Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

LOMA LINDA: University holds symposium on Parkinson's Disease Loma Linda University Health neurologist Khashayar Dashtipour spoke to an audience of nearly 150 people at the second annual Parkinsons Disease Patients & Caregivers Symposium. COURTESY LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY HEALTH Loma Linda University department of neurology, Movement Disorders Clinic held its second annual Parkinsons Disease Patients & Caregivers Symposium on March 13. Nearly 150 patients, caregivers and family and friends of those with Parkinsons disease attended the event in Newport Beach to learn about the latest developments in symptoms, treatment and support. Kapil Sethi, professor of neurology at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, Ga., discussed emerging therapies. Loma Linda University Health neurologists Khashayar Dashtipour, and Karen Frei, also gave presentations during the event. Dashtipour, who has been practicing movement disorders exclusively for over 10 years, spoke on ways to manage the disease. Regular exercise, even walking, can change the course of the disease, Dashtipour said. And those who give up go downhill very fast. Frei talked about new developments in surgical treatments for Parkinsons disease. Shirley DAgostino and her 56-year-old son, who has Parkinsons, traveled from Canyon Lake to the symposium diagnosed him with Parkinsons disease in 2012 when he was just … Continue reading →

Crowdfunding: It has to be the correct flavour for the correct cause Got a few euro to spare? Through crowdfunding websites, some researchers and start-ups are asking the public to pitch in directly. And while crowdfunding science is still relatively niche, some projects have brought in substantial support. University of Edinburgh spin-out Parkure has attracted about 80,000 (110,000) through ShareIn to genetically engineer flies to screen drugs for their potential in treating Parkinsons disease, and the crowdsourced funds will be matched by a grant from the Scottish government. With the funds, Parkure plans do a small screen and follow-up on their discoveries, building traction to raise the funding needed for a full-scale screen of tens of thousands of candidate drugs, says Parkure chief executive and co-founder Dr Lysimachos Zografos. So whats in it for the crowdfunders? They get shares. These are bought for a small amount, but if we are commercially successful the value of the company increases and thus the value of their share increases, he says. Once an exit opportunity opens they can exit with a financial profit. For Dr Joanne Mac Mahon, capturing peoples imaginations was key to a project that she and Dr Laurence Gill wanted … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise (NEW YORK April 3, 2015) A new blood test may more accurately identify blood signatures, or biomarkers, for Parkinsons disease (PD), according to a new study published in the journal Movement Disorders. The study, conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research, applies a new approach to looking for blood biomarkers for both patients with and without a known genetic risk factor for PD. This paper is the fourth in a series that report new computational techniques to improve the identification of reliable blood biomarkers. While biomarkerssuch as bad cholesterol level in the case of heart diseasehasten diagnoses by offering accurate measures of disease progression, there are currently no fully validated biomarkers for PD. The Mount Sinai study analyzed the blood of four groups of mice with genetic material (e.g. ribonucleic acids or RNA) predicted by researchers to form part of a PD signature. Researchers also examined the blood of a group of Ashkenazi Jewish patients living with PD, as well as a separate group of healthy controls. About half of the human subjectsboth symptomatic PD patients and healthy controlshave small changes in … Continue reading →

A new blood test may more accurately identify blood signatures, or biomarkers, for Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a new study published in the journal Movement Disorders. The study, conducted by researchers at Mount Sinai and funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, applies a new approach to looking for blood biomarkers for both patients with and without a known genetic risk factor for PD. This paper is the fourth in a series that report new computational techniques to improve the identification of reliable blood biomarkers. While biomarkers -- such as bad cholesterol level in the case of heart disease -- hasten diagnoses by offering accurate measures of disease progression, there are currently no fully validated biomarkers for PD. The Mount Sinai study analyzed the blood of four groups of mice with genetic material (e.g. ribonucleic acids or RNA) predicted by researchers to form part of a PD signature. Researchers also examined the blood of a group of Ashkenazi Jewish patients living with PD, as well as a separate group of healthy controls. About half of the human subjects -- both symptomatic PD patients and healthy controls -- have small changes in their DNA code called mutations, … Continue reading →

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University or NTU in Singapore discovered a new treatment method for memory retention in patients suffering from memory loss due to dementia diseases such as Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. Scientists Ajay Vyas of NTU's School of Biological Sciences and Lim Lee Wei of Sunway University, Malaysia used electrical impulses to specific areas for memory retention. NTU scientists said the new method has the potential to enhance growth of brain cells or neurons. When the front part of the brain is stimulated, with minute amounts of electricity, new brain cells are formed that help in memory retention. Increased number of neurons would result in reduction of anxiety and depression. Further, it helps in boosting overall memory formation, retention, and improved learning. The scientists said the regular treatment in dementia patients, using anti-depressants, do not respond in 60 per cent and the new research opens new doors for more effective treatment options. The study report was published in eLife journal. Dementia has been a disturbing and widespread issue to the modern world. Five million people in U.S. are suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the most common type of dementia, characterized by memory loss, speaking and writing issues, mood swings … Continue reading →

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. (AP) - Belly laughs and rousing songs open a weekly choral gathering at the Struthers Parkinsons Center in Golden Valley. All have Parkinsons disease, a degenerative condition that attacks the nervous system. There is no cure. Even though the disease generally is not considered funny, music therapist Sandi Holten wants her patients to laugh. That helps loosen and exercise torso and face muscles rigid with stiffness, a symptom of Parkinsons. Hah, hah, she prompts, Everyone! Hah, hah, take that, Parkinsons! the patients shout back. Then, with Holten at an electronic keyboard, they all begin to sing Take Me Out to the Ball Game. After an hour of vocal exercises and songs, the chorus members bid Holten goodbye until next weeks session. Next on her agenda is a one-on-one session with a patient. Art Grell, 67, is a broad-shouldered bear of a man. But he no longer has a vigorous stride. Instead, Grell takes slow, halting steps, almost a shuffle, another effect of the disease. A person with Parkinsons has rigidity throughout their body, Holten told Minnesota Public Radio News (http://bit.ly/1MHmpNw ). Thats one of the primary symptoms. As Grell takes a seat, Holten asks him to hit … Continue reading →

NEW YORK: An implant of stem cells treated with an anti-cancer drug has been found to be effective against Parkinson's symptoms in mice. The findings published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience could be an important step toward using the implantation of stem cell-generated neurons as a treatment for Parkinson's disease in humans. Using a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved anti-cancer drug, the researchers were able to grow dopamine-producing neurons derived from embryonic stem cells that remained healthy and functional for as long as 15 months after implantation into mice, restoring motor function without forming tumours. "This simple strategy of shortly exposing pluripotent stem cells to an anti-cancer drug turned the transplant safer, by eliminating the risk of tumour formation", said the leader of the study Stevens Rehen, professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Brazil. Parkinson's, which affects as many as 10 million people in the world, is caused by a depletion of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. Several studies have indicated that the transplantation of embryonic stem cells improves motor functions in animal models. However, until now, the procedure was shown to be unsafe because of the risk of tumours upon transplantation. … Continue reading →

Two major research milestones changed the course of Parkinson's disease, and Erica Mandelbaum of Tampa benefited from both. The mother of two was diagnosed when she was just 36. "I was furious," recalls Mandelbaum, who is now 58. "That lasted a couple years. Then I decided it was time to live." The most commonly prescribed medication, which replaces a chemical in the brain in short supply in Parkinson's patients, helped for many years. Then she developed uncontrollable physical symptoms: shaking, foot dragging and stooped posture. Enter deep brain stimulation, an implanted battery-operated device that stimulates areas of the brain that control movement and blocks abnormal signals to those areas. "It was a lifesaver for me," said Mandelbaum, in a soft, at times out-of-breath, voice, her speech (and vision) affected by Parkinson's. But DBS "has been a medical miracle for me. With it, I am able to go bike riding, swimming, grocery shopping," she said. To learn more about how research has improved life for Parkinson's patients and what's in store for the future, the Tampa Bay Times spoke with Dr. Robert Hauser, one of Mandelbaum's physicians, a researcher and director of the USF Health Byrd Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders … Continue reading →

It's tough identifying Parkinson's disease in its early stages, because there are no standard lab tests to diagnose it yet and symptoms are typically subtle. A group of MIT researchers believe the answer could lie in something a lot of people already use, though: the computer keyboard. They've recently conducted a study proving that people with conditions affecting motor function have different typing patterns than those who don't. To be exact, the researchers designed plug-in software to measure how long subjects pressed each key before releasing it. Those with impaired motor skills ended up pressing keys for a longer duration. Most of the time, a big part of the brain is already damaged before the illness becomes apparent. An early diagnosis will allow doctors to plan a treatment strategy that slows down its effects. Motor skill impairment, however, doesn't automatically mean Parkinson's. In fact, the study's original goal was to observe the effects of fatigue. After the team determined that it could work as a diagnostic tool for Parkinson's, though, they enlisted the help of 21 patients for more tests. The team found that those with the condition exhibited "greater variation in the keystrokes" compared to the 15-person control group. … Continue reading →

New York, New York (PRWEB) March 31, 2015 April is Parkinsons disease Awareness Month and the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA) is proud to announce 30 Days, 30 Ways to Make a Difference. Visit apdaparkinson.org to learn about this month-long campaign that will offer a new action each day throughout April to make a lasting impact in the lives of those who battle this disease. Every nine minutes there is a new diagnosis, which means that in April alone nearly 5,000 individuals in this country will learn they have Parkinsons disease. April is the perfect time to take action that can change these startling statistics and outcomes for the more than one million people in the United States coping with this neurological movement disorder. Parkinsons disease is a chronic, progressive disease with no treatment, therapy, or drug to slow or halt its progression. For more than 50 years, the APDA has led the charge as the nations largest grassroots organization serving the needs of those touched by Parkinsons. Visit http://www.apdaparkinson.org every day in April to discover interactive ways to change lives such as sharing your own story or that of a loved one, learning ways to achieve the best quality … Continue reading →