Category Archives: Parkinson’s Treatment

TAMPA, Fla., March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) today announced that Tampa will be a host city for Moving Daya grassroots campaign that spotlights Parkinson's disease (PD) across cities in the Unites States. The event will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015World Parkinson's Dayfrom 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the University of South Florida and will raise awareness and funding to improve the lives of patients and families affected by the disease in the Tampa Bay community. The National Parkinson Foundation is also pleased to welcome Rasheda Ali to Moving DayTampa Bay as a participant and special guest of the event. "As an advocate and family member of one touched by Parkinson's, I believe in what the National Parkinson Foundation's Moving Day event has accomplished," says Ali. "This inspiring event empowers individuals and families to meet the challenges of living with Parkinson disease through active participation in walking and other movement activities." People who take part in Moving Daybecome part of a nationwide movement to beat PD by supporting disease education and outreach, cutting-edge research aimed at better treatment and care for PD patients, advancement of clinical care through healthcare professional training, and raising … Continue reading →

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Acadia Pharmaceuticals (ACAD - Get Report) shares are down $21.08% to $35.33 in trading on Thursday after the company announced that it would not seek regulatory approval for itsParkinson's disease psychosis treatment nuplazid until the second half of this year. The company said that the delayed application was due to the need for the company to make sure that it could support the production and distribution of the treatment in case it was approved by regulators. That information was released at the same time the company said that its longtime CEOUli Hacksell would be resigning from his post effective immediately. Hacksell will be replaced by current Executive VP and CFOStephen Davis on an interim basis. "Steve's strong operational experience and demonstrated leadership skills will be important as ACADIA moves NUPLAZID towards registration and prepares for the planned launch of NUPLAZID in the United States," saidLeslie L. Iversen, Ph.D., the chairperson of the company's board. TheStreet Ratings team rates ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS INC as a Sell with a ratings score of D. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate ACADIA PHARMACEUTICALS INC (ACAD) a SELL. This is driven by several weaknesses, which we … Continue reading →

A scientist who helped discover the genetic basis of Parkinsons disease, only to be diagnosed with the disease herself, will be in Tucson this weekend to talk about her experience. When she was 64, Alice Lazzarini was forced to shift from a career of looking at Parkinsons disease through the microscope to looking at it in the mirror. While drug treatments havent changed much in the last two decades, Lazzarini said theres a lot of hope for Parkinsons patients on the horizon, perhaps in her own lifetime. Lazzarini, now 74, will be one of two keynote speakers at the local Optimism Summit & Expo hosted by the American Parkinsons Disease Associations Arizona chapter. At least 20,000 Arizonans have Parkinsons disease, though officials with the local American Parkinsons Disease Association believe that is an undercount because the number includes only people covered by Medicare. Parkinsons is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimers disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The population prevalence increases from about 1 percent at age 60 to 4 percent by age 80. Early symptoms include tremor, rigidity and difficulty walking; cognitive decline is common at later stages. Lazzarini, who wrote a … Continue reading →

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc. wont be seeking regulatory approval for its lead drug candidate to treat Parkinsons disease psychosis until the second half of the year. The announcement came as the San Diego biopharmaceutical company, which focuses on treatment of central nervous system disorders, said longtime Chief Executive Uli Hacksell has resigned from his post, effective immediately. No reason was specified in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company said in a news release Hacksell had retired. Acadia ACAD, -2.44% shares plunged 24% to $34 in recent after-hours trading. Executive Vice President Stephen Davis, who has taken over the top post on an interim basis, said in a conference call with analysts Wednesday afternoon that Hacksell had discussed with board for some time retiring Davis, 53 years old, also serves as chief financial officer and chief business officer, has taken over on an interim basis. Acadia said additional time to seek regulatory approval was needed to make sure it is ready to support production and supply of its candidate treatment pimavanserin, which would be commercialized as Nuplazid. The Food and Drug Administration granted the drug breakthrough therapy designation last year, which means the FDA will act on the … Continue reading →

By Jackie Valley (contact) Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | 2 p.m. The Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation recently donated $2 million to the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to study Parkinsons disease. The foundation gifted the money in honor of Wynns late mother, Lee Pascal, who had Parkinsons disease. The Lou Ruvo Center will put the money toward Parkinsons disease studies that use advanced brain imaging, which officials called a remarkable tool for understanding and exploring brain structure and function. A Parkinsons disease-specific team will be formed to conduct brain imaging and develop new ways to diagnose, predict symptom development and track response to treatment. Lou Ruvo Center officials said the studies supported also will provide information about: Who is at risk for cognitive decline The earliest indicators of cognitive impairment The brain regions maximally affected in people with cognitive decline More here: Elaine Wynn foundation donates $2 million for Parkinsons studies … Continue reading →

Parkinson's Disease @Point of Care is a clinical support platform that provides comprehensive information on the diagnosis, treatment, and management of Parkinson's disease, made up of a progressive series of chapters and other learning tools. It provides multimedia offerings, contextual expansion of content developed by expert faculty, and many features to personalize learning, such as bookmarking, highlighting, note taking, and search.Editor-in-Chief Robert A. Hauser, MD, MBA, and the expert faculty provide a close examination of critical topics and issues that affect patient care, and includes chapters on:EpidemiologyEtiology and PathophysiologyDiagnosisCurrent and Investigational TreatmentsEmbedded hyperlinks to external multimedia resources, such as illustrations, videos, journal articles, and other resources, enhance and clarify understanding of relevant issues.This CME/CE program is intended for Parkinson's disease physician specialists, community neurologists, Parkinson's disease nurse specialists, advanced practice healthcare professionals, managed care, and other allied health professionals involved in the management and treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease. See the article here: Parkinsons Disease @Point of Care … Continue reading →

Updated: 03/10/2015 10:34 PM Created: 03/10/2015 6:40 PM WHEC.com Research developed in Rochester could play a new role in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. A University of Rochester neurologist worked with app developers on the new technology. The app allows patients with Parkinson's to track their symptoms and share it with researchers. The goal of the "M-Power" app is to see how Parkinson's impacts patients in daily life to help researchers better understand the disease. The app became available Monday and the response has been huge. University of Rochester Neurologist Ray Dorsey says, "In the first 24 hours that the application has been available in the app store, over 4,000 people have enrolled in the study. Right now, we're conducting one of the largest, if not the largest clinical trials in Parkinson's history and we've done it in 24 hours." News10NBC/WHEC-TV welcomes your opinion and interaction on our website, but please remember to keep it clean. If you're advertising for another business, being profane, vulgar or slanderous your post will be deleted. By commenting on this website, you agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and … Continue reading →

Treatment with creatine monohydrate for at least 5 years for patients with early and treated Parkinson disease failed to slow clinical progression of the disease, compared with placebo, according to a study in the February 10 issue of JAMA. Parkinson disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects approximately 6 million people worldwide and more than one-half million individuals in the United States. Incidence is expected to increase over the next decade, but neither a cure nor a treatment is available that has been proven to slow progression. Evidence indicates that creatine, an amino acid, plays an important role in cellular energy production, which may be impaired in Parkinson disease. Oral creatine supplementation in mice has suggested a neuroprotective effect, according to information in the article. Karl Kieburtz, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., and colleagues, randomly assigned 1,741 men and women with early (within 5 years of diagnosis) and treated (receiving dopaminergic therapy) Parkinson disease to receive placebo or creatine monohydrate (10 g/d) for a minimum of 5 years (maximum follow-up, 8 years). Participants were recruited from 45 investigative sites in the United States and Canada, enrolled from March 2007 to May 2010, and followed up … Continue reading →

At today's Apple event, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams took the stage to announce ResearchKit, a framework made specifically for medical research. Basically, it transforms the iPhone, Apple Watch, and HealthKit into an opt-in tool for research institutions. It has the potential to change the world. Apple says it worked with Mount Sinai, Stanford Medical, the University of Oxford, Penn Medicine, and other institutions to build health-monitoring applications for ResearchKit, which will be open source. For example, one of the early apps developed with the framework is called mPower. It uses tappinglike, you jab at a button on the screen multiple timesto subtly detect the presence of hand tremors, a telltale sign of Parkinson's disease. Another example: the phone can conduct gait and balance tests if you put your iPhone in your pocket before you go for a walk. Not only can it help doctors diagnose patients and track their activity, but it provides the infrastructure that allows researchers to siphon up untold amounts of health data. "Numbers are everything," Dr. Eduardo Sanchez of the American Heart Association says on Apple.com. "The more people who contribute their data, the bigger the numbers, the truer the representation of … Continue reading →

Someday, it may be possible with a skin test to positively diagnose someone suspected of having dementia. The test, developed by researchers in Mexico, also is able to detect abnormal proteins that are specific to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. According to the group Alzheimers Disease International, more than 44 million people around the world suffer from Alzheimers, which robs mostly elderly people of their short-term memory. Eventually, the disorder leads to death. It is the most common form of dementia. But there are other forms of progressive brain disease, such as vascular dementia, which mimics the symptoms of early stage Alzheimers and causes cognitive problems. Unlike those with Alzheimers, patients can live for years with vascular dementia. Another progressive neurological disease that can be hard to diagnose in its early stages is the movement disorder Parkinsons disease. Now, researchers at Mexico's University of San Luis Potosi have developed a way to diagnose Alzheimers and other cognitive disorders, using a small piece of a patient's skin. Investigators are looking for abnormally high levels of particular proteins that are present in both brain tissue and, it turns out, in skin cells. Neurologist Ildefonso Rodriguez-Leyva led a study using skin biopsies to diagnose … Continue reading →