Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

ZANESVILLE, Ohio-One local group is shaking things up when it comes to treating Parkinsons disease. All Shook UP is the Zanesville Parkinsons group. They pride themselves on their treatment for Parkinsons symptoms and movement disorders; which they do in a unique and fun way. Amy Dunn, President of All Shook UP, said they serve patients from five counties. Theycome here to get some exercise relief from Parkinsons. Exercise is a treatment, it is a medicine for Parkinsons and people need to know that, get out and exercise, said Dunn. Dunn said the exercise treatment stretches the muscles to ensure atrophy doesnt set in and mobility is not lost. The group works with therapists who are trained specifically in Parkinsons exercise; a treatment she can attest to first-hand. This exercise class has benefited me to the point that my neurologist was freaked out he said you should be getting worse, I dont think you have Parkinsons. Exercise does that much for me, said Dunn. The group exercises twice a week. The IBEW provides the location for their boxing class and strength class on Tuesdays. And on Thursdays the Zanesville Fraternal Order of Eagles sponsors their aquatic class at the Muskingum Recreation … Continue reading →

INTRODUCTION The array of pharmacologic and surgical treatments available for the treatment of idiopathic (or Lewy body) Parkinson disease (PD) is broader than for any other degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Management of individual patients requires careful consideration of a number of factors, including the patient's symptoms and signs, age, stage of disease, degree of functional disability, and level of physical activity and productivity. Treatment can be divided into pharmacologic, nonpharmacologic, and surgical therapy. The pharmacologic treatment of PD can be further divided into neuroprotective and symptomatic therapy. In practice, nearly all of the available treatments are symptomatic in nature and do not appear to slow or reverse the natural course of the disease. However, several potential neuroprotective agents for PD have shown some promise in animals and/or humans and are undergoing further investigation. Neuroprotective therapy for PD is discussed in greater detail separately. (See "Neuroprotective therapy for Parkinson disease".) The routine medical management of PD is reviewed here. The nonpharmacologic management of PD, including education, support, exercise, and nutrition, is discussed separately. (See "Nonpharmacologic management of Parkinson disease".) Treatment of advanced PD, particularly the complications associated with long-term levodopa therapy, and management of the comorbid problems including … Continue reading →

By: Ian Shalapata28 March 2017 (WINDSOR, ON) The founder of Titan Tool and Die, Joseph Szecsei, and his wife Magdalena have created the Szecsei Parkinson and Neurodegenerative Disease Research Fund with the initial donation of $100,000. Living with advanced Parkinsons has been one of the greatest challenges in my life, said Joseph. The disease has robbed me of the many things I always enjoyed doing, mainly the use of my motor ability and the ability to use my hands to create. Both my family and I are looking forward to the day when there are more options for treatment and, of course, a cure. The new fund will benefit the research being undertaken by Siyaram Pandey and Jerome Cohen at the University of Windsor as part of the Behaviour, Cognition, and Neuroscience program. The pair has a platform to study Alzheimers and Parkinsons diseases and develop therapeutic interventions to block their progression. The dean of science, Chris Houser, anticipates the Szecsei donation will make a difference in advancing the disease research at UWindsor. We appreciate the support of the Szecsei family and their creation of this fund, said Houser. Part of the university experience is to expose undergraduate and graduate … Continue reading →

Excerpt from Cannabis Revealed: How the worlds most misunderstood plant is healing everything from chronic pain to epilepsy Parkinsons disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects motor function and coordination. PD results from the death of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the area of the brain in the basal ganglia called the substantia nigra, an area responsible for movement. The cause of PD in most cases is unknown. However, a small percentage of cases are genetic. There are some environmental risk factors that have been associated with increased risk of PD, including pesticide exposure and head injury. PD patients suffer with tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability. Patients can also have depression, cognitive decline, sleep disorders, and occasionally psychosis. The mainstay of treatment is medications, rehabilitation with exercise and occupational therapy, and surgery in advanced cases. There is limited scientific literature on the effectiveness of medical cannabis for treatment of PD symptoms. One study reported no improvement in tremor with smoked cannabis. (1) In a survey of 339 patients with PD in the Czech Republic, 25% reported experimenting with cannabis to treat symptoms. Almost half of those using cannabis reported improvement with at least once-a-day use. Use … Continue reading →

Currently symptomatic therapies for Parkinson's Disease (PD) produce unwanted side effects and diminished effectiveness over time. A recent study published in STEM CELLS suggests that human neural stem cell (hNSC) transplantation could help to treat PD by stimulating subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cells to produce more neural cells. Durham, NC (PRWEB) March 28, 2017 Currently symptomatic therapies for Parkinson's Disease (PD) produce unwanted side effects and diminished effectiveness over time. A recent study published in STEM CELLS suggests that human neural stem cell (hNSC) transplantation could help to treat PD by stimulating subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cells to produce more neural cells. Strategies involving transplantation of these cells into the affected brain regions hold great promise; however, the exact mechanisms behind hNSCs' success are not fully understood. Neural stem cells are self-renewing and can differentiate into any type of neural cell, such as neurons and glial cells. With their ability to rescue dysfunctional neural pathways, NSCs are an ideal source for grafting and the development of novel therapies. A team led by Renzhi Wang from Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences presented an animal model study to improve understanding of … Continue reading →

Parkinson's researcher to discuss new Duopa pump treatment Lexington Herald Leader University of Kentucky neurologist and Parkinson's researcher Dr. John Slevin will present a program about the debilitating disease and the new Duopa pump treatment at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Wilmore Community Center at Wesley Village. One of the first ... The rest is here: Parkinson's researcher to discuss new Duopa pump treatment - Lexington Herald Leader … Continue reading →

OMAHA, Neb. People taking part in clinical trials for a new drug to treat Parkinson's disease are showing signs of motor skill improvement, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center said. "You never know when you're going to come down with something. You have to stand up and say, 'I have to beat this,'" Tim Hoffman, 66, said. Hoffman has lived in the grip of Parkinson's for more than a decade. But a new breakthrough drug, announced Thursday by UNMC researchers could change that. "The goal of the medication and what we saw in this study is to help patients with Parkinson's disease to function better," Dr. Pamela Santamaria of Neurology Consultants of Nebraska said. The drug is called Sargramostim. It treats the causes of the disease instead of only the symptoms. "Our research has shown how we can give a patient a medication that can help change their immune system, and therefore affect the total progression and the outcome of the Parkinson's disease," Santamaria said. Hoffman was one of the patients who took part in the clinical study.He received daily treatment injections for two months and said he's started to see a positive change. "I felt better and … Continue reading →

Omaha, Neb. (KMTV) - Experts at UNMC are calling it a milestone. It's a drug that affects the immune system, already being used in bone marrow transplant patients. It now appears to be effective in treating Parkinson's disease. Researchers found that by injecting the drug, Sargramostim, into roughly twenty subjects, it sparked an immune transformation of diseased white blood cells into cells that protect and defend against brain injury. Dr. Howard Gendleman explained it in a slide presentation. His colleague, neurologist Dr. Pamela Santamaria, told 3NewsNow, " It's new. It's innovative. We've not seen anything like this before. It's going to be known global wide." The FDA has already approved the drug but not yet for Parkinson's patients. The brain disease leaves sufferers with tremors. It is more common in the Midwest. Exposure to pesticides can triple the risk. For sufferers like Bob Riley of Omaha, this treatment offers new hope. He said, " It's very exciting. It sounds like the answer might be coming a lot quicker than we expected. " The next step is phase two of this study. It will include more people involved who will likely take the drug in pill form. See the article here: … Continue reading →

Before we get to the therapeutic stuff, here is a reminder of the main problem people with Parkinsons disease face. Researchers are reasonably sure that the accumulation of a protein called alpha-synuclein is responsible for neurons dying in people with PD. However, there are two competing theories as to how it builds up andspreads,the threshold theoryandthe ascending theory(also called the prion hypothesis). The ascending theory states that alpha-synuclein spreads from cell to cell, infecting cells as the protein moves up through the brain.The threshold theory recently put forward by Dr. Ole Isacson and Dr. Simone Engelender, proposes that alpha-synuclein builds up independently in each affected cell. Regardless, an improved understanding of exactly how such proteins misfold and clump together is at the heart of the riddle that is Parkinsons as well asa long list of other diseases. Thankfully a number of labs around the world have been working on this sticky problem. Additionally, if anyone wants to help you can do so very easily from any computer, watch this video to learn how. The ongoing revolution in genetics is playing an increasingly important role in our understanding of the disease while also revealing whyit varies so much from patient to … Continue reading →

Scientific discovery may change treatment of Parkinson ... Science Daily When monitoring Parkinson's disease, SPECT imaging of the brain is used for acquiring information on the dopamine activity. A new study shows that the ... and more » Read the original here: Scientific discovery may change treatment of Parkinson ... - Science Daily … Continue reading →