Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

For the past five decades pharmaceutical drugs like levodopa have been the gold standard for treating Parkinsons disease. These medications alleviate motor symptoms of the disease, but none of them can cure it. Patients with Parkinsons continue to lose dopamine neurons critical to the motor control centers of the brain. Eventually the drugs become ineffective and patients tremors get worse. They experience a loss of balance and a debilitating stiffness takes over their legs. To replace the lost dopamine neurons, scientists have begun investigating stem cell therapy as a potential treatment or even a cure. But embryonic cells and adult stem cells have proved difficult to harness and transplant into the brain. Now a study from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm shows it is possible to coax the brains own astrocytescells that typically support and nurture neuronsinto producing a new generation of dopamine neurons. The reprogrammed cells display several of the properties and functions of native dopamine neurons and could alter the course of Parkinsons, according to the researchers. You can directly reprogram a cell that is already inside the brain and change the function in such a way that you can improve neurological symptoms, says senior author Ernest Arenas, … Continue reading →

Research into new treatments for Parkinson's disease is falling behind and in urgent need of extra funding, a charity has warned. Without greater progress, patients with the progressive shaking disease face a bleak future, according to Parkinson's UK. The charity has launched its first public fundraising campaign as it marks 200 years since the disease was first identified by London-based physician James Parkinson. Although some of the symptoms of Parkinson's are treatable, currently there is nothing available that can halt or reverse the condition. The disease, suffered by around 127,000 people in the UK, has a range of physical effects including tremors, slowness of movement and rigidity, that can impact on almost every area of a person's life. It is also associated with "hidden" symptoms such as poor sleep, depression and dementia. Speaking at the start of the "We Won't Wait" campaign, Parkinson's UK chief executive Steve Ford said: " In the past 200 years we have made many strides forward, but people with Parkinson's are still waiting for a treatment that can tackle the condition head on. "Parkinson's can leave people struggling to walk, talk and sleep. Today, we say we won't wait any longer. "That's why Parkinson's UK … Continue reading →

GETTY The condition - which affects around 127,000 people in the UK, can also cause hidden symptoms such as poor sleep, bladder or bowel problems, dementia and depression. A charity has warned research into new treatments for Parkinson's disease is falling behind and in urgent need of extra funding. Parkinsons UK said that without greater progress, patients with the progressive shaking disease face a 'bleak future'. The main drug prescribed to people with Parkinson's, levodopa, has not changed in more than 50 years. GETTY The charity has launched its first public fundraising campaign as it marks 200 years since the disease was first identified by physician James Parkinson. Although some of the symptoms of Parkinson's are treatable, currently there is nothing available that can halt or reverse the condition. "In the past 200 years we have made many strides forward, but people with Parkinson's are still waiting for a treatment that can tackle the condition head on, said Steve Ford, chief executive of Parkinsons UK. "Parkinson's can leave people struggling to walk, talk and sleep. Today, we say we won't wait any longer. "That's why Parkinson's UK is spearheading, with the expertise of the research community and the support of … Continue reading →

Mr Buttery will be joined on his journey, which marks 200-years since the publication of James Parkinsons essay on the disease, by skipper Billy Taylor and fellow rowers Barry Hayes and James Plumley. Mr Taylor, 44, said:Rowing the Indian Ocean is no easy feat at the best of times - the physical and mental challenge will be enormous for all of us. For Robin, the row will be that much harder. Hes already a winner in my books. Scientists will use an on-board camera to monitor in minute detail Mr Butterys reaction to conditions around him and the effort he will make during the ocean crossing. They will compare this to the results of a detailed medical examination of the crew set off and after they arrive, in order to understand whether Parkinsons is metabolic as well as a neurological disorder, Professor Helen Dawes, who leads the Movement Science Group at the Oxford Brookes, said: Anyone involved in sport will know that motor skills and fitness improve with practice and that your movement is affected when you are tired. We will monitor motor skill changes, alongside physiological and emotional responses. Its an important piece of research that will help us … Continue reading →

Researchers found regular set dance sessions involving Irish jigs and reels can help those with the condition IRISH dancing could be an unlikely new treatment for thousands of people who suffer form Parkinsons disease. Researchers found regular set dance sessions involving Irish jigs and reels can help those with the condition. Irish set dancing pairs typically make up groups of four or six, which move around each other on the floor, often following instructions from a caller. A study by the University of Limerick showed 90 minutes a week of dancing for ten weeks boosted patients quality of life. As well as helping their psychological well-being, it made them fitter. Recruits performed better than non-dancers on a test designed to see how far and fast they could walk in six minutes. Parkinsons is an incurable condition affecting 12,000 in Ireland. It develops when certain brain cells stop producing enough of the chemical dopamine, so everyday activities are very difficult. Comedian Billy Connolly was diagnosed with the illness in 2013, while other famous sufferers include boxing great Muhammad Ali, who died last year. Studies have shown other types of dancing such as the tango can also help Parkinsons patients. Irish dancing … Continue reading →

By Chris Jamele April is a wonderful time of regeneration and promise. Of late, April has taken on an even greater significance for me, because it is National Parkinsons Awareness Month. My fathers 20-year battle with the disease deeply affected my family, and it gave an unexpected purpose to my energies. April is a remarkable time of discovery and optimism, elements that shape efforts by the National Parkinson Foundation of Western New York in raising awareness of the prevalence of this disease in our region, providing education about the affliction and recognizing the extraordinary daily battle that Parkinsonians and their care partners face. Realizing that this is my seventh year with the NPFWNY, I began to find an uncanny correlation between Parkinsons and the number seven. Seven is a bit of a magical number. Various parts of our lives, our beliefs and our world are intertwined with this digit. There are seven days in a week, seven continents, seven seas, seven wonders of the ancient world and seven colors in a rainbow. The number has connotations both good and bad. In some games, rolling a seven with a pair of dice can be a winner. There are cultures that consider … Continue reading →

Doctors gave KHOU 11 News rare access to a surgery that can stop symptoms like tremors, stiffness and slowness for Parkinson's patients. Stephanie Whitfield, KHOU 4:28 PM. CDT April 06, 2017 Doctors gaveKHOU11 News rare access to a surgery that can stop symptoms like tremors, stiffness and slowness for Parkinsons patients. (Photo: KHOU) HOUSTON - Because April is Parkinsons Awareness Month, Memorial Hermann Hospital invited KHOU into one of its operating rooms. Doctors gave us rare access to a surgery that can stop symptoms like tremors, stiffness and slowness for Parkinsons patients. The procedure is called deep brain stimulation. Even though the surgery has been around for years, doctors say only about ten percent of Parkinsons disease patients take advantage of it. Randy Ducote, 49, started noticing tremors 10 years ago. Hed always been active and coaches his sons football and baseball teams. Thats why he says his diagnosis was devastating. It got to the point where I didnt want to be around other people. I didnt want to answer the phone. I dont want to say I was depressed, but I wasnt excited to get out of bed like I was a year before. Before I realized what I … Continue reading →

Julie Bullock remembers the day she was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease in September 2011. She walked to her car after her doctor's appointment and sat in the parking lot searching the internet on her phone. "Will Parkinson's disease kill me?" the Essex resident recalls typing. It wouldn't. She returned to her job that day as a secretary in the Johns Hopkins University's department of psychological and brain sciences the office where she began six months before her diagnosis, working with students studying conditions like hers. Five-and-a-half years later, Bullock, 48, hasn't let the tremor in her right hand stop her from making homemade jams and other foods to spread the word and drum up funds for the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and she's recruited local restaurants to put on a series of fundraising events throughout April, Parkinson's Awareness Month. She also serves as a firsthand resource on Parkinson's for students and faculty. Even as they impart medical knowledge about her disease, she can explain how it feels to live with it. Parkinson's is a progressive degenerative disease that causes people to lose control of their movements as a result of the deterioration of … Continue reading →

April 02, 2017 A new smartphone app could help improve treatment for people with Parkinson's disease because it enables individuals and their physicians to track the development of systems between medical appointments, according to its inventors. The Android app, called cloudUPDRS, records the details of movements while a person performs a series of actions with each limb, such as tapping the screen to assess slowness of movement and holding the phone on a knee to assess tremor. The measurements are uploaded to an online Big Data analytics server to calculate a score in the format of the clinical Universal Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, or UPDRS. Additional analytics performed over time enable healthcare professionals to determine how the disease is progressing and can help them make treatment decisions. More regular assessments of disease progression mean that patients receive more consistent and reliable care, and detailed and automated patient analytics permit the early identification of problems such as medication side effects, George Roussos, Ph.D., who is the research lead in computing technology for the app development, said in a statement. By collecting and analyzing data ahead of appointments, clinicians and patients can focus clinic time on treatment strategies rather than clinical assessment. … Continue reading →

Ever since Tonya Walker learned to walk, she would steal her aunts high heels from the floor, put them on and strut around. As she grew up to become a lawyer in construction and commercial litigation, she continued to marvel at the way a striking pair of high heels could transform even the most ordinary of little black dresses into something whole. I think Marilyn Monroe was right: Give a girl the right pair of shoes, and she can conquer the world, now 43-year-old Walker told Fox News, quoting the late actress. Thats why when Walker was diagnosed with early onset Parkinsons disease at age 32, losing the ability to wear her top wardrobe staple was one of the most heartbreaking hardships she faced during her ongoing battle with the disease, which causes balance and coordination issues. That was just one more thing Parkinsons had taken away from me, said Walker, who lives in Orlando, Florida. '90210' ACTOR REVEALS 2015 CANCER SCARE But Walker didnt let her diagnosis stop her from pursuing her dreams. Not only did she go on to conceive her now 9-and-a-half-year-old son, Chase, as her symptoms began appearing, and begin teaching law at a local university, … Continue reading →