in the United States. MAIN FACTS: -The product is an enhanced levodopa treatment originated by Orion Corporation and marketed in the United States by its exclusive licensee, Novartis AG (NVS), for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. -At this point, the ANDA review process of Mylan is just beginning in the United States and generic competition is not imminent based on this application. -Orion is currently evaluating together with Novartis its legal options to protect its rights. -Under the U.S. system, if a patent owner brings a lawsuit against an ANDA applicant within a certain time limit, there will be a 30-month stay of final FDA approval. During that time, the FDA can give only a tentative approval to the ANDA applicant unless the applicant obtains a favorable decision on all challenged patents in the lawsuit. -Shares closed Friday at EUR14.77. -By Dominic Chopping; Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3093; dominic.chopping@ … Continue reading →

The ancient Chinese exercise is low impact, not very difficult to learn, and does not require any special equipment. It also improved balance and posture, two problems many with PD face. zhu difeng/Shutterstock Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a progressive motor system disorder characterized by tremor; rigidity or stiffness of arms, legs, and trunk; slowness of movements; and poor balance and coordination. Patients with Parkinson's may experience diminished ability to perform their daily activities and have an increased risk of falling. This eventually leads to significant impairment in their quality of life. While medications can be helpful, there is no cure and medications are less effective in treating the postural and balance problems associated with PD. Tai chi is an ancient Chinese exercise involving gentle, flowing movements and postures. It has health benefits that include reducing stress and improving balance and posture. It is low impact, not difficult to learn, and does not require any equipment. Both physical exercise and tai chi have been shown to improve strength, balance, and general functioning in seniors and to slow the loss of muscular functions. Researchers recently looked at the effect of tai chi on balance, gait, and daily function in patients with mild … Continue reading →

By Stephen Luntz is excess iron a cause or an effect? Both Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease have been linked to failures in a protein that normally removes excess iron from brain cells. Many obstacles exist to treatment, but the discovery holds out the tantalising prospect of addressing the two most devastating neurological diseases in one go. Both Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases are associated with iron accumulation in the brain, but there has been debate about whether this is a cause or an effect. Alzheimers is also associated with the tau protein, and there is recent evidence this may be more important than the more famous amyloid beta plaques (AS, March 2012, p.6). Prof Ashley Bush of the Mental Health Research Institute co-authored a paper in Nature Medicine raising the possibility that the problem may not be too much tau, but rather the transformation of tau from its soluble to its insoluble form. In Alzheimers disease tau is observed in neurofibrillary tangles. Less noticed is that this is associated with a reduction in soluble tau. A similar fall in tau is observed in Parkinsons disease. Now Bush has shown that one of the functions of tau in a healthy brain is … Continue reading →

MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- To mark April as Parkinson's Awareness Month there will be a meeting at the Crown Reef April 19 that will feature representatives from the Medical University of South Carolina. The meeting -- from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. with registration at 8:30 a.m. -- will feature MUSC movement disorder department representatives Dr. Vanessa Hinson, Dr. Gonzalo Revuelta, Jennifer Zimmerman, RN, and Amy DeLambo, FNP, according to a release sent out on the meeting. Organizers will also honor people who have taken part in clinical trials to advance treatment of Parkinson. "There is estimated over a million people in the USA have Parkinson's. The reason for an estimate is we have no way of knowing the exact amount," Jackie Snead, assistant state director for Parkinson's Action Network and research advocate for Parkinson's Disease Foundation, said in a release on the event. "The main medication for treatment of Parkinson's is over 40 years old." Snead said in the release. For more information on the gathering, interested people can e-mail Snead at snead_jackie@yahoo.com. Continued here: Parkinson's conference set for Myrtle Beach in April … Continue reading →

PLAN-LES-OUATES GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwire -03/21/12)- Addex Therapeutics / Addex Reports Positive Top Line Phase IIa Data for Dipraglurant in Parkinson's Disease Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia (PD-LID) Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Geneva, Switzerland, 21 March 2012 - Addex Therapeutics (SIX: ADXN), a leading company pioneering allosteric modulation-based drug discovery and development, announced today positive top line data from a Phase IIa clinical study of dipraglurant in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients suffering from debilitating levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). The data show that dipraglurant met the primary objective of the study by exhibiting a good safety and tolerability profile. Dipraglurant also demonstrated statistically significant reduction in LID severity with both 50mg and 100mg doses. Dipraglurant appears to reduce dystonia severity in addition to chorea, the two major LID components. A full analysis of the data will be presented at a scientific forum in 2012. Dipraglurant is an oral, small molecule allosteric modulator that inhibits selectively the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), a Class C G- Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR), with potential to be used in combination with levodopa or dopamine agonists or as a standalone treatment for PD-LID, PD-related motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms … Continue reading →

Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012 10:00 am | Updated: 11:25 pm, Tue Mar 20, 2012. A recent discovery by Purdue researchers may open new doors in the treatment and detection of Parkinsons disease. The three year project concluded with the discovery of the cause of a mutation in protein DJ-1, which is directly correlated with the development of Parkinsons. This mutant protein has been known to exist in individuals with Parkinsons but the cause of the mutation, other than natural aging, has been unknown until now. Professor of chemistry Fred Regnier said, within the substantia nigra structure in the brain, DJ-1 serves as a chaperone for another protein known as alpha-synuclein. When DJ-1 is mutated, it becomes a less effective chaperone for alpha-synuclein. This results in clumps of protein called Lewy bodies, causing alpha-synuclein to stop functioning. This process, which causes Lewy bodies to build up, is referred to as oxidative stress. Too much oxidation can lead to oxidative stress diseases, which include Parkinsons. Anytime oxidative stress becomes very large, cells die for all kinds of reasons, Regnier said. The oxidative stress becomes so large that you begin to damage proteins. The discovery is not a cure for Parkinsons but … Continue reading →

Washington, March 21 (ANI): Curcumin, a compound found in the spice turmeric, has been found to be effective at preventing clumping of a protein involved in Parkinson's disease. A team of researchers led by Basir Ahmad, a Michigan State University postdoctoral researcher, demonstrated earlier this year that slow-wriggling alpha-synuclein proteins are the cause of clumping, or aggregation, which is the first step of diseases such as Parkinson's. Now, a new study led by Ahmad has found that curcumin can help prevent clumping. "Our research shows that curcumin can rescue proteins from aggregation, the first steps of many debilitating diseases," said Lisa Lapidus, MSU associate professor of physics and astronomy who co-authored study with Ahmad. "More specifically, curcumin binds strongly to alpha-synuclein and prevents aggregation at body temperatures," she stated. Lapidus' lab uses lasers to study protein folding. Proteins are chains of amino acids that do most of the work in cells. Scientists understand protein structure, but they don't know how they are built - a process known as folding. Lapidus' team is shedding light on the process by correlating the speed at which protein folds with its tendency to clump or bind with other proteins. When curcumin attaches to alpha-synuclein … Continue reading →

Published: 3/18/2012 7:57 PM | Last update: 3/18/2012 11:25 PM (Sandra J. Milburn/The Hutchinson News) Only a few months ago, Gary Hughes, who has Parkinsons disease, could not walk without a walker, a wheelchair or sometimes a cane. But now he can walk up and down stairs at home without help. If he needed to use the restroom during the night, the 64-year-old Hutchinson resident crawled there, rather than risk a fall. "I was not able to walk without falling down," Hughes said. "I fell down a lot. I had to use a walker, and a wheelchair, sometimes a laser cane." "Now I can walk and I don't use any assistive devices." Hughes received a new, though temporary, lease on life through deep brain surgery, where electronic probes were inserted through the top of his head to near his spinal cortex. The probes are stimulated by an electronic pulse or neurotransmitter implanted in his chest. It's not a cure, Hughes said, but it may give him 5 to 10 years before the symptoms of the disease return in force. It's a surgery that can't benefit everyone with Parkinson's, but it has had remarkable results for Hughes, who founded a local … Continue reading →

London, March 19 (ANI): An injection of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into their brain helped monkeys with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms ease their suffering, say Japanese scientists. These cells were injected into monkeys whose brains had been damaged by a chemical that destroys dopamine-producing neurons and so causes Parkinson's symptoms. In the study conducted by Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues, two monkeys received hESCs that had been matured into an early form of neural cell. Six months later, the monkeys had recovered 20 to 45 per cent of the movement they had lost before treatment. Post-mortems a year after treatment showed that the cells had developed into fully functioning dopamine-secreting neurons. Another monkey that received less-mature neural cells also showed improvements. "Monkeys starting with tremors and rigidity [began] to move smoothly, and animals originally confined to sitting down were able to walk around," New Scientists quoted Takahashi as saying. But it will probably be four to six years before clinical trials in humans begin, according to the team. (ANI) Link: Human stem cell injections ease Parkinson's symptoms in monkeys … Continue reading →

MONKEYS with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms have had their suffering eased by an injection of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into their brain. Jun Takahashi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues injected these cells into monkeys whose brains had been damaged by a chemical that destroys dopamine-producing neurons and so causes Parkinson's symptoms. Two monkeys received hESCs that had been matured into an early form of neural cell. Six months later, the monkeys had recovered 20 to 45 per cent of the movement they had lost before treatment. Post-mortems a year after treatment showed that the cells had developed into fully functioning dopamine-secreting neurons. Another monkey that received less-mature neural cells also showed improvements (Stem Cells, DOI: 10.1002/stem.1060). "Monkeys starting with tremors and rigidity [began] to move smoothly, and animals originally confined to sitting down were able to walk around," says Takahashi. The team says it will probably be four to six years before clinical trials in humans begin. If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available … Continue reading →